Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Fantasy Nascar Sleepers & Busts (Charlotte)

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Sleepers -

Aric Almirola: If you have followed my fantasy advice over the years, then you probably realized I really love to ride certain fantasy options at certain parts of the season. For example, Paul Menard is almost a lock to make my list early in the season. Now it seems to be Aric Almirola! For good reason too. Aric finished 4th at Richmond and 5th last week at Dover. Not to mention, he also finished 10th back at Chicagoland. I don't know about anyone else, but I would take a top 10 finish from Aric! Heck I would take a top 15 finish from Aric Almirola! He is arguably the most underrated driver in the series considering he drives from a lackluster Cup team. His stats here aren't that impressive, but track records are so overrated in my opinion. When I am evaluating a driver as a potential pick, I look for three things: 1) Level of Consistency. 2) Current momentum. 3) Current Fantasy value. Aric Almirola fits the bill to a tee and is my top fantasy sleeper headed into the weekend!

Austin Dillon: Dillon seems to land on my fantasy radar more often than not and usually get a spot on my sleeper list! This week is no different as I think he can have a possible top 10 run, but I think it safer to wait on practice to make a bold prediction like that. As of right now I think he is legitimately a top 15 driver at Charlotte! Earlier this season at the 600, he was strong and had his best race here. The shocking thing is he finished a career-worst 16th, which should tell you a lot of his potential the second time around at this venue. It should be noted that he only have made three starts at Charlotte so far in his car though. When looking at those three races, he have held an 15.3 average running position which is pretty strong for Dillon. He actually held 12.0 average running position back in May and ran inside the top 15 for nearly the entire race. He is one of my personal favorite sleepers this weekend and will defientely be on my radar as we approach the race!

Kyle Larson: Larson get a bad rep at Charlotte because of his poor track record, however he is a very young driver with only a few races under his belt. His performance earlier this season at the 600 didn't help his case any, but I do believe he have will eventually turn it around at this place! Larson is obviously a very talented driver who have been running top 10 on a weekly basis lately. That is very good for his fantasy value. Since Pocono (back in early August), only twice have he finished worse than 13th! So you know he have the consistency to go along with the speed. I felt like that been Larson's biggest foe in 2015. The big question is can Larson take the momentum he have and turn it in another quality finish? I think there a good possibility of that. I will be intensely watching Larson in practice and qualifying leading up the race!

Busts -

Jimmie Johnson: Johnson was eliminated from the chase at Dover and now goes to a track where he have struggled to find consistent finishes at. He use to dominate this place, but he haven't been the same the past few seasons. He haven't been terrible, but he only have 4 top 10 finishes over his past 11 races at Charlotte, even though they all have ended in 4th or better. Okay that may be a bit too large of a sample size. Over his past 5 races here, he have finished 17th or worse three times. His other two races have ended in 1st and 4th though. Regardless I don't know what to really to expect from Johnson considering he have two teammates still batting for the championship. I wonder how good his equipment will be and what is going through his mind after Dover. Those questions should be answered very quickly though.

Clint Bowyer: I needed a 2nd bust selection, so I went with Clint Bowyer just because I think he is too risky of a fantasy choice to use at Charlotte. There only two places I have considered Bowyer at and that been the road courses. Otherwise I don't really trust him. For some reason, he is getting more than a little love from the fantasy racing community. His track record here isn't that great and he haven't really ran that well this season. His best effort came back in 2012 when he went to victory lane in his 2nd career start with MWR at this venue. Since? Only top 10 finish and only 3 top 15 finishes overall in the past 5 races. His most recent races here haven't ended well either. Back in May, he finished 20th and that where he pretty much ran all night long. Last October he finshed 43rd due to a engine problem. The race before that he finished 17th and was never really much of a contender. If he finishes inside the top 15, then it would probably be a good day for him. Knowing how his season have gone, I wouldn't bank on it!

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Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12