Kenseth has earned fourth-most top-10s in ppast three years

Matt Kenseth has earned the fourth-most top-10s in the past three years with a total of 61.

That puts Kenseth only one top-10 ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin and it illustrates just how strong this organization has been during the past three years. The difference-maker is that Kenseth has one more victory in that timeframe than Hamlin.

Kenseth'’s best tracks in the past three years have been Dover International Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where he has five apiece. Notably both tracks are a mile in length.

via RotoWorld.

Contrarian Picks - Cap Considerations

via RotoWorld/Dan Beaver

Fantasy players need to be situationally aware.

Last October’s Hellmann's 500 was a great example of knowing when to lay back and when to charge. All four Joe Gibbs Racing teams were still in the Chase. Three of them had enough points to advance so long as Carl Edwards did not get swept into an early-race crash. He, Kyle Busch, and Matt Kenseth chose to ride around outside of the lead pack out of harm’s way.

Denny Hamlin did not have that same luxury. He was forced to race his way into the next round of the Chase and eventually made a daring move to get in by a whisker. Hamlin was the contrarian.

Forced to accumulate maximum points, he had to do what his teammates did not—but it pays to note that all of them made it to the third round. If a player finds himself behind in the count in season-long games, they are going to have to take some chances.

Contrarian picks come in two forms. There are flat out dark horses that are NASCAR’s equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, and there are secondary drivers and teams that find the top 10 in less than a third of the events.

Longshot dark horses are difficult to predict and should only be used on restrictor-plate, superspeedways and in times of desperation. Still, a driver like Michael McDowell who surged when Todd Parrott came to the organization helped win a lot of fantasy contests even though he did not score a lot of top-10s.

Last year, 34 drivers earned top-10s including a dozen who scored five or less. Several of them scored their top-10s on plate tracks, which are notorious for rewarding dark horses, but Trevor Bayne’s strong runs at Bristol Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway, Paul Menard’s three top-10s on flat tracks, and Clint Bowyer and Matt DiBenedetto’s solid Bristol efforts prove that there are other courses on which driver skill can trump horsepower.

There are also drivers with uneven results for whom timing their starts are often difficult. Kasey Kahne earned 13 top-10s in 2016, but it was not until the end of the regular season that he managed to post consecutive strong runs. When he finally broke through, he earned four in a row, finished 12th in the next race, and then scored two more. Determining when to climb on a bandwagon can be critical.

AJ Allmendinger is another interesting driver to watch. All but two of his nine top-10s last year came in conjunction with another. These pairings were not natural ones, such as Menard’s string of flat track successes. Allmendinger doubled down at Auto Club Speedway and Martinsville Speedway early in the year, Watkins Glen International and Bristol in the summer, and then Kansas Speedway, Talladega SuperSpeedway and Martinsville in the fall. In 2017, as soon as he scores one top 10, he should be activated in the next race.

The Rookie of the Year contenders round out the list of contrarians. On the heels of Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney’s strong runs last year, it is expected that Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, and Ty Dillon will earn their fair share of top-10s. In salary cap games, they are likely to be relatively cheap at the start of the season. Moreover, they will not be particularly volatile because they are unlikely to string long streak of top-10s together and that is what usually triggers a meteoric rise in value.

Brad Keselowski Profile

via RotoWorld/Dan Beaver

Brad Keselowski had an impressive 2016 season by anyone’s measure but his biggest disappointments came at the beginning and end of the season and that might contribute to his being overlooked by the competition.

Keselowski was the third driver to earn his Chase berth when he visited Victory Lane at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March’s Kobalt 400. He added another victory at Talladega SuperSpeedway in May, and posted consecutive wins at Daytona International Speedway and Kentucky Speedway during the summer. At that time, he looked like one of the favorites to win the Chase. In the span of nine races, he had three victories, six total top-fives, two more top-10s, and a worst result of 15th.

