NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas

By Carol D'Agostino

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

By Race

All with 4 - Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr.

All with 3 - Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

By Track

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

Recent Pole Winners:  

2016 Carl Edwards
2015 Kurt Busch

Last Year's Race Winner: Kyle Busch

The Likely Suspects: Despite having been repaved and reconfigured, I still believe Texas is one of those tracks where you can make picks based on a history of past performance. Among my favorite Texas elite: Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer this week is a tie between Martin Truex Jr. and Matt Kenseth. Kyle Busch is also a fine pick. My next picks are Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Kurt Busch. I will complete my team with Erik Jones and Ty Dillon.

My Final Four: Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne, Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones

Points to Ponder:

• Three active drivers have won two Coors Light poles at Texas Motor Speedway: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Newman, and Martin Truex Jr.  Ryan Newman is the only one with consecutive Coors Light poles (2005 sweep).
• The third-place starting position is the most proficient starting spot in the field at Texas Motor Speedway, producing more wins than any other starting position (six) – most recent: Jimmie Johnson (fall of 2014).
• 25 of the 32 (78.1%) Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway have been won from a top-10 starting position.
• Jimmie Johnson leads at Texas with most wins (6), runner-up finishes (5), top-five finishes (14) and top-10 finishes with 20. Matt Kenseth is runner-up in all but the wins category. Kyle Busch is runner-up in the wins with 2.
• Three active drivers with more than one start at Texas have a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series average finish inside the top 10: Chase Elliott (4.5), Jimmie Johnson (8.370) and Matt Kenseth (9.429).
• Roush Fenway Racing leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Texas Motor Speedway with nine; followed by Hendrick Motorsports with eight and Joe Gibbs Racing has six. 
• Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have participated in the most Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway without posting a DNF (22 each).
• Jimmie Johnson leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in laps led at Texas Motor Speedway with 1,023 laps led in 27 starts.

Remember if you're playing Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing, your pick deadline is Friday, April 7 at 5 a.m. EDT.

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