Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Fantasy Nascar Sleepers & Busts (Michigan)

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The term sleeper is the overused term in fantasy sports. In fantasy racing we use to word to much as well. Honestly the only true fantasy sleepers are the ones with top 10 potential. At this point of the season, we are looking for fantasy options that are under the radar but with a lot of potential to cause damage. There a few drivers who should offer that at Michigan, but I think it important to understand the risk involved. Throughout the season, fantasy players must take risk in order to receive rewards. The more risks you take, then the higher the chance you will be burned with a certain driver. This week I think it important to not get too crazy. I agree there some nice fantasy value laying around, however I would not go digging on dangerous ground. Save that for Bristol folks!

Sleepers -

Paul Menard - Let keep it simple with Paul Menard. He is not a flashy fantasy option who will dominate up front but he more of a safety net type. Trust me when I say, ''You have to be prepared to use him''. Menard is strange. He usually qualifies in mid-pack and shows little to decent speed in practice, so don't be expected to be blown away. If you do, then you will likely be disappointed. However he finished in the top 10 in 3 of the past 4 races at Michigan. Earlier this season, I thought he struggled overall. He started around 20th and didn't have a car much than that. Even though he sneaked into the top 10 in latter part of the race.

Austin Dillon - I am not gonna tell anyone what to do, but Austin Dillon absolutely love Michigan. The stats don't show it but he been pretty good here. Over his previous three starts, he have an impressive 14.0 average running position. However he have managed finishes of 19th, 30th and 22nd. Trust me he's much better than the final position shows. Dillon have been running much better of late and if that holds true, then Dillon could be a steal if rest of your league get caught sleeping on him. I think Dillon is easily an top 15 option heading into practice.

Matt Kenseth - Kenseth is a legit sleeper and people don't seem to realize it. Not only does he have one of the strongest track record at Michigan among active drivers at Michigan (2nd-best career average to only Carl Edwards). But he also have finished 7th or better in the past 5 races. No other driver in the series can say that. So why is a sleeper? Well it's pretty simple. Kenseth doesn't offer enough upside in most fantasy formats. Typically he doesn't qualify well enough to be contender up front until end of the race. Which means people not willing to use him since guys like Logano, Harvick, Busch and others will offer similar finish position potential. However Kenseth is a great fantasy option if you are looking to go off-seqence.

Busts -

Kasey Kahne - I know more than a few people will try to gamble with Kasey Kahne, however he have finished 19th or worse in every race since his last top 10 finish at Sonoma. So that is a 6-race slump that he is in. Did I trust him? Hell no! Honestly I don't see any reason to trust him at all. Until Kahne can provide some consistency, I don't think he offer much fantasy value at all. At this point, I am probably gonna just dump all my remaining allocation in Yahoo Fantasy Racing. Unless he get hot suddenly. Unfortunately history says Kahne best finishes comes in the first 15 races of the season.

Jeff Gordon: Gordon lands on the bust list for 2nd-straight week. For good part of the past 20 years, Hendrick Motorsports have been on top of the sport and consistency contending for wins. However they have struggled since Kentucky. I cannot name one race where any of those cars have looked competitive enough for a win or legitimate top 5 for the entire race. Honestly it's not HMS fault  though. The other teams are just better at the moment. Not to mention that Gordon have finished 17th or worse in 4 of the past 6 races at Michigan. There are better options than Gordon, even though I am sure there plenty of people who will roster Gordon.

Email - Briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12