After posting two results in the mid-teens, Keselowski regained his momentum quickly and rattled off nine top-10s in his next 10 races. Most of these were top-fives and that streak carried him well into the Chase. During the playoffs, Keselowski showed a characteristic that at once makes him an attractive fantasy value and a challenge. In the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, he was too aggressive while battling for a spot on the cusp of the top 10. He slid up in front of Denny Hamlin, lost his forward drive, and was tipped into the inside retaining wall.

Outside the care center, Keselowski was asked if discretion might have been a better choice and he defiantly said he would not stop racing the same way that earned him a Chase berth. But, only one race remained in that round—and it was coming on the wild card Talladega SuperSpeedway. Kez had one win in the bank already from that track, but plate races are never predictable and when he blew an engine on lap 144, his fate was sealed.

As it turned out, Keselowski would score only one top-10 after crashing at Kansas. That was a second at Martinsville Speedway and it completed a sweep of the top five on that course. Of the 13 tracks that hosted two races in 2016, Keselowski swept the top 10 on five of them, but he had top-10s in less than two-thirds of his starts and in only 40 percent of the Chase races.

Keselowski also got off to a relatively slow start. Despite winning in race three, he had only four top-10s in the first nine weeks. His victory at ‘Dega kicked off one of two long streaks, but fantasy owners might wish to be a little patient before activating him in contests that limit allocations or in Daily Fantasy Sports. Once he posts back-to-back top-10s, jump on the bandwagon immediately and ride it until he falls outside the top 15 in consecutive events.

Victories: Las Vegas, Talladega (spring), Daytona (summer), Kentucky
Top-fives: 16 (.444)
Top-10s: 22 (.611)
Top-15s: 27 (.750)

Track	3-Yr Avg. Fin	Career Avg. Fin	Best Fin	Career Attempts	Career Top-10s	Race 1	Race 2
Kentucky Speedway	2.67	8.17	1	6	5	1
Las Vegas Motor Speedway	3.00	16.75	1	8	4	1
Chicagoland Speedway	4.67	9.63	1	8	6	5
Michigan International Speedway +	5.50	12.33	2	15	8	4	3
New Hampshire Motor Speedway	6.83	10.27	1	15	9	15	4
Dover Downs International *	7.00	14.27	1	15	6	6	4
Richmond International Raceway	7.50	15.07	1	15	6	11	4
Pocono Raceway +	8.17	11.29	1	14	7	3	2
Charlotte Motor Speedway *	9.00	13.40	1	15	7	5	7
Darlington Raceway	9.33	12.13	2	8	4	9
Texas Motor Speedway	9.50	16.24	2	17	6	18	14
Phoenix International Raceway	10.86	14.60	3	15	7	29	14
Homestead - Miami Speedway Progressive	11.75	15.89	3	9	3	35
Auto Club Speedway	12.00	18.75	1	8	2	9
Indianapolis Motor Speedway	13.00	13.86	9	7	3	17
Watkins Glen International	15.00	10.14	2	7	5	3
Talladega SuperSpeedway	17.33	15.38	1	16	9	1	38
Bristol Motor Speedway	18.00	15.93	1	14	5	18	33
Martinsville Speedway +	18.33	13.79	2	14	8	5	2
Sonoma Raceway	18.67	19.14	10	7	1	15
Daytona International Speedway	18.67	22.25	1	16	4	20	1
Kansas Speedway	18.83	13.93	1	14	7	10	38
Atlanta Motor Speedway	19.00	20.25	3	8	4	9

+ Top-five sweeps
* Top-10 sweeps

2017 Daytona 500 in 38 days

 via RotoWorld/Anthony Ballantoni

During the off-season, Look Ahead gives a snapshot of where drivers finished in 2016 and what’s ahead for them in 2017. We will look at drivers who finished in the top 40 in the Sprint Cup Series (now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2017) point standings and those who ended the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series standings in the top 30 in points. Since many teams have yet to firm up their 2017 plans, follow Rotoworld NASCAR Headlines for the latest updates.

