NASCAR Fantasy Fusion: Hola Ciudad de México

 

    SOURCE: nascar en espanol

 

Track: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
Asphalt Paved Road Course
Track Length: 2.42 Mile
Distance: 242 miles (100 Laps)
Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20)
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 45)
Final Stage (Ends on Lap 100)

 

This Week's Pick Strategy:
Okay, so I have to admit, when I think of going to new tracks, Joey Logano always comes to mind. The No. 22 car was among top eight fastest cars in both practices, but there are so many drivers in the field who have mastered road-course racing that I am fading Logano this week.

Instead, I am going heavy on Hendrick Motorsports drivers as they tend to dominate road course racing. I'll sprinkle in some masters like Michael McDowell, polesitter Shane van Gisbergen, and Chris Buescher, along with a couple of drivers who are looking for their first win of the season or their career. It just may happen this weekend.

 

My 2 Cents: My no-brainer pick this week is Shane van Gisbergen. My next picks are Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, and Michael McDowell. I will complete my roster with Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher.

My Fabulous 5 (Drivers most likely to finish in the Top 5):  Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, and Chase Elliott.

NASCAR Fantasy Live Line Up:. Kyle Larson, Shane van Gisbergen, Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, and Ty Gibbs. And in the garage, Ryan Blaney.

        Featured Match Ups: Busch over Chastain, van Gisbergen over Suarez, McDowell over
       Bowman, and Gibbs over Elliott.
 

Second-Look Driver: This week's second-look driver is Todd Gilliland. Todd may not have a road-course win yet, but he did score a Top 5 at the Indy road course last year. He has shown marked improvement in road-course racing, and had the fastest car in final practice. I bet it won't hurt that he is piloting the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports car that a very good road-racer Michael McDowell once drove. Let's see if Todd can turn a good Saturday into a full and successful race on Sunday.

 

Points to Ponder:

• This is the first NASCAR Cup Series points-paying race held in Mexico and the third held outside of the continental U.S.; the other two were held in Canada.
• Only two drivers entered in this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Mexico competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Mexico from 2005-2008 - Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. Busch (2008) and Hamlin (2006) each won at Mexico in the NXS. Kyle won in 2008. Denny Hamlin also raced and won in Mexico (2006), but is home with his family and newborn son this weekend. Ryan Truex will be driving the No. 11 car this weekend.
  
• Mexico City is only the 13th new track added to the Cup schedule this millennium.
• Chase Elliott (3), Ryan Blaney (2 and Joey Logano (2) have combined to win seven of the last 11 Cup Series point-paying races hosted at new tracks. 
• Hendrick Motorsports won five of the last eight road course races with three different drivers winning: Byron (twice), Larson (twice) and Bowman (once).
• Chris Buescher has the best average finish on road courses in the Next Gen car (8.7) but ranks 21st in stage points earned, fourth in overall points scored.
• A stage winner is winless in the last seven road course races.
• Chase Elliott leads all active Cup Series drivers in road course wins with seven. If he were to win this weekend, he would tie Tony Stewart for second-most on the all-time Cup Series road course wins list with eight each.

If you are playing NASCAR Fantasy Live, remember to make your picks by 2:55 p.m. EST on race day Sunday, June 15th. Don't forget to select your bonus matchups.

 

¡Que disfrutes la carrera!

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Carol D'Agostino has been playing Fantasy NASCAR for 18 years. She launched  NASCAR Fantasy Fusion for Skirts & Scuffs in October 2011. Each week, Carol pores through statistics and combs through her personal notebooks to arm fans with analysis and picking strategies that will leave their friends wondering how they got so smart. Carol also does race coverage for Skirts & Scuffs at Richmond Raceway and occasionally at her home track, Dover International Speedway. She is also part of the distinguished NASCAR Expert Picks panel at frcs.pro. formerly called Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet.

When she isn’t wielding her fantasy-racing superpowers, you’ll find Carol hammering out a news release or creating a marketing strategy at a small niche public relations firm she founded called Purple Cat or executing downtown revitalization projects for a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.