2017 Fantasy Nascar Early Rankings (Dega)

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Early Rankings -

1. Brad Keselowski
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Joey Logano
5. Kyle Busch
6. Dale Jr
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Jamie Mac
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Kyle Larson
11. Matt Kenseth
12. Martin Truex Jr
13. Kurt Busch
14. Chase Elliott
15. Austin Dillon
16. Ryan Newman
17. Ryan Blaney
18. Paul Menard
19. Kasey Kahne
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
21. Erik Jones
22. Aric Almirola
23. AJ Dinger
24. Ty Dillon
25. Trevor Bayne
26. Daniel Suarez
27. Danica Patrick
28. Cole Whitt
29. Landon Cassill
30. Chris Buescher

Twitter - @MattAleza 

2017 Fantasy Nascar Sleepers & Dark Horses (RIR)

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Richmond isn't a track that really benefit the mid-pack drivers like, say, a place such as Bristol did last week. Or Martinsville. Richmond has a lot of similarities to (another shorter-flat track) Phoenix. So if you were doing research this week, you should had been looking there to get a jump on the competition. What can you expect in today's race? Expect a lot of big names to be up at the front sooner or later. I think there will be some comers and goers throughout the event, but in the end, I think the race winner will come from a top 10 starter. More often than not, the winner at Richmond is from a top 10 starter. More specifically, there's a great chance that it will be from a top 5 starter. The past 5 Richmond races, the winner has came from the top 4 starting positions. The front row, itself, has produced the race winner in nearly 1/3 of the time at Richmond!

What's the point of me pointing out of that? Hitting on solid sleepers and dark horses will be what set apart the men and boys. Your average fantasy player will hit on a top driver, but a great fantasy player will find that hidden gem. That's there is where my expertise comes into play. Who are my favorite favorite plays today? Well here's you go!

Sleepers -

Aric Almirola - Aric Almirola is one of my favorite sleepers today. He will start 25th (which makes him a nice play in every format) and looked pretty good overall so far. In final practice, Aric was pretty happy with his car. Richard Petty Motorsports' twitter account said that Aric was overall happy with his car. When looking at the lap times, I would say that he is capable of making it into the top 20 and possibly a little more. Aric probably doesn't hold much fantasy value in standard scoring leagues that only score the final position. However, in deeper scoring leauges, he is someone that I always try to eye. Especially when he qualifies 25th or worse with a decent car.

Ryan Newman - When you take out his win at Phoenix (on pit road gamble), you are a little unimpressed by how Ryan Newman (and RCR in general) has performed. Outside of that Phoenix win, he has 1 top 10 finish. That finish was at Martinsville. Phoenix and Martinsville are categorized in the shorter-flat tracks group. Richmond is as well. So it is no accident that Newman has swept the top 10 on this sort of track. This weekend, he haven't been great, but he haven't been too bad either. I think he is in that next group between 11th-15th. That's typically Newman though. A low-teen driver with upside to snag a top 10 finish. That's exactly the position Newman is in headed into the race, in my opinion.

Kasey Kahne - Kasey Kahne isn't a driver that I like in general. Trust me, I been burned enough in the past to hold dislike toward him. With that said, the 5 team has been bringing quality cars to the track recently. Only problem is Kahne haven't been able to bring it across the line in the top 10 since early March. I am okay with that because it is about the ponetial, not past results. What facts do we know? Kahne has solid speed this weekend. Kahne has a really solid track record here recently. 3 Top 6 finishes in his past 4 races at Richmond. 3 of his last 5 spring races at Richmond also ended in 6th or better. So good track record and good speed in his car. That's good enough to take a flier on him! Would I recommend it? Probably not. But it not the worst idea I have heard this weekend.

Dark Horses -

Clint Bowyer - Clint Bowyer is a very solid dark horse pick this weekend. Remember dark horses are different than sleepers. Sleeper has to do with value and being under the radar. Now, dark horses are drivers that has great potential to win but aren't really expected to win. That right now describes Clint Bowyer to a exact tee. He has potential, but isn't actually expected to win. I will gladly take a shot with Clint Bowyer this weekend at Richmond. He's good this weekend overall. His crew chief said that Bowyer was consistent and they are going to be really good, if they keep it up. I like positive statements like that from a crew chief. Clint also has 2 Top 5 finishes in his past 3 races this season as well. His Richmond's record is pretty solid as well. If you exclude last season's races, he has finished 10th or better in 5 of his last 7 races. When MWR were at their peak in 2012 through 2014, Clint had 3 top 3 finishes in a 5-race span (September 2012 - September 2014). And 4 top 7 finishes in that 6 race span (April 2012- September 2014). Good track record, good speed, a lot of momentum = A dark horse pick to win!

Chase Elliott - Right now is the best time to climb aboard the Elliott's bandwagon! Why? Well, at the moment, it seem like Elliott has hit a snug in the road. The past few races, he haven't led any laps. What made him such a desirable fantasy option last year and early this season was running up front and leading laps. He haven't led a lap since Martinsville. His stock is trending in the wrong direction, due to his potential slipping a little. This weekend, most experts view him as a latter top 10 driver. I would agree with that overall. With that said, it is hard to overlook that he could easily find himself in the top 5 before the checkers. Elliott is one of those drivers that has unlimited upside.