With 38 days to go until the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500, here are a few of the driver recaps followed by a tentative list of 2017 Cup driver/team lineups.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (NSCS):
2016: Chris Buescher – Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford Fusion - In 36 races, the Prosper, TX driver led 12 laps, scored one win, two top-5s, two top-10s, had a 26.2 average start, a 26.1 average finish, earned 2,169 points and made the 2016 Chase to the Sprint Cup. After the Round of 16 events, Buescher was eliminated and closed out the season 16th in the standings.
Best 2016 NSCS start: 12th – Bristol 8/20
Best finishes: Win – Pocono 8/1
Last career NSCS win: Pocono Raceway on August 1, 2016.
2017: Roush Fenway Racing leased the NASCAR contract, along with a one-year loan of driver Buescher (who is also under contract with RFR), to JTG-Daugherty Racing. Buescher will pilot the No. 37 Ford Fusion as a teammate to AJ Allmendinger (No. 47) at JTG Racing. At this time, RFR plans on returning to a 3-car team in 2018 and Buescher will most likely return to RFR for that season. Trent Owens has been named crew chief for Buescher in 2017.

2016: Tony Stewart – Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet SS – Stewart suffered an injury in a dune buggy accident prior to the 2016 season forcing him to miss the first eight races. In 28 races, the Columbus, IN driver led 36 laps, scored one win, five top-5s, eight top-10s, had a 14.8 average start, an 18.3 average finish, earned 2,211 points and made the 2016 Chase to the Sprint Cup. After the Round of 16 races, Stewart was eliminated and closed out the season 15th in the standings.
Best 2016 NSCS starts: 3rd – Michigan 6/12, Indianapolis 7/24 and Watkins Glen 8/7
Best 2016 finish: Win – Sonoma 6/26
Last career NSCS win: Sonoma Raceway on June 26, 2016.
2017: As announced in 2015, this was Tony Stewart’s final full-time season in NASCAR. He will remain an owner (Stewart-Haas Racing) and turned over the No. 14 Ford Fusion (team switched from Chevrolet for 2017) to Clint Bowyer. Stewart is not retiring from other forms of racing. He said he's "..doing late model racing, sprint car racing. I'm building a three-quarter midget to run a couple of (county) fair races this year. There are some tracks that I've never been to that I'm going to get a chance to go to on our schedule. We're up to 71 races, and I'm guessing we're going to get another 10 to 15 more races on the schedule before it's all said and done."

2016: Austin Dillon – Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet SS - In 36 races, the Lewisville, NC driver, led 17 laps, scored two poles, four top-5s, 13 top-10s, had a 14.0 average start, a 15.9 average finish, earned 2,223 points and made the 2016 Chase to the Sprint Cup. After the Round of 16 races, Dillon was eliminated and closed out the season 14th in the standings. He also entered 19 XFINITY Series races in RCR’s No. 2 Camaro; averaged a 5.8 start and a 6.9 average finish (including wins at Fontana and Bristol). Dillon entered Carlos Contreras’ No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado in the Camping World Truck race at Fort Worth (finished 8th).
Best 2016 NSCS starts: Pole – Fontana 3/20 and Texas 11/6
Best 2016 finish: 3rd – Talladega 5/1
Last career NSCS win: None so far.
2017: Dillon will return full-time in his grandfather’s (RCR) No. 3 Chevrolet SS. Crew chief Slugger Labbe and all primary sponsors will return as well. Dillon will also share the RCR No. 2 Camaro with Cup teammate Paul Menard in the XFINITY Series races.

2016: Jamie McMurray – Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet SS - In 36 races, the Joplin, MO driver scored two top-5s, 12 top-10s, had a 16.6 average start, a 15.8 average finish, earned 2,231 points and made the 2016 Chase to the Sprint Cup. After the Round of 16 races, McMurray was eliminated and closed out the season 13th in the standings.
Best 2016 NSCS start: 2nd – Atlanta 2/28
Best 2016 finish: 4th – Talladega 5/1
Last career NSCS win: Talladega Superspeedway on October 20, 2013.
2017: McMurray is signed thru 2017 to return to Ganassi’s No. 1 Chevy. Sponsorship continues and it appears crew chief Matt McCall will return as well.

