2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Jimmie Johnson

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Jimmie Johnson is coming off another great season, a season that he's made history. Johnson won his 7th championship since entering the Cup series in 2001. He's now tied with Petty and Earnhardt for the most championships. Something, many (including myself) expected to happen sooner or later. Johnson and the 48 team seem to figure every new rule and point packages that Nascar hand them. So I expect 2017 to be no different for them. If you are worried about the 48 team having a bad season, then please don't then. They will perfectly fine, I can promise you that!

Johnson will be at his best the intermediate tracks, Johnson has made a living off this type of track. More often than not, most of his wins has came on the intermediate. He has won on the other type of track, but you can expect his best shot to win on this type of track. Hard to name specific type of intermediate tracks, which Johnson is great at. As, he's great just about everywhere honestly. Texas, Cali and Dover are his best intermediate tracks. Chicago and Atlanta aren't far behind, either though.

You can make a case for quite a few intermediate as his best track, but I lean towards Texas as his best track though. He has been great there for his entire career and recently been excellent. Over his past 10 races at Texas, he has won a ridiculous 5 times. While posting a total of 8 Top 6 finishes in the process. 7 of 8 top 6 finishes were actually top 4 finishes. Okay that a large data pool, I guess. Over his past 5 races: 11th, 4th, 1st, 1st and 1st. You want to bet against him here? Go away and take the field. But I feel better about Johnson's odds though. Who wouldn't with a 50% winning percentage over the past 5 years!?

Cali is considered Johnson's best track from a career point of view. In 22 starts, he has posted a career-best 6.5 average finish with 6 wins and 13 Top 5 finishes. How good is Johnson at Cali? Well, he went 4 straight races (2012 to 2015) without scoring a top 5 finish. Why is that important? He's never went back-back races without a top 5 finish at Cali. In his first 17 starts, he has just 5 finishes outside the top 5. He went to victory lane in last season's race, after leading 25 laps. He dominated at Cali in 2014 and should had went to victory lane. But that the screwy tire race though. Johnson blew a tire late in the race. He led 104 laps of the 205, despite finishing 24th. Something that stands out over the past 6 races at Cali? 4 of 6 races, he has started 14th or worse.

Obviously places like Dover, Atlanta and Chicago are also very good to him as well. I would put them in that order as well. I think his intermediate tracks goes in this order: Texas (or Cali), followed by Dover, Atlanta and Chicago. After that you have tracks like Darlington, Vegas, Charlotte and Kansas, where he has had success on in the past and should be good bets. Michigan and Homestead would be his weakest tracks. He will have potential on them, just not as good as the other though.

Short tracks will be another strength for him overall. He can (and likely will) run well at both Martinsville and Bristol. If you are familiar with Nascar, then you know how well Hendrick Motorsports has been at Martinsville for years. Johnson is the king here at Martinsville. For years it him and Jeff Gordon that own this place. Now it's Johnson. Has the competition took it to Johnson the last couple years? Oh yeah, the competition is stiff at Martinsville. He isn't running away with it, but he is still one of he best here.

Martinsville is one of his best tracks. His numbers from a career point of view is just incredible honestly. In 30 career starts, he has posted 9 wins with 19 Top 5 finishes and 24 Top 10 finishes. Johnson is finishing inside the top 5 over 60% of the time for his career. That's insane! His recent aren't as good, but he reminded us all that he is still an elite driver in last fall's race. He went to victory lane the last time, we were at Martinsville. In his last three races, he has finishes of 1st, 9th and 12th. The numbers trending in the right direction lately, so that's great. Over his past 9 races at Martinsville, he has won 33% of the time. While finishing nearly half of those races inside the top 5. Overall, there isn't a lot of to hate about Johnson at Martinsville. He will have major potential and upside, any time he goes to this place.

Bristol is considered one of Jimmie's worst tracks from a career point of view, ranked 17th of 23 tracks on the schedule. You know what amazing about that? What we considered a ''bad'' track for Jimmie, is a good track for any other track. In 30 career starts, he has 14.7 average finish with 14 Top 5 finishes and 17 Top 10 finishes. How he has done recently? 7 of his past 12 races ended in 5th or better. That's nearly 60% of the time. 9 of the past 12 (75%), races, he has finished 9th or better. That's a large data pool. Let's go smaller! Over his past 5 races, he has finished 7th or better in 4 of 5 races. That's great, but his performance in 2016 was concerning though. In 2 races (last year - 2016), he's compiled 15.0 average finish with 16.5 average running position and 79.9 driver rating. Also, only completed 46% of the laps inside the top 15. He completed all but one lap in total as well. That's why I find it concerning. His performance at Bristol wasn't good at all. Of course, normally a lot of things happen during the race. So I am sure something occurred during the race which affected his finishes. Still, I thought it was relevant to mention though.

Shorter flats will be a good spot for him, but no longer a great type of track though. Seems like the JGR and Penske teams has had a step on Johnson lately. Phoenix will always be a great track for Johnson. Many people are in shock what Harvick has done there recently, but it the same thing that Johnson did there from 2006 to 2011. Okay, sure Harvick has more wins (and better numbers) during his impressive streak of runs at Phoenix. However, during 5-year span from 2006 to 2011 (10 races), Johnson posted 10 straight Top 5 finishes. Including 4 wins in a 5-race stench, between November 2007 to November 2009. Johnson is still finding himself at Phoenix again, but it will only be matter of time before he get back to his old self. Over his past 5 races at Phoenix, he has compiled 3 finishes of 11th or better. One of them ended in 5th. His other two races ended in 38th and 39th. So, he has had mix finishes lately there. With that said, he haven't forgotten how to race at Phoenix.

Richmond and New Hampshire are both ''good'' track for Johnson. He hasn't dominated at either track recently, but he should be good regardless though. New Hampshire is considered one of his better tracks, but he hasn't ever dominate though. Just consistency good throughout his career. His numbers recent can (sort of) reflect that as well. Over his past 5 races, he has compiled 4 finishes of 12th or better. However, no finish better than 5th though. So he's in that good but not great category as of late. Richmond, he's been better at recently than New Hampshire. Over his past 5 races, he has compiled 5 straight finishes of 11th or better. While, 4 of those 5 races ended in 9th or better as well. He's finished 11th and 3rd in last season's races. He was strong in the spring race but was pretty average in the fall's race. Finished 11th, posted 74.6 driver rating with 17.0 average running position. Also spent less than 50% of the race inside the top 15. Struggled really to be a factor at all. 48 team could have been trying things for the chase though. Who knows though.

The Larger flats will be a strength for Johnson, but he hasn't dominant the larger flats recently like he use to. Johnson had a tough time on the larger flats in 2016. As he's compiled 18.0 average finish with 14.3 average running position and completed just 43% of the laps inside the top 15. He was very strong in the first Pocono race but finished 35th, while still posting a 92.6 driver rating. He's led 3 laps and held 11.0 average running position. Also, he's completed 74% of the laps inside the top 15 as well. Very strong, but the 2nd Pocono race was complete opposite. He started 23rd, finished 16th, held 20.0 average running position (!) and completed 18% of the laps inside the top 15. His 70.4 driver rating for the event was one of his worst season on the season. Johnson been really hit or miss lately at Pocono. He's been exactly that over his past 8 races. In his past 8 races (at Pocono), he has compiled 4 finishes of 6th or better. And has 4 finishes of 16th or worse. Hard to get a good read on him. Also, there's no real pattern to his finishes. Which makes Johnson a unknown at Pocono for the time being.

Indy is a great track for Johnson and at one point, I would call it ''his place''. However, the last couple seasons, he has been knocked off the top of the mountain. We don't really see the old Johnson that would dominant the weekend. From 2006 to 2013, Johnson was the man here. In that span, he scored 4 wins and additional 2nd place finish. So 5 of 8 races ended in 1st or 2nd. In the process, he's also posted driving driver rating above 124.0 in all 5 races. Pretty impressive! He has finishes of 3rd, 14th and 15th in his last three races though. HMS seemed to fall off in the summer around Indy for some reason. Big reason for his fall-off, still posted driver rating in the 90s range though.

Road courses should be a good spot to use him, he is vastly underrated at them honestly. Johnson usually runs well at both Sonoma and WGI. However, he's rarely get the credit though. Johnson is good at both places, but I would say that he is better at Sonoma though. Johnson been on it at Sonoma since finishing 9th in 2009. Over his past 8 races (since 2009), he has finished 13th or better in single race. He has 7 Top 9 finishes in that span. He's finished 13th in last season's race. Prior to that, he had 7 straight finishes inside the top 10. Johnson been more inconsistent at Watkins Glenn, but his numbers are still very good. Over his past 10 races at WGI, he has compiled 7 Top 10 finishes. Good news, right? Well sort of. 2 of his past 3 races ended in 28th or 40th. However, 4 of his past 6 races overall ended in 10th or better. So some good and some bad, like any driver really. Johnson should be counted on to run well at the road courses, just not dominant though.

Plate tracks were a weak spot for Jimmie Johnson in 2016 for the most part. In 4 races, he compiled 24.0 average finish with 15.3 average running position and 74.0 driver rating. In 3 of those 4 races, he had results between 16th-23rd. 2 of 3 ended with him finishing on the lead lap. The other race (Daytona 500) ended in 35th. So he had finishes of 35th, 22nd, 23rd and 16th. That;s not good at all! Johnson has had success at both tracks, so I am not going to sit here and tell you that. I am not going to tell you how good of a plate racer or how good equipment, he is in. You know all of that already. Will it be a weakness compared to other type of tracks? Most likely. Can he be a decent fantasy option? You bet! I am not expecting the world, but wouldn't shocked if he went out and won a race at Daytona or Talladega. After all, he swept the Daytona races and finished 5th and 13th in 2013. He's very capable!

***All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Brad Keselowski

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Brad Keselowski had a pretty good 2016, but I will be honest I always gave him somewhat of a hard time. I don't know why, but I could never pick him in fantasy nascar in 2016. I have no clue why, but he just wasn't an appealing fantasy option to me. Every track, he had good numbers though. In 2017, you can expect good things from him. He will run well at every type of track. The Penske cars are usually good everywhere.

Keselowski will be one of the strongest drivers on the intermediate tracks in 2017. Every year, Keslowski is strong on the intermediate tracks, so no reason to think otherwise about 2017. He does a great job of consistency finishing inside the top 10, on a weekly basis. His best tracks on the intermediate tracks? Kentucky, Chicago and Dalrington. You could put several other tracks up with inside the top 5, but those three stand out to me overall.

Kentucky is his best track overall, I would say. Not only as a intermediate track but I mean in all of Nascar. There's no track that he is better on, than Kentucky. That's my opinion, of course though. In 6 career races at Kentucky, he has only finished worse 7th once. In those 6 races, he has compiled 3 wins already. Also, he has led 62 or more laps in 5 of 6 races. Like that? While, he also compiled 4 races with driver rating of 120 or better. That's ridiculous!

