2010 NASCAR LifeLock.com 400 Picks & Predictions
NASCAR heads to the “Windy City” this weekend and Chicagoland Speedway for the LifeLock.com 400.
After last week’s exciting race, this week’s race will seem like being stuck in traffic on the way home from work. These cookie cutter tracks produce very little excitement, with long green flag runs and little or no passing mixed in.
Chicagoland is a 1.5-mile oval, which is similar to Atlanta, Las Vegas, Charlotte, and Texas, but with much less banking. Drivers who ran well at these tracks should run well here, so we’ll look at those drivers to play this week.
Kurt Busch 9/1
Busch has been one of the best and most consistent drivers all year, especially on these types of tracks. He won in Atlanta and Charlotte and finished fourth at Texas while having a good run in Las Vegas till he got caught up in a wreck (which wasn't his fault). While Busch has never won here, he does have five top 10s in nine starts. With the way he has run all year on this type of track, we think he gets his first win at Chicagoland this week.
Tony Stewart 12/1
This year has been a disappointment for Stewart since much was expected of him after last year’s success as an owner/driver. This could be just the race he needs to get back on track. In nine starts here, Stewart has two wins and seven top fives, with an average finish of 9.6.
Live Longshot
Matt Kenseth 20/1
Kenseth has always excelled on this type of track, with top-five finishes at Las Vegas and Atlanta this year. This year has been a disappointment for Kenseth and all the cars from Rousch-Fenway Racing but if he can run back to those finishes at Vegas and Atlanta, he should be in contention this week at a nice price.