NASCAR Draft Kit: 2019 Track Specialists

Three of Busch's eight victories last season come on the short track circuit. The Joe Gibbs Racing star swept both Richmond races, and took the checkers first in the spring installment at Bristol. These wins just added to a career total that is becoming impressive by any measure. When the driver of the No. 18 Toyota isn't winning, he's not usually very far off on these bull rings. His career Top-5 rate on these tracks stands at a ridiculous 52-percent. That's best in all of NASCAR, and by a wide margin. One gets the sense when the series visits these small ovals, that's it's Busch's race to lose, and that's more often the case than not. With no substantial changes to this race team for 2019, we don't expect to see Busch cool off on the short track circuit. In fact, he could grab more headlines and hardware this season.

Kevin Harvick
Car: 4
Owner: Stewart Haas Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

While Harvick was not nearly as good as Kyle Busch last season on the short tracks, he was by most measures the next most successful driver on these small ovals. The Stewart Haas Racing star didn't win at any of these tracks, but he did stack up three Top-5 and six Top-10 finishes in these events, including a season-best runner-up finish in the fall Richmond race. That excellence and consistency yielded a superb 6.5 average finish in these races. Those totals were pretty much in line with the career stats Harvick has accumulated at these ovals. In fact, the 2018 campaign actually lifted Harvick's career numbers at bit on these short tracks. The No. 4 Ford team is once again poised for excellence and another run at the championship this season, so the veteran driver should once again be razor sharp on these small ovals.

Joey Logano
Car: 22
Owner: Penske Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

The 2018 champion can look back on last season's short tracks and say they were a key part in his championship run. Logano grabbed a huge victory during the Chase at Martinsville, and that propelled him into the championship round at Homestead where he'd capture his first NASCAR title. The Penske Racing star also grabbed three Top-5 and five Top-10 finishes throughout the year on the short tracks. What once used to be his Achilles heel in terms of performance has started to become a strength. As you can see in the career numbers in the table above, Logano has started to build a very nice resume on these small ovals. The driver of the No. 22 Ford is now a NASCAR champion, and you can expect to see him carry that excellence into each weekend of next season, including the short track circuit.

Chase Elliott
Car: 9
Owner: Hendrick Motorsports
Manufacturer: Chevrolet

We waited three long seasons to finally see Elliott break into victory lane, and he did it three times in 2018. We're still waiting to see the Hendrick Motorsports prodigy claim a win on a short track, but from what we've seen it won't be much longer. The driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet flirted with victory lane twice at Richmond last year, and once at Bristol. It all added up to a campaign of three Top-5 and five Top-10 finishes on the short tracks for Elliott last season. The best of those were his runner-up finish in the spring Richmond race, and 112-laps led and third-place finish in the summer Bristol race. While he's not the long tenured driver that most are in this list, it's clear that this youngster is the future of NASCAR on these short tracks.

Denny Hamlin
Car: 11
Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
Manufacturer: Toyota

Hamlin had a down campaign in 2018, but he still maintained his characteristic good performance on the short tracks. The Joe Gibbs Racing star nabbed a pair of Top-5 finishes at Martinsville Speedway, and was generally a Top-15 finisher on the other short tracks of the series. That's still below our normal expectations for this driver and team. We expect Hamlin to rebound to more familiar form in 2019. His career accomplishments on these small ovals can't be overlooked. Outside of his teammate, Kyle Busch, you'll be hard pressed to find a veteran driver in the series with more success on the short tracks than Hamlin. He's a fantasy racing must-start at Martinsville, and a very good performer at Richmond.

Kyle Larson
Car: 42
Owner: Chip Ganassi Racing
Manufacturer: Chevrolet

The Chip Ganassi Racing star has been better known for his big oval and intermediate oval performance through five seasons of racing at NASCAR's top level. However, Larson turned a corner on the short tracks last year. Despite being winless for the campaign, the No. 42 team took off on these small ovals in 2018. Larson nabbed runner-up finishes in both Bristol races, and he posted four Top-10 finishes total in these six events. That's a pretty dramatic improvement over his career numbers. While he's still far from the top drivers in this category, Larson is making gains and becoming a fantasy racing asset on the short tracks. Don't let the career averages fool you into thinking he can't be useful on the bull rings. His first-career Bristol win could happen this season.

ROAD COURSE SPECIALISTS

Although road courses are a small percentage of the overall schedule, they can be a huge factor in a fantasy racing championship. The circuit's road courses include Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the new Roval at Charlotte.

