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Fantasy Nascar Update -
A:
1. Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch had one of the best cars in practice (JGR as a whole looked very good), but that isn't I like most about him at Bristol. I don't take practice as serious as I would at most tracks. Track position (and starting position) is huge here, it is arguably the most important factor. Busch has a great pit crew who get the job done each week and he will roll off from the 3rd starting spot. Not only that, but Busch have one of the best track records here from a career point of view. In fact, he was awesome here last summer and probably had the best car. Back in the spring, he once again probably had the best car. Both times, he saw his chances of winning get swiped away. I think he get it done on Saturday night and finds himself back in victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway.
2. Matt Kenseth - Kenseth starts deepest in the field among the Joe Gibbs Racing cars (from 5th place) , but I think he will be up front contending for the win all night long. So why do I like him more than guys like Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin,etc. Well for one he will have track position like the other guys I just named. However, he also have a great track history and have won there twice since joining JGR in 2013. Not only that, but he was very back in the spring race. As I mentioned before, I don't consider practice as relevant as normally. But he posted some very good lap times in both practice sessions, for what it is worth. I am not sure quite how good he will be when you factor in everything, but JGR has a history of running strong on the short tracks this season. That alone should get Kenseth's top 10 potential. Headed into the race, I view him as a top 5 driver.
3. Joey Logano - Logano will roll off from the 10th starting spot and will be one of the favorites headed into Saturday's night race. He got a lot of hype this week because he have won the past two summer races at Bristol. His lap times in practice weren't quite on point with the fastest cars, but that isn't Joey's style. This season more often than not, he have looked like just a top 10 guy. And more often than not, he finds himself with top 5 speed during the race. I think that will be the case once again this weekend. I think he will move his way through the field and lead some laps before the checkers. He also have been one of the hottest drivers over the past month or so. Combined that with a strong track history, season's consistency, speed and reliability. Then you get one of the best fantasy options in the field for Saturday night's race.
4. Kevin Harvick - Harvick starts deep in the field, but you shouldn't be worried at all about that. Why? Well, for one he have started deep in the field most of the season. A big reason why he didn't qualify well is because he didn't make any mock qualifying runs in practice. That is going to hurt him, but I am not too concerned about it though. He should be able to make his way through the field and contend for the win. Also, Harvick usually have really good long run speed in his racecars. At Bristol, a fuel run can go about 150 laps. When (not if) we see a long green-flag run, you can expect the #4 car to be one of the cars to beat. My big concern is? Of course his pit crew. I don't trust that pit crew to go mistake-free. It is almost a given that the 4 team will screw up, as that seems to be a common theme this season. But he have a fast enough car to overcome that, if does happen. On Saturday night, you can expect Harvick to be a top 5 threat before the night is over!
5. Denny Hamlin - This last spot was down to Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin, I really like them both. Keselowski ran the NXS race, but Hamlin has the most momentum right now. So I sided with the driver who has the most momentum instead. I think Keselowski will be very good on Saturday night and be least a top 10 contender and have a chance at the top 5. However, I really like JGR once again this weekend. I think all 4 JGR cars will be battling it out up up front and Hamlin may have the best car overall. He starts from 2nd and his lap times were a little better than Kyle Busch. So why do I have him ranked so low? I am not 100% on board to trust him, but he is rapidly earning my trust back. He is hot right now and has enough speed to find victory lane. Also Hamlin is a former winner at this track. He is one of the last drivers to win a summer race, not named Joey Logano.
B:
1. Carl Edwards - Carl Edwards is starting on the pole once again this weekend at Bristol. He started on the pole in the spring race as well. In practice, I didn't think he had a dominating car but that's practice. At Bristol, track position is very important and if you can get out front then there's a great chance you can run away with a good lead until you start lapping cars. Pit road also will be huge, so I am willing to bet that him qualifying on the pole will be beneficial in more than one way. Edwards also have translated strong starting position into solid finishing positions. As I mentioned up above, JGR as a whole looks very good this weekend (once again) and they have had the jump on the comp all year on the short tracks as well. I think Edwards will finish inside the top 5 on Saturday night and have a shot at the most laps led as well.