Jamie Mac - Jamie Mac may be my favorite dark horse pick of the weekend. I think he is gonna win before we are in the chase and I think it will come on this kind of track. The 1 car been fast since unloading and look to have a car capable of winning. In practice, the 1 car looked better than the 42. And Larson had a car with top 5 speed. I thought both CGR cars were there with the Gibbs guys. Jamie Mac has a lot of long run speed in his car. Hamlin and Busch may have a little more than him, but he is right there though. I love what Jamie brings to the table. His consisency at Richmond, also makes him a great play for today's race. If you are looking for a solid dark horse pick, then you may not find a better one than Jamie Mac. I think he will challenge for a top 10 finish at least and be close to the top 5.

***All stats from DriverAverages.com

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2017 Fantasy Nascar RaceDay Thoughts (RIR)

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RaceDay Thoughts -

Jeff Nathans (@JeffNathans18):

-Gibbs cars look really strong this weekend so far. 

-The CGR cars, both Larson and JMac, are looking really good. Especially on the long runs

-I think Denny Hamlin is gonna be great today, even though a lot of people are overlooking him due to slow start. I am not!

-People stop comparing Richmond to Bristol. The only thing similar about them is they are short tracks. They are vastly different. Compare Richmond to Phoenix, if you are going to compare

Matt Aleza (@MattAleza):

-Track position will be huge today at Richmond.

-The winner has came from the front row at Richmond in 31% of the time. Matt Kenseth and Ryan Blaney are starting on the front row

- Clint Bowyer's crew chief said that they were really consistent toward end of final practice. That defintely not a bad thing.

-A good value pick this week could be a guy like Aric Almirola. He's fairly cheap in most fantasy games. Him starting 25th makes Aric a really solid play in most fantasy formats. Good chance he will move up about 5 to 7 spots

Yahoo lineups -

Jeff's lineup - 18,31,1,77

Matt's lineup - 18,21,31,13

Sleeper -

Jeff's pick - Ryan Newman 

Matt's pick - Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Winner -

Jeff's pick - Matt Kenseth

Matt's pick - Kyle Busch

2017 Fantasy Nascar Picks (RIR)

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Fantasy Nascar Picks -

Yahoo -

A:

Start - Kyle Busch (8)

Bench - Joey Logano (6)

Reasons - This is my easiest decision of the week right here. Joey Logano will be starting in the back and Kyle Busch has a top 5 car and starts 7th. Is there anymore that needs to be said?

B:

Start - Ryan Newman (7), Ryan Blaney (7)

Bench - Kyle Larson (6), Clint Bowyer (8)

Reasons -Newman and RCR seems to be still struggling on the intermediate tracks, but they been half way decent on these shorter tracks though. So logically I am rolling with Ryan Newman. So Blaney, Larson or Bowyer as the second choice? Well Larson is starting deeper than I would like and I don't think he will score max points. So Kyle is out of the running. Bowyer or Blaney? Really tough call as I think they will only end up 2-3 spots apart. I am leaning Blaney right now because he will have a shot at leading laps. Remember what happened at Texas? Started 2nd and got to the lead eventually. I hope for something similar.

C:

Start - Ty Dillon (7)

Bench - Daniel Suarez (8)

Reasons - I don't think there is much difference between Dillon and Suarez, but I think Suarez has far more room to improve than Dillon does. I think Dillon's ceiling is top 15 most weeks and he has finished 16th or 17th a couple times this season. Like I said, there is not much room for him to improve right now. 

Fantasy Live -20,42,18 ,43 and 72

Reasons - I am going with a risky lineup, but one that may workout. I think Matt Kenseth can lead a good amount of laps early on. So I am rolling with him. So I want a couple drivers from the back that can move forward. Kyle Busch will start 7th and should contend for a top 5. So I will take that pick. Kyle Larson will start 18th place and should move up at least 10 spots and possibly more. Aric Almirola is a value play at 13.25. He will start 25th and will move up at least 5 spots. I see possibly 7 spots from where I am standing. Cole Whitt will round out as value play and budget option. He is cheap but should move forward to about 30th-33rd range. He's serves his purpose for the most part.

Sleeper - Ricky Stenhouse Jr

Winner - Kyle Busch

Twitter - @MattAleza

2017 Fantasy Nascar Update (RIR)

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Fantasy Nascar Update -

1. Matt Kenseth - Let me tell you a thing or two about Matt Kenseth. He isn't a driver that will come out and show his hand in practice or qualifying. He like to keep the people guessing, so when he's start up front with a good car, then watch out! That's exactly what happened this weekend, too. He's started on the pole and a lot of people view him as one of the guys to beat. His car looked pretty strong in final practice and that's a bad sign for the competition. Here's how things has gone when Matt Kenseth has started 3rd or better at Richmond, since joining JGR. In April 2013, he's started on the pole and led 140. Finished 7th that day. In August 2015, he's started 2nd and led 352 laps. Simply dominated the event from lap 1 and won. In last September's race, he's started 3rd and led 3 laps, but finished 38th after wrecking. It should be noted that he was a top 3 driver before hitting the wall. Behind Denny Hamlin and Truex Jr, I would say that he was the best of the rest.

2. Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch is fast once again this weekend at Richmond. This is the type of track that the Gibbs cars are at their best right now, in my opinion. They are still searching on the intermediate tracks, but I think the Gibbs camp will be strong in Sunday' race. In final practice, Clint Bowyer said the 18 car was fast as shit. The driver of the No.18 car been a badass this season on the shorter flat tracks. He's dominated Martinsville and had the car to beat at Phoenix. I would consider Phoenix as the most similar track that we visited so far. He was head and shoulders the man there. Kyle had the 8th-best ten lap average in final practice. Rowdy will start from 7th, but I don't expect him to stay there very long though.


3. Brad Keselowski - I like Keselowski more than most do this weekend honestly. He doesn't seem to have a lot of short-run speed, but in final practice he seemed to get better on the long run. He was down on the ten lap average more than I would had liked, but as a run went on it seemed like he just got better and better. That's usually the case with the driver of the No.2 car. Paul Wolf knows how to dail that car in and Keselowski knows how to drive. This week, a lot of people steered away from him. I am not sure if it was because of poor finishes recently here or the egg that he dropped last week. Either way, there wasn't a lot of buzz around him. I was kinda surprised about that honestly. I figured more people would had been on his bandwagon. Outside of Bristol and Daytona, Keselowski been putting up some big-time numbers this season. He will start from the 15th position, but I think he will find himself in the top 5 before it is all over though.

4. Denny Hamlin - Denny Hamlin will start from 16th, but I loved the speed that he's showed in final practice. He was fast on the short run and was pretty good on the long run, too. Some drivers were really good on the short runs and other were really good on the long runs. Hamlin was solid on both. I don't know, if there was another driver that I could say that about. I think a lot of people will overlook him because of that, but I am not. He's won here last fall, after him and Truex Jr dominated the event for the most part. Him having one of the cars to beat shouldn't come as a shock, either. This is one of his best tracks on the schedule and always seems to be pretty good here. With that said, he's seems to be better in the fall races than the spring races. However, I think he is more than capable of finishing inside the top 5, maybe more on Sunday!

5. Kevin Harvick - Harvick always been a pretty good driver here and I don't expect that to change much honestly. I don't think he will really fall off the wagon, even though SHR haven't had the speed they had in recent seasons. In final practice, he was quite a bit down on the ten-lap average chart in 22nd. But he was 16th on the 15-lap average chart and 14th on the 20-lap average chart. His speed and lap times didn't really changed much. It seems to be more consistent than other drivers, hence why he rose up through the field on those charts. While others weren't as consistent and saw their times fall-off and down the charts. Harvick will fine, he will be a top 10 cotender with more than enough upside to challenge for a top 5 finish. He does have back-to-back top 5 finishes, if that makes anyone feel better. Right now, he is still trying to find himself but I think he will be just fine and be a top 10 contender on Sunday.

6. Martin Truex Jr - A lot of people are looking at that fast-ten lap average and saying wow Truex Jr is going to be a stud this weekend. And you know, that very well could happen. But I have some concerns when I look at the data from final practice. His longest run in final practice was about 18 laps, which worries me because the fastest cars were at least 25, most made close to or 30+ laps. Also, he only made 46 laps total for the session. Outside of Ryan Newman, he's ran the few laps in the session among the big-name drivers. That's not always a bad thing, but usually not a great thing though. I view him as a top 10 driver for now. I am by no means writing him off and saying he cannot go and win. He was great here last fall and had the 2nd-best car. However, I am saying there is reason to believe that he may not be that driver this week though. Prove me wrong Martin!

7. Kyle Larson - Kyle Larson will start deeper in the field on Sunday afternoon than normal this season, as he will start from the 18th starting spot. That's nothing new though, as he's started 34th at Texas. Kyle has been a stud all season long, finding himself in the top 5 in every race at some point. More often than not, he's stay there for most of the event. Getting to the front this weekend will be tougher with track position being so tough. However, he has a great car for Sunday's race. He has really good long run speed, which should help him move through the field. I think you need a car like that to get anywhere at this track. Doesn't hurt that Kyle is one of the best at restart this season, too. Larson big issue last season here (in the fall race) was fading on the long runs, but being fast on the short runs. I think the opposite will be true when the green flag waves on Sunday afternoon.

8. Jimmie Johnson - Jimmie Johnson has won back-to-back races now and will look to make it three in a race. However, I don't think that will happen. Yes, Johnson can go on a hot streak like he is on right now. However, I just don't see him winning at Richmond this weekend. A lot of people trying to compare Richmond and Bristol. Just stop right now, you are making yourself look stupid. Outside of both being short tracks, they have nothing in common. Richmond is a short-flat track. If you are going to compare Richmond to something, then compare it to Phoenix. They are similar tracks, not Bristol. Alright back on topic, I think Johnson will be top 10 good, but I am not jumping on the bandwagon yet. He doesn't look to have a top 5 car to me and this isn't a great track for him. In his past 16 races, he has only finished in the top 5 in three 3 races. And only 8 Top 10 finishes in those 16 races. That's not very Jimmie Johnson-like. He does have 5 straight Top 11 finishes here though.