Darlington is another really good track for him and a place that's been really good to him lately. Over the past 2 seasons at Darlington, BK has compiled 5.5 average finish with 4.0 average running position and 127.9 driver rating. Performance-wise, Keselowski been the second-best driver at Darlington, over the past two seasons. He has qualified inside the top 2 in the past 2 races and led over 240 laps. Also, he is tied for a series-high 82 fast laps as well. Chicago is statistically considered Brad's second-best track from a career point of view. He hasn't had a bad race with the #2 team team yet. In 6 races, he has compiled 6 Top 8 finishes. Over those past 6 races at Chicago, he has compiled 4 Top 5 finishes. Including 2 wins, since the 2012 season. He's just amazing at Chicago. BK can be counted on at Chicago!

Shorter flats tracks should be a strong spot for Brad Keselowski in 2017! He's one of the best in the series at places like Phoenix, New Hampshire and Richmond. I would say that New Hampshire is his best track among the three. He has been awesome at New Hampshire, throughout his career with the #2 team. Over the past 11 races here, he has compiled 11 Top 15 finishes. He has never finished worse than 15th in a race, since 2011 season. More recently, he has finished 4 of 6 races inside the top 7. While, 7 of his past 10 races resulted in 7th or better. Keselowski simply been on it at New Hampshire!

Richmond is his second-best shorter flat racetrack overall. Over his past 11 races at Richmond, he has compiled 8 Top 12 finishes. That's solid in long term. But how has he's done in shorter term? Well over his past 6 races at Richmond, he's compiled 5 finishes of 11th or better. Including 3 finishes of 4th or better. Currently, Keselowski has knocked off three straight of 11th or better as well. Phoenix is his worst shorter flat. With that said, he's really good here. Over his past 10 races here, he has compiled 8 Top 11 finishes. More recently? He has compiled 4 Top 9 over his past 6 races. Not bad at all! Keselowski will be very good on all three shorter flats.

Short tracks will be places where Keselowski runs well, but doesn't always get the finishes. Martinsville is a good example of that. He has ran very well there with Penske, but has a couple poor finishes lately. Over the past 10 races at Martinsville, he has compiled 7 Top 9 finishes. His three non-top 9? 31st or worse. All three poor finishes has came over the past 6 races. Good news though? He also has compiled 3 finishes inside the top 5 over the past 6 races. So 3 finishes inside the top 5 and 3 finishes outside the top 30, in the past 6 races. Complete boom or bust!

Bristol is another good example of running well, doesn't always lead to results for Keselowski. Bristol been his worst track in terms of average finish over the past 2 seasons. He started off with 2 wins in his first 2 starts with the #2 team. Over his past 9 races? He has finished 14th or worse in 6 of 9 races. While, 5 of those races ended in 30th or worse. Over his past 5 races? 3 of 5 races ended in 18th or worse. Not great numbers at Bristol overall in terms of finishes.

Larger Flats will be a okay type of track for him in 2017, just not anything special though. I think Pocono is by far his better larger flat. It has been pretty kind to him and Penske in general in recent years. Keslowski been amazing over his past 7 starts at Pocono! Over his past 7 races, he has compiled 5 Top 6 finishes. Over his past 6 races? 4 finishes of 3rd or better. Including 3 straight Top 3 finishes over just his past three races. That's very solid! Indy been a lot tougher on him though. In 7 career starts at Indy, he has never finished better than 9th (twice) overall. In his past 4 races, three times, he's finished between 12th-21st. His lone non in that range? 10th back in 2015. With all of that said, he has led 15 and 17 laps in past two races. Also, his performance in his past two races been pretty good. In terms of driver ratings, his past two races ranked as 1st and 3rd in his career at Indy. His 2015 race was impressive honestly. Started 31st and finished 10th. While still posting a driver rating of 102. He's failed to do that in any other race at Indy!

I view Keselowski as one of the best plate racers in Nascar, he's always strong on the plates. So there's no reason to think otherwise about 2017! However, I do get the feeling, Keselowski get a lot of poor finishes at plate races because of his driving style. Not to point fingers, but he can be faulted for some of his poor finishes recently. Are they always his fault? Definitely not, some of them are just bad luck. However, he's never been one to be sit back and play it safe. Over his past 8 plate races, he has compiled just 4 Top 20 finishes. However, he has posted 2 wins as well. With all of that said, he has posted 6 Top 7 finishes over his past 11 races at Talladega. Including 3 wins! So while, he's posted some bad finishes. He's also been good at getting quality finishes with Penske, including wins. Daytona is basically the same way with him. 4 top 8 finishes over his past 9 races at Daytona. With two other races ending in the 18th-20th range. And the other three additional races ending in 21st or worse. You take the good with the bad with Keselwski, he has a very high ceiling. A risk, that's easily worth gamble!

Road courses been pretty good to Keselowski overall, I would say! That should be the case in 2017 as well for him. Watkins Glenn is a obvious great track for Brad. He's been good here since joining the #2 team. Over his past 6 races, he has compiled 5 Top 7 finishes. Also in that 6-race span, he's finished inside the top 3 four times. He's never won, but I think that will change very soon. How much longer can he go without winning here? I would guess not too much longer.

Sonoma been tougher on Keselowski overall. He started off very well at Sonoma with the #2 team. With career-high 10th in 2011 and 12th in 2012. Over his past 4 races, he has compiled finishes between 15th-22nd. You can learn about a lot about a driver's performance by looking at their driver ratings. A very handy tool to know how to read. And Brad's career best driver rating was 94.8 back in 2011, when he finished 10th. Over his past 5 races, his driver rating has not been better than 84.5. His past three races his driver rating been 79.7, 70.4 and 58.2. Of course, a lot goes on during the races. So there's various of reasons for a poor driver rating. However, it been a trend for Keselowski at Sonoma. Poor driver rating for 3 races is a trends. And trends are patterns, not bad luck. Slice it how you want, but Keselowski isn't that good at Sonoma. It is the more challenging road course, afterall too.

**All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Matt Kenseth

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Matt Kenseth is coming off a up and down 2016 season, a season where he could had won the championship. The key words are ''could had''. If we didn't see a late caution at Phoneix, he likely win that race and advances to the next round at Homestead. Caution came out late and everything goes downhill for him. Much like his season, bad luck at end of the race costs him. That's so Matt Kenseth at JGR. Every time something good could happen to him, bad luck strikes. Onto 2017, what can we expect? I think, we can expect Kenseth to keep producing really good numbers like he has in recent seasons.

The intermediate tracks will be a very strong spot for Matt Kenseth in 2017. Much like his JGR teammates, Kenseth should be a top driver in 2017 on this type of track. It is a type of track that the Toyotas has dominated over the past couple season. Along with Hendrick Motorsports, of course. Hard to say what are his top 3 intermediate tracks, but I say Texas, Kentucky and Atlanta. You could make a good case for any track honestly. He's pretty good everywhere. Just comes down to your personal preference though. His best track to me is Texas. This is place is a great track for him, not many tracks does he have more success. In 28 career starts, he has 9.4 average finish with 3 wins and 18 Top 10 finishes. Also, among the 1.5 mile tracks, he has led the most laps at Texas. Those are positive things to like about him, and they better as you dig deeper too. Over the past 12 races at Texas, he has compiled 10 Top 12 finishes. Yes, it's a pretty large simple size and is hard to get specific data. I agree, so let's look at more recent data. Over the past 6 races, he has compiled 4 Top 11 finishes. Including 3 Top 7 finishes in those 4 Top 11 finishes overall. Not bad at all. Could be better, but I won't complain with those numbers at Texas.

Kentucky is a track that has limited Cup data, but statistically it is one of Matt's best tracks on the schedule. In 6 career starts at Kentucky, he has never finished worse than 8th. Over his past 4 races at the track, he has compiled 3 Top 5 finishes. He finished in 8th in last season's race, but he was far better than that though. In that event, he's compiled 4.0 average running position with 113.8 driver rating. That ranked as the 3rd-best ARP and 4th-best driver rating. Realistically, he should had finished inside the top 5 again for the 4 straight time with JGR. Alanta is another great track for him. Over the past 2 seasons (minus last season's race), he has finished 5th and 2nd. In last season's event, he probably had the car to beat. He led a lot of laps early on and was looking really good. However, around the halfway point, he got a bullshit penalty. Long story-short, Matt Kenseth goes multiple laps down and finishes 19th. Prior to that, he may had the car to beat. Kenseth been awesome at Atlanta the past couple seasons.

Matt Kenseth will be very strong on the shorter flats in 2017, it is a very good type of track. Of course, he had some piss poor luck in 2016 at them. In fact, he had terrible finishes at both Richmond and Phoenix. Two races, where he probably should have won or had a great shot. Let's start the start, he didn't have any problems last season, New Hampshire! Kenseth just been stupid awesome at New Hampshire lately. Over his past 7 races there, he has compiled 5 Top 4 finishes. That's crazy good and his past three races has resulted in: 2nd, 2nd and 1st. Over this 7-hot streak, he has compiled 3 wins and another runner up finish. Reminds me a lot of Kyle Busch's hot streak at New Hampshire, in fact that streak was just before this one. Joe Gibbs Racing just been dominant lately at this track.

Richmond is another really good track for Kenseth. He's good here, no doubt. He been a machine at Richmond lately. Over his past 9 races there, he has compiled 7 top 7 finishes. While 3 of his past 4 races ended in 7th or 1st. In last season's event, he's finished 38th. Not good, but he finished over 70 laps down. While still posting nearly 100 driver rating. He had a top 5 for that event, before ending in the garage. I would say that Phoenix is his overall weakest type track. Over his past 7 races at PIR, he has compiled just 3 Top 7 finishes. It's not quite as bad as its look though. If you take out last fall's bad (21st) finish, his numbers are very good. Over his past 6 races, he has compiled 4 Top 12 finishes overall. Not bad numbers at Phoenix, just not as good as Richmond or New Hampshire.

The larger flats in recent seasons been very good to Matt Kenseth, he has even ran well at Pocono. A place that use to be considered one of his worst tracks. His latest breakout at Pocono, almost came out of nowhere. Because from August 2012 to August 2014, he had no finishes better than 22nd. That was 5-race span. Over his past 4 races (June 2015 to August 2016), he has compiled 3 Top 7 finishes. He won back in August 2015. However, that was the infamous ''fuel mileage'' race. Everyone in front of Kenseth ran out of fuel, except him. He was pretty good that day overall though. Posted nearly 120 driver rating, which says he's about a top 5 driver. I still say he isn't a top driver at Pocono though. He has some work to do, before we can trust him at Pocono.