2. Martin Truex Jr - I am not loving Truex this week, but he looks to be least top 10 good though. He haven't had a top 10 finish at Bristol in quite awhile which only makes me trust him even less. I think Truex will be better than people think. But he haven't been talked about that much this week and there is a reason for that. Short tracks in general seems to be a weak spot for the 78 team, they just don't have it figured out yet. His best days will be on the intermediate tracks and I don't think that have changed much throughout the year. On Friday, he had good speed overall I would say and qualified 6th. Truex will likely have some sort of top 10 potential on Saturday night, but I don't trust Truex as far as I can throw him. Which probably isn't too far, so that probably should tell you how I feel about him. With that said, I cannot deny he has potential (as he does every week).
3. Kyle Larson - A lot of people are jumping of the Kyle Larson bandwagon this weekend after he qualified 23rd. I am surprised so many people are jumping off, because he have been a poor qualifier all year long. But more times than not, he have been fine in those race. Remember back in the spring when he qualified 25th? Made up 12 spots before the first caution. Solidly inside the top 10 before 1/5 of the race was even over. Point being? Larson isn't a stranger to starting mid-pack and moving to the front. Also if you watch the NXS race, you saw that the high-line was the way to go. If you watch Nascar over the last few years, then you know that there is nobody better running near the wall than Larson. It helps that he had pretty good speed in practice as well.
4. Ryan Newman - Newman should be a great fantasy option on Saturday night, as he will roll off from about the 15th starting position. He had pretty decent speed in practice, what I like about him most is he seems pretty comfortable with his car. On short tracks that may be more important than posting fast laps. Anyone can post a fast lap, but there are gonna be 500 laps on Saturday night. That's a lot of laps and I would rather have a comfortable car than a car that is fast for a few laps. Newman also is known to be a consistent driver who have a knack for running well at short tracks. He have that aggressive nature to him behind the wheel, which seems to put him over the top (in my opinion). If you go with Newman, you shouldn't expect anything beyond a top 12 finish. If he finishes inside the top 10, then you can consider it as a bonus. With that said, he probably won't finish worse than 15th either. Commonly, he runs and finishes in that 12th-15th place ran. What you see is what you will get from Ryan Newman.
5. Austin Dillon - Austin Dillon was another driver who ran in Friday's night race, it is improtant because they ran the same tire they are using on Saturday's night. More track time you get, probably the better. I think that can be said any race weekend, but when they run the same tire, I think that much more important overall. On top of that, Dillon have looked pretty good in both practices and in qualifying. He will roll off from inside the top 15 and had legit top 15 speed. Dillon have a mix track record at Bristol, so it is hard to say what to expect from him honestly. However, the 3 team will be very motivated to get a solid finish for Austin as he battles for a chase spot. So I think they will find a way to get him out front at some point and lead some laps. Teammate Paul Menard did that in the spring and it allowed him to stay inside the top 10 for quite awhile. If Dillon doesn't have top 10 speed, then I expect his team to take some calculated gambles to get him track position. Of course that is just speculation though. Based on what we know, I would say he has chance to finish somewhere from 12th-17th place range.
C:
1. Chase Elliott - Chase Elliott looked very good on Friday overall. He posted some very fast lap times and qualified very well, too. Not only that, but he finished 4th earlier this season. Elliott have been a non-top 10 finish slump for awhile now and I think it only matter of time before he breaks out of it. Headed into the week, I thought he would have a great shot at breaking through for a strong finish. After practice and qualifying, my opinion haven't too much honestly. I really like Elliott this weekend to challenge for a top 10 finish and maybe a little more. I have some trust issues with Elliott right now, but if he finishes top 10 then that would go a long way in my book.