9. Jamie Mac - There a lot of good drivers to choose for this final ranking spot, but I am going with Jamie Mac though. He has a lot of long run speed in his car. He may not be that good on the short runs, but like teammate Kyle Larson, he's stout on the long runs though. He's loves his car on the long run. He was pretty happy with it. Doesn't hurt that he has a pretty good record as well. Over the past two seasons, he has 10.0 average finish and that's good enough for the 8th-best average finish in that span. I think there's a lot to like him this weekend from the 10th starting spot.

10. Joey Logano - I had Logano ranked 3rd in my final overall rankings as I love what he brings to the table, but after I originally posted my article, it was then announced he would start in the back. That was a major bummer for me, as I had to rewrite my thoughts on him. I don't hate Joey by any means, I still think that he will be a fine fantasy pick. Problem is, his most attractive asset was his starting position. Track position is important here and he won't have it to start the race. It will be fun to watch go through the field, but starting dead last is tough no doubt though. Add in that, he haven't blown me away on the speed charts and he get knocked down the my rankings pretty good. I think Logano will still be a top 10 finisher, but there's a lot better options out there. 



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

Twitter - @JeffNathans18


 

2017 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (RIR)

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Final Rankings -

1. Kyle Busch
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Joey Logano
4. Kyle Larason
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Brad Keselowski
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Martin Truex Jr
10. Chase Elliott
11. Jamie Mac
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Ryan Newman
15. Kasey Kahne
16. Erik Jones
17. Kurt Busch
18. Erik Jones
19. Dale Jr
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
21. Aric Almirola
22. AJ Dinger
23. Daniel Suarez
24. Paul Menard
25. Ty Dillon
26. Trevor Bayne
27. Danica Patrick
28. Michael McDowell
29. Landon Cassill
30. David Ragan 

2017 Fantasy Nascar Early Rankings (RIR)

Welcome to TimersSports

1. Kyle Busch
2. Kyle Larson
3. Joey Logano
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Jimmie Johnson
7. Matt Kenseth
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Kurt Busch
10. Chase Elliott
11. Jamie Mac
12. Clint Bowyer
13. Ryan Newman
14. Ryan Blaney
15. Erik Jones
16. Dale Jr
17. Kasey Kahne
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
19. AJ Dinger
20. Austin Dillon
21. Daniel Suarez 
22. Aric Almirola
23. Trevor Bayne
24. Paul Menard
25. Ty Dillon
26. Danica Patrick
27. Landon Cassill
28. Chris Buescher
29. Michael McDowell
30. David Ragan

Twitter - @MattAleza

2017 Fantasy Nascar RaceDay Thoughts (Bristol)

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RaceDay Thoughts -

Jeff Nathans (@JeffNathans18):

- We aren't racing today, unless the weather changes bit time, we will see cars on track on Monday

-Gibbs camp look pretty good. I think the winner comes from the 18,19,20,77,78 or 11

- A driver you watch out for is the pole sitter, Kyle Larson. He will be player and the field could be in trouble if that top really start to comes in, after the rain

-I think Jimmie Johnson is gonna have another strong race.

Matt Aleza (@MattAleza):

- I think Kasey Kahne could shock a lot of people with a solid run

- The Penske cars will be fine, despite not showing the speed many of us has hoped. Trust me, they will be top 5 good

- I think Blaney can score another top 10 finish

- Austin Dillon is my sleeper play. RCR run well on these shorter tracks for whatever reason

Sleeper -

Jeff's Pick - Trevor Bayne

Matt's Pick - Austin Dillon

Yahoo lineups -

Jeff's lineup - 22,1,21,34

Matt's lineup - 22,1,21,34

Winner -

Jeff's Pick - Kyle Busch

Matt's Pick - Kyle Busch

2017 Fantasy Nascar Picks (Bristol)

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Fantasy Nascar Picks -

Yahoo -

A:

Start - Joey Logano

Bench - Kevin Harvick

Reasons - I wished I would had went with Kyle Busch as he looks to be the driver to beat again at Bristol, much like last summer's race. While Joey Logano looks to have a top 5 car, same with Harvick But I am going with the driver that has 6 Top 6 finishes in 7 races in 2017.

B:

Start - Ryan Blaney (8) and Jamie Mac (8)

Bench - Kyle Larson (6) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr (8)

Reasons - Well this was a tough weekend of choices. B was the toughest because Kyle Larson is starting on the pole. However, I don't think I can risk starting him at a crazy track like this. I wish I could and I wish I had more starts. So I am going with Blaney and Jamie Mac. Both are pretty solid options and safe ones. I would like to save them both for the intermediate tracks, but I am okay using them here, too. Stenhouse Jr is well, let's say having a wild weekend. I will pass lol

C:

Start - Landon Cassill (8)

Bench - Erik Jones

Reasons - Start save. That is all you need to know. Unless you have 9 Jones start or something, then you need to start save. Sames goes for Dillon and Suarez. Maybe not Suarez as much. Might want to use him this weekend, as he looked awesome

Fantasy Live - 18,20,34,17,48

Sleeper - Austin Dillon

Winner - Kyle Busch

Twitter - @MattAleza

2017 Fantasy Nascar Update (Bristol)

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Fantasy Nascar Update -

A: 

1. Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch probably had the car to beat on Saturday in a pair of practice session and will start from the 7th starting position. The No.18 car was fast on the speed charts and looked pretty good over the long runs, too. Rowdy is a stud here at Bristol and usually finishes at the front or wrecks out it seems. Bad luck has been the common theme in 4 of his past 5 races here. So don't think it is time for him to get some good luck? I sure do.  I have very high hopes for him overall and he is my pick to win the race on Sunday (or more likely Monday).

