Wednesday, December 07, 2016

2017 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Welcome to TimersSports

Driver Name: Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Car #: 17

Make: Ford

Season Debut: 2013 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 0

# of Career Starts: 148

# of Career Poles: 1

# of Career Wins: 0

# of Career Top 5s: 7 

# of Career Top 10s: 7

# of Career DNFs: 12

# of Career laps led: 44 

Career Average Finish: 21.3

Career Average Start: 20.3

# of 2016 Wins: 0

# of 2016 Top 5s: 4

# of 2016 Top 10s: 6 

# of 2016 Poles: 0

# of 2016 DNFs: 5

# of 2016 laps led: 6

2016 Average Finish: 19.6

2016 Average Start: 17.4

2016 Fantasy Recap - A lot of people say that RFR was terrible in 2016 and I cannot disagree, but the bright spot bright was how well Stenhouse started off 2016 season. He blasted out of the gate with solid consistency. In the first 14 races in 2016, he posted 10 Top 16 finishes. Very solid, in fact he only posted 15 Top 20 finishes in the entire 2015 season. As you expected, he easily destroyed that total as he posted 22 Top 20 finishes. Which is 2nd-most since joining Cup full-time. His most top 20 finishes were in 2013 (Rookie year). With that said, RFR decline hasn't set in yet. It was just starting to see decline in speed.  On top of 22 Top 20 finishes, he also posted career-highs in top 5 finishes (4), top 10 finishes (6) and average start (17.4). He also posted 2nd-best average finish (19.6). His average finish is very notable because he jumped up from 22.3 to 19.6. That's up 3 from the 2015 season, pretty impressive I would say. It all about progress and he definitely made some in 2016. Overall a pretty solid year for Ricky Stenhouse Jr, as he did everything you could ask for from a young driver.

Strong Tracks - Talladega, Bristol, Kansas and Dover

Weak Tracks - Martinsville and Homestead

Yahoo Grouping Tier: B-list Grouping

2017 Fantasy Outlook - Many people said that Greg Biffle leaving RFR was a huge mistake on RFR's end and I honestly have to disagree. So many people still believe that Biff was the lead dog in that orgzation. Experience wise? Sure. But I said last offseason that Ricky Stenhouse was going to be the best driver driver at RFR last season and was exactly that. Across the board, Stenhouse had better numbers than Greg Biffle. In top 5 finishes, top 10 finishes, average finish, average start, top 20 finishes,etc. They split the performance numbers, as Biff had edge in average running position (20.1 to 20.7), but Stenhouse had edge in driver rating (67.3 to 66.7). All in all, Stenhouse had the better year. Especially at start of the year and on the intermediate tracks in general. I think Stenhouse Jr is still a working progress on some of the short tracks, but he been more consistent on the 1.5 mile tracks. If you can be consistent on the 1.5 mile tracks, then you are good shape. In 2017, I think Stenhouse Jr will once again improve his numbers. Last year, we saw Stenhouse get on a roll for the first couple months before becoming inconsistent. If he can consistently finish inside the top 15 or close to it, then you will become a visible fantasy option in certain fantasy formats. He has the most fantasy value in Yahoo Fantasy Racing because of the final finish position being such a key factor, not so much anything else. He also could be a good play in certain salary cap leagues, more of a budget helper guy though. Probably a good mid-range filer at certain tracks, espeically places like Bristol and Dover. I think Stenhouse will perform his best at the intermediate venues, Bristol, Dover and the plate tracks. He also should be good at New Hampshire and Richmond on the shorter flats. I would avoid him on the larger flats and road courses altogether to be honest.

**All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18