2. Ryan Blaney - I think Blaney could have one of his best races of the season at Bristol. He showed a lot of speed on Friday and qualified very well, too. He will roll off from the 4th starting spot. He also have won races in Xfinity and Trucks series. Headed into the week, my hopes were very high for him and they are probably even higher now. I legitimately think he will be a top 10 contender on Saturday night. Remember, he finished 11th in the spring here. Not only that, but this is a Ryan Blaney/21 team type racetrack.
3. Jeff Gordon - Any other week, I would say Jeff Gordon would be the top ranked driver in this grouping tier. But Blaney and Elliott looked just as good as him and qualified better. So it is hard to rank him over either of them, with the potential they have. With that said, I don't think there will be much of a difference in this grouping tier. At most, I think all three drivers will finish within 5 spots. This is probably the best Gordon have looked all season long and quite frankly this may be the last race for him this season. Hard to say though, since Dale Jr's future is still up in the air. All we do know is Gordon won't be racing at Michigan. Should be noted that Gordon had a prior commitment to something, he is committed to. That is why he isn't available for Michigan. I think Gordon will be good for least a top 15 finish.
Grouping Tiers Rankings (w/ overall rankings listed in () next to driver)-
A -
1. Kyle Busch (1)
2. Matt Kenseth (3)
3. Joey Logano (4)
4. Kevin Harvick (5)
5. Denny Hamlin (6)
6. Brad Keselowski (7)
7. Jimmie Johnson (9)
8. Kurt Busch (10)
B -
1. Carl Edwards (2)
2. Martin Truex Jr (8)
3. Kyle Larson (11)
4. Ryan Newman (13)
5. Austin Dillon (14)
6. Kasey Kahne (16)
7. Jamie Mac (18)
8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (19)
9. Tony Stewart (20)
10. Trevor Bayne (21)
C -
1. Chase Elliott (12)
2. Ryan Blaney (15)
3. Jeff Gordon (17)
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
Fantasy Nascar Update -
A:
1. Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch had one of the best cars in practice (JGR as a whole looked very good), but that isn't I like most about him at Bristol. I don't take practice as serious as I would at most tracks. Track position (and starting position) is huge here, it is arguably the most important factor. Busch has a great pit crew who get the job done each week and he will roll off from the 3rd starting spot. Not only that, but Busch have one of the best track records here from a career point of view. In fact, he was awesome here last summer and probably had the best car. Back in the spring, he once again probably had the best car. Both times, he saw his chances of winning get swiped away. I think he get it done on Saturday night and finds himself back in victory lane at Bristol Motor Speedway.
2. Matt Kenseth - Kenseth starts deepest in the field among the Joe Gibbs Racing cars (from 5th place) , but I think he will be up front contending for the win all night long. So why do I like him more than guys like Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin,etc. Well for one he will have track position like the other guys I just named. However, he also have a great track history and have won there twice since joining JGR in 2013. Not only that, but he was very back in the spring race. As I mentioned before, I don't consider practice as relevant as normally. But he posted some very good lap times in both practice sessions, for what it is worth. I am not sure quite how good he will be when you factor in everything, but JGR has a history of running strong on the short tracks this season. That alone should get Kenseth's top 10 potential. Headed into the race, I view him as a top 5 driver.
3. Joey Logano - Logano will roll off from the 10th starting spot and will be one of the favorites headed into Saturday's night race. He got a lot of hype this week because he have won the past two summer races at Bristol. His lap times in practice weren't quite on point with the fastest cars, but that isn't Joey's style. This season more often than not, he have looked like just a top 10 guy. And more often than not, he finds himself with top 5 speed during the race. I think that will be the case once again this weekend. I think he will move his way through the field and lead some laps before the checkers. He also have been one of the hottest drivers over the past month or so. Combined that with a strong track history, season's consistency, speed and reliability. Then you get one of the best fantasy options in the field for Saturday night's race.