Indy is his much better larger flat track overall. Kenseth hasn't had a bad race at Indy with JGR, yet. In 4 starts with JGR, he has compiled 4 straight Top 7 finishes. Meaning, he hasn't finished worse than 7th place. In fact, 3 of the past 4 races ended in 5th or better. Kenseth finished a career-high 2nd place in last season's race at Indy. With that said, it was the 3rd time in his career that he has accomplished that feat. So close, so many times. Maybe he will mark it off his list over the next couple seasons? Guess, we will find out soon.

The short tracks been great tracks for Kenseth since joining JGR and that should continue in 2017 as well. When you are looking at his numbers over the past couple season from afar, they look terrible. When folks, that's the thing! You cannot just judge a book by it cover. Bristol ranked as his worst track over the past two seasons, in terms of average finish. In reality, Bristol is one of Kenseth's best tracks overall. Over the past 7 races at Bristol, he has compiled 3 top 3 finishes and 4 top 13 finishes overall. That's good, but why such a poor average finish lately? That has a lot to do with 3 straight finishes of 36th or worse. He got involved in a wreck last summer at Bristol. He pancaked the wall in the spring race in 2016. And had an engine let go in 2015 summer race. Not good, but he been very competitive since joining JGR at Bristol. In fact, this has always been a great track for him.

Martinsville is a underrated track for him. People are still thinking that Matt is a terrible driver there, and that was true at one time. Yeah, he wasn't super good back in his Roush days. However, JGR is a far better short track program though. Over his past 6 races (excluding Martinsville fall 2015 - infamous Kenseth/Logano wreck), he has compiled 5 Top 6 finishes over that 6 race span. He was awesome in last season's races. Finished 15th and 4th, but was much better than that. He led 176 laps in the fall race and led another 45 laps in the spring race. Also posted an average driver rating over 120.0 for the two races combined.

Plate tracks will always be a place that Matt Kenseth will have a shot at, but honestly he is in a sense a little overrated. Sure, he is a great plate racer. He's kind like Jamie Mac. Really good at using the draft and running well, but has shit luck for finishes though. Over the past couple seasons, he has been terrible for plate race finishes. Let's start at Daytona! Over the past 8 races at Daytona, he has finished 20th or worse in 6 races. While 4 of the past 5 races at Daytona has ended in 20th or worse. 3 of those 4 finishes has ended in 23rd or worse. Not good numbers at all.

At Talladega, he been even worse in terms of finishes with JGR. Over the past 6 races at Talladega, he has finished 23rd or worse in 5 of past 6 races. Kenseth actually have led in 3 straight races at Talladega, yet have finishes of 28th, 23rd and 26th to show for. Another thing about Kenseth? He has qualified 8th or better in his past 4 races at Talladega. However, his highest finish is 23rd. Plate races just haven't been good to him for whatever reason at JGR!

Road courses are the final type of track, that we will look at for Matt! Road courses are somewhat of a underrated type of track for him. People say it is a major weakness for him, but I don't know if you can say that is true though. Sonoma? Okay sure. His last top 10 finish was back in 2008. His past 4 finishes ended in 20th, 21st, 42nd and 19th. Not good at all. How about Watkins Glenn? He been onto something there for sure. Over his past 5 races there, he has compiled 4 Top 10 finishes. While 9 of his past 10 races at Watkins Glenn ended in 14th or better. Hard to say that this is a poor track for him. In fact, it been one of his better tracks for awhile now.

Matt Kenseth is coming off a so and so season in 2016. He didn't have a bad year by any means, but it could have been better though. In 2017, you can expect for him to keep up his usual numbers. Probably 2 or 3 wins with double digit top 5 finishes. That's the normal, we have come to expect from him at JGR. He will have his good days and then there will be those bad days as well. His good days will likely be on the intermediate tracks, shorter flats, Indy and WGI. The plates, short tracks (Martinsville and Bristol) and Sonoma will likely be weak areas for him. I think the short tracks will be where you can use him, but there extra risk. He just has such poor luck ,it seems he finds trouble. If you are in a big hole early, then I might consider rolling the dice with him. Overall, I would expect another solid year from him.

***All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Kyle Larson

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Kyle Larson is coming off a very good 2016 season, he's probably the biggest turnover from beginning of the season to end of the season. CGR lacked speed often in the first 10 races. After that, Larson and the 42 team were fast on a weekly basis almost. Several close calls before finally breaking through to victory lane. Larson is high risk/high reward driver. He will have his bad days, but he is very well-rounded. He can run well at any kind of track. His problem? Being consistent. What will he do in 2017? Well let's find out!

Intermediate tracks

The intermediate tracks will be good and bad for Larson. He will have some really good performance but then the next race just have shit luck. Not many drivers will be as inconsistent as Larson, but his upside is so large though. Hard to pass on him, when he looks really strong during the weekend. I have found that you should focus on Larson at his best racetracks. Use him at his best tracks and then let the chips fall wherever after that. His best intermediate tracks? Michigan, Dover and Homestead. You can also add Chicago and Darlington to that list.

Homestead is Larson's best track by far and it is not even close, either. Larson loves Homestead and has been a complete beast the past two seasons there. In 2015, he had the car to beat on the long run. Just never had the track position to get the lead and lacked short-run speed. In last season's event, Larson was a stud on both short runs and long runs. Only difference was that Larson could stench out the lead to 3 or 4 seconds easy once everyone tires worn down. He led a race-high (and career-high) 132 laps. Most impressive about Larson at Homestead? He has never qualified better than 20th in 4 starts, and that was with the #51 team in 2013. Despite that, he has finished 15th or better in every start. Also over the past two seasons, he has nearly double the fast laps than anybody else. He has 108 fast laps in the past two Homestead races, while Kyle Busch (2nd-most) has 63. While, we are at it, he's led the most laps over the past two seasons as well at 134 laps. He's great at Homestead, you better plan to use him.

Dover is Larson's next best intermediate track overall. It's not your typical 1.5 or even 2.0 mile intermediate track, but still considered as an intermediate track. Only 1-mile in length, but the speeds here are incredible. One of my favorite tracks on the schedule and Larson loves it, too! He has found some success here so far in his career. He finished 25th in last fall's race, after suffering mechanical early in the event. He could never recover and was eliminated from the chase. In his first 5 races at Dover, he compiled 5 top 11 finishes. He finished 11th in his debut at Dover in 2014. He followed that up wit finishes of 6th, 3rd, 9th and 2nd. His most notable finish was in 2016 spring race. That race could be responsible for giving his season a springboard. He qualified 24th for that race and nearly went a lap down after just 100 laps mark. 100 laps later, he was leading the race and eventually would finish 2nd and led second-most laps to only Kevin Harvick.

Intermediate tracks to avoid him? Kentucky, Kansas and Atlanta. At those three tracks in 12 starts, he's posted just 5 Top 20 finishes. That's less than 50%. He has one top 20 finish apiece at both Kentucky and Atlanta. Better places to use him!

Larger Flat tracks 

I love him on the large flat racetracks, he's so smooth at both Indy and Pocono. You could make a case for him as a top 5 driver on the large flat tracks over the past three seasons. Not many drivers can say that, especially not a driver with three seasons of experience in Cup. In 9 starts combined (at both Indy and Pocono), he's finished 12th or better in every start. That's crazy good! Pocono is his more proven track though. In 6 starts at Pocono, he's finished 12th or better in every start. He has better finishes in the first Pocono, with finishes of 5th, 8th and 11th. Problem is? He is trending the wrong way. 11th in his most recent start. The 2nd Pocono races? He has finishes of 11th, 12th and 6th. The finishes are worse, but his in-race numbers are better. In the first Pocono races, he's posted 14.3 average running position and 87.7 driver rating. Not bad numbers at all. However, his numbers in the 2nd Pocono races are better, despite lower finishes. In the 2nd Pocono races, he posted 9.0 average running position and 103.6 driver rating. Doesn't really mean much, unless you are big believer in trends.

Indy is the other large flat racetrack on the schedule, and he is just as good there. In 3 starts at Indy, Larson has finishes of 7th, 9th and 5th. In those 3 races, he's posted 8.0 average running position and 104.8 driver rating. Larson has topped 103.0 driver rating in every start at Indy. Very few drivers are able to say something like that! Larson will be very strong on the large flat racetracks, you can make a case that it is his best type of track.

Short Flat tracks

The short flat tracks been good to Larson so far in his first three seasons. He has had his bad days, but still pretty solid overall. He doesn't really have a standout track yet, but Richmond is probably his best track. In 6 starts at Richmond, he hasn't finished worse than 16th. Even better? Take out last April's (2016 spring race) 15th and his debut's in April  2014, he been stout. Those are his worst two performances overall. Lowest two finishes and driver ratings among the 6 races. The other 4 races?  9.3 average finish, 10.3 average running position and 95.3 driver rating. He's legit at Richmond, folks!

New Hampshire is also good to him and was really good to him in his rookie season, but just haven't been the same the past couple season. In 6 starts at New Hampshire, he's posted 5 Top 17 finishes. Yes it is good, but not great. Over his past 4 starts, he's finished 3 of 4 races in 17th or 31st. He did finish 10th in last fall (2016) race though. That's a good sign. Also, he ran far better last fall than his did in those three previous races, as well. For Larson's sake, I hope he can keep the turn-around going. Phoenix is the last short flat racetrack. He's good there, too. In the past 5 races at Phoenix, he's finished 13th or better in 4 races. He finished 3rd in last season (fall) race. Three times in that span, he's posted a driver rating above 92.0. Larson will go on the short flat racetracks and have top 10 potential almost every time.

Short tracks 

The short tracks (Martinsville and Bristol) will be tough for him. He's just cannot seem to get good finishes consistency at either track. He's good at Bristol, no doubt. From pure potential and talent, he's a top 5 driver. He's potentially was a top 5 driver in both races in 2016 at Bristol! The first race, he was running 3rd and had a mechanical issue. In the second race, he was running around the top 5 and got involved in the Kyle Busch's wreck. He had great long run speed in both races as well. In Larson's first three races at Bristol, he's finished between 7th-12th. The past three races just been pure terrible luck.

Martinsville been a tough spot for him so far in his career. In his first 4 starts, he had just one finish better than 20th. And that was 19th place in November 2015. He shown major improvements in 2016, as he's posted finishes of 14th and 3rd. He also posted 9.0 average running position and 99.3 driver rating. Far better in the spring race than the fall race. During the fall race, he's finished a lap down in 14th. Still had an 11.0 average running position and completed 89% inside the top 15. Larson's improvements at Martinsville were incredible in 2016. Another example how much progress he has made from his rookie year to his 3rd year.