NASCAR XFINITY Series (NXS):
2016: Brendan Gaughan – Richard Childress Racing No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro - In 33 races, the Las Vegas, NV driver led 36 laps, scored four top-5s, 16 top-10s, had a 13.5 average start, a 12.2 average finish, earned 2,161 points and made the 2016 NXS Chase. Gaughan made it thru the Round of 12 races, but was eliminated after the Round of 8 events and closed out the season 12th in the standings.
Best 2016 NXS starts: 6th – Daytona 2/20 and Talladega 4/30
Best 2016 finish: 2nd – Road America 8/27
Last career NXS win: Kentucky Speedway on September 20, 2014.
2017: Gaughan will return for another season in RCR’s No. 62 Camaro. Crew chief Shane Wilson and sponsors will also return. Gaughan will also attempt to make the field for the 2017 Daytona 500 driving the Mark Beard-owned Chevrolet entry. This was a former Leavine Family Racing car that finished 15th in the 2016 500 with Michael McDowell behind the wheel. Gaughan will have his XFINITY Series pit crew and the car will have an RCR motor.

2016: Darrell Wallace Jr. – Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford Mustang – In 32 races, the Mobile, AL driver led 34 laps, scored three top-5s, nine top-10s, had a 13.0 average start, a 15.7 average finish, earned 2,163 points and made the 2016 NXS Chase. Wallace made it thru the Round of 12 races, but was eliminated after the Round of 8 races and closed out the season 11th in the standings.
Best 2016 NXS start: 5th – Phoenix 11/12
Best 2016 finish: 2nd – Dover 5/14
Last career NXS win: None so far.
2017: Wallace will continue at RFR in the No. 6 Mustang. No announced plans, but Seth Barbour is still listed as crew chief for the team.

2016: Brandon Jones – Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro – In 33 races, the Atlanta, GA driver led 36 laps, scored 12 top-10s, had a 14.4 average start, a 13.8 average finish, earned 2,168 points and made the 2016 NXS Chase. After the Round of 12 races, Jones was eliminated and closed out the season 10th in the standings. He also drove Carlos Contreras’ No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado in five Camping World Truck races; average start: 11.8, average finish: 12.8, best finish: 7th at Kentucky. Jones made five ARCA Racing Series starts in Doug Fuller’s No. 8 Chevrolet. He scored three top fives including a win at Michigan Int’l Speedway (led 51 laps of the 100 laps run in that event).
Best 2016 NXS start: 4th – Bristol 8/19
Best 2016 finish: 6th – Las Vegas 3/5
Last career NXS win: None so far.
2017: Jones is returning full-time in RCR’s No. 33 Camaro. The only announced change so far is that he will be paired with crew chief Nick Harrison this season.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS):
2016: Spencer Gallagher – GMS Racing No. 23 Chevrolet Silverado - In 23 races, the Las Vegas, NV driver led 111 laps, scored two poles, one top-5, eight top-10s, had an 11.3 average start, a 15.8 average finish, earned 402 points and closed out the season 12th in the standings. Gallagher also drove his family-owned (GMS Racing) No. 21 Camaro in seven XFINITY Series races in preparation to move up to that series in 2017. His best NXS finish was an 8th place at Daytona.
Best 2016 NCWTS starts: Pole – Chicago 9/16 and Texas 11/4
Best 2016 finish: 2nd – Talladega 10/22
Last career NCWTS win: None so far.
2017: GMS Racing has announced that Gallagher will move up full-time to the XFINITY Series this season. He will pilot the No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro. Details on sponsors, crew chief and engine supplier has not be announced at this time. Also, no announced plans for the No. 23 truck team.

2016: Cameron Hayley – ThorSport Racing No. 13 Toyota Tundra – In 23 races, the Calgary, Alberta driver led 21 laps, scored six top-5s, 11 top-10s, had an 11.0 average start, a 12.5 average finish, earned 476 points and closed out the season 11th in the standings.
Best 2016 NCWTS start: 2nd – Iowa 6/18
Best 2016 finishes: 2nd – Atlanta 2/27 and Pocono 7/30
Last career NCWTS win: None so far.
2017: Hayley has announced he will not return to ThorSport Racing in 2017. No word on his plans. No word on plans for ThorSport’s No. 13 truck team.