4. Kevin Harvick - Harvick starts deep in the field, but you shouldn't be worried at all about that. Why? Well, for one he have started deep in the field most of the season. A big reason why he didn't qualify well is because he didn't make any mock qualifying runs in practice. That is going to hurt him, but I am not too concerned about it though. He should be able to make his way through the field and contend for the win. Also, Harvick usually have really good long run speed in his racecars. At Bristol, a fuel run can go about 150 laps. When (not if) we see a long green-flag run, you can expect the #4 car to be one of the cars to beat. My big concern is? Of course his pit crew. I don't trust that pit crew to go mistake-free. It is almost a given that the 4 team will screw up, as that seems to be a common theme this season. But he have a fast enough car to overcome that, if does happen. On Saturday night, you can expect Harvick to be a top 5 threat before the night is over!
5. Denny Hamlin - This last spot was down to Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin, I really like them both. Keselowski ran the NXS race, but Hamlin has the most momentum right now. So I sided with the driver who has the most momentum instead. I think Keselowski will be very good on Saturday night and be least a top 10 contender and have a chance at the top 5. However, I really like JGR once again this weekend. I think all 4 JGR cars will be battling it out up up front and Hamlin may have the best car overall. He starts from 2nd and his lap times were a little better than Kyle Busch. So why do I have him ranked so low? I am not 100% on board to trust him, but he is rapidly earning my trust back. He is hot right now and has enough speed to find victory lane. Also Hamlin is a former winner at this track. He is one of the last drivers to win a summer race, not named Joey Logano.
B:
1. Carl Edwards - Carl Edwards is starting on the pole once again this weekend at Bristol. He started on the pole in the spring race as well. In practice, I didn't think he had a dominating car but that's practice. At Bristol, track position is very important and if you can get out front then there's a great chance you can run away with a good lead until you start lapping cars. Pit road also will be huge, so I am willing to bet that him qualifying on the pole will be beneficial in more than one way. Edwards also have translated strong starting position into solid finishing positions. As I mentioned up above, JGR as a whole looks very good this weekend (once again) and they have had the jump on the comp all year on the short tracks as well. I think Edwards will finish inside the top 5 on Saturday night and have a shot at the most laps led as well.
2. Martin Truex Jr - I am not loving Truex this week, but he looks to be least top 10 good though. He haven't had a top 10 finish at Bristol in quite awhile which only makes me trust him even less. I think Truex will be better than people think. But he haven't been talked about that much this week and there is a reason for that. Short tracks in general seems to be a weak spot for the 78 team, they just don't have it figured out yet. His best days will be on the intermediate tracks and I don't think that have changed much throughout the year. On Friday, he had good speed overall I would say and qualified 6th. Truex will likely have some sort of top 10 potential on Saturday night, but I don't trust Truex as far as I can throw him. Which probably isn't too far, so that probably should tell you how I feel about him. With that said, I cannot deny he has potential (as he does every week).
3. Kyle Larson - A lot of people are jumping of the Kyle Larson bandwagon this weekend after he qualified 23rd. I am surprised so many people are jumping off, because he have been a poor qualifier all year long. But more times than not, he have been fine in those race. Remember back in the spring when he qualified 25th? Made up 12 spots before the first caution. Solidly inside the top 10 before 1/5 of the race was even over. Point being? Larson isn't a stranger to starting mid-pack and moving to the front. Also if you watch the NXS race, you saw that the high-line was the way to go. If you watch Nascar over the last few years, then you know that there is nobody better running near the wall than Larson. It helps that he had pretty good speed in practice as well.