Road courses 

The Road courses will be strong type of track for Kyle Larson. I want you to say hello to one of the most ''underrated'' road course racer in the series! You are probably thinking, he is? Oh yes, I don't think many people realize how good Larson is. Pretty impressive for Larson at his age, running as good as he has on the road courses. Most young drivers struggle on the road courses and don't do any better than middle teens, but in year 3, Larson was very good at both tracks. He was an legit driver at Sonoma, but a speeding penalty did him in though. He had a top 5 run going early for him, if I remember right he faded to the top 10 at one point. However, he got a speeding penalty that really cost him late. He had to rally late to get a solid 12th place finish. He had finishes of 15th and 28th in his first two starts at Sonoma. Something happen to him in 2015 that cost him a better finish. In 2014, he had power steering issues. If imagine having no power steering at Sonoma. A super challenging road course that requires a lot of braking. It was amazed, he didn't drop further down the leaderboard than that.

Larson been very good at Watkins Glenn as well. In his first start at the track, he struggled throughout the weekend. Right, like most rookies do. He dropped to 28th at one point. Unlike most rookies, Larson took all he's learned that weekend and then made a hard charge to the front. In the final 20 laps or so, he fought hard from mid-pack and finished 4th. That was impressive to see from him. That's the difference from Larson and guys like Dillon, Blaney and Elliott. He seems to process the information quicker as a driver. In his 2nd start (in 2015), he's finished 12th. He had 11.0 average running position and 99.4 driver rating for that event. So he finished right around where he ran most of the day. In 2016, he was much better than his final position shows though. The numbers in the race, just don't justify how good Larson was that day. There were a lot of crazy pit cycles and penalties. Larson was hit with a huge penalty while running inside the top 5. Huge blow that put him deep in the running order, however things worked out for late in the race. He got back with the leaders and ran top 10 for last portion of the race. On the final restart, Larson was able to charge back inside the top 5. However, AJ Dinger on the final lap wrecked while running 4th. Up and down day for Larson ended on the downside.

Plate tracks 

Larson's biggest improvement may been his finishes on the plates in 2016. In his first two seasons (8 races), he's finished only 2 races inside the top 20 of 8 races. Both of those races came in 2014 at Talldega. Last season in 4 plate races, he's posted 3 Top 10 finishes. Even better? He swept the top 6 in both at Daytona. Something, I didn't think was possible for him. This is the same driver that said, he would like to see the plate venues demolished before last season started. Maybe the Restictor plate gods heard him and said, ''Is that so Kyle? I will teach you.'' I am not convinced that Larson is legit on the plates after one good season, but I feel better about him for sure.

***All stats are from Driveraverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Martin Truex Jr

Welcome to TimersSports

Martin Truex Jr is coming off the best season of his career in 2016. It was an amazing season for him and the 78 team. This was one year after turning heads in 2015 with another impressive season. You can make a strong case for Truex as a top 5 driver over the past two seasons! Something, I didn't think was possible after the way things ended for him at MWR. That whole Clint Bowyer-incident in 2013 was the best thing that ever happened to Martin. Crazy to say that something good came from it, right?

Intermediate tracks 


In 2016, Martin Truex Jr was a stud on the intermediate tracks in general. Especially on the 1.5 mile tracks. The cookie cutters were Martin's personal playground! His overall numbers across the board were incredible to say the least. Excluding Homestead, he was the best driver by far. In 9 races (on 1.5 mile tracks), he had 7.0 average finish (series-best), 6.2 average running position (series-best), 116.5 driver rating (series-best) and 711 laps led (series-best). He also posted season's high of 150 driver rating and high of a season's low driver rating 88.8. To further prove my point, he's posted 366 fast laps in 2016. Second and third most? 250 (Johnson) and 227 (Harvick). What he did in 2016 on this type of track is a thing of beauty! He dominated in every aspect, where words cannot do justification.

I consider Texas as Martin's best intermediate track. Time and time again, he has shown why he's good at Texas. Last season was a prime example. You could make the argument he was a top 2 driver at Texas in 2016. In the past 4 races at Texas, he's finished 9th or better. Texas always been a good track for Martin. As 7 of his previous 11 races at this place ended inside the top 9. Last season, he was the best driver in both races combined among ''active'' drivers. In 2016 at Texas, Martin posted 4.5 average finish, 3.0 average running position, 207 laps led and 127.5 driver rating. Minus average finish (4th-best in the series by the way), he was ranked first in just about everything. Pretty good, wouldn't you say?

You could make a case for him at a couple other intermediate tracks, too. Darlington, Charlotte, Dover, Homestead and Chicago are all great tracks for him. He's ran so well over the past couple seasons, you could probably make a case for him at just about any intermediate track. If he has the season, I am expecting. Then we can expect pretty much top 5 potential on a weekly basis out of him on this type of track.

Short Flat tracks

The Short flat tracks should be a hidden strength for him. In 2016, he was very underrated. Most people only think of on the intermediate. However, he proven to be a powerful punch on the short flat tracks. In 5 races (minus Phoenix fall race), he had 9.8 average finish, 6.4 average running position, 457 laps led and 113.0 driver rating. Was he the best driver in the series at this type of track? No, but much better than people give him credit for though. He arguably had the car to beat at both New Hampshire races and the 2nd Richmond race. He's led 120+ in all three of those races.

New Hampshire is the track that, we are going to look at first. For obvious reason that I stated up above. He was impressive last season at New Hampshire! In 2 races in 2016, he had 11.5 average finish, 2.5 average start, 3.0 average running position, 125.1 driver rating, 264 laps led and 86 fast lap. When comparing the numbers, he was the 3rd-best driver in 2016 at New Hampshire. Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth were just slightly better. However, Truex Jr did have bad luck in both races. How has he fair over the long term at New Hampshire? Well, he has finished inside the top 12 in 6 of last 7 races. While finishing 7th and 8th in two of his last three races.

Richmond been pretty good to Truex over the past 3 or 4 seasons. In his past 7 races at Richmond, he's finished 10th or better in 5 of his past 7 races. He has some good races in that span at Richmond, but one race stands out from the rest. That race? His most recent race at the 0.75-mile track. He was dominated on that day. He's led 193 of 400 laps on his way to an 3rd-place finish. Hard to say who was better between Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex. Their numbers in that race were near even. They led a combined 389 laps. They were co-dominant drivers really, one wasn't better than the other.

Phoenix is most likely his weak track of the three. Even with the 78 team, he has struggled to get the quality finishes. When I refer to ''quality finishes'' with Truex, I am referring to top 10 finishes. However, he has had a lot of finishes in the 12th-14th range though. In his last 7 races at Phoenix, he's finished 7th-14th in 5 races. With 4 of his last 5 races ending in 14th or better, too. Martin haven't been stout, but he is getting the results at Phoenix! Just not one of his best tracks though.

Large Flat tracks 

Truex was better on the larger flat tracks than his numbers showed in 2016. His numbers weren't great overall in 2016 at Pocono, but it is key to know what happened to him in the races. In the first Pocono race, he had terrible luck. He got into another car and had to make multiple pit stops to fix damage in first half of the race. After that, he had multiple flat tires. Including one directly after he had great track position. The second Pocono race was arguably worse than the first one. He had a car that was easily capable of dominating. All weekend, he had the car to beat. He started on the pole and looked to dominate. However, then he got involved in a big wreck after losing some track position. He repaired the damages but his car was never the same. He's wrecked again and then eventually just called it a day. Believe it or not, but Pocono is a great track for Truex. Won here in June 2015, had a top 5 car in August 2015 (before running out of fuel) and had a dominant-capable car in August 2016.

Indy has been kinder to Truex in recent seasons, I would say. In his past 4 races (minus 2014 race - bad finish), he's posted 7.8 average finish, 11.3 average running position and 99.5 driver rating. Pretty strong numbers overall. Last season was his best performance ever at Indy. He started 8th, finished 8th, held 6.0 average running position and 114.5 driver rating with 17 fast laps. Statistically in the race, he's ranked 2nd in average running position, driver rating and fast laps. However, I remember him being like the 3rd-best driver in that event. Kenseth numbers were a bit inflated due to him starting further back. Truex should be a great on the large flat racetracks!

Short tracks 

I wouldn't call Truex is a great short track racer, but he is more than capable in his level-equipment though. His numbers at Martinsville are quite good, better than people would initially think honestly. He's finished 6th or 7th in 3 of his last 4 races at Martinsville. That's impressive because he had only 4 Top 10 finishes in his first 18 starts at this track. He has 3 just in his past 4 races there. So 3 of his 7 career top 10 finishes came in the last two seasons. Another interesting thing about Truex in the last two seasons at Martinsville? When he qualified well, he has finished well. Qualified inside the top 3 in 3 of his last 4 races. Where did he finish in those three races? 6th, 6th and 7th.

Bristol could be considered one of his worst tracks on the schedule over the last couple seasons! Performance wise (of tracks we visit twice per season, not named Talladega), it is considered his worst track over last three seasons. Over the past 3 seasons (6 races) at Bristol: 25.0 average finish, 17.2 average running position and 79.1 driver rating. Not sure how those numbers stack up to the other 22 tracks. But with that way he has ran, I am willing to bet it is near the bottom. Is Truex as the numbers suggest? Absolutely not! Sure in 2016, he had an 18.5 average finish. That average finish was ranked as 16th-best in the series. Well that was very misleading though. He had the 2nd-best (10.0) average running position in races combined at Martinsville in 2016. Also, he had the 2nd-best (102.6) driver rating in the series, too. I rest my case!

Road Courses 

The road courses are a underrated type track for Truex! I have considered them a place where Truex can surprise people for some reason. He's a former winner at Sonoma, yet people still discount him at both places. He's very good at both road courses and been so for awhile now. Even before winning in 2012, he was well on his way to success. He's won at Sonoma back in 2013 and has found success there over the past 6 seasons overall. In his last 6 races at Sonoma, Truex has finished 15th or better four times. And three times over last 5 races, he's posted a driver rating well over 100.0. That's very solid! Watkins Glenn is his better track, in my opinion. He's never won there, but numbers speak for themselves. In his last 6 races, he's finished 10th or better four times. While finishing 13th or better five times. He's very good at the road courses, no doubt!


Plate Tracks 

Look, I am not going to sit here and try to convince you that Truex is a great plate racer. He's never won at either Daytona or Talladega. With that said, he has the horsepower advantage to be up front with the other Toyotas. Over the past 2 seasons (8 races), he has finished 4 times inside the top 8. That's 50% accuracy of finishing inside the top 10! Something I noticed about his results at Daytona and Talladega recently? His numbers are extremely good in the winter/spring races. Meaning the Daytona 500s and first Talladega races. 8th (Daytona 2015), 2nd (Daytona 2016), 7th (Talladega 2015 - Spring race) and 13th (Talladega 2016 - Spring race). His finishes in the summer/fall over the past two seasons? 7th, 40th, 28th and 29th. Yikes, that's not good! Did these trends happen on accident? Most likely. But you know, right? It is a trend, until the pattern is disprove!

