NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas

 

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

By Race

Both with 5 - Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr.
Both with 4 - Joey Logano and Kurt Busch
All with 3 - Chase Elliott, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney

By Track 

Kevin Harvick - 10
All with 8 - Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

All with 5 - Chase Elliott, Erik Jones and Jimmie Johnson

Both with 4 - Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney

Last Year's Race Winner: Kevin Harvick

The Likely Suspects: My favorite Texas go-tos include: Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kurt Busch, and Erik Jones.

My 2 Cents: The traction compound didn't do much during the Xfinity race, so we'll have to wait to see if it plays much of a role in the Cup race. My no-brainer pick this week is Kevin Harvick. My next picks are Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola, and Ryan Blaney. I will round out my team with Tyler Reddick and Ty Dillon.  

My Final Four: Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney, and Tyler Reddick

 

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Erik Jones, who was last week's second-look driver. Texas Motor Speedway is one of Erik's best tracks. He most recently finished sixth here and has finished in the Top 10 in his last six Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway. Not only is Erik good at Texas but he's also looking for a little redemption from last week's disappointing finish at Kansas. Erik's day started out great, mostly running in the Top 5, until Lap 145 when he made contact with the No.42 of Matt Kenseth. Erik pitted twice after the caution so the team could make repairs and finished Stage 2 in the 29th position. The No. 20 team continued to make repairs on the car in the final stage and finished the race in 20th place.

Points to Ponder:

• Jimmie Johnson leads the series in wins at Texas with seven victories (2007, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 sweep and 2017) in 34 starts.
• The third starting position is the most prolific starting position in the field at Texas Motor Speedway, producing more wins (eight) than any other starting position – most recently: Kyle Busch’s win in the 2018 Playoff race. 
• Roush Fenway Racing and Hendrick Motorsports lead the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Texas Motor Speedway with nine victories each. 
• Jimmie Johnson leads the series in runner-up finishes at Texas Motor Speedway with five second-place finishes as well as Top 5s with 16 and laps led with 1,152. 
• Erik Jones (eight starts) leads the NASCAR Cup Series in average finishing position at Texas Motor Speedway with a 9.0.

Remember, if you're playing Driver Group Game, make your picks by 3:30 p.m. ET on race day Sunday, October 24th.

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 in 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 (FRCS). 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.