The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is now on its 12th stop of the season: the 2016 AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. Jimmie Johnson is the only driver in history with double-digit wins at the track (10) and will be gunning for win No. 11 this Sunday. Do the top NASCAR experts see another win for the No. 48 or do they have some other driver rolling down Victory Lane?
Check out those experts’ highly-educated picks below. Meanwhile, check out our complete preview of the 2016 AAA 400 here as well as the 2016 AAA 400 prize money breakdown here.
Fox Sports NASCAR fantasy expert Chad Robb likes Kevin Harvick to win this weekend at Dover. Robb notes how Harvick, the current Sprint Cup points leader, has been a master of the Monster Mile in recent years. Last year, he finished both races in the top two and led a total of 446 laps.
Harvick absolutely dominated last year’s AAA 400 in October. He led 355 of the 400 laps en route to victory. With that impressive track record, Robb is confident enough to tab Harvick as the safest pick to drive up to Victory Lane on Sunday.
Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Jeff Gutowski’s Top 5
Jimmie Johnson
Kyle Busch
Matt Kenseth
Joey Logano
Carl Edwards
Jeff Gutowski of Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet was a bit off on his picks last week. His predicted top two – Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson – finished 38th and 17th, respectively. Gutowski, though, is keeping his faith with JJ this week in Dover.
He sees the No. 48’s record at the track – 10 wins (the most all-time by far), 15 top fives, and 20 top tens in twenty-eight starts along with 2,999 laps led (almost three times more than any other driver) – and is rightly impressed. Gutowski views Johnson as a no-brainer pick, and it’s hard to make a case against him.
Speaking of no-brainer picks, Gutowski also tabbed Kyle Busch to be right up there in the standings once again. Busch got another win in Kansas last week, keeping his unbelievable hot streak alive. In his last six races, Busch has finished second or better five times with three wins.
Busch also has a stellar record at Dover, with two career wins and three runner-up finishes. Gutowski sees Busch pushing Johnson all the way, but he will have to settle for another second-place finish.
Yahoo! Fantasy NASCAR experts
PLACE
Robert Walsh
Marlon Clark
Jed Henson
Chase Lupton
FRCS Group
1st
Harvick
Johnson
Harvick
Johnson
Harvick
2nd
Johnson
Harvick
Edwards
Harvick
Johnson
3rd
Ky Busch
Kenseth
Ky Busch
Ky Busch
Ky Busch
The regular fantasy NASCAR experts polled by Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet are in agreement with both Robb and Gutowski that Harvick and Johnson are the two drivers to beat at Dover. All five have either Harvick or Johnson winning, while four out of the five also have one of the two finishing in second.
Jed Henson offered the lone dissenting opinion, as he sees Carl Edwards sneaking in for a second-place finish. Edwards has cooled off a bit after recording back-to-back wins a couple weeks ago, but a dose of Dover might just be what he needs to get going once again. Edwards has one win, eight top five, and twelve top ten finishes in only twenty-three starts at the track.
