Austin Dillon May Have Potential at Nashville

Depending on where he qualifies on Sunday, Austin Dillon definitely has some solid potential at the Ally 400. Dillon quietly is up to 12th in the points standings and appears to be entrenched in the chase despite only one top-five finish (third at Daytona). The Richard Childress Racing driver has been fairly consistent though. Dillon […]

Aric Almirola Not to be Trusted at Ally 400

Aric Almirola may be practicing a little better at Nashville but on race day, little has gone well for the Stewart Haas Racing driver. Almirola has five DNF's in 16 races this season and too many poor finishes. This includes placing 15th or worse on every track since Talladega. Even at Charlotte where he had […]

Erik Jones Having Issues at Speedway Tracks Like Nashville

Erik Jones has been having problems lately with speedway tracks of the 1-2 mile variety. Nashville is a 1.33-mile course and Jones basically had been having issues even running five laps in practice. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver fared better on the two road tracks recently (16th and 11th) over speedway courses. Jones has finished […]

Christopher Bell Needs Better Result At Nashville

Things are getting dicey as far as Christopher Bell making the playoffs. He has fallen from 11th to 15th in the point standings. Also, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's best finish since Talladega is 14th at Darlington. That is eight consecutive results outside of the top ten and four in a row beyond the top […]

Kurt Busch An Interesting Commodity At The Ally 400

Kurt Busch has little to lose other than to try and win races at this point. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had a +13 place differential at Kansas and a +15 place differential at Dover. He even finished sixth after starting 30th at Sonoma while leading eight laps. His approach does have risks as his […]

Ryan Newman's Struggles Expected To Linger At Nashville

Ryan Newman over the last month has finished outside the top 20 every single race. The prospects for this week's Ally 400 are not much better. Newman has struggled with a variety of issues and yet has not crashed. The Jack Roush Racing driver does not have the speed or grip to compete with anyone […]

Daniel Suarez Has Some Upside At Nashville

Daniel Suarez has not been too bad on intermediate tracks this season. That includes a ninth at Dover (+15 place differential). Also, there was a 15th at Charlotte and an 11th at Kansas (+10 place differential). The Trackhouse Racing driver could do well at the 1.33-mile track for Sunday's Ally 400. Even at Sonoma two […]

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. A Risky Choice At Nashville

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. may not be someone to look at for the Nashville race on Sunday. He has not managed well at some of the intermediate tracks this season. Stenhouse Jr. even started second at Charlotte and dropped out of the top ten (12th). Things went worse at Kansas and Dover just to name a […]

Matt DiBenedetto Hopes for Kansas Like Result at Nashville

Matt DiBenedetto is still on "The Chase" bubble as he is 17th in points still entering this week's Ally 400. The Wood Brothers Racing driver has led just two laps since Talladega. Talladega and Kansas also produced DiBenedetto's only top-five results all season. He has struggled quite a bit since finished 18th or worse in […]

Michael McDowell Looking For Good Finish at Nashville

It has been a struggle for Michael McDowell aside from a 7th at Austin. The Front Row Motorsports driver has been nowhere near the front row for most of the last two months. He did win at Daytona but has only led 13 laps all season. Furthermore, he did not finish on the lead lap […]

Tyler Reddick Could Rack Up Another Top Ten at Ally 400

Tyler Reddick has fared quite well at these speedway tracks of late. He finished 7th at Kansas, 8th at Dover, and even 9th at Charlotte. The Richard Childress Racing driver even had three different builds to contend with and still managed top ten results. He even led six laps at Charlotte. Laps led is not […]

Bubba Wallace Showing Decent Potential for Nashville

Bubba Wallace gradually is getting better at maintaining track position with the 23XI car. He started 18th and 15th the past two races and finished 14th both times. Aside from the early crash at Austin, Wallace has three top-15 results in his last four races. The No. 23 ride has had a rough season but […]

Ryan Blaney Not Expected to Excel at Ally 400

The Ryan Blaney car has been okay but nothing spectacular. He has no top-five finishes since his win at Atlanta. That is a span of ten races. The Team Penske driver led 157 laps at Martinsville and then misfortune occurred. Since then, Blaney has led some laps here and there but has barely contended for […]

Brad Keselowski Tries to Recapture Kansas Magic at Nashville

Brad Keselowski finished third at Kansas after starting on the pole. Since then, the driver has struggled particularly late in races as his failed track position gambles have mostly failed. The result has been five outside top ten finishes for the Team Penske driver. He will be on a new team next year but Keselowski […]

Joey Logano Could Hang Around At Nashville

Joey Logano has had one strange racing season for Team Penske. Logano's only win came on the Bristol dirt track but did have one of his best runs at Dover finishing fifth. The Team Penske driver can run well on this 750 hp package but the only question will be the hybrid tire mix on […]

