NASCAR is back to intermediate track racing this weekend, heading to the 1.5 mile oval at Chicagoland Speedway. The flat, wide corners here offer drivers plenty of different racing lines to choose from, but the key will be a great handling car and a crew chief that can keep up with the track as it changes throughout the race. Here are the best bets for your NASCAR fantasy team at Daytona:
Favorites at Chicagoland Speedway
1. Tony Stewart – It is always easy to pick the current point leader for a fantasy NASCAR team, but when it comes to Chicagoland, Stewart is a great pick regardless of where he is in the standings. In addition to his two career wins here, Smoke also has top-5 finishes in six of his last seven races at the one-and-a-half mile track. Throw in the fact that Stewart is coming off a win at Talladega, extending his streak of top-10 finishes to six consecutive races, and he is a must start driver.
2. Jimmie Johnson – Johnson has never won a race at Chicagoland, but it is only a matter of time before he does; Jimmie has a career finish of 8th here, and has only finished lower than sixth one time at the Illinois track (and that was because of an accident). Coming into the weekend with top-10 finishes in five out of the last six races, including a second last week at Daytona, Johnson has almost as much momentum as Stewart right now, and should be good for another solid performance.
3. Kevin Harvick – True, Harvick has been having a dismal year, but if there is a place that offers the No.29 team a chance to break out of their slump, it is Chicagoland Speedway. Harvick won the first two races ever run at the Joliet track, and while he has not been back to victory lane since, Kevin does have top-5 finishes in the past three races here. Harvick is certainly looking for an opportunity to turn his season around, and this could be the weekend for him to start.
Safe Picks for a Solid Chicagoland Finish
1. Matt Kenseth – Like Johnson, Kenseth has never won a race at Chicagoland, but he certainly knows how to consistently run well here. Kenseth leads all NASCAR drivers with a 120.4 driver rating over the past four years at the 1.5 mile oval, and has top-10 finishes in three of his last four races just outside the Windy City. Kenseth’s 8th place finish at Daytona was his first top-10 in the last five races, and he should be able to carry that momentum into this weekend.
2. Kurt Busch – Chicagoland is a bit of an all-or-nothing track for the elder Busch brother; he either finishes inside the top-10, or outside the top-25. But the top-10 results have been far more frequent; Busch has finished 8th or better in three of his last four Chicago races. Since Kurt is just about locked into the Chase at this point, the No.2 team should be able to take a few more risks to try to get wins instead of just going points racing.
3. Kyle Busch – In his short career at Chicagoland Speedway, Kyle has been nothing short of impressive; in addition to being the defending race winner, Busch has never finished lower than 14th in his four career races at the 1.5 mile track. Kyle’s recent results have been less than spectacular, but that is due more to a streak of bad luck than having slow cars. If he can avoid problems, there is no reason Busch will not be at the pointy end of the field.
Chicagoland Underdogs
1. Brian Vickers – Every NASCAR fantasy league has different rules, but if your league lists Vickers as a bottom-category driver or if you need someone cheap to stay under the salary cap, Vickers is another must-start. Believe it or not, he has a career average finish of 9.2 at the 1.5 mile track, and like Kyle Busch, Vickers has never finished lower than 14th here in the four races he has run. With a seventh place finish at Daytona, Vickers is carrying some momentum into the weekend, and could be a pick with plenty of upside depending on what category he qualifies for in your NASCAR league.
2. A.J. Allmendinger – Dinger hasn’t exactly been lighting up NASCAR this season, but for a driver who was not even guaranteed to have a ride this year, he is doing a great job keeping the No.44 car well inside the top-35 in points. Allmendinger finished 13th last year in his first ever Chicagoland race, and is slowly getting more comfortable behind the wheel at Petty Motorsports. He might be able to turn in a repeat performance of last season.
3. Casey Mears – At some point, Mears has to start producing the results that NASCAR fans would expect of a Richard Childress Racing team, and this is a track that he certainly runs well. Mears has top-10 finishes in two of his last four Chicagoland races, and with RCR’s past success here, there is a good chance that Mears will have a similar result to his solid finishes at Pocono and New Hampshire.
With it being only the ninth NASCAR Sprint Cup race ever run at Chicagoland, it can be tough to figure out what drivers have a chance to run well, but these drivers should help maximize the number of points your NASCAR fantasy team scores.
Todd Butts - Coming from the world of newspaper and radio, I have been covering NASCAR and other motorsports for over 8 years. I started as the host ...