2. Joey Logano - I think Joey Logano is a bit under the radar this weekend at Bristol. He has been so good this season and so consistent, but no wins so far. I think he is being disrescpected because he haven't won yet. In case, you haven't paid attention, he has posted 6 top 6 finishes in 7 races this season. Last, I check that was pretty damn good. He has the most top 10 finishes in the series, tied with teammate Brad Keselowski. No finishes better than 3rd, but still I am sure most drivers would be totally okay with that. Logano always been pretty good here, he is a 2-time winner at this track since joining Penske and No.22 team. Pretty good, don't you think? Like I said back on Monday, he has a far better track record in the summer races than the spring races though. If you are big trend believer than, that's news then. On pure ponetial, I don't think there are many drivers that has more to offer than Joey Logano!

3. Kevin Harvick - I really do like Kevin Harvick this weekend. I don't think he will dominate or anything like that, but I do think that he will have a real chance to be a top 5 contender though. The 4 team has gotten off to a slow start to the season and that's toally okay. They will find, they just need to find their groove and I think sooner or later it will happen. Bristol has been a place where the #4 team has performed at a strong-level in recent seasons. Obviously, their performance is down right now, but do you really think it will effect them that much? SHR bring top 10 cars to the track every week still and Harvick is a driver that can drive them into the top 5. At Texas, I think we saw improvement from the #4 team and I think they will keep making gains. Short tracks don't think take quite as much speed and his crew chief is great at setting cars up at these shorter tracks. Doesn't hurt that the #4 car has some speed in it.

4. Brad Keselowski - I honestly was expecting Keselowski to be more of a standout on the speed charts on Saturday than he was. But that's okay though. I think both of the Penske cars will be just fine in the race. Keselowski is a great driver here at Bristol, much like Kyle Busch, he has shit for luck though. Keselowski has a lot going for him right now. He has won multiple times so far this season and can risk more than others can. On top of that, Keselowski has more momentum than any other driver in the series. Entering the weekend, he has 6 straight Top 6 finishes. How many other drivers can say that? 0. Not even Series point leader Kyle Larson can say that.  Also, Keselowski always run well at Bristol, only reason he finishes poor is because of bad luck. If he can avoid drama, then you can expect another top 5 finish, I think.

5. Martin Truex Jr - Honestly is it tough spot to rank with the final ranking in the top 5 in the balance. The likes of Kenseth and Johnson are more worthy, but it is hard to overlook Martin Truex Jr this weekend. He haven't shown the speed of Kyle Busch. But I have a feeling that the Toytoas are going to be very tough to beat. Teammate Erik Jones looks really good and as does the JGR cars, too. Truex Jr starts the furthest up among the JGR/FRR cars. He has shown some good speed out of his car so far this weekend. I think Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson are a little better than him overall, but track position is important here. With all of that rain, I would hate to be starting mid-pack. Truex Jr doesn't have a good track history here, but for me it means nothing. He has a good car and starts up front. Good enough for me.

6. Jimmie Johnson - A couple things were eye-opening to me on Saturday. First, Johnson was in the top 10 on the charts in both practice. There you look closer and you notice he ran a lot of laps in both sessions. Now, that is usually a great sign for a driver. It does not always tranlsate into results, but it is typically a good sign of things to comes. It does not hurt that Johnson has the best average in the series over the past two seasons. Also, it does not hurt that Johnson won the most recent Cup race at Texas. There's defintely reason to believe that the 48 team has some momentum on their side. I am not ready to jump on that 48 bandwagon yet, but I have a very close eye on him though.

7. Matt Kenseth - All week long, I had a great feeling about Matt Kenseth and well he didn't disappoint, either on Saturday. The 20 car looked good, just like all of his teammates did. All of the Joe Gibbs cars looked fast on the speed charts, since unloading. Kenseth has had a lot of success at Bristol, since (and before) joining JGR. However, lately, he has a lot of bad luck too. In his past 7 races here, he has posted 3 Top 3 finishes and 3 finishes of 36th or worse. So he has been boom or complete bust. I usually don't recommend using a boom or bust driver, but there are very fantasy options with higher upside than Matt Kenseth. I think we are in for a whacky ass race anyhow, so don't shy away from Kenseth. Typically, he find himself at the front here. So don't worry about his starting position, either. I personally don't think he will win, but he has 500 miles to get to the front and I think he does that.

8. Kyle Larson - I think Kyle Larson is gonna be really great if the top groove comes in, but if it doesn't then I think he will be just pretty good. It is no secret that Kyle Larson loves Bristol and I think it is obvious why he loves it so much, too. He will start on the pole for the race, so I think he will lead some laps. But how long will he hold that lead for though? Kyle is a great talent, but at Bristol, he just doesn't like to run the bottom, to him it is boring. He is one of those drivers that love running up top and one of those drivers that will benefit from running up there. Honestly, I also lowered his ranking quite a bit because all of the bad luck he has had here recently. If I take that out of the equation, I would have him in the 3rd to 6th place range in my rankings.