*All Stats are from Driver Averages and Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet 

Twitter - @Garryy12

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Denny Hamlin

Welcome to TimersSports

Hamlin had a very good 2016 season, but like 2015, he didn't really come strong until the second half of the season. He was very strong in the second half and showed some serious muscle at times. In fact, you could say that Hamlin had his best year ever in Nascar. Yes, I know, he didn't win many races like some years. However, he had career bests in top 5 and top 10 finishes though. That's count for something, right?

Hamlin will be very strong on the intermediate tracks as usual, he's in a top ride and they are commonly the ones at the front. He may have a few bumps in the road, but I am confident in him though. His best intermediate tracks? Darlington, Texas and Charlotte. You can also make a case for him at Chicago, over the past three seasons as well. Darlington is his best track overall. Statistically, it is his best track for his career and second-best over the past two seasons. His numbers at Darlington are just incredible. It's almost unreal honestly! In 11 career starts, he has compiled 9 Top 10 finishes. Over just his past 7 races, he has finished 6th or better in 6 races. While 4 of the past 5 races, he has compiled 4 Top 4 finishes. Just to put it in perspective, In those 6 races (he's finished 6th or better in), he has compiled 3.0 average finish with 6.5 average running position and 113.4 driver rating. All three all of those categories ranked as first the series.

Texas is another really good track for Denny, even though you couldn't tell that by looking at the ''average finish'' over the past 2 seasons. Over the past 2 seasons (4 races), he has compiled 17.5 average finish with 19.0 average running position and 76.3 driver rating. I know, you are proabbly like, ''Jeff, those aren't good numbers.'' I agree, they aren't, but you have dig digger than the surface. Over the past 7 races at Texas, Hamlin has compiled 6 finishes of 13th or better. His one bad finish was 38th back in November 2015. Take out that bad finish and here are his numbers in 6 other races: 10.3 average finish (6th-best in the series) with 11.5 average running position and 90.6 driver rating. See how much  difference one bad race can make? Always dig into stats, kids.

Charlotte is the final track that, I would like to look dig into. Charlotte has been a great track for Denny over the past couple seasons, but his numbers get drug down because of one poor finish. He finished 30th in last fall race, after leading 52 laps. That's his lone non-top 10 finish, since 22nd in May 2014. Over the past 13 races at Charlotte, he has compiled 11 Top 10 finishes. More recently, he has compiled 4 Top 9 finishes over his past 5 races. While 2 of his past 3 races has ended in 4th. This is a great track for him and no reason to believe why it would change.

Shorter flats are considered his best type of track overall. All three tracks are ranked among his top 6 tracks in average finish for his career. I would say that Richmond is his best shorter flat track though. It is hard to find another track (other than Dalrington or Martinsville) that Denny has found as much success on. He did go in as slump from September 2012 to April 2015, where he didn't finish better than 18th. That 5-race stench was the worst of his career by far at Richmond. The 6 races prior to that 5-race stench, he posted 4 top 4 finishes in 6 races. That was from September 2009 to April 2012. In that span, he had 2 wins and another 2nd place run. I think he has returned to Hammy's form at Richmond though. Over his past three races at Richmond, he has compiled 3 straight top 6 finishes. Including a dominant win last fall, where he led 189 laps on his way to victory lane. Even at 189 laps led, it is only good enough for 5th-most laps led in a single race at this track. Just again shows how good, he has been at this place.

New Hampshire is another good track for Denny Hamlin. In his first 14 starts at this track (from July 2006 to September 2012), he has 8 Top 9 finishes with 6 of them ending in 3rd or better. His numbers has dipped in his past 8 races at the track, which is why I called it a good track. Not a great track, like it was from 2006 to 2012. Over the past 8 races at New Hampshire, he has compiled 5 finishes of 15th or better. Not great, but he is making gains it seems though. Over the past three races, he has two finishes of 9th or better. With 4 of the past 6 races, he has posted a driver rating of 97.7 or better. That's a good sign, he's making strides again.

Phoenix will always be a good track for Denny Hamlin! He been just as good there recently too. Over his past 5 races, he has compiled 4 finishes of 8th or better. I say from November 2006 to November 2012 was Hamlin's prime at Phoenix. Then like a lot of other tracks, he's hit 2013 to 2015. Of course, his past three races there been really good. In that 3 race span, he has compiled 6.0 average finish with 8.7 average running position and 100.0 driver rating. He's solid, people!

Larger flats was really good to Denny Hamlin in 2016! He compiled 8.7 average finish with 11.0 average finish with 94.6 driver rating. That's very solid! Pocono is a great track for Denny. He has compiled 4 wins in just 22 starts at the track. Hamlin use to be the master here, but has fell off in recent years. Still, I consider this as a pretty good place for him. Over the past 6 races at Pocono, he has compiled 4 Top 10 finishes. Not bad at all! With that said, only one of those finishes ended in the top 5. Digging deeper, 5 of his past 8 races ended in the top 10 as well. He may not win, but he's solid bet for Pocono.

Indy should be another good track for him. He been running well there lately. There was a time where Indy was considered one of Denny's worst tracks. In his first 6 starts, he was only able to post 2 Top 10 finishes. And 3 Top 15 overalls. 50% isn't a great numbers to say. How about over his past 5 races there? Well, he has compiled 4 finishes of 6th or better. His non-top 6 was back in 2013. That was the season, where he got injured at Cali. After the he had to sit out several races (before returning), but was never the same. I blame his poor finish on that. Since then, he has posted 3 straight Top 5 finishes at Indy.

Plate tracks has been his best type of racetrack over the past couple seasons and no driver in the series been better at them. Daytona been where, Hamlin been shinning the brightest at though. Over the past 4 races at Daytona, he has compiled 5.8 average finish with 7.8 average running position and 107.2 driver rating. Ranked first in all of those categories, by the way. Talladega been a little up and down over the past couple seasons. Over his past 6 races at Talladega, he has compiled 3 Top 9 finishes. While having 3 finishes of 18th, 37th and 31st. Like I said, he been up and down. With that said, he also has compiled 2 Top 9 finishes over 2 of past 3 races in the spring (April race) time. I am not sure about anyone else, but I am targeting him at Daytona. I will wait and see for Talladega, I wouldn't rule it out. Especially in the spring, I like those trends for him.

Short tracks should be good to him, as he is good at both tracks. Martinsville is a no brainier, of course. Pretty much, everyone knows how good he is there. Martinsville and Hamlin just go together. He been great here throughout his career and nothing changed recently. In his career, he has compiled an average finish of 9.2 in 22 career starts. More recently? He has compiled 5 Top 9 finishes over his past 7 races. Also, he has compiled 3 Top 3 finishes over his past 4 races. Hamlin wrecked in last spring race. I want to make a note that, Hamlin had the fastest car on the track when that happened. The 11 team had him hooked up on the long run. Bristol is another good track for him. However, I don't think it is a great track for him. When looking at his career numbers, you don't get the feel that it is his best track. But he is capable of putting up big-time numbers. He has compiled 3 Top 6 finishes over his past 6 races. Problem is, he has compiled 3 Top finishes of 20th or worse as well. So boom or bust lately for him. Not ideal, but can be a powerful option in a flash though.

Road courses been a very weird place for Hamlin. From 2006 to 2009, he was pretty good on the road courses. He compiled 3 Top 12 finishes at Sonoma and 4 Top 10 finishes at Watkins Glenn. So 7 Top 12 finishes in his first 8 races on road courses. Then, from 2010 to 2015, he compiled 2 finishes better than 20th place. One at each track of 18th (Sonoma) and 19th at WGI. What does he do last season? Finish 2nd at Sonoma and goes and win at Watkins Glenn. That's completely predicable, right? I mean, we all saw that coming, right? Yeah, I didn't think so!

In 2017, I fully expect to see inconsistency from Denny Hamlin. Over the past couple season, it's mainly came in the first half of the season. So logically, I will say that when it will likely happen. Is that set in stone? Hell no! However, we don't know so that all we have to go on. The best way to go with Hamlin is to wing it and expect the best from him. If he looks sluggish at start of the year, then avoid him. Until he looks to be hot, and then pounce on him. His best tracks are: Daytona, Martinsville, Richmond, Darlington and Indy. Those tracks been the kindest to him over the past couple seasons, so no reason to believe it will change. I believe intermediate tracks will where he will be the most consistent. Plates, shorter flats and larger flats will his strong suits. Martinsville will be really good to him and then there's the road courses. Who knows about Sonoma and Watkins Glenn! Overall, you can expect a decent year from him. I wouldn't make any bold predictions like him winning 3 or 4 races and a championship easily, but you know the normal. A couple wins and be in contention for the championship at end of the year.

**All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Chase Elliott

Welcome to TimersSports

Chase Elliott is entering his 2nd full-time season as the driver of the No.24 car! He had a very successful 2016 rookie season with Hendrick Motorsports. Many people have high standards for him in 2017, however you want to cool the jets with Elliott though. I only say this because recent history says that he could have a down year. Think of 2014 rookies of Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson. Both had solid rookie seasons in 2014. Then saw regressions in 2015. That's called the sophomore slump. Is Elliott in dangerous of regressing in 2017? I think it is a real possibility, especially after the year he had as a rookie. 17 Top 10 finishes and 10 Top 5 finishes. I think that could be difficult to repeat. Could he go out and have an even better season in 2017? Absolutely. Either, wouldn't surprise me honestly.

I think Elliott will be strongest on the intermediate tracks, honestly I think that is the only type of track that he will be stout at. Every other type of track, he will have his moments but not really having that winning potential. Sounds weird, but most days, he will be high-single digits to low-teens. Of course, I am judging that based off his rookie's season. He will get better throughout his second season, so he could easily make gains and disprove all what I said.

Elliott's biggest strength will be the intermediate tracks in 2017 overall. This was a obvious strength for him in his rookie year and his the lower series. On top of that, the HMS cars usually excel on these type of tracks. No surprise that Elliott was at his best on the intermediate, more often not not. What are his best tracks on the intermediate tracks? Hard to say will such limited data to go on. But I am going with Texas and Michigan as his top 2 intermediate tracks. Chicago and Dover are also at top of my list, but like I said it is hard to say. Especially since, we only have one-year worth of data on him. That's my big issues with young drivers from a analysis objected view, there's isn't enough data to go on.