Martin Truex Jr.
Car: 19
Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
Manufacturer: Toyota

The new Joe Gibbs Racing star will bring the asset of strong road course performance to his new race team. Truex was outstanding last year on the winding circuits with a victory at Sonoma, a runner-up finish at Watkins Glen, and a near-brush with victory on the Charlotte Roval before the last-turn, last-lap accident caused by Jimmie Johnson. He now has three-career road course victories on these style tracks, and we're willing to bet Truex isn't finished just yet. The Watkins Glen course in particular has been very successful for Truex. He would have captured the victory there in 2018 were it not for the hard-charging Chase Elliott that would not be denied on the last lap. Joe Gibbs Racing will continue to give Truex great cars just like Furniture Row Racing had been doing, and crew chief Cole Pearn will continue to give Truex every edge in this style of racing in the 2019 season.

Kyle Busch
Car: 18
Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
Manufacturer: Toyota

The four-time road course winner, didn't claim any victories on these circuits last season, but Busch did nab a pair of Top-5 finishes at Watkins Glen and Sonoma. Those just added to what is an impressive career total for this driver on these tracks. The Joe Gibbs Racing star didn't find the new Roval to his liking, and ran into problems and a late-race crash. However, Busch did race 85 percent of his laps inside the Top 15 on the new Roval, so he didn't struggle too much. You'll be hard-pressed to find a more capable road course performer than Busch. To underscore that statement, you need to look no further than his two-career wins and seven-career Top-5 finishes on Xfinity Series road courses. Busch will once again be one of the drivers to beat on these tracks this season.

Kurt Busch
Car: 1
Owner: Chip Ganassi Racing
Manufacturer: Chevrolet

Busch makes the move from Stewart Haas Racing to Chip Ganassi Racing in 2019, and he'll bring all that road course experience and prowess with him. Despite the lone victory in 18 seasons of racing, the veteran has been dialed-into the Top 10 on these circuits for many years. With a Top-10 rate of 54-percent on these style tracks, Busch is in an elite category. Last year he grabbed one Top-5 and three Top-10 finishes on these winding courses. That performance was highlighted by his pole position, seven laps led and fifth-place finish on the new Roval at Charlotte. He'll go down in history as the first-ever pole winner on that configuration of Charlotte Motor Speedway. We're certain Busch has another season ahead of great racing at these facilities.

Chase Elliott
Car: 9
Owner: Hendrick Motorsports
Manufacturer: Chevrolet

Elliott finally broke through for his first-career Cup Series victory in 2018, and of all places he did it on the road circuit in Watkins Glen. The Hendrick Motorsports rising star led the final 34 laps on that August afternoon, and held off a furious challenge from Martin Truex Jr. to secure the win. In addition to that superb performance, Elliott logged fourth- and sixth-place finishes at the other two circuits in Sonoma and Charlotte. It was a spectacular season by any measure for the No. 9 team on road courses. While Elliott's statistical sample is small, and his resume still growing, the trend is pretty clear. The young driver is a very talented and capable road circuit warrior. We expect to see Elliott flourish for years to come on these challenging tracks.

Clint Bowyer
Car: 14
Owner: Stewart Haas Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

Last season was riddled with ups-and-downs, but one thing remained pretty constant for Bowyer, and that was success on the road courses. He led off the year with a strong third-place finish at Sonoma. That was his eighth-career Top-5 at that facility for a whopping 62-percent rate. That California circuit is easily Bowyer's favorite in the schedule, and was the site of his lone road course victory. The Stewart Haas Racing veteran registered a respectable 11th-place finish at Watkins Glen in the late summer, but then followed with a strong third-place finish in his debut on the Charlotte Roval. Those efforts have boosted his career Top-10 rate at these facilities to an impressive 59-percent rate. Bowyer is not the top threat to win at these winding tracks, but he's always on the leaders' heels.

Kevin Harvick
Car: 4
Owner: Stewart Haas Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

The two-time road course winner had a very productive 2018 season on the road circuits. Harvick nabbed a runner-up finish at Sonoma in June after leading 35 laps and battling with Martin Truex Jr. all afternoon. The driver of the No. 4 Ford then went on to grab Top-10 finishes at both Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval. Harvick now carries a four-season Top-10 streak at Sonoma into 2019, so the California road course is looking more and more like his favorite. However, we can never discount his driving abilities on any of these challenging tracks. While Harvick is not the threat to win at these facilities like some of the drivers higher up in this list, he'll always be in the mix at these tracks. His 51-percent career Top-10 rate at the winding circuits puts the SHR star in some pretty elite company.

