Indianapolis Fantasy NASCAR Top Tier Elite Picks

Kyle Busch – Kyle Busch is a super-elite performer at Indianapolis who’ll be the driver to beat. He’s thrived here, and if he didn’t wreck while leading in 2017 he would be entering the weekend having won 3 of the last 4 races. Since 2014 at “The Brickyard” minus a misleading result in 2017 he has 3.0 average finish, a 6.0 average running position and he has the best driver rating. Last year, Kyle Busch had a strong showing from the pole (set by owner points). He finished 8th, had a 10th place average running position, earned the 7th best driver rating and led 27 laps. I’ll note his race wasn’t incident free. While he was leading under caution at the start of Stage #2 while he was cleaning his tires he had contact with the grass and after that he said his steering was “tougher.” I’ll also note right at the end of Stage #2 he was penalized for pitting when pit road was closed. In 2017, Busch was the class of the field but finished 34th after wrecking while battling Truex Jr. for the lead during a restart. In the race he started on the pole, earned the best driver rating, led a race high 87 laps and won the first two Stages. If his race was incident free, I don’t think anybody was going to beat him. In 2016, Busch had the field covered en route to victory lane. He started on the pole, earned a perfect driver rating and led 149 laps. His car was in a zip code of its own. In 2015, he was also very strong. In that race he took the lead during a late restart and never looked back. In addition to winning he earned the 2nd best driver rating, had a 5th place average running position and led 19 laps. In 2014 he finished runner-up. Pocono is a similar track and nobody was better than Busch at that venue this year. He won in the spring, and in the summer if his “track position” strategy was better he likely would’ve won that race too.

Kevin Harvick – Kevin Harvick should be on your short list of favorites at Indianapolis. It’s been a great track for him and he currently has a five race top ten streak. Over the last five combined Indy races he has the best average finish (5.4) and the best average running position (7.0). Last year, Harvick had a strong showing. He finished 4th, earned the 5th best driver rating and led 22 laps. In 2017, he also ran well. In that event he finished 6th, had a 6th place average running position, earned the 3rd best driver rating, finished 4th in Stage #1 and 5th in Stage #2. In 2016 he finished 6th, earned the 6th best driver rating and had a 9th place average running position. In 2015, he had a great car that was arguably the best. If he would’ve had a good late restart I think he would’ve won. When the race reached its conclusion he earned the best driver rating, led the most laps (75), had the best average running position (3.0) and finished 3rd. This year at Pocono, Harvick was strong in both races. He was top three good in the spring (misleading result), and in the summer he led 62 laps and finished 6th.

Erik Jones – At Indianapolis, I think Erik Jones will be very competitive. He had a great race last year, and this year at Pocono which is the most similar track he had results of 2nd and 3rd for the season. Last year at Indy, Erik Jones was very competitive. He finished 2nd and had an 11th place average running position. Near the end he was at his best. In 2017, Jones had a strong car but finished an asterisk mark 31st. On lap 151 he was involved in a wreck that marked the end of his race. “Performance Wise” if his race would’ve been incident free I think he would’ve had a good chance to finish in the top ten. He finished 4th in Stage #2, had a 15th place average running position and earned the 15th best driver rating. On Sunday, I would look for Jones to finish in the top ten and compete for a top five.

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Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > The Low Tier