Michigan was his best track in 2016, he was very strong in both races. He contended for wins in both of those races. In the first Michigan's race, he ran top 3 all day and could have won that race. He slipped up late on a restart and let the other dominant driver (Logano) get by. Elliott couldn't recover and had to settle for 2nd place. In the 2nd Michigan race? He had another great car and had  slightly better race. He should had won that race, too. He battled with fellow young driver, Kyle Larson. Elliott beat him off pit road late and pulled away as Larson had a near incident in traffic. Caution came out late and once again, he slipped up and Larson drove around him on the start. Elliott had to settle for 2nd place once again on that day. He led 66 laps in two races at Michigan in 2016 and had driver rating over 122.0 in both races. Pretty damn impressive for a rookie!

Texas and Dover, both were pretty solid for him in 2016 as well. He finished inside the top 5 in both races in both of those tracks. At Texas in 2016, he had finishes of 4th and 5th. He compiled 4.5 average finish with 8.5 average running position and 100.8 driver rating. Those are very good numbers, he also completed 90% of the laps inside the top 15. He was extremely strong in the 2nd Texas race, his driver rating went up from 94.6 (in the first race) to 106.7 in the 2nd race. He also ran really good at Dover as well. In 2 races at Dover (in 2016), he compiled 3.0 average finish with 9.0 average running position and 100.9 driver rating. He was good in the fist race, but he was a legit top 7 driver in the second. In that event, he compiled 7.0 average running position and 105.6 driver rating. Very good in that event overall and finished 3rd place.

The shorter flats will be a good but not great place him. In his rookie season, he posted good results on the shorter flats. His best track in his rookie season had to be Phoenix no doubt. He posted finishes of 8th and 9th last season. The only shorter flat that he sweep the top 10! In 2 races in 2016 at Phoenix, he compiled 8.5 average finish with 8.0 average running position and 103.9 driver rating. Very good numbers. He had a better performance in the second race (logically as expected), but finished 1 position (8th) better than (9th) in the 2nd race. I was surprised that he had his best two races at Phoenix. Heading into the season, I figured Richmond would be his best shorter flat. It was a great track for him the lower series.

 Elliott ran great at New Hampshire in 2016! Yes, he really did but you wouldn't know it by the numbers. In 2016, he compiled an average finish of 23.5 for finishes of 13th and 33rd. Not good at all, but his performance numbers tell entire another story though. In 2 races in 2016, he compiled 7.5 average running position and 93.0 driver rating. He ran top 10 mainly until he got into teammate Alex Bowman in the first race. He couldn't finish on the lead lap and finished 33rd. 2nd race was better for him and finished 13th. He was far better than that though. In the fall race (at New Hampshire), he compiled an 5.0 average running position and 106.9 driver rating.

He was good at Richmond in 2016, but he disappointed me overall. He was just good enough in both races honestly. He finished 12th and 19th in two races at Richmond in 2016. Neither race was anything special. In 2 races at Richmond in 2016, he compiled 15.5 average finish with 21.0 average running position and 70.9 driver rating. He was okay in the first race overall and finished 12th. He had 18.0 average running position with 77.0 driver rating for the race. He was even worse at the 2nd race in the fall. Qualified poorly and contended in the low to middle 20s for the entire event. Sneak inside the top 20 at very end to finish 19th. He actually looked like a rookie at Richmond.

Larger flats will be another good place for Elliott, I think is ranked as his second-best kind of track overall behind the intermediate tracks. In 2016, he compiled 17.3  average finish with 12.7 average running position and 93.1 driver rating. Misleading numbers when really thinking about, because that data includes when he finished 33rd in the 2nd Pocono race. He finished 4th (while leading a race-high 51 laps) in the first Pocono race. He had the dominant car that day, and posted a race-high driver rating. Indy was okay to him in his first two starts, as he has posted finishes of 15th and 18th. Nothing special at either track, but Hendrick was lacking speed when they went to Indy last season, too. So it is hard to judge him at Indy, with some little data to go on. I think, he will be strong on the larger flats. Especially, since the big-time teams usually have the horsepower advantage and that itself is a big leg up over the competition.

Plate tracks will be the wildcard for Elliott, he has potential to win on the plates but he needs to finish out races in order to have that potential. With that said, he had two different experiences at the plate tracks in 2016. At Talladega, he posted finishes of 12th and 5th, with average running position of 9.0. That ARP was ranked 3rd in the series at Talladega in 2016, in case you were wondering. At Daytona? Well that was a completely different story though. In 2 races at Daytona in 2016, he compiled 34.5 average finish with 30.0 average running position and 46.2 driver rating. In simply terms, he wrecked in both races.

Short tracks will be good to him, but he is a working progress overall though. He ran well at Bristol in 2016 and had two quality performances. He finished 4th and 15th in two races at Bristol. He's good at Bristol, no doubt. His driver rating was consistent in the mid-90s in both races, so that's a good indication. A mid-90 driver rating usually translate to being a low-teen driver or maybe at best high-single digit driver. He compiled 12.5 average running position with 94.6 driver rating and completed 69% of the laps inside the top 15. That mid-90 driver rating seems to line up with his performance when looking at the numbers.

Martinsville was his troublesome spot in 2016 among all of his tracks. I would consider it a track that Elliott has struggled on a bit in three starts. Seems odd that a HMS driver would struggle at Martinsville, but a lot of young drivers commonly struggle there. It's a tough track to master. He was much better there in his last start there, where he finished 12th. He finished 20th in the spring race, earlier in the season. He made really good progress from his first race there (in 2015) to his most recent start there. I like the trend too. Improved his finish position in every start. Maybe a top 10 finish in store for him soon?

Road courses will likely be the biggest weakness for him in 2017, I think. I don't get that Elliott will be a gem on the road courses honestly. Not a driver that has a lot of experience on him either. He should get better with more experience though. He wasn't bad at the two road courses last year, as he had finishes of 13th and 21st. Solid for a rookie, but hard to make an argument that he will a legit fantasy option at either track though. Both road courses, I would rank outside of his top 10 tracks overall. He finished higher at Watkins Glenn than Sonoma. At Watkins Glenn, he finished 13th in 2016. He was worse than that though. He had 16.0 average running position with 79.9 driver rating and completed only 42% of the laps inside the top 15. Not real great numbers, but decent for him. Sonoma is the tougher track, so logically his numbers were worse. At Sonoma's last season, he compiled 20.0 average running position with 67.7 driver rating and completed 10% of the laps inside the top 15. He finished 21st in that race. A lot of numbers, I just mentioned. So what does that exactly means for his fantasy value at road courses? It means this: He doesn't have much value, until he can prove himself on the road courses.

Chase Elliott is one of the most fun young drivers to watch in Nascar, right now. He failed to win a race in his rookie season. So many people are expecting him to win a race soon. I get that and completely agree that Elliott should win in 2017. With that said, I wouldn't be shocked if he has a rough 2nd year. Ricky Stenhouse, Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson all had solid rookie seasons, followed by hitting a brick in year 2. It not completely out of the question, but Elliott is in far better equipment than any of those drivers. I think that what will likely save him from that slump. Still, 17 Top 10 finishes and 10 Top 5 finishes would be tough to repeat. I think Elliott will be at his best on the intermediate tracks and larger flats. Those are the two type of tracks that I expect the most out him. The short tracks, shorter flats and plate tracks will be good places for him. However, I think he he has nothing beyond high-single digit to low-teen potential. The road courses will be, where he is at his worst most likely. Will Elliott go to victory lane or will he start to get the Kyle Larson's treatment? We will find out very soon!

**All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Dale Jr

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Dale Jr had a very short season in 2016, after concussions forced him to miss the entire 2nd half of the year. Where multiple drivers had to fill-in for him, including likes of  Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman. He's now look to put that behind him and focus on the 2017 season. What do I expect from him? Let's find out!

 As usual, the intermediate and plate tracks are expected to be the primary strengths for him overall. People commonly think of him at the plate tracks and rightfully so, too. But he wasn't good at all on the plates (in terms of finishes) in 2016. In fact, he had finishes of 21st, 36th and 40th in the three plate races that he did in 2016. Not very Dale Jr-like at all, I would say. I will just chalk that up as a fluke though. He will be fine in 2017 and have a rebound year on the plate tracks. I am not going to dig into the details on him, you know what he is capable of at both Daytona and Talladega.

Intermediate tracks is a strength for him, no doubt. Hendrick Motorsports takes pride in their horsepower advantage over most of the field. Last year, they showed everyone they are capable of tuning it on in the chase. What are Dale Jr's intermediate best tracks? You could make a case for him at right about every track honestly. He will have top 10 potential at just about every track we visit. But three tracks I like the most are Michigan and Texas. Also love him at Atlanta as well. Let's start with Atlanta. This is his best track from a career point of view and best track over the past 2 seasons. He has 11.6 average finish (ranked first among all 23 tracks) and posted 2.5 average finish over past 2 seasons. His numbers recently are very good! Over the past 5 races at Atlanta, he has compiled 5 straight top 11 finishes. While 4 of those 5 races ended in 8th or better. Since joining HMS (2008) in 12 races, he has compiled 8 top 11 finishes. Dale loves Atlanta and it loves him right back!

Michigan is the next track, we will look at for Dale Jr. His first two wins came in 2008 and 2012 at Michigan. Not only his first two wins at Michigan, but his first two wins at HMS. Yes, you heard correctly. Overall, Michigan is a very good track for him honestly. Over his past 5 races, he has compiled 4 finishes of 10th or better. While posting 6 top 10 finishes over his past 9 races overall. With 5 of those 6 Top 10 finishes ending in 7th or better, too. This been a great track for him lately and should expect more of the same in 2017. Texas is the last track, I want to look at for Dale Jr.

Texas could be considered as Dale Jr's best intermediate track when looking at the numbers! Over the past 11 races overall, he has compiled 9 Top 10 finishes. The past 4 races at Texas has ended in 6th or better. Including 2 top 3 finishes over the past two Spring races at Texas. Over the past 6 races, he has finished 3rd or better in 3 of the past 6 races as well. To further make my point, he has finished 7th or better in 6 of the past 8 races at Texas. He's been on it here!

The Larger flats are also a very spot for him and should continue in 2017 as well. You could make the case that Pocono is Dale's best track on the schedule. As over the past 11 races at Pocono, he has compiled 10 Top 11 finishes. That's good, but the numbers get better as we dig into them though. Over the past 7 races, he has compiled 6 Top 5 finishes with 2 of them ending in wins. Just insane! Indy hasn't been quite so kind to him though. Still good lately though. Over the past 4 races at Indy, he has compiled 3 Top 9 finishes. He finished 22nd in 2015, his most recent race. He had a tough race in 2015, so I will let him slide though. However, from 2012 to 2014, he finished 4th-9th. With finishes of 9th, 6th and 4th. Don't be fooled, he been good at Indy recently, just not good from a career stand point.

