Welcome to TimersSports
Driver Name: Kurt Busch
Car #: 41
Make: Ford
Season Debut: 2001
Number of Championships: 1
# of Career Starts: 576
# of Career Poles: 21
# of Career Wins: 28
# of Career Top 5s: 125
# of Career Top 10s: 243
# of Career DNFs: 60
# of Career laps led: 8,858
Career Average Finish: 16.7
Career Average Start: 15.2
# of 2016 Wins: 1
# of 2016 Top 5s: 9
# of 2016 Top 10s: 21
# of 2016 Poles: 2
# of 2016 DNFs: 2
# of 2016 laps led: 238
2016 Average Finish: 12.03
2016 Average Start: 12.1
2016 Fantasy Recap - If you followed my Fantasy Nascar Previews in 2016, then you know I wasn't on the Kurt Busch bandwagon really at all. I personally just didn't see why Kurt was such an appeal fantasy option. Other than being a consistent driver for first half of the season. Now he wasn't terrible by any means, as he had 9 top 5 finishes and 22 Top 10 finishes with 12.0 average finish. That's solid, but he wasn't really appealing to me. Kurt is an top driver, so I expected more upside than he showed in 2016. Most weekends, he was only a contender from the top 10 to low teens. He was predictable but the lack of upside landed him on my bad side. After all of the speed he showed in 2015, I just was disappointed in him. Overall, it was a good year for Kurt. He wasn't nearly as good as Kevin Harvick, but I think SHR announcing their departure from Chevy hurt Kurt. I doubt HMS was giving Kurt, Danica and Smoke as good equipment, once that announcement was made. Since there was benefit for them to do that. Once they announced they move to Ford in 2017, we started to see a decline in Kurt's numbers. All-in-all, it was a good year for Kurt. Not great, but definitely good enough to be called an success!
Strong Tracks - Pocono, Sonoma, Phoenix, and Cali
Weak Tracks - Martinsville and Michigan
Yahoo Grouping Tier: B-list Grouping
2017 Fantasy Outlook - The big off-season buzz that I have heard since the 2016 season ended was about how will SHR do with switching to Ford? Personally, I don't think it will effect SHR that much at all. SHR only will be building their own chassis and being getting the engine support from Ford. In short, I am not too worried about them. They should be able to translate from Chevy to Ford pretty smoothly! In 2017, I expect Kurt strengths to be intermediate tracks and road courses. Kurt should be a top 10 contender at most intermedate tracks. He will contend for a couple low-teen finishes as well, but mainly he will contend for the top 10. He most likely won't have enough upside to finish inside the top 5. But I wouldn't rule it out either though. Road courses will be another strength for him. He always have ran well on the road courses and in recent years have shown everyone why he should be feared. He didn't show it so much in 2016, but I think it will be a rebound year for him. Flats in general should be solid for him. He will run very well at Pocono, I would say it is his best track on the schedule. He loves this place and have the track record to back it up. I will go much more into details with that next month. He should also run well on all of the shorter flats as well. Phoenix, Richmond and New Hampshire are all pretty good places to use him. Phoenix stands out as his best shorter-flat track though. Overall, I expect a solid year from Kurt in 2017. I don't know if we will see him score more than 22 Top 10 finishes but I think he will be around the same as last year. I would expect about 11 Top 5 finishes, 19 Top 10 finishes with an win as what to expect from him. So around the same as last year or maybe a little better, too.
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
Driver Name: Kurt Busch
Car #: 41
Make: Ford
Season Debut: 2001
Number of Championships: 1
# of Career Starts: 576
# of Career Poles: 21
# of Career Wins: 28
# of Career Top 5s: 125
# of Career Top 10s: 243
# of Career DNFs: 60
# of Career laps led: 8,858
Career Average Finish: 16.7
Career Average Start: 15.2
# of 2016 Wins: 1
# of 2016 Top 5s: 9
# of 2016 Top 10s: 21
# of 2016 Poles: 2
# of 2016 DNFs: 2
# of 2016 laps led: 238
2016 Average Finish: 12.03
2016 Average Start: 12.1
2016 Fantasy Recap - If you followed my Fantasy Nascar Previews in 2016, then you know I wasn't on the Kurt Busch bandwagon really at all. I personally just didn't see why Kurt was such an appeal fantasy option. Other than being a consistent driver for first half of the season. Now he wasn't terrible by any means, as he had 9 top 5 finishes and 22 Top 10 finishes with 12.0 average finish. That's solid, but he wasn't really appealing to me. Kurt is an top driver, so I expected more upside than he showed in 2016. Most weekends, he was only a contender from the top 10 to low teens. He was predictable but the lack of upside landed him on my bad side. After all of the speed he showed in 2015, I just was disappointed in him. Overall, it was a good year for Kurt. He wasn't nearly as good as Kevin Harvick, but I think SHR announcing their departure from Chevy hurt Kurt. I doubt HMS was giving Kurt, Danica and Smoke as good equipment, once that announcement was made. Since there was benefit for them to do that. Once they announced they move to Ford in 2017, we started to see a decline in Kurt's numbers. All-in-all, it was a good year for Kurt. Not great, but definitely good enough to be called an success!
Strong Tracks - Pocono, Sonoma, Phoenix, and Cali
Weak Tracks - Martinsville and Michigan
Yahoo Grouping Tier: B-list Grouping
2017 Fantasy Outlook - The big off-season buzz that I have heard since the 2016 season ended was about how will SHR do with switching to Ford? Personally, I don't think it will effect SHR that much at all. SHR only will be building their own chassis and being getting the engine support from Ford. In short, I am not too worried about them. They should be able to translate from Chevy to Ford pretty smoothly! In 2017, I expect Kurt strengths to be intermediate tracks and road courses. Kurt should be a top 10 contender at most intermedate tracks. He will contend for a couple low-teen finishes as well, but mainly he will contend for the top 10. He most likely won't have enough upside to finish inside the top 5. But I wouldn't rule it out either though. Road courses will be another strength for him. He always have ran well on the road courses and in recent years have shown everyone why he should be feared. He didn't show it so much in 2016, but I think it will be a rebound year for him. Flats in general should be solid for him. He will run very well at Pocono, I would say it is his best track on the schedule. He loves this place and have the track record to back it up. I will go much more into details with that next month. He should also run well on all of the shorter flats as well. Phoenix, Richmond and New Hampshire are all pretty good places to use him. Phoenix stands out as his best shorter-flat track though. Overall, I expect a solid year from Kurt in 2017. I don't know if we will see him score more than 22 Top 10 finishes but I think he will be around the same as last year. I would expect about 11 Top 5 finishes, 19 Top 10 finishes with an win as what to expect from him. So around the same as last year or maybe a little better, too.
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