9. Chase Elliott - You know, I am just not a fan of Chase Elliott this weekend. I am sorry, but I am still a believer that Elliott best efforts will come on the intermediate tracks and I think he has a off-day at Bristol. He will be good, no doubt, but after watching practice, I don't think he has a car that will stay up in the top 5. So far this season, we had seen him run really well for 75% of the event and then fade. I don't think it will take that long. I think Elliott will fade to the top 10, once we get settled into the race. I think Elliott will settle into that 6th-10th place range in the race and stay there mainly. I wouldn't be shocked, if he finished in the top 5 though. However, I would say that is less likely than finishing in the top 10.

10. Denny Hamlin - I really debated to put Blaney or Hamlin in my final spot of my rankings. So I went with Hamlin, as he looked slightly better. I think Blaney is going to be a factor at Bristol, but Hamlin and the Gibbs cars looked pretty solid overall. I thought Hamlin looked better than 10th, but I don't trust him honestly. He has been very inconsistent to start the season and haven't really shown that consistent speed, yet. So I guess, you could say that he has looked consistent. Just not consistency good and that's a problem. Heading into the race, I think he is a top 10 driver with clear upside to challenge for something near the top 5. But I am not going to go that far. I think he will finish no better than 6th or 7th honestly.

Rest of the top 15 -

11. Ryan Blaney
12. Jamie Mac
13. Ryan Newman
14. Erik Jones
15. Clint Bowyer

***Stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Bristol)

Welcome to timersSports

Final Rankings -

1. Kyle Busch
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Kyle Larson
4. Joey Logano
5. Martin Truex Jr
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Matt Kenseth
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Chase Elliott
11. Jamie Mac
12. Clint Bowyer
13. Ryan Newman
14. Erik Jones
15. Dale Jr
16. Kurt Busch
17. Kasey Kahne
18. Austin Dillon
19. Daniel Suarez
20. Paul Menard
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
22. Trevor Bayne
23. Aric Almirola
24. Ty Dillon
25. AJ Dinger
26. Danica Patrick
27. Landon Cassill
28. Michael McDowell
29. David Ragan
30. Chris Buescher

Twitter - @MattAleza
 

2017 Fantasy Nascar Sleepers & Dark Horses (Bristol)

Welcome to TimersSports

I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful off-week! While it was fun to kick back and not stress out for awhile. However, it is time to get back at it this weekend at Bristol! This is one of the few races, where you almost have to consider a sleeper option or two. Simply because it is such a great opportunity to steal fantasy points from the competition. Legit, some drivers simply can run well here, even if they drives for a mid of the road team. We had seen it often here and then there's the wrecks. Oh, the wrecks. It is so easy to cause a multi-car wreck here and the spring race is usually the event that causes the most drama. So yeah, it may be a good idea to have a few sleepers on your radar headed into the weekend. Who should you be considering? Well, I have a few in mind.

Enjoy!

Sleepers -

Ricky Stenhouse Jr -  I haven't given up on Ricky Stenhouse Jr yet and I won't because he has proven over the past few seasons that he can be a effective fantasy option. When everything goes right for him. This season, that rarely has been the case. But he is starting to trend in the right direction though. He's finished 14th or better in 3 of the last 4 races this season. Including 4th at Phoenix, 10th at Martinsville and 14th at Texas. Pretty solid! Even better, many people (including myself) would consider Bristol as his best racetrack. His record here is very impressive, he seems to just run well here consistently. In 4 of his last 6 races here, he has finished 6th or better. While finishing 16th or better in 5 of his last 6 races at Bristol. Additionally, he's posted a driver rating of 80.1 or better in 4 of those last 6 races. Usually anything in the 80s and 90s for Stenhouse is really good. Typically, he is in that 60 or 70 range on average at most tracks. His two races, he didn't reach a 80.1 driver rating, where races that he had issues in. Finished 21st in August 2015 and 16th in April 2016. He had to overcomes problems in both races to get those finishes. Over the past two seasons, Bristol ranked as his best track in term of average driver rating.

Aric Almirola -  Like Stenhouse Jr, I have pretty much listed Aric every week on my weekly posts. Which is really not that surprisingly. Both drivers have obvious potential and are more than capable of delivering solid results. However, they get overlooked way too much, which means we have some nice value to grab. Aric Almirola is off to a great start this season. With 6 Top 20 finishes in 7 races already. With that said, I think he has a chance to have his best race of the season at Bristol. There's a couple reason to be very optimistic about his chances. Aric loves Bristol, he's consider it as his favorite track. When a driver says that, he (or she) is automatically on my fantasy radar. In 5 of his last 7 races at Bristol, Aric has posted 5 Top 17 finishes. Looking deeper into that, he has finished 13th and 3rd in 2 of his last 3 spring races here. He has finishes of 34th, 13th and 3rd in his last three spring races. In spring 2015, he was very strong. He drove through the field and was running near top 15 at halfway point. He was able to avoid all of the craziness and drive up into the top 10, a little after that. He was running 6th-10th a lot in the latter stages. On the final restart, he ran out of gas and had to coast to the finish line in 13th. In spring 2014, he had his best race ever at this track. Posted a career high 101.8 driver rating and finished 3rd. Am I saying that Aric going to finish top 10 again? Probably not. Do I think he is capable of a solid finish? You bet your ass, I do.

