The third race of the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take them to Las Vegas for the 2016 Kobalt 400. Jimmie Johnson will be gunning for back-to-back wins after victory in Atlanta last week, but what do the NASCAR experts think of his chances? Let’s take a look at their picks to take the checkered flag in Vegas. and their justification for said picks.
Expert Picks and Predictions for the 2016 Kobalt 400
Bleacher Report
EXPERT
WINNER
Brendan O’Meara
Matt Kenseth
Bleacher Report’s Brendan O’Meara was a bit off with his bold prediction that Kasey Kahne would win in Atlanta last week as Kahne finished way down in 23rd. This week, he’s putting his faith in Matt Kenseth to take home the checkered flag.
Kenseth hasn’t exactly had the best start to his season, going 14th and 19th in his first two races. But he loves the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He’s got three wins in 16 starts at the track, and six top-5 finishes. O’Meara logically sees those as “winnin’ figures” and it’s hard to argue with him.
Although, Kenseth’s odds of +750 aren’t exactly overwhelmingly in his favor, as he lags behind the likes of Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson.
Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Jeff Gutowski’s Top 5
Kevin Harvick
Jimmie Johnson
Matt Kenseth
Martin Truex Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Speaking of Harvick and Johnson, Jeff Gutowski of Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet has both of those drivers as his top two in Las Vegas. Johnson, is coming off another win in Atlanta last time out (as Gutowski correctly predicted), while Harvick finished sixth despite leading the most laps.
This week, Gutowski is going with the defending champion Harvick to win in Las Vegas because of that dominant performance, although that’s not much of a bold choice. Harvick is the overall favorite at +450 to win back-to-back titles in Vegas.
Johnson isn’t far behind at +550, and will have a lot of things going his way. Aside from his aforementioned win last week, Johnson also leads all active drivers with four wins in Las Vegas. But Gutowski isn’t completely sold on his team’s overall performance, which is why JJ’s only slated to go second.
Yahoo! Fantasy NASCAR experts
PLACE
Robert Walsh
Marlon Clark
Jed Henson
Chase Lupton
Kyle Wiseman
FRCS Group
1st
Harvick
Harvick
Harvick
Ky Busch
Johnson
Harvick
2nd
Ky Busch
Kenseth
Ky Busch
Earnhardt Jr
Harvick
Ky Busch
3rd
Truex Jr
Ky Busch
Logano
Kenseth
Kenseth
Kenseth
As always, the Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet has compiled picks from five top Yahoo! fantasy NASCAR players as well as the consensus pick of the FRCS public, and the majority are siding with Gutowski in picking Harvick to win in Las Vegas.
However, it’s a bit surprising to see just one expert pick Johnson in his top three. Instead, the popular name that was in five of six top-three lists was Kyle Busch, who’s also priced at +550 to win.
Busch had a terrific run in Atlanta after being forced to start at the back due to car problems. He eventually worked his way back to finish in third. He also has some decent history in Las Vegas with one win and five top 10 finishes in 11 starts.
