Welcome to TimersSports
Sleepers -
Paul Menard: Honestly Menard isn't even a sleeper in my opinion. He should be on everyone radars as legit stud across the board in most formats. However judging by history, he will be overlooked because he isn't a big time name. Believe me, he is probably a lock for an top 10 finish this weekend. Michigan is considered his best racetrack left on the schedule. He have finished 4th in 3 straight races here. He actually have finished inside the top 10 in 4 of the past 5 races at the 2-mile racetrack.Believe it or not, Menard have finished 4 of his 8 career races with RCR in the top 5 at Michigan. Every time he have finished 4th. Not to mention , he finished 4th at California (the most similar track). He also was running 4th at Kansas and Texas before have problems. Menard seems to like things that comes in 4(s).
Austin Dillon: Dillon is probably one of the most underrated drivers at Michigan. Back in 2013, he proved he could handle this place with posting results of 11th and 14th. Last season he came back and disappointed in the finish wise. However he was far better than 22nd and 30th. Last June he finished 22nd, but he held an 17.0 average run. I believe he lost some track position on the final round of pit stops or something. In the August race, he finished 30th. In that race he started 19th , had an 13.0 average run and completed 88% of all laps inside the top 15. If Dillon can improve , then could possibly knock off an top 10 finish. Remember he ran pretty well earlier this season at California.
Jamie McMurray: JMac is someone to watch out for this week. He never had any super special stats at Michigan, but he have ran well lately though. He was surprising decent in 2014. Actually had finishes of 14th and 12th. Honestly he been pretty average at this place since joining CGR. If you going on pure past stats, you will not like what you see. Especially since he only have 5 Top 15s and 0 Top 10s over his past 12 races here. With Jamie it more what have you done for me most recent? He only have 9 straight top 20 finishes since Martinsville. In that span , he have finished inside the top 13 in 5 of the past 6. There aren't many driver hotter than Jamie McMurray right now. My concern is can the CGR cars keep up with the front runners? Honestly I don't know. We will find out.
Busts -
Ryan Blaney: I will admit I was very close to putting Blaney on my bust list at Kansas, but didn't jump the gun. But 3 blown engines in 5 starts tell me all I need to know. Sure he have shown awesome upside so far this season, but I don't trust him to go the full-distance. My theory is Penske is using him as a testing driver. Meaning they are giving him risky engines to try out. Which make sense , since the Wood bros are in alliance with Penske. In the end , we really don't know what truly going on though. Use him at your own risk!
Tony Stewart: Hate putting Smoke on the bust list in back-to-back weeks, but his numbers will make him a viable fantasy option. It pretty obvious that Smoke is dead in the water this season. He couldn't even finish decent at Pocono last week. Michigan is probably right behind Pocono, but I just don't see the point in gambling with a terrible hand. If we are lucky, we will see an respectable top 20 from him. That given SHR gives him a car that have some speed. You could probably put him in the 4 car and he wouldn't run top 10. He have lost confident in himself and it isn't something you can replace on the racetrack.
Sleepers -
Paul Menard: Honestly Menard isn't even a sleeper in my opinion. He should be on everyone radars as legit stud across the board in most formats. However judging by history, he will be overlooked because he isn't a big time name. Believe me, he is probably a lock for an top 10 finish this weekend. Michigan is considered his best racetrack left on the schedule. He have finished 4th in 3 straight races here. He actually have finished inside the top 10 in 4 of the past 5 races at the 2-mile racetrack.Believe it or not, Menard have finished 4 of his 8 career races with RCR in the top 5 at Michigan. Every time he have finished 4th. Not to mention , he finished 4th at California (the most similar track). He also was running 4th at Kansas and Texas before have problems. Menard seems to like things that comes in 4(s).
Austin Dillon: Dillon is probably one of the most underrated drivers at Michigan. Back in 2013, he proved he could handle this place with posting results of 11th and 14th. Last season he came back and disappointed in the finish wise. However he was far better than 22nd and 30th. Last June he finished 22nd, but he held an 17.0 average run. I believe he lost some track position on the final round of pit stops or something. In the August race, he finished 30th. In that race he started 19th , had an 13.0 average run and completed 88% of all laps inside the top 15. If Dillon can improve , then could possibly knock off an top 10 finish. Remember he ran pretty well earlier this season at California.
Jamie McMurray: JMac is someone to watch out for this week. He never had any super special stats at Michigan, but he have ran well lately though. He was surprising decent in 2014. Actually had finishes of 14th and 12th. Honestly he been pretty average at this place since joining CGR. If you going on pure past stats, you will not like what you see. Especially since he only have 5 Top 15s and 0 Top 10s over his past 12 races here. With Jamie it more what have you done for me most recent? He only have 9 straight top 20 finishes since Martinsville. In that span , he have finished inside the top 13 in 5 of the past 6. There aren't many driver hotter than Jamie McMurray right now. My concern is can the CGR cars keep up with the front runners? Honestly I don't know. We will find out.
Busts -
Ryan Blaney: I will admit I was very close to putting Blaney on my bust list at Kansas, but didn't jump the gun. But 3 blown engines in 5 starts tell me all I need to know. Sure he have shown awesome upside so far this season, but I don't trust him to go the full-distance. My theory is Penske is using him as a testing driver. Meaning they are giving him risky engines to try out. Which make sense , since the Wood bros are in alliance with Penske. In the end , we really don't know what truly going on though. Use him at your own risk!
Tony Stewart: Hate putting Smoke on the bust list in back-to-back weeks, but his numbers will make him a viable fantasy option. It pretty obvious that Smoke is dead in the water this season. He couldn't even finish decent at Pocono last week. Michigan is probably right behind Pocono, but I just don't see the point in gambling with a terrible hand. If we are lucky, we will see an respectable top 20 from him. That given SHR gives him a car that have some speed. You could probably put him in the 4 car and he wouldn't run top 10. He have lost confident in himself and it isn't something you can replace on the racetrack.