SUPERSPEEDWAY SPECIALISTS

As with the road courses, the superspeedways represent a small portion of the overall schedule. However, these tracks are raced twice a season, so the stakes are much higher. The circuit's superspeedways include Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Joey Logano
Car: 22
Owner: Penske Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

Logano raced to his first championship in 2018, and part of the credit is due to his excellence on these superspeedways. The Penske Racing star grabbed a Top-5 finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, and never looked back. Logano would go onto post three Top-5 finishes, including the victory in the spring Talladega race in the four restrictor-plate races of last season. His teammate, Brad Keselowski, still outweighs him in the total wins category, but Logano has caught and passed him in terms of Top-5 and Top-10 finishes at these two ovals. Right now Logano is looking like the more dangerous driver of the two each time we visit Daytona and Talladega.

Brad Keselowski
Car: 2
Owner: Penske Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

The crash bug-a-boo was a big problem for Keselowski on these tracks last season. Three of his four superspeedway outings ended with DNF's due to accidents. So we've dropped the Penske Racing star one spot down the list, but we still have to recognize the speed and skill of this driver on these fast ovals. Keselowski led a combined 51 laps between these two tracks in 2018, so speed was not an issue. As usual, the Penske Racing team shows up with fast race cars for Keselowski at both Daytona and Talladega. The luck of this driver and team has to change at some point, and that's why we're calling for the rebound for Keselowski this season. The six-time restrictor-plate winner is just too good to ignore at these two ovals.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Car: 17
Owner: Roush Fenway Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

Stenhouse continued his strong racing at these two ovals once again last season. He seemed to have all the speed in the world at Daytona. The Roush Fenway Racing veteran logged 62-combined laps led in the Daytona 500 and Coke Zero Sugar 400, but the good finishes escaped the driver of the No. 17 Ford. Talladega would end up being a much better story for Stenhouse. While he lacked the laps led like he had at Daytona, Stenhouse piloted the team's Ford to a pair of Top-5 finishes at the Alabama speedway. Those performances have lifted his career Top-10 rate at Talladega to a spotless 64-percent. In this form of high stakes racing, that is an unheard of rate. We see continued superspeedway success for Stenhouse in 2019.

Kurt Busch
Car: 1
Owner: Chip Ganassi Racing
Manufacturer: Chevrolet

Busch has more Top-10 finishes between these two ovals than any other active driver in NASCAR. Years of good racing have produced those 36 Top-10 finishes, which check in at a respectable 51-percent rate. As you can see his Top-5 rate is strong as well, coming in at 30-percent which is a pretty remarkable number. Obviously, Daytona International Speedway has held more success for Busch with the 2017 Daytona 500 victory and more Top-5 finishes than Talladega. Still, he's a dangerous driver at both these facilities. Busch finished runner-up in the spring Talladega race last year, and he returned in October to win the pole, lead a whopping 108 laps, but fade to finish 14th that afternoon. Never overlook Busch in your fantasy racing lineups when it comes to either Daytona or Talladega.

Aric Almirola
Car: 10
Owner: Stewart Haas Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

Almirola was already building a pretty good superspeedway resume even before joining Stewart Haas Racing last season. The veteran driver won the Daytona July race for former boss, Richard Petty, back in 2014. Almirola put another trophy in his case for new boss, Tony Stewart, last season with his surprising victory in the October Talladega race. There might have been two wins in 2018, but Almirola crashed while leading the Daytona 500 on the last lap due to a late block of Austin Dillon. The speed and the excellence added up to one win and three Top-11 finishes for Almirola at these two huge tracks. It's clear that he understands racing in the draft, and when to make moves late in these races. Those skills should continue to pay dividends with this strong No. 10 SHR team.

Ryan Newman
Car: 6
Owner: Roush Fenway Racing
Manufacturer: Ford

The 17-season veteran has become as dependable as a timepiece on these superspeedways. Newman may be moving to a new race team in 2019, but he should bring his superspeedway racing strength with him. Roush has put great cars under Ricky Stenhouse Jr. the last three seasons, so if they do the same for Newman, there could be a very high ceiling for this driver on these two ovals. Newman won the 2008 Daytona 500 for Roger Penske, and he's more recently nabbed three-straight Top 10s at the Daytona oval for former boss, Richard Childress. Talladega has been equally successful over the years for this driver. Rocket Man has nabbed Top-10 finishes in two of his last three Talladega starts, including a runner-up finish in the fall of 2017. Newman is a driver to watch closely this season on these restrictor-plate race tracks.