Kevin Harvick May Struggle a Little at Nashville

Kevin Harvick has not had an easy month of it. The All-Star race was not the greatest and then the crash at Austin (37th), a 22nd at Sonoma, and just a tenth at Charlotte. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has not led a lap since Darlington (ten laps). Harvick has only led laps in three races […]

Kyle Busch One to Keep Eye On at Ally 400

Obviously, some of the dynamics are a bit different, but Kyle Busch will be one to watch on Sunday at Nashville. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver did finish third at Charlotte and if the runs get longer, Busch could even lead some laps. Gradually, the younger Busch has risen in the points race up to […]

Denny Hamlin Expects to Lurk Again at Nashville

Denny Hamlin excels at gathering points for the "Points Championship". Despite not winning a race all year, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver keeps leading. His margin is just 47 points over Kyle Larson and 73 points over Chase Elliott. He finished seventh at Charlotte and Dover. The only concern could be laps led. Hamlin has […]

Martin Truex Jr. Favored to Contend at Ally 400

Martin Truex Jr. has had a few rough races in a row on these speedway courses. He finished 19th at Dover and 29th at Charlotte due to a multitude of issues with his car. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver thrives on long runs but the high wear tires are something that might benefit Truex Jr. […]

Alex Bowman a Bit of a Wildcard for the Ally 400

Alex Bowman is the fourth cog in the Hendrick Motorsports Racing team and yet he has managed to win twice this year. Bowman won at Dover leading 98 laps and used an excellent pit strategy that got him out seconds before his competitors. He tends to surprise when the least expects. Also, Bowman finished fifth […]

William Byron Remains Consistent Threat at Nashville

William Byron consistently gets results of the top ten variety. Aside from the crash a few laps in at Sonoma. Byron has two fourth-place results in his last two races on 1-2 mile speedways (Dover and Charlotte). Consider that this week involves a 750 hp package. An interesting wrinkle in some tire tests is this. […]

Chase Elliott Should Continue Hot Streak at Nashville

Next to Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott has been the hottest driver in NASCAR for about the last month or so. The No. 9 has finished seventh or better in his last six races. With that streak, Elliott has risen to third in the points battle. The Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver has even shown he can […]

Kyle Larson Favorite to Win at Nashville

Kyle Larson has won on every type of track lately. Not surprisingly, he is a favorite this week to win the Ally 400 on Sunday. Short runs or long runs do not seem to matter for the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver. Larson even won the All-Star race in Texas last Sunday. Over the last six […]

Victor Perez Likely To Not See Weekend At US Open

Victor Perez has had a rough time of it on this side of the pond. He has missed cuts in the last three tournaments. Yet, he was fourth at the World Golf Championship - Dell. Also, at The Players Championship, Perez managed a tied for ninth. The biggest problem in the previous three tournaments was […]

Stewart Cink Might Be One To Pass On At The US Open

Stewart Cink has had that one round in the last three tournaments where you just throw your hands up in disgust. Last week, it was a 77 at The Memorial which took him out of contention. The week before was a 76 on the Friday at the PGA Championship combined with a slightly less horrid […]

Si Woo Kim Surprised Last Week But Not Likely At US Open

Si Woo Kim, checks notes, finished tied for ninth at The Memorial. However, he missed the cut at the last Torrey Pines tournament in January and the last US Open. Yet, Kim finished 12th at The Masters. There are a lot of moving parts in his golf game which infuriates many. This makes it difficult […]

Sam Burns May Not Be Factor At US Open

Sam Burns withdrew from the PGA Championship and then a 75-76 weekend derailed him at The Memorial. After a brief hot stretch which included a win at the Valspar and nearly another at the Byron Nelson, Burns has cooled off. Now, he did finish in the top-20 at Torrey Pines in January but again this […]

Branden Grace Could Ride Momentum Into US Open

This long Torrey Pines South course may not be ideal for Branden Grace. However, Grace surprised many with a fourth-place result at The Memorial. This was after withdrawing from the Charles Schwab two weeks ago. One red flag is his performances in the last two majors but maybe Grace finds a way. He fired a […]

Adam Hadwin Not Cutting It At US Open

Adam Hadwin just is not performing well at tournaments lately and four missed cuts do not help matters. He did finish tied for 8th at the Charles Schwab but there have been too many misses. There was that top-20 at the Farmers Insurance Championship but this version of Torrey Pines will be much tougher. Hadwin […]

Christiaan Bezuidenhout Should Make Cut At US Open

Christian Bezuidenhout will likely not contend at Torrey Pines South but he should lurk around on the weekend. Some of the worries stem from his last US Open where he shot an 82 on Sunday. Does that haunt him at all this weekend? It's a great question. Even at the PGA, he blew up on […]