Last season we saw the younger generation of drivers start to make a name for themselves, and after three races here in 2017, it’s safe to say that these guys are here to stay. Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney are consistently running up front, and when you throw Joey Logano into the mix–who is a veteran but still a ‘young gun’–it won’t be very surprising if these guys win a handful of races this year. As far as Phoenix this weekend, the younger drivers were the stars of the show again during qualifying on Friday, as Logano won the pole, Blaney qualified 2nd, and Larson ended up 4th. And just a little farther back, Elliott will start 7th and rookie Erik Jones will start 8th.
My team points last week (Atlanta): 338
Overall team percentile: 95th
Total team points for the season: 872
Yahoo! A Group Pick and Final Rankings for Phoenix
For my team, the A Group starter was decided as soon as qualifying was over on Friday, as Joey Logano won the pole for this weekend’s Camping World 500(k) while Kevin Harvick will start way back in 23rd. And while it seems odd to say, going into Sunday, Harvick doesn’t have a very good car anyway. The #4 team made overhaul changes to the car twice on Saturday and it still looked slow during practice, so they’re going to have to pull something big out of their ass on Saturday night or it could be a long day for that team. Considering Harvick has won eight times here at Phoenix, though, you can never count him out. Still, heading into Sunday, the #4 Ford is only top 10 good, and this is a relatively short race.
Logano’s speed on the long runs has yet to be determined, but with how his teammate, Brad Keselowski, looked in practice on Saturday, I’d say the #22 team has nothing to worry about. Usually whenever one of the Penske Fords are fast during practice, they’re both right there during the actual race. One guy that Logano does have to look out for, though, is Kyle Busch. Hands down the #18 Toyota was the class of the field during Happy Hour on Saturday, and even though he starts back in 9th on Sunday, Rowdy Busch will be inside the top 5 soon after the green flag waves. It just seems fitting that this weekend’s race is going to come down to the two drivers that got into a brawl just one week ago.
My Starter: Joey Logano
Final A Group Rankings: (1) Joey Logano, (2) Kyle Busch, (3) Brad Keselowski, (4) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., (5) Kevin Harvick, (6) Jimmie Johnson, (7) Matt Kenseth, (8) Martin Truex, Jr., (9) Denny Hamlin
Yahoo! B Group Picks and Final Rankings for Phoenix
The A Group drivers are going to shine here in Phoenix on Sunday, but there are a handful of B Group guys that should be sprinkled throughout the top 10 at the end of the Camping World 500(k) on Sunday. Ryan Blaney was the best qualifier in the B Group on Friday and will start 2nd alongside Joey Logano. Speed-wise the #21 Ford looked consistent during Saturday’s sessions, but probably not for a top 5. However, don’t forget that Blaney had the 4th-best 20-lap average during Happy Hour, so the potential for him to stay up there and fight is definitely there.
Chase Elliott is on a whole bunch of rosters this weekend, and while his short run speed is there, the #24 Chevrolet seems to lack a bit on the long runs. Elliott should still definitely be top 10 good on Sunday, but you really have to question whether or not you want to burn a start with him here. Kyle Larson is another B Group stud that is going to be valuable this season. He qualified 4th but, like Elliott, seems to fall off a bit more than others on the longer runs. Still, Larson is a solid top 10 pick this week and could easily nab another top 5 on Sunday. He finished 3rd here at Phoenix back in November.
Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray are both having similar starts to the season and it looks as though that will continue here at Phoenix on Sunday. Both drivers qualified inside the top 10 for this weekend’s Camping World 500(k) and showed some speed during both of Saturday’s practice sessions as well. From there, it’s all going to come down to how this race plays out and what kind of strategy the teams use. McMurray gets a slightly higher ranking from me simply because he qualified better.
My Starters: Ryan Blaney and Kasey Kahne
Final B Group Rankings: (1) Kyle Larson, (2) Chase Elliott, (3) Ryan Blaney, (4) Jamie McMurray, (5) Kasey Kahne, (6) Kurt Busch, (7) Clint Bowyer, (8) Ryan Newman, (9) Trevor Bayne, (10) Austin Dillon, (11) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (12) A.J. Allmendinger, (13) Danica Patrick, (14) Paul Menard, (15) Aric Almirola (16) Chris Buescher
Yahoo! C Group Pick and Final Rankings for Phoenix
Will Erik Jones be able to finally get his first top 10 finish of the season here at Phoenix on Sunday? He ran really well at Atlanta a couple of weeks ago and again at Las Vegas last weekend, but the #77 team just hasn’t been able to get a great finish. The good news is that this race is only 312 miles so maybe that will help this team. Erik does have one Cup start here in the desert, and that came in the 2015 fall race here when he subbed for Matt Kenseth. Jones wound up finishing 19th in the #20 Toyota that day but was really a top 15 car all day. Ty Dillon, on the other hand, has two Cup starts here at Phoenix with a best result of 15th (in this race last season). He will start from 15th here on Sunday in the #13 Chevrolet–which is the best qualifying effort of the season for this team–and should finish around there as well. As far as Daniel Suarez goes, he wrecked in Happy Hour on Saturday and then wrecked later that day in the Xfinity race as well. There’s no reason to even consider the #19 Toyota this weekend.
My Starter: Erik Jones
Final C Group Rankings: (1) Erik Jones, (2) Ty Dillon, (3) Daniel Suarez, (4) Michael McDowell, (5) Landon Cassill, (6) David Ragan, (7) Matt DiBenedetto, the rest
