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Danica Patrick quite possibly one of the most underrated drivers in the NSCS. She always get blasted for being an average driver. What people don't understand is she only been in stock car racing for roughly 5 years. Most of her competitors have least 10-15 years of experience on her.
Danica have the abilities to run competitively inside the mid to upper teens / lower twenties. Last season we saw a incline in production. Kansas and Michigan stood out to me. Arguably her race of her career was at Kansas. Michigan not far behind. High speed Intermediate tracks will likely be her secondary strength to Plate tracks. Due to her inconsistency. Outside of Kansas and Michigan , she had a mix results in 2014. Unlikely to change in 2015. Least that the logical answer.
Short tracks will likely continue to be issue for Danica. In her NSCS career , she had very few good showings. Why? Mainly due to being lapped or damaged racecar. Short tracks can causes problems even for some of our sport top drivers. Nevertheless from a fantasy vantage point , I would recommend avoiding her on the short tracks. 26.8 Average finish in 2014. Richmond was her best result of 16th. Only one other top 20. Not exactly fantasy relevancy.
Flat tracks she will have mix results. So far in her career have been far better on the shorter flat tracks then the larger flats. New Hampshire and Phoenix stood out in 2014. She had 24.7 average. At Pocono and Indy she had a 36.3 average finish. Little misleading though. She had competitive cars at Pocono , but had bad luck. Still the flats make me nervous with Danica especially from a fantasy pov.
The Plate tracks will be interesting to say the least. I believe Danica best finish will come on one of the these 4 races in 2015. Most times these races ends will maybe 15 or so cars left on the lead lap. Usually underfunded or inexperienced drivers get a chance at an single digital finish. Pinpointing on which of the 4 is the tricky part. She also have proven to be a solid qualifier too. That's a bonus in some league formats.
Danica will likely be nothing more then an top 20 option on most weekends with top 15 upside at certain tracks. She probably never gonna be anything beyond that , least this upcoming season. I would try to use her at Daytona , Kansas , Michigan and other similar tracks. Most weekends she will be more of a liability then an asset. I often forgotten that and paid the price. Most of you probably have too. When selecting high risk/high reward drivers , its always wise to weight weather it worth it after everything is factored in.
Twitter - @JeffNathans