The shorter flats will be good places to use him, just not super great though. I think Phoenix is his best track by far and that is the only one I would call great recently. He's been a man on a mission at Phoenix (not named Kevin Harvick that is) lately. Over the past 7 races, he has compiled 6 Top 8 finishes. While compiling 5 Top 5 finishes in that span, too. Including finishes of 5th and 1st in his past two races at Phoenix. Another thing to note is that Alex Bowman started on the pole this past fall and was running inside the top 3 very late. Until he got involved in a wreck. Also, he had stupid long run speed. He was the fastest guy on the track for most of that final long-run in the fall. That's says a lot about how the 88 team setting up their cars at Phoenix.

Richmond is his second-best shorter flat track, in my opinion. Nothing like Phoenix, but he's get his fantasy value by being consistent though. Over the past 9 races at Richmond, he has compiled 9 finishes of 14th or better. He has finished 12th or better in 3 of his past 5 races as well. I would say that his likely finish is in the 10th-15th range at Richmond though. Over that 9-race span (I just mentioned), he has finished between 10th-14th in 6 races. New Hampshire isn't very far behind, in my opinion. Over the past 8 races at New Hampshire, he has compiled 7 finishes of 14th or better. Including 3 of the past 4 races ending in 9th or better. Another note about him at New Hampshire is that he has posted 5 races with driver rating above 97.0.

Short tracks will be good for Dale Jr and you should expect him to keep up the good work in 2017 as well. Over the past 14 races at Bristol, he has compiled 12 finishes of 16th or better. Overall, 9 of 14 races has came between 9th-16th. That's seems to be his likely range. With that said, he had finishes of 9th and 2nd in his two most recent races at Bristol. While 5 of his past 8 races has ended in 12th or better. Dale Jr is making obvious gains at Bristol lately. Martinsville is his better track though. Over his past 12 races, he has compiled 8 finishes of 8th or better. Also, 3 of his past 4 races has ended in 4th or better. Overall, 4 of his past 6 races ended in 8th or better. Short tracks will be a very good place for him, make no mistake about that.

Road courses use to be a major weakness for Dale Jr and the 88 team, but he has turned it around lately. And I don't think it is a fluke, either. His performances over the past three seasons at Sonoma just seems way too good for that. Over the past three seasons, he has compiled 3 straight finishes of 11th or better. Also, he has posted a driver rating above 103 in each race. That's really good for him! Looking deeper into the data pool, he has compiled 5 Top 12 finishes over his past 7 races overall. Not quite as good at Watkins Glenn, but still respectable.Watkins Glenn been a good place for him over the past couple seasons, just not anything that's a standout though. Over the past two races, he has compiled finishes of 11th in both races. Also, he topped a driver rating in both. So that means, he has posted a driver rating over 100 in his past 5 road courses. Pretty good for a guy that everyone considered a weak road course racer!

I am not expecting Dale Jr to go out and suddenly pick up where he left off in 2014 and 2015, because he haven't been on the track in the while. With that said, I would be disappointed and surprised if he doesn't go to victory lane in 2017 though. He missed out last year because of injury/lack of performance. His concussion was obviously a big factor in him not winning, but even before that he wasn't really running great. With that said, I think he can get back on track in 2017. His best fantasy asset will be him being consistent. No easy way to put it, other than he needs the consistent to be a legit fantasy option. His best 5 tracks are (in my opinion): Daytona, Pocono, Phoenix, Texas and Michigan. You would make a case for several other tracks as well. Dale will likely run well just about everywhere and on every type of track. We just need to pinpoint and get the most value we can out of him.

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Kurt Busch

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I was pretty tough on Kurt Busch in 2016 and I didn't hide it either, almost every week I would find something to put him down. Was I just simply hating on him? Hell no! I was just very disappointed with his lack of speed on a weekly basis. I know, he could run better than he did last year. He's capable of it, I had high standards for him heading into 2016. He just didn't live up to what I was expecting. Even though, he had a solid season overall. Just not the season, I was expecting though.

I think the biggest question will be can SHR keep the ball rolling with the switch to Ford? I think so. At one time, switching to a new brand would be a disadvantage for a driver. But now? Not so much of an issue. SHR probably been preparing the cars for months now. Also, I am sure the guys over at Ford has plenty of input for him. I could be wrong, but I doubt they miss much from 2016. If anything, the SHR drivers will just have slow starts.

Intermediate tracks will be a strength for Kurt Busch in 2017, much like it will be for most top drivers in the sport. I think the intermediate tracks will a good place for him overall. You can use him anywhere and probably have a good shot at a top 10 finish. However, the three tracks that stand out are Kentucky, Chicago and Cali. I think these tracks are the places where it is most likely for him to get quality finishes. Like, I said you could use him anywhere and have a good shot at top 10 finishes. I consider Cali as his best track though. He has been amazing here and I love employing him at Cali. It's big, fast and he loves it! He finished 30th in last season's race, but his record there is impressive overall though. Over the past 4 races (before last season's bad finish), he has finished 9th or better in 4 straight races. Including 3 finishes of 5th or better in a row, before finishing 30th in 2016.

Kentucky and Chicago are also very good tracks. They are both ranked inside the top 8 among the 23 tracks on the schedule, from a career point of view. He has only made 6 starts at Kentucky, had made the most out of those 6 starts. In 6 starts, he has posted 5 finishes of 12th or better. The one non-top 12 start was back in 2012. Also, the only race where he wasn't in a quality ride. He drove the 51 car in 2012 for Phoenix Racing, later to be known as HScott Motorsports. Over his past 4 races at Kentucky, Kurt has compiled 4 straight finishes of 12th or better. Chicago is also a very good track for him. In 16 career starts, he has compiled 9 Top 10 finishes and 11 Top 20 finishes. Overall, 5 of hte past 6 races has ended in 13th or better. Lone bad finish? 2012 again with Phoenix racing. Over the past 4 races, he has compiled 4 top 13 finishes with 3 Top 8 finishes in that span as well. The intermediate tracks will definitely be a strong suit for him, most weekends expect top 10 potential and top 5 upside from him at certain tracks.

The shorter flats tracks will be a strength for Kurt Busch in 2017. He's runs well on the shorter flats of Richmond, Phoenix and New Hampshire. All good places to unload him! Phoenix has been the kindest to him lately. Over the past 7 races at Phoenix, he's finished 7th or better in 6 of 7 races. Yes, that's correct. 6 Top 7 finishes over the past 7 races for Kurt Busch at Phoenix. On top of an stellar record, he also is teammates with the Phoenix master. A good combo to have at this place, I think!

Richmond also been a kind track to Kurt Busch recently. His numbers aren't quite as good here as Phoenix, but still they stand out to me though. Over the past 8 races at Richmond, he has compiled 7 Top 15 finishes. While, 6 of the past 8 races has ended in 9th or better. Including an win and 2nd place win in that 8-race span. He's pretty good here! New Hampshire also been good to him, more so from a career point of view though. He's ranked 9th of 22 track from a career point of view at New Hampshire. While ranking 18th of 23 tracks over the past 2 seasons. Even though, he has a respectable 14.0 average finish over his past 4 races (2 seasons) there. Overall, 5 of the past 7 races has ended in 19th or better. That's good. The bad? Only 3 Top 15 finishes over his past 11 races. He was a machine from 2008 to 2011. Top 10 finishes in every start, during that span. He was still with Penske Racing, too. Lately, he has been just good enough. Not sure, if that will cut it though.

The larger flats will be good places for him in 2017, as it been in recent years. People might overlook Pocono because he only has an 13.2 average finish, that's only good enough for his 17th-best track over the last two seasons. Don't be fooled though, he has an 37th place finish there in that span. Overall, 10 of the past 14 races has ended inside the top 10. In fact, he has posted 4 Top 5 finishes over the past 7 races. Most interesting stat of all? He's a damn stud in the June races! He has posted 6 straight finishes of 7th or better in June's Pocono races. So, we have to go back to 2009 to find a bad race. With 4 of the past 5 June races ending in 5th or better. That's insane! I have always considered Pocono as one of Kurt's best tracks. Ranked as his 5th-best track (in terms of average finish) for his career.

Indy is one those tracks that I try to avoid Kurt Busch at for the most part. He usually get nothing beyond low to middle teens. There's nothing wrong with that, but he doesn't have that top 10 upside we always looking for from him. Over the past 3 of 4 races, he has finished 16th or better though. Overall, he has posted 4 Top 16 finishes over his past 8 races. That's just not cutting it at a track, we only visit once per year. Kurt need to step it up at Indy, before he has any real fantasy value in my eyes.

Road courses will be a very good place to use him at, but Sonoma is his better track. Even though, Watkins Glenn is damn good too! At Sonoma, he has been on it lately. In his first 10 starts at the start, he had just 4 top 20 finishes. Over his past 6 starts at Sonoma? 6 straight Top 12 finishes. While 4 of those 6 races has ended in 4th or better. His numbers at Watkins aren't too bad either. In fact, I think he is very underrated at WGI. People give him a lot of love at Sonoma because how well he has ran well there the past 6 seasons. But in reality, he has ran well at Watkins even longer. How long? How about 8 top 11 finishes over his past 10 races. While posting 10 Top 12 finishes over his past 14 races. That's insanely good! Also, he has posted 4 straight finishes of 12th or better. With 2 Top 5 finishes over the past 3 seasons. Show some Kurt some love at the road courses, folks!

I view Kurt as the most underrated plate racer in the series, he has never won at either track. However, I think he is the greatest active driver to never win a plate race in the Cup series. His number lately been off of the charts too. He's been very good at Talladega when looking at the numbers. Ranked 10th-best (of 23 tracks) in terms of career average finish. Over the past 5 races at Talladega, he has compiled 5 straight finishes of 12th or better. Like that? Well, he also has 4 Top 10 finishes in that span, including 3 straight top 10 finishes entering 2017. Daytona been pretty good to him as well. Over the past 6 races at Daytona, he has compiled 4 Top 10 finishes. While, 3 of the past 4 races has ended inside the top 10. There's a lot of good things to like about Kurt at Daytona and Talladega. Just a note, he would had 4 straight Top 10 finishes at Daytona. If he wasn't wrecked on the final lap at Daytona last July.

Short tracks (Martinsville and Bristol) will be his biggest weakness, I think. It has been a type of track that he's struggled at recently. He has ran well at Bristol lately, but the results just haven't been there for him though. Over the past 9 races at Bristol, he has compiled 5 finishes of 15th or better. While 3 of those 5 races ended in 5th or better. That's great, right? Definitely. Problem is? He's also finished 28th or worse in 4 races as well. He's sound like a high-risk/high-reward type of pick. Martinsville been much worse for him than Bristol. Martinsville ranked as his worst track (in terms of average finish) over the past two seasons. I am not going to go into deep details, but I will leave you with one important stat: Over the past 22 races at Martinsville, Kurt Busch has compiled 1 Top 10 finish. Yes, 1 top 10 finishes over his past 22 races. And that was his win back in 2014 with the #41 team. I am not even going to say anymore. That's all you really need to know about Kurt. At best, he will deliver a top 15 finish. That's isn't cutting it for me.