Austin Dillon - Austin Dillon is having a tough season and I totally get why he is so far under the radar for most people. Personally, I agree with staying away from him. As he haven't really gotten any worthy finishes (or performance) so far this season. His Martinsville finish (top 5 finish) was his best race of the year. Otherwise, there's a lot of concerns about Dillon so far. He's not just getting poor finishes, but not performing well, either. So, we need to use him when he has a chance for his best outings. I think Bristol is one of those tracks. Let's be real here, Dillon haven't ran well on the intermediate tracks. That's the main course in Nascar right now. So if you cannot perform well on the intermeidate tracks, then you have to look elsewhere. I think the answer will be on the short tracks. Bristol is a great track for Dillon and short tracks seem to be where struggling teams can run well at. In 6 career starts, he's posted 4 Top 13 finishes. He's finished 4th in last August race here.

Dark Horses -

Ryan Blaney -  There's no more sleeping on Ryan Blaney. The kid is legit and I don't it comes a shock to anyone. A couple weeks ago at Texas, I thought Blaney would have something for the competition. I was wrong, he had the comeptition in check early in the race. He went on to lead a race-high 142 laps. I look at that restart at start of stage 2, that changed Blaney's race. He got slowed up by a car in front of him. That let guys like Larson, Johnson, Elliott, etc get way ahead of him. Then of course that penalty late in the race, pretty much did him in. Still, doesn't change how strong he was for the event. Not the first time this season, we had talked about the strength of Blaney. I expect more of the same this weekend at Bristol! This always been a great track for him, starting in the racing series leading up to the Cup level. Last season, he had a pair of top 10 runs here. He was top 10 good in the spring race (in 2016) and was running top 5 at one point. In the end, he was involved in a wreck though. In the summer race, Blaney was top 10 good again. Don't be shocked if Blaney is even better this time around!

Jamie Mac -  I just love seeing the success of Chip Gannassi Racing so far this season. It is so cool to see this organization run up front, after years of being a mid-pack team. Kyle Larson get almost all of the credit for running up front in every race almost, but I think Jamie Mac is the one that should be getting the credit though. We all know what kind of driver Larson and how talented he is. Him running up front and contending each week, shouldn't be a suprise. Don't get me wrong, that's my favoirte driver. But it is a little frustrating to see Jamie Mac not get some recognition, too. Jamie is having a unbelievable season. In certain extent, it is more impressive than what Larson has done. No, really did anyone expect Jamie to be a top 10 (top 5 often too) threat on a weekly basis? I sure didn't. He is not only running in the top 10, but most times it is near the top 5, too. He's truly is having a career year so far. Bristol will be no difference, my friends. It is one of the drivers that he has enjoyed a lot of success on with the No.1 team. In his last 4 races here, he's posted 11.5 average finish (7th-best in the series) with no finish worse than 14th. He's the only driver in the series that can say he has swept the top 15, in that time frame.


***Stats from DriverAverages.com

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2017 Fantasy Nascar Early Rankings (Bristol)

Welcome to TimersSports

Early Rankings -

1. Kyle Busch
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Kyle Larson
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Matt Kenseth
6. Joey Logano
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Ryan Newman
10. Martin Truex Jr
11. Ryan Blaney
12. Jamie Mac
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Chase Elliott
15. Dale Jr
16. Kurt Busch
17. Austin Dillon
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
19. Kasey Kahne
20. Trevor Bayne
21. Aric Almirola
22. Erik Jones
23. AJ Dinger
24. Ty Dillon
25. Paul Menard
26. Danica Patrick
27. Daniel Suarez
28. David Ragan
29. Michael McDowell
30. Chris Buescher

Twitter - @MattAleza

2017 Fantasy Nascar Preview (Bristol)

Welcome to Timerssports

Fantasy Nascar Preview -

1-JMac: JMac is coming off (in my opinion) his best performance of the 2017 season at Texas just a few weeks ago and now will look to keep his strong start intact. I think the CGR cars will be very good everywhere and that will include Bristol. We saw him run very well at Martinsville (not really comparable though), before slamming into the wall pretty hard. Noted, it was 100% of his stupidity for not pitting though. Onto this weekend though. He has ran very well here in the past and I think that will continue as well. JMac has produced 5 straight finishes of 14th or better at Bristol. Including finishes of 11th or better in 3 of his past 5 races here. He's finished 8th and 14th here last season at this place.

