NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Drivers with Most Top 10s:

By Race and Track in the Last 5 Years

Both with 5 - Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano
All with 3 - Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick

2017 Race Winner: Kevin Harvick

Recent Pole Winners:

2018 Ryan Blaney
2017 Brad Keselowski

The Likely Suspects: Typically Las Vegas tends to be the Brad-Joey show, but we'll see if other drivers break up the party this weekend. My Las Vegas go-tos are Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Ryan Blaney.

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is Brad Keselowski. My next choices are Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman. I will round out my team with Matt DiBenedetto and Chris Buescher.

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Aric Almirola. Almirola's average finish in the last six Las Vegas races is 17.5 with two top 10s, three top 15s and three top 20s. He's gotten off to a good start this year, so I think he can improve upon previous stats. Last week's second-look driver, William Byron, finished in 17th place and raced in the top 20 for most of the day. In the final stage, the caution flag bit him twice. The first time he made a green-flag pit stop and a caution flag waved in the middle of the cycle. He took a wave-around to remain on the lead lap, restarting in 20th place. The same thing happened on his green-flag stop. Byron again took the wave-around, restarting in 17th with 43 laps to go and was able to hold that position for the checkered flag.

My Final Four: Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones and Chris Buescher

Points to Ponder:

• Five drivers have multiple poles at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Among active drivers Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch have two each.
• Kyle Busch is the only driver to win consecutive poles at LVMS, from (2008-2009).
• Of the 12 series winners at LVMS, only five are active this weekend: Jimmie Johnson (4), Brad Keselowski (3), Kevin Harvick (2), Martin Truex Jr. (1) and Kyle Busch (1)
• Roush Fenway Racing leads the series in wins at Las Vegas with seven victories, followed by Hendrick Motorsports with five, Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing (three each), Joe Gibbs Racing (two), Chip Ganassi Racing and Furniture Row Racing (each have one).
• Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson lead all active drivers in second-place finishes in the Monster Energy Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with two each.  
• Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman lead all active drivers in top-10 finishes at Las Vegas with nine each.
• Ryan Blaney leads all active drivers in the Monster Energy Series in average finish at LVMS with a 8.4.   

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your picks by 8 a.m. ET and final picks by 3:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 3. Check back on our Facebook page after qualifying for our new video feature called the Fast 5. Enjoy the race!

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Carol D’Agostino wields fantasy-racing superpowers. Each week, Carol researches statistics and combs through her personal racing notes to provide fans with fantasy racing advice at NASCAR Fantasy Fusion, a column she has written for Skirts & Scuffs since October 2011. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway, and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. This year she joins the NASCAR Expert Picks panel at
Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet When she isn’t crunching numbers, you’ll find Carol in business meetings or hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat.