Samsung 500
Back To Racing
After a week off to celebrate the Easter holiday, the NASCAR series gets back underway in Texas for the running of the Samsung 500.
My Pick To Win Texas
My pick to win this weekend is Jimmie Johnson.
Jimmie is hot right now but has never won at Texas before. However, in the last 12 races run at Texas we have had 12 different winners with many of these drivers notching their first win here.
Frontrunners at Texas
Last year Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart won the two Texas races. Tony has been running pretty well since finishing last at Daytona this year and currently sits 8th in the standings. That’s a gain of 35 spots since Daytona. Kasey on the other hand has struggled mightily so far this season but has moved up to 34th in the standings and is guaranteed a spot in the race this weekend.
Denny Hamlin has been quietly putting a great year together once again. In the 3 races Denny has run at Texas he has finished in the top 10 in all of them with a best finish of 4th so far. Remember that he is a teammate of Tony Stewart who won here last year and has the same equipment so he could get the job done.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has always been impressive at Texas having finished in the top 10 in 7 of the last 9 races he has run there including a win in 2000. This week we go back to the, what shall I call it? The Car of Yesterday? There won’t be a lot of guessing at setups for this race.
Jeff Gordon has been having a solid year but is still looking for his first win of the season. Jeff currently sits at the top of the standings and has the equipment capable of heading to victory lane here. Casey Mears who also drives for Rick Hendrick has struggled most of the year and is in danger of dropping out of the top 35 in owners points but has been very good at Texas during his short career finishing in the top 10 in 4 of the 6 races he has run here.
Mark Martin returns to the seat this weekend and has a very legitimate shot at taking his car to victory lane. Mark has only dropped to 15th in the standings after taking the last 2 races off to spend more time with his family.
The Roush brigade will be happy to get to Texas after leaving Martinsville a couple of weeks ago. Martinsville is probably this organizations worst nightmare as a whole but Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle have all notched victories at Texas during their careers. Look for at least 2 of these drivers to finish in the top 10 this weekend.
Kevin Harvick has come on at Texas over the last 2 races there and teammate Jeff Burton finished 6th last fall here. Jeff currently sits 2nd in the standings, 28 points behind Jeff Gordon. Kevin has finished in the top 10 in his last 2 races at Texas.
Yahoo! Fantasy Picks
Group A
- Jimmy Johnson (starter)
- Kasey Kahne
Group B
- Mark Martin (starter)
- Casey Mears (starter)
- Kurt Busch
- Denny Hamlin
Group C
- Reed Sorenson (starter)
- David Ragen
Darkhorse
- Casey Mears
Stay Away From
- Jeff Burton
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