2016: Cole Custer – JR Motorsports No. 00 Chevrolet Silverado - In 23 races, the Ladera Ranch, CA driver led 82 laps, scored two poles, five top-5s, 14 top-10s, had a 10.1 average start, an 11.5 average finish, earned 502 points and closed out the season 10th in the standings. Custer drove JRM’s Nos. 5 and 88 Camaros in five XFINITY races with best finishes of 4th (Charlotte) and 6th (Richmond). He entered the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at Watkins Glen driving HScott’s No. 98 Toyota; started and finished in 3rd place. He also made two ARCA Racing Series starts. One for Ken Schrader (pole to 10th place) and another filling in for injured John Wes Townley (started 12th, finished 7th).
Best 2016 NCWTS starts: Pole – Canadian Tire Motorsports Park 9/4 and Talladega 10/22
Best 2016 finishes: 2nd – CTMP 9/4 and Iowa 6/18
Last career NCWTS win: Gateway Motorsports Park on June 13, 2015.
2017: JR Motorsports has decided not to continue in the NCWTS and to concentrate on fielding five XFINITY Series teams in 2017. Custer has been hired to drive full-time for Stewart-Haas Racing for their first XFINITY Series team. He will pilot SHR’s No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang and have Jeff Meendering leading the team as crew chief.

2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Lineup full-time teams(Tentative)
Car	Driver	Sponsor	Make	Owner
1	Jamie McMurray	Cessna/McDonald’s/GearWrench	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing
2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite/Alliance Truck Parts/Wurth/Autotrader	Ford	Team Penske
3	Austin Dillon	Dow//Bass Pro Shops/American Ethanol/AAA	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
4	Kevin Harvick	Busch Beer/Jimmie Johns/Mobil 1	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing
5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance/Great Clips/LiftMaster/Quicken Loans/ Panasonic/Mountain Dew/AARP/UniFirst	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
6	Trevor Bayne	AdvoCare/Liberty National/ Performance Plus	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
10	Danica Patrick	Nature’s Bakery/Aspen Dental/ TaxACT/Mobil 1/Code 3 Assoc.	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing
11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx/Sport Clips	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
13	Ty Dillon *	Geico	Chevrolet	Germain Racing
14	Clint Bowyer	Haas Automation/Mobil 1	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing
17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Fastenal/Fifth Third Bank/SunnyD	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s/Skittles/Interstate Batteries	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
19	Daniel Suarez *	Arris/Stanley/Sport Clips/Subway	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
20	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
21	Ryan Blaney	Motorcraft/Quick Lane/SKF	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing
22	Joey Logano	Shell-Pennzoil/Autotrader/AAA	Ford	Team Penske
23	Joey Gase	Best Home Furnishings (3 races)	Toyota	BK Racing
24	Chase Elliott	NAPA Auto Parts/3M/Kelley Blue Book/Mountain Dew/SunEnergy1	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
27	Paul Menard	Menards	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
31	Ryan Newman	Caterpillar/Grainger	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
32	Matt DiBenedetto	Can-Am/Keen Parts/Visone RV	Ford	GoFAS Racing
33	?	???	Chevrolet	Circle Sport w/TMG
34	Landon Cassill	Taco Bell	Ford	Front Row Motorsports
37	Chris Buescher	Kroger	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing
38	David Ragan	Taco Bell	Ford	Front Row Motorsports
41	Kurt Busch	Monster Energy/Haas Automation/Mobil 1	Ford	Stewart-Haas Racing
42	Kyle Larson	Target/CreditOne	Chevrolet	Chip Ganassi Racing
43	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Foods/U.S. Air Force	Ford	Richard Petty Motorsports
47	AJ Allmendinger	Kroger/Scott Products/ Kingsford Charcoal/Bush’s Baked Beans	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing
48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
77	Erik Jones *	5-Hour Energy	Toyota	Furniture Row Racing
78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row/Denver Mattresses/Bass Pro Shops/5-Hour Energy/Auto-Owners Insurance	Toyota	Furniture Row Racing
83	?	?	Toyota	BK Racing
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Nationwide/Axalta Coatings/Diet Mountain Dew	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
95	Michael McDowell	?	Chevrolet	Leavine Family Racing
		* Rookie of The Year candidate
Part-time/Questionable teams
7	Elliott Sadler **	Golden Corral (attempting Daytona 500 only)	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing
16	**			Roush Fenway Racing
30	**	???	Chevrolet	The Motorsports Group
44	**			Richard Petty Motorsports
55	**	?	?	Premium Motorsports
96	D.J. Kennington	Castrol/Lordco Auto Parts (Daytona 500 only)	Toyota	Gaunt Brothers Racing
98	**	?	?	Premium Motorsports
		** No Charter