In 2017, I expect Kurt Busch to do what he always had. And that's just run well week in and week out. I highly doubt, if we see him go to victory lane more than once or twice hoenstly. But I do expect to see him as a top 10 contender on a weekly basis. I think it is important to use him on the road courses, shorter flats and certain intermediate tracks. Those are the places, where he is likely to have the most fantasy value. I think Kurt's best tracks are: Sonoma, Phoenix, Cali, Watkins Glenn and Pocono. I also think you can throw in the plate tracks and Richmond into the mix as well. I expect Kurt to make the chase once again this season, but he will likely do it off of consistency. Kurt's biggest asset the past two seasons has been about getting the quality finishes. More often than not, he haven't truly contended for the wins. Even though, I would say there been several races where he had top 5 potential. Point being, Kurt's value is based off of pure upside. Unless the 41 team improves significantly, I fully expect him to be a driver that finishes often in the 7th-15th range.

**All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18  

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview: Austin Dillon

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Austin Dillon has developed into one of the most-well rounded drivers in the series! He's good just about everywhere. It has taken him longer to develop than most young drivers, but he is making obvious gain. Dillon hasn't truly contended much for the race win in his career (outside of Pocono or Michigan races), but we are seeing progress being made though. Dillon's value is his consistency at just about every type of track. Not only that, but he shown a lot of speed in 2016 with that consistency. Folks, that is a lethal combination to have! Another thing I like about Austin? He's smooth with his equipment and never tear his stuff up. He's a good bet to finish out a race and usually good for a top 15 or at worst top 20.

Honestly, he is still stuck in that low to middle teen range as a driver. He is still trying to develop towards an top 10 driver. However, he isn't there quite yet I think, he needs to take that next step before coming an race-winner contenders. He will have his days, but I think he has some progress to make though. 

Intermediate tracks will be an a primary strength for Austin Dillon in 2017! RCR has been very good on these type of tracks over he years and it been a strength for Dillon in his career, as well. His best intermediate tracks? Michigan, Kansas and Texas. You could also make a strong case for Charlotte inside his top 3 tracks. However, it hasn't had that standout performance there. Just consistency, which you could say it is his most consistent track though. But the places above, he shown an higher ceiling though. I consider Michigan as his best track! Not only his best intermediate track, but he has said on number of occasions that Michigan is his favorite track. In fact, on MRN radio last June they had a segment where, Austin talked about how he loves big and fast racetracks. Michigan definitely qualifies for that.

Michigan is a very good track, even though if the numbers don't quite tell the whole story overall. He has some bad races at Michigan that really hurt him honestly. He finished 30th and 22nd in 2014 and 20th in June 2015 at Michigan. So that's an average finish of 24.0 average finish. Not good, but here's so stats are back up that he performed well in those races. In those 3 races, he compiled and 14.0 average running position and ran 65%(!) of the laps inside the top 15. That's insanely good, since that was his first few starts at Michigan with the #3 team. With that said, he finished 11th and 14th in the two races before making his debut with #3 in June 2014. Over his past three races at Michigan? 16th, 4th and 8th. Performance-wise, he had one of his worst performance of his career at Michigan back in August 2016. I think #3 just missed the setup. Just looked off that entire weekend for some reason. Statistically it wasn't his worst race overall, but the standards and expectations makes that performance much worse than any other race. Because of his the experience and what we seen from him in recent Michigan races. Just wasn't what anyone expected. However, I have high hopes for Dillon at Michigan in 2017. I think this is the place, he has one of his best shots to go to victory!

Kansas and Texas are the other two intermediate tracks that stand out to me as real strength for Austin. I think there are a lot of decent tracks for him among the intermediate tracks, but he has standout runs at Kansas and Texas. I like that, plus good track records as well. I would say that Kansas is his better track of two, to be honest. Kansas has been a very good track for him overall. Over the past 5 races at Kansas, he has finished 6th or 8th in 3 races. So 60% of the time, he has finished inside the top 10. While, 4 of the past 6 races has ended inside the top 19 at Kansas! Texas is another good intermediate track for him. He has finished 6 of 8 races inside the top 22 overall. That doesn't do it for him though, he ran extremely well at both races at Texas last season. That why I listed it as a favorite track. In 2016, he's posted 11.0 average running position with 77% of the laps inside the top 15. He got wrecked twice at Texas last year, but it wasn't for his lack of trying performance wise though.

Larger flats tracks and plate tracks are the next two strongest areas for Austin likely. He loves the big tracks, so logically he likes the plate tracks and larger flats. No surprise he has excelled at them honestly. I think you should expect more of the same in 2017 as well. I think the plate tracks are a bigger strength overall though. Especially at Daytona, for whatever reason he's just good there!

Daytona is his best track on the schedule. There's something about the #3 car at Daytona that brings out the best in Austin. Over the past 6 races at Daytona, he has compiled 8.5 average finish with 16.5 average running position and 82.6 driver rating. Over that 6-race span, he has finished 14th or better in every single race. That's just impressive overall for a 6-race stench. Also, he has posted 5 top 10 finishes in that 6-race span as well. Dillon is just money at Daytona, the place just agrees with him for whatever reason. I love using him at Daytona, he has established himself as a top driver there. He is also very good at Talladega but not quite on Daytona's level though. Over the past 6 races here, he has compiled 14.8 average finish with 20.7 average running position and 73.9 driver rating. His numbers are still impressive though. In 5 of the past 6 races at Talladega, he has finished 15th or better. Including finishes of 9th, 3rd and 14th over his past three races at Talladega. Simply put: Dillon is usually at his best on the plate tracks!

Larger flats tracks will also be another track for him as well. He has been successful at Pocono, since his very first start back in 2014! Has he been stellar at Pocono? Nope! But overall, his record is solid though. In 6 career starts at the track, he has posted 5 Top 20 finishes. Overall, he has posted 4 Top 15 finishes in those 5 races. Also, he has posted 2 Top 13 finishes over his past three races at Pocono. He had a top 5 race back in August 2016 as well. He was very strong in that race, he had a epic battle with Kyle Larson before bad weather came. The pit cycle really killed him at the end. He's easily had his best race at Pocono in his most recent race. At Indy? He has been even better than at Pocono, but he has less data so not sure if you can make that claim though. He has made 3 starts with the #3 team at Indy and he has posted 2 Top 10 finishes. Yes, he has finished 2 of 3 races inside the top 10. With finishes of 9th and 10th over the past three seasons. Not much else to say honestly. He's good on the larger flat tracks!

How about the short tracks and shorter flat tracks? He should have his moments on them for sure, but I view them as more of a weakness then the tracks listed above. I think he will have potential in the low to middle teens at the shorter flats with upside to finish inside the top 10. I personally think, he is still trying to find himself on the shorter flats. Most weekends, he will perform in that 12nd-17th place range. Same can be said about the short tracks as well.

New Hampshire is his best shorter flat track overall. He has finished 22nd or better in every single race at New Hampshire since his debut in July 2014. Overall, he has finished 16th or better in 5 of 6 races. His numbers were better in his first three races though. He had finishes of 14th, 11th and 8th in his first three starts at New Hampshire. Last three races at New Hampshire? 22nd, 13th and 16th. Still not bad, but his numbers are slightly down though. Phoenix is in the middle of the three tracks among the shorter flats. Phoenix has been okay for him overall, I would say. Not really good at Phoenix, but not really terrible either. Over the past 4 races, he has finished 20th or better in 3 of 4 races. With that said, he has 3 finishes of 24th or worse in the other races. A noticeable pattern at Phoenix? He has finished better in the Spring (March) races than the Fall (November) races. 24th (Spring 2014), 15th (Spring 2015) and 9th (Spring 2016) in the Spring races. While finishing 20th, 28th and 39th in the past three fall races. Also in the Spring, he has finished better in each race. 24th in 2014 and 9th in 2016. Expect good things in the Spring from Austin, if the trends holds.

Richmond is Austin's worst track overall among the flats, I would say. It has been a obvious weak spot for him as a Cup driver so far. As in 6 career starts at Richmond, he has finished 20th or worse five times. Yes, 5 of 6 races! That's not very good at all. He did finish in 13th in his last race there, but that's remains his only top 15 finish there. When looking at the numbers, he probably had his best two races at Richmond in 2016. Both races were easiest his top 2 races at Richmond as a Cup driver. Maybe he is making a turn around there? Anything possible.

The short tracks (Bristol and Martinsville) are a lot like the shorter flats for Austin overall. Teen-potential mainly but will have upside from time to time. Both very good tracks for him honestly. I would say that Bristol is the better track him, as he has found more success there so far. In 6 races at Bristol, he has compiled 4 finishes of 13th or better. Including an 4th-place finish in his most recent race there. Didn't earn it though. Had top 15 car, but that's about it in my opinion. Like I said teen-potential mainly. A lot of results on the short tracks will likely be in the teens. I would say 13th-16th in the overall likelihood at Bristol. Top 12 definitely within reach though.

Martinsville is the another short track that, we will want to look at, too. Martinsville is a tough place to master, but Dillon has done a good job there of finishing out races. Something a lot of young drivers haven't done much. In 6 races at Martinsville, he has finished 18th or better in 5 of 6 races. Including finishes of 17th and 4th last season. Performance-wise, he had his best races at Martinsville last season. Overall, it has been a very good track for him.

Road courses will be a weak link for him, he isn't an driver that will excel on the road courses much. Sonoma been the better track to him, for whatever it is worth. In 3 career races, he has finished 17th-22nd range. Not bad at all, but not great either though. Jut haven't had that standout performance yet. He is a working progress at Sonoma still and wouldn't expect anything to change either. Watkins Glenn been a lot tough on him than Sonoma. Dillon has his best road course finish at Watkins Glenn (2014 race), but also has finishes of 36th and 31st over the past two seasons. He's finished a lap down in both races. I believe he was involved in a wreck in 2016 and had a flat tire in 2015, that he never was able to recover.

In 2017, I expect Dillon to keep making progress as a driver. I am not expecting the world, so I won't be disappointed if the progress is small. For me, I would like Dillon to take the next step and contend in more races in 2017. He showed over the past couple seasons, he is capable of running well. I feel like he will need to stay consistent to be a real fantasy asset to us fantasy players. As he doesn't have enough upside to bring value that way. I think his best places will be the intermediate tracks, plate tracks and large tracks in general. His worst days will come on Richmond and the road courses most likely. I don't think Dillon will go to Victory lane in 2017, but I am expecting to see him up inside the top 5 more often.

 ***All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18