2-Brad Keselowski: Keselowski is the hottest driver in the series right now with pure consistency and running up front. No driver in the series has more top 6 finishes this season than he does. Yes, not even points leader Kyle Larson has more than Keselowski. Since finishing 27th at Daytona (first race of the season), he has finished 6th or better in every single race of the season. His worst performance in that span may had been at Texas. That or Cali when thinking about it, honestly. Which is saying a lot since he was contending for a top 5 finish in both races. There's not a lot to hate about Brad right now. He does nothing but put strong finishes. Keselowski has had a lot of bad luck here recently, but he did win races in 2010 and 2011 here. For whatever that is worth (probably not much) when it comes to this weekend race. Keselowski haven't gotten the finishes here lately, but it will change this weekend though. Mark my words that the No.2 car will be up at the front.

3-Austin Dillon: My biggest surprise through 7 races? Not enough people aren't worried about Dillon start to the 2017 season. He has looked terrible. In 5 of 7 races, he has finished 18th or worse. While 3 of his last 6 races has ended in 25th or worse. Why the backtracking for Dillon? I have a couple theories. The logic reason would be RCR is simply behind right now. Or Dillon made so much progress last season in Cup, he is now suffering a slump because he cannot make anymore progress in terms of development. Quite frankly, I think it could be the combination of the two. Also, I think this season's race package doesn't fit into his driving style honestly. Throughout his career, Dillon has relied on consistency, not pure driving talent. This package reward the talent on the track more than in recent seasons. Could that explain for the regression of Dillon? As for this weekend, I think this is one of the tracks that he will have a shot at a top 10 finish. I believe Dillon best shots (right now) at a top 10 finish will be on the short tracks. He has a solid record here so far in his career. Might be a decent fantasy option, of course it depends on what fantasy format, too.

4-Kevin Harvick: Harvick haven't found victory lane through 7 races in the 2017 season. After his hot start to the season at Atlanta, I think many people (including myself) expected him to win before this point. However, he haven't and really haven't dominated any races, either. There has been races where he has been in contention, but not the Harvick of the past few seasons. Personally, I am not worried yet. SHR is still trying to make the transition to Ford from Chevy and that will no doubt take some time. If he haven't won by like July or something like that, then there will be some reason to panic. For now, let's give him some time. He will be good this weekend. Winning good? I don't think so, but easily a top 10 driver and likely on that top 5-boarder, as well.

5-Kasey Kahne: Kahne is actually having a pretty decent season so far in 2017, despite his ride going to crap at Texas. The good news is, he's finished 20th or better in every race, minus the Texas race. Good, right? Yeah, okay that's good. You know the bad news is coming, right? He has finished 20th or worse in 3 of his past 4 races this season. His first three races this season were his best three finishes of the season by far. Since finishing 12th at Vegas, he haven't finished better than 14th (Martinsville) on the season. Honestly, despite the half way decent start to the season. I cannot recall a race where he has been a legit top 10 driver. He's just getting good finishes. I think that is the best thing you can hope with Kahne. Hope he can run top 15 and steal top 10. I think that is a reasonable outcome for him this weekend at Bristol. He has (and can) run well here in the past and should have enough speed to be in that 12th-17th place range for the race.

11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin is having a tough season so far along with his Joe Gibbs teammates. Outside of Kyle Busch, I cannot say anyone has been close to be a top 5 threat. I am not kidding, either. Hamlin has looked like the worst ''experienced'' Gibbs driver and I honestly not surprised by that. Over the previous two seasons, it took Hamlin until second half of the season to warm up. Guess what? He is off another slow start. How much are you willing to bet that he will turn it around? Pretty sure he will get it together before the chase arrives here. As for this weekend, I am not very high on him honestly. His slow start has a lot to do with that. Also, Hamlin just haven't been consistent enough here for me to believe he will be a legit threat.

18-Kyle Busch: I love Kyle Busch this weekend at Bristol. It is one of his favorite tracks on the schedule, even though he has way more success on ''old Bristol'' than ''new Bristol''. Still it does not change that Kyle Busch was one of the strongest drivers in the series here last season. He had the car to beat in last August race. When looking at Phoenix and Martinsville (not really comparable tracks), he had a car that was more than capable of winning. He should had won at Phoenix, if it wasn't for that last caution and led the most laps at Martinsville. Again not really any comparable tracks to Bristol, but still one have to wonder about his success on the one-mile or less tracks.

19-Daniel Suarez: Suarez hasn't impressed through 7 races like he has so many other people. The mainstream media were hyping him up when he scored those top 10 finishes at Vegas and Phoenix. That's cool, but the facts are he haven't been a legit top 20 driver in a race yet. He is showing shades of Austin Dillon's rookie year. Be a top 25 driver, but constantly improve throughout the race. By end of the race, he will be in the top 20. That has been the main theme for him and it will likely continue this weekend at Bristol. The 19 team was awesome here last spring, but that was with the experience veteran of Carl Edwards. Suarez is nowhere on that same level. I think he will be in that 18th-23rd place range driver.

20-Matt Kenseth: Matt Kenseth is a stud at Bristol and make no mistake about that, either. The 20 team haven't been on it this season really, with Kenseth only producing three top 10 finish through 7 races. Problem is he has finished 16th or worse in 3 of his past four races. Bristol is one of his best tracks, even though his record doesn't show how good he's been. His track record here with JGR has been boom or bust. In his past 8 races here, he has finished 35th or worse in 4 of his 8 races (August 2016, April 2016, August 2015 and March 2013). While, finishing 3rd or better (August