4. Ryan Newman - Newman should be a great fantasy option on Saturday night, as he will roll off from about the 15th starting position. He had pretty decent speed in practice, what I like about him most is he seems pretty comfortable with his car. On short tracks that may be more important than posting fast laps. Anyone can post a fast lap, but there are gonna be 500 laps on Saturday night. That's a lot of laps and I would rather have a comfortable car than a car that is fast for a few laps. Newman also is known to be a consistent driver who have a knack for running well at short tracks. He have that aggressive nature to him behind the wheel, which seems to put him over the top (in my opinion). If you go with Newman, you shouldn't expect anything beyond a top 12 finish. If he finishes inside the top 10, then you can consider it as a bonus. With that said, he probably won't finish worse than 15th either. Commonly, he runs and finishes in that 12th-15th place ran. What you see is what you will get from Ryan Newman.
5. Austin Dillon - Austin Dillon was another driver who ran in Friday's night race, it is improtant because they ran the same tire they are using on Saturday's night. More track time you get, probably the better. I think that can be said any race weekend, but when they run the same tire, I think that much more important overall. On top of that, Dillon have looked pretty good in both practices and in qualifying. He will roll off from inside the top 15 and had legit top 15 speed. Dillon have a mix track record at Bristol, so it is hard to say what to expect from him honestly. However, the 3 team will be very motivated to get a solid finish for Austin as he battles for a chase spot. So I think they will find a way to get him out front at some point and lead some laps. Teammate Paul Menard did that in the spring and it allowed him to stay inside the top 10 for quite awhile. If Dillon doesn't have top 10 speed, then I expect his team to take some calculated gambles to get him track position. Of course that is just speculation though. Based on what we know, I would say he has chance to finish somewhere from 12th-17th place range.
C:
1. Chase Elliott - Chase Elliott looked very good on Friday overall. He posted some very fast lap times and qualified very well, too. Not only that, but he finished 4th earlier this season. Elliott have been a non-top 10 finish slump for awhile now and I think it only matter of time before he breaks out of it. Headed into the week, I thought he would have a great shot at breaking through for a strong finish. After practice and qualifying, my opinion haven't too much honestly. I really like Elliott this weekend to challenge for a top 10 finish and maybe a little more. I have some trust issues with Elliott right now, but if he finishes top 10 then that would go a long way in my book.
2. Ryan Blaney - I think Blaney could have one of his best races of the season at Bristol. He showed a lot of speed on Friday and qualified very well, too. He will roll off from the 4th starting spot. He also have won races in Xfinity and Trucks series. Headed into the week, my hopes were very high for him and they are probably even higher now. I legitimately think he will be a top 10 contender on Saturday night. Remember, he finished 11th in the spring here. Not only that, but this is a Ryan Blaney/21 team type racetrack.
3. Jeff Gordon - Any other week, I would say Jeff Gordon would be the top ranked driver in this grouping tier. But Blaney and Elliott looked just as good as him and qualified better. So it is hard to rank him over either of them, with the potential they have. With that said, I don't think there will be much of a difference in this grouping tier. At most, I think all three drivers will finish within 5 spots. This is probably the best Gordon have looked all season long and quite frankly this may be the last race for him this season. Hard to say though, since Dale Jr's future is still up in the air. All we do know is Gordon won't be racing at Michigan. Should be noted that Gordon had a prior commitment to something, he is committed to. That is why he isn't available for Michigan. I think Gordon will be good for least a top 15 finish.
Grouping Tiers Rankings (w/ overall rankings listed in () next to driver)-
A -
1. Kyle Busch (1)
2. Matt Kenseth (3)
3. Joey Logano (4)
4. Kevin Harvick (5)
5. Denny Hamlin (6)
6. Brad Keselowski (7)
7. Jimmie Johnson (9)
8. Kurt Busch (10)
B -
1. Carl Edwards (2)
2. Martin Truex Jr (8)
3. Kyle Larson (11)
4. Ryan Newman (13)
5. Austin Dillon (14)
6. Kasey Kahne (16)
7. Jamie Mac (18)
8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr (19)
9. Tony Stewart (20)
10. Trevor Bayne (21)
C -
1. Chase Elliott (12)
2. Ryan Blaney (15)
3. Jeff Gordon (17)
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
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