Fantasy Picks at LVMS and the Christopher Bell High Banked Fury podcast with Bob Francis
By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net
The pre-qualifying picks
Las Vegas, NV. —
Kyle Larson has nine top 10s in the last 11 races at Las Vegas, including three wins and two runner-up results. … Larson ranks No. 1 in speed and No. 2 in long run speed on 1.5-mile tracks, according to Racing Insights rankings.
Hamlin has seven top 10s in his last 10 starts at Las Vegas. … Christopher Bell’s third-place finish last weekend at the Roval gives him 11 top-three finishes in 32 starts this season. … Bell has finished second in the Las Vegas playoff race each of the past two seasons. …
Logano’s four wins at Las Vegas are the most among active drivers. … Logano has won two of the last six Las Vegas Cup races.
Ross Chastain has not won at LVMS, but is a top ten machine. He is five top- 5 finishes in the last seven races and is 0-5-6-7. Bet on the Busch Light driver to be popping an adult beverage after another great finish.
Christopher Bell has a very good LVMS record. He has not won since the Next Gen car came onto the scene in 2022, but he has a record of 0-3-4-5. His three top 5- finishes and four top-tens show he is a player in the race. Our Zoomcast High Banked Fury spoke to Bell recently and can be found above.
Say no to ‘Vegas as a CUP Fantasy Pick
Chase Elliott has one top-10 finish in the last five Las Vegas races. … Elliott finished outside the top 30 in the last two Las Vegas playoff races.
Josh Berry won the most recent Cup race at Las Vegas, taking the checkered flag there in March. Unfortunately, Berry has only four top-10 finishes since that Las Vegas win in March.
Kyle Busch has the numbers. In the Next Gen era, in seven races, has had three top-5’s and another two in the Top-20. Still, Bush has led only 50+ laps this year and has had a miserable season in Cup. Most drivers achieve top finishes by leading up to them with both speed in the previous several races and consistent top finishes. Busch has neither. Busch is fool’s gold or cubic zirconium at LVMS.
The Post Qualifying starters
The lineup listed above largely looks the same as the one posted above.
Denny Hamlin wins the pole but gets no love here. Hamlin might win at LVMS but we have only one start left with him. We will save it for Martinsville where he will be the HEAVY favorite.
Chase Briscoe qualifies second, reaffirming our choice of starting him and is part of the JGR Racing team that sweeps the top three spots for the race.
Christopher Bell is Q-3.
The Chevy’s are Q 4-6, starting with Chase Elliott. He replaces Ross Chastain, who qualifies 15th. Elliott’s teammates, William Byron and Kyle Larson, are Q 5-6. The lowest qualifier on our final team is Joey Logano, who is a great pick for LVMS is Q-9. Logano will be there at the end.
It is very rare a pole qualifier does not get chosen for a fantasy team, but it’s late in the CUP season. We had all Top 5 qualifiers on our list early in the week. We know what we are doing.
Roy J. Akers is a NASCAR reporter for www.skyviewsports.net and is the host of High Banked Fury on YouTube. Subscribe to both. It’s free.
