This week’s NASCAR fantasy picks for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The biggest news to come out of the NASCAR world this week was not just Brad Keselowski’s second win of the season after complete and total domination at Martinsville. This week, the racing schedule for 2020 was announced, with plenty of changes to make your eyes pop out and your hair stand on end. The biggest and boldest moves?
- ISM Raceway in Phoenix will now host the season ending Championship race
- The season will officially end one week sooner on November 8th
- Daytona will host the regular season finale under the lights on August 29th
- The first double header racing weekend will be held June 27th & 28th at Pocono Raceway
- Mother’s Day weekend racing happens under the lights at Martinsville
- Father’s Day will be spent at Chicagoland Speedway
See the official NASCAR website for the full 2020 schedule and a further breakdown of changes.
All of this comes on the heels of the announcement of a new rules package at qualifying, beginning this weekend at Texas. You might remember the debacle at Auto Club two weeks ago when the twelve drivers in round three waited so long to head onto the track that none of them made it to the start/finish line to log an official lap time. This led to a starting lineup that placed all drives in the position they finished in round two.
Going forward, NASCAR won’t be so kind. Try that again this week, and you’ll start at the back of the pack on race day. Another change? Getting the hell out of the way if you don’t plan to hit the track immediately. Drivers will no longer be allowed to sit at the end of pit road and block other drivers from attempting a run. The three round structure, including run times, will remain the same.
Last Week’s NASCAR Fantasy Picks: Recap From Martinsville
Brilliant NASCAR fantasy picks:
Denny Hamlin – finished 5th
Joey Logano – finished 19th
Ryan Blaney – finished 4th
Bold NASCAR fantasy picks:
Aric Almirola – finished 9th
Clint Bowyer – finished 7th
Austin Dillon – finished 11th
Bonkers NASCAR fantasy picks:
Kevin Harvick – finished 6th
Kyle Larson – finished 18th
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – finished 25th
And now, here are this week’s Brilliant, Bold, and Bonkers NASCAR fantasy picks for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway:
Brilliant NASCAR fantasy picks
Chase Elliott
Wins: 0
Top 5 finishes: 2
Top 10 finishes: 5
A little bit more aggression from the number 9 last week, and Brad would have had a number 2 finish at Martinsville. Chase is on the bubble to make that final push into greatness. Always a fan favorite, I’m thinking that this could be the week he gives the crowd exactly what they want.
Eric Jones
Wins: 0
Top 5 finishes: 2
Top 10 finishes: 3
Jones has had some lousy finishes in the last few weeks, but Texas is a track where does well. He has the talent to do better in that 20 car, and I think he will this week. If he can’t pull of the win, he should at least get another top 5 under his belt.
Martin Truex Jr.
Wins: 0
Top 5 finishes: 4
Top 10 finishes: 15
Truex hasn’t won a race yet this season. He’s been the runner up twice and finished in 8th place twice. He finished 35th in Daytona, but who’s counting that? Now that Kyle has two wins and Hamlin has one, everyone is holding their breath for Truex to do his part for JGR. There’s a high chance he does it his week.
Bold NASCAR fantasy picks
Ryan Blaney
Wins: 0
Top 5 finishes: 2
Top 10 finishes: 3
Yes, I thought he’d pull it off last week. Yes, I think he has a great chance to pull it off this week. This isn’t his best track, nor his worst, but it has enough potential to make him a star when all is said and done.
William Byron
Wins: 0
Top 5 finishes: 0
Top 10 finishes: 1
And this won’t even be the boldest pick of the week. While Byron’s experience is limited, there are a few tracks where he shows a lot of promise. This is one of them. I’m banking on Byron and Chad Knaus to pull it together for the 24 to make something special happen at Texas. Chad has won seven times here with Jimmie Johnson, producing 15 top-five finishes. I trust this team to pull it off before I trust the 48.
Bubba Wallace
Wins: 0
Top 5 finishes: 0
Top 10 finishes: 1
Yeah, I said it. I think that Bubba Wallace has some talent in there, but I think he’s mismatched with his crew chief. Again, just my opinion, but Bubba has a unique personality that would thrive if someone would let him be that crazy kid who races the hell out of trucks and Xfinity cars. Other than Daytona, this is the only place he could end up in the top 10 if all goes well. You probably won’t see him here again until then.
Bonkers NASCAR fantasy picks
Ryan Newman
Wins: 1
Top 5 finishes: 3
Top 10 finishes: 6
Newman has a win here, but this is out of 31 races, and season is off to a slow start with his new team. He’s struggled on his best tracks, so he’s likely to be a bust on his worst.
Jimmie Johnson
Wins: 7
Top 5 finishes: 15
Top 10 finishes: 21
I’m going out on a limb here—or am I? The last few seasons have been sad seasons for Johnson. You might be tempted to choose him for his multiple wins at Texas, but his multiple wins at Auto Club only got him a 17th place finish. Right now, this team is missing the right stuff, and I don’t know when they’ll get it back. Cross your fingers for Dover.
Brad Keselowski
Wins: 0
Top 5 finishes: 5
Top 10 finishes: 8
There aren’t many tracks that Brad falters on, but Texas is one of his not-so-great places. Odds are looking fondly on him this week, and his season has been off the hook so far, but I think that this is the week when Brad slows down and someone else dominates.
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