We’re off to the Irish Hills of Michigan this weekend for back-to-back races at Michigan International Speedway. This is a 2-mile oval that is the sister track of Auto Club Speedway (Fontana), where we raced at back in March, so if you’re looking for a race to go back and study, there’s one for you. Also, Goodyear is bringing the same tire combination this weekend that was ran at the Kentucky and Texas races, and the Cup teams will run the same right sides from Kansas as well. Taking all of those races into account, as well as recent speed in general, should give us a good indication of who should run well here this weekend. Joey Logano is on the pole for Saturday’s race and the full starting lineup can be found by clicking here.
*Please note: the picks and suggestions below are my opinions and strategy for the Slingshot Fantasy Auto Contest. These are not meant to sway your thinking in any way, but rather give you insight into the drivers I am most likely to pick on race day.*
Slingshot Fantasy Auto Contest Picks for Michigan Saturday
Kevin Harvick ($13,000) – Michigan International Speedway is a high horsepower race track. The strongest cars here will have an advantage this weekend. And in terms of Green Flag Speed, nobody is better than Kevin Harvick this season in that category (yes, he finally overtook Chase Elliott). Now think back to the two Pocono races and Indianapolis: other tracks where a strong engine paid dividends. Harvick finished 1st, 2nd, and 1st. Now let’s look at Michigan specifically: Harvick has won two of the last three races and has finished 1st or 2nd in eight of the last 14 races here. I know you’re probably sick of me writing up Kevin Harvick week in and week out but the guy is a fantasy stud and should still score a ton of Slingshot points on Saturday despite starting up in 3rd and not having much room for place differential.
Kurt Busch ($10,600) – Originally I had Ryan Blaney ($11,200) in this spot, but decided to go with the safer option in Kurt Busch. There is no doubt that the #12 Ford with Blaney has been one of the fastest cars all year, but with his 20th-place finish at New Hampshire last week, YRB now has four results of 20th or worse in the last six races. I don’t like that bad juju. Like I said, though, he has the horsepower to finish top 3 on Saturday, and I can’t blame you for taking him. For my team, though, I’m rolling with Kurt Busch, who finished 3rd at Fontana earlier this year and has finished 6th or better in three of the last four Michigan races. Also, looking at the above similar tire tracks, Kurt wound up 5th at Kentucky, 8th at Texas, and 9th at Kansas. Again, a safe Fantasy NASCAR option here.
Erik Jones ($10,300) – I’m willing to roll the dice here with Erik Jones because of how he’s performed on the similar tracks I’m looking at this week. At Fontana, Jones wound up coming home 10th, and then at Texas he finished 6th before winding up 5th at Kansas a week and a half ago. As far as Michigan goes, Jones’ record is decent: a career average finish of 15.5 over six career starts and only one top 10–a 3rd-place finish back in 2017. On Saturday, Erik will start from back in 23rd and I really like his top 10 finishing potential with that place differential potential. Let’s just hope he doesn’t have another pitting outside of the box penalty…
Matt DiBenedetto ($8,400) – I struggled with my lineup for a bit this week, and at first I had Christopher Bell ($9,200) in this spot. I could still end up going that route–he starts back in 29th and could finish top 10–but as of this post I’m set on DiBenedetto. I just love that Wood Brothers car at Michigan. Horsepower makes such a difference here in the Irish Hills and the #21 Ford is also strong in that department. Just look at Paul Menard: his four Michigan races with the Wood Brothers ended with finishes of 5th, 16th, 13th, and 15th. DiBenedetto ran 13th at Fontana earlier this year and honestly I think he could compete for a top 10 this weekend. Restarts are important at Michigan and Matty D has been great at them with this tire combination.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ($7,700) – I was going to dip down and grab Corey LaJoie ($6,200) here, but by going with Kurt Busch instead of Ryan Blaney (and Matt DiBenedetto instead of Christopher Bell), it allowed me to afford Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. so I’m going to roll the dice here. Stenhouse will roll off the grid from back in 32nd and honestly I’m just hoping for a top 20 finish. He ran 20th at Fontana earlier this year in this JTG Daugherty car, and while he was with Roush-Fenway he scored top 20s in four of the last six Michigan races. Last week at New Hampshire, Stenhouse finally got a decent finish (14th) and ended his slump of four straight races of 29th or worse, which is sandwiched between finishes of 17th or better in three of the last seven races overall. This is a pure place differential play here and I think Stenhouse has a little more upside than the guys priced lower (although more risk as well).
