Toyota Owners 400 Fantasy Preview
By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service
Following a rare off week, Sprint Cup Series racing returns this Saturday night with the running of the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Speedway. This fast ¾ mile D-shaped oval typically presents some of the best racing on the Sprint Cup circuit and we should be in for a treat this Saturday. For fantasy owners, Richmond presents a great opportunity to gain some ground on your competitors or perhaps distance yourself if you are already out front in your league. Take a look at NASCAR Wagers, Toyota Owners 400 Fantasy Preview:
There are several drivers that will have a lot of value this week as potential dark horses, but first we must list the ‘must have’ drivers for Saturday night’s race. The two guys that everyone should have are Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch. Sure both guys are favorites to win the race, but they are deserving favorites which is not always the case. Harvick is the only repeat winner thus far in 2014 and Richmond just so happens to be one of his best racetracks. Harvick has posted a top 10 finish in 16 of his 26 career starts at Richmond and has visited victory lane 3 times. The #4 team has undoubtedly been the cream of the crop this season amongst competitors. While it may not seem likely that Harvick could capture another victory this early in the season, it definitely would not be a surprise if he did.
Our other driver that is a ‘must have’ is Kyle Busch. Busch already scored a victory this season back at Auto Club Speedway and is quietly put together an impressive start to 2014. Busch is sitting 4th in the points with 4 top 10 finishes through the first 8 races of the season. More importantly Busch has owned Richmond International Speedway in recent years especially in the spring. Before 2013, Busch had won 4 straight Richmond spring races. Those 4 wins are the most among all active drivers and Busch has accomplished that feat in just 18 starts at Richmond. In those 18 starts, Busch has posted 12 top 5 finishes and leads nearly every driver rating category. If you do not have ‘Rowdy’ on your team this week, chances are you will be sorry.
Outside of the favorites, there are several drivers that hold a lot of value this week that are not typically in our week to week discussions. Guys like Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, and Ryan Newman all have tremendous upside. Edwards won the Federated Auto Parts 400 last September at Richmond. Even though that race was overshadowed by Bowyer’s seemingly intentional spin to bring out a caution and help teammate Martin Truex Jr race his way into the Chase, Edwards along with Brad Keselowski were the class of the field throughout the entire race. Edwards is an under rated short track driver but can get the job done just like his victory at Bristol earlier this season.
Bowyer on the other hand is in the midst of a 49 race winless streak. However, Richmond statistically is Bowyer’s best track with a 10.06 average finish which is 3rd best among active drivers. Not to mention, two of Bowyer’s 8 career Sprint Cup victories have come on the short D-shaped oval. Another driver that may be a bigger longshot is Ryan Newman. Newman had this race won last September before Bowyer brought out that controversial caution. Newman has visited victory lane at Richmond in the past and the #31 team has been running fairly strong in recent weeks.
If those dark horses do not suit your looking, you may want to send a quick look over at Penske Racing drivers Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. Neither driver has ever won at Richmond, but that does not mean much as both teams have unloaded fast cars nearly every week. Keselowski lead the most laps in last year’s fall race and Logano posted a career best 3rd place finish at Richmond in the spring. Both drivers have run well on Goodyear’s multi-tread tires that will be introduced for the first time at Richmond this week and it would not be surprising if either was in contention when the dust settles this Saturday night.
If you are looking at other favorites, you may want to consider staying away from Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson this week. Obviously it’s never advisable to not have the #48 team on your roster, but this team is struggling with tire wear issues that are expected to be a factor this weekend. Additionally Johnson has a rather poor 17.29 average finish in his 24 career starts at Richmond. Kenseth along with the #20 team have been surprisingly under par thus far this season and like Johnson supports a rather poor career average finish at 15.82.
Drivers will roll off for the first practice session for the Toyota Owners 400 this Friday at 10:00am eastern time. Check back with us for practice recaps and full race predictions later in the week.