1.5-Mile Doglegs - Statistically Speaking

via RotoWorld/Dan Beaver

The similarly-configured, 1.5-mile tracks often get classified together. Atlanta Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, and Kentucky Speedway all have the commonality of being 1.5-miles in length with either a dogleg or double-dogleg on the frontstretch.

From overhead the courses look the same, which has caused them to be called "cookie-cutter" tracks, but just as there are a wide variety of the baked good that lends its name to this moniker, there is variation among the speedways. And, as it turns out, however, the similarities often outweigh the differences so that drivers who run well on one of these seven often run well on all of them. To excel on similarly-configured, 1.5-mile tracks, a team needs the total package of driver skill and daring, strategy, horsepower, and mechanical grip. All of these come at a high price, so marquee teams tend to dominate.

Martin Truex Jr. has the best average finish on this track type with a 7.7 in 10 races. In itself, that is enough to identify Furniture Row Racing as one of the preeminent teams because they were able to regularly outperform the Joe Gibbs Racing associates who provided them with engines and notes. Truex won the Coke 600 in such dominant fashion that it was impossible to win any league that week without him activated. He won again at Chicagoland in the fall and had several other opportunities to win before either suffering an unexpected calamity or falling to a mistake. Expect teammate Erik Jones to do about half-again as well.

Kyle Busch sits second on the chart with an average finish that is only slightly lower than Truex. And, in some ways he might have been the better overall value because his statistics are skewed by an accident at Charlotte eight laps from the end of the 600. He posted back-to-back wins on the track type with victories at Texas and Kansas. Teammate Matt Kenseth was the class of the field on this track type in 2013, and Carl Edwards also earned a victory in 2016 to prove JGR is more than capable of running well there. Edwards’ abrupt departure will shake up the numbers a bit, but fantasy players can expect Daniel Suarez to earn a few top-10s on the course type and be one of the best dark horse choices many weeks.

Jimmie Johnson had an uneven season, but it is notable that he was at his best on the similarly-configured, 1.5-mile tracks that dominate the schedule. He established the No. 48 team as part of the Chase early with a win in the Folds of Honor Quicktrip 500 at Atlanta and surged when needed during the Chase with another win at Charlotte in the fall. While Homestead-Miami Speedway is not commonly considered in this track type because of its unique shape as a true oval, his victory on that 1.5-miler secured the championship.

Texas Motor Speedway
Speedway Motorsports Incorporated has always though outside if the box. Several years ago they employed progressive banking at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which was the first time a track of this size tried that. It was a bold experiment, but really did not change the complexion of the race much and the same drivers who ran well before that change continued to find success.

Now, Texas Motor Speedway is trying something new. They felt the track was in need of a repaving job and knew without any reservation that the drainage needed to be improved, so while they have the track torn up, they decided to decrease the degree of banking in turns one and two and widen that end of the track. This will force drivers to approach each end differently and is expected to increase side-by-side racing on the flatter turn.

