PixelatedPICK: Viva Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (March 5, 2022) — The new NextGen era of NASCAR continues on for round three of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series with a stop in “Sin City” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Gen 7 car continues to impress most fans overall and the sanctioning body is actively working out some of the bugs encountered early on, such as car recovery issues following a flat tire.

When it comes to picking drivers for the Pennzoil 400, I once again fall back on my established system of picking based on the highest drivers in the standings that have available usages withing NASCAR Fantasy Live. I’m also picking my race winner via the Random Fantasy Racing system, but I must admit here and now that unless needed, or already one of the main line picks, the random pick will most likely sit in the garage on most weeks.

Random Fantasy Pick: Michael McDowell

Lucky for me that McDowell is performing better than many would expect early on this season. His in race performance has been solid, but the finishes tell a different story. As a result, McDowell sits 18th in the standings with one top ten and one “did not finish”. He’ll sit ready in the garage this week until needed.

Austin Cindric: Interesting stat. In the existence of the NASCAR Cup Series, there has never been a rookie leading the points standings for two consecutive weeks… until now. With a win in the Daytona 500 and solid showing at California, Austin Cindric remains atop the points standings going into Vegas.

Joey Logano: A previous winner of the Pennzoil 400, Logano will carry those Pennzoil colors on his number 22 Ford this weekend in the hopes to secure Team Penske’s 600 organizational win. Team Penske hit win number 599 last weekend in St. Petersburg when Scott McLaughlin won his first NTT Data IndyCar Series event.

Martin Truex Jr.: MTJ is quietly flying under the radar early this season. He’s won two stages and overcome manufacture wide overheating issues in California to position himself solidly in the top three of the points standings.

Ryan Blaney: With Blaney in fourth, all three Team Penske drivers are at the top of the heap in the Cup Series. Coming off a break out 2021 season racking up three wins, Blaney is a threat for Sunday and could be the one to get “The Captian’s” 600th win.

Chase Briscoe: Briscoe led more laps last Sunday in California than he had in all of the other Cup Series races he’s run thus far. Two solid finishes to start the season puts the sophomore Stewart-Haas driver fifth in the standings.

• By: Daniel Vining, Twitter: @danielvining

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