NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: AAA Texas 500

Track Classification: Intermediate

Similar Tracks: Atlanta Motor Speedway • Charlotte Motor Speedway • Chicagoland Speedway Darlington Raceway • Homestead-Miami Speedway • Kansas Speedway • Kentucky Speedway

Las Vegas Motor Speedway • New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Distance: 1.5 Miles

Drivers with Most Top 10s (Last 5 Years):

By Race

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 5
All with 4 - Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski

All with 3 - Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch

By Track 

Jimmie Johnson - 8
Both with 7 - Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
All with 6 - Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards
Both with 5 - Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano

Recent Pole Winners: 

2015 Brad Keselowski
2014 Matt Kenseth

Last Year's Race Winner: Jimmie Johnson

The Likely Suspects: Here we are back at a 1.5-mile track. It should be a great opportunity for those Chase drivers and spoilers who run well on cookie cutter tracks. Look for these drivers to be racing for the win: Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano. 

My 2 Cents: Now that Jimmie Johnson has secured his way into the championship race at Homestead -- the first time since 2014 when NASCAR introduced the Chase playoff format -- will he flex his dominance and get multiple wins? This weekend at Texas is a great opportunity for the No. 48 team, so my no-brainer pick this week is Jimmie Johnson. My next picks are: Brad Keselowski, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman. I will round out my team with Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell.  If you have any Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards starts left, then pull McMurray and Newman.
 

My Final Four: Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Alex Bowman.

Points to Ponder:

• Last week’s winner, Jimmie Johnson, has the best three-year loop data driver rating at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS).
• Kyle Busch has the best three-year average finish at TMS.
• Brad Keselowski has led the most laps at Texas over the last three years.
• Hendrick Motorsports (eight) can tie Roush Fenway Racing (nine) for the most series wins at Texas with a win this weekend.
• Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr. are tied for the highest number of series poles at TMS with two each.

Enjoy the race! Post your comments here or follow me on Twitter at @purplecatpr.