It might take a season or two to determine just how effective the change will be, but some impact will be seen right away. New asphalt will contribute to drivers running the lower groove, but they will have an opportunity to get off the bottom in turns one and two. Since the new track is an unknown, Young Guns might be expected to do better-than-normal. Since the track is going to require compromise, however, one might also look to Darlington Raceway for inspiration and the drivers with the best three-year average there are Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin.

Victories:Jimmie Johnson: Atlanta, Charlotte (fall)
Brad Keselowski: Las Vegas, Kentucky
Kyle Busch: Texas (spring), Kansas (spring)
Martin Truex Jr.: Charlotte (spring), Chicagoland
Kevin Harvick: Kansas (fall)
Carl Edwards: Texas (fall) 

Driver	Avg.	TX 2	KS 2	CLT 2	CHI	KY	CLT 1	KS 1	TX 1	LV	ATL
Martin Truex Jr.	7.70	3	11	13	1	10	1	14	6	11	7
Kyle Busch	7.80	5	5	6	8	12	33	1	1	4	3
Jimmie Johnson	8.80	11	4	1	12	32	3	17	4	3	1
Kurt Busch	8.90	20	13	8	13	4	6	3	9	9	4
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	9.00					13	14	15	2	8	2
Kevin Harvick	10.10	6	1	38	20	9	2	2	10	7	6
Brad Keselowski	10.80	14	38	7	5	1	5	10	18	1	9
Matt Kenseth	11.30	7	9	2	9	8	7	4	11	37	19
Ryan Newman	11.90	10	12	4	19	3	10	7	17	13	24
Kasey Kahne	12.10	8	10	3	7	14	22	16	8	10	23
Joey Logano	14.60	2	3	36	2	39	9	38	3	2	12
Austin Dillon	15.80	37	6	32	14	16	12	6	19	5	11
Tony Stewart	16.14	31	16	9	16	5	24	12
Denny Hamlin	16.30	9	15	30	6	15	4	37	12	19	16
Chase Elliott	17.00	4	31	33	3	31	8	9	5	38	8
Alex Bowman	17.25	13	7	39	10
Jamie McMurray	17.90	19	37	10	11	7	19	26	13	16	21
Ryan Blaney	18.10	12	14	31	4	35	20	5	29	6	25
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	18.60	16	19	20	25	40	15	13	16	12	10
Danica Patrick	19.70	24	18	11	24	17	21	20	21	21	20
AJ Allmendinger	20.20	17	8	37	17	36	16	8	22	14	27
Trevor Bayne	20.30	30	17	18	23	11	25	25	15	17	22
Kyle Larson	20.90	15	30	5	18	19	13	35	14	34	26
Greg Biffle	22.00	18	25	35	26	6	11	27	39	20	13
Ty Dillon	22.25				27	25			20		17
Aric Almirola	23.60	22	40	15	32	20	26	18	24	24	15
Paul Menard	23.70	28	20	34	21	18	17	40	26	15	18
Clint Bowyer	25.00	25	26	17	22	23	23	19	38	22	35
Chris Buescher	26.60	21	21	16	28	37	37	24	28	26	28
Michael McDowell	27.50	23	22	14	37		34	28		29	33
Brian Scott	27.70	27	28	22	31	33	29	22	27	27	31
Casey Mears	27.70	39	23	40	34	30	30	21	23	23	14
Regan Smith	27.89	26	29	21		34	28	23	31	25	34
Landon Cassill	28.00	29	27	19	29	29	27	31	25	28	36
Matt DiBenedetto	30.33		24	25	30	38	32	30	34	31	29
David Ragan	30.60	33	36	23	35	22	31	29	33	32	32
Michael Annett	30.70	32	32	24	33	26	36	32	32	30	30
Cole Whitt	33.00		33	27	36	21	35	39	30	39	37
Jeffrey Earnhardt	33.29	34		26		28	39		35	33	38
Reed Sorenson	34.00	35	34	28	39	27	40	33	36
Josh Wise	35.80	40	39	29	38	24	38	36	40	35	39
Joey Gase	36.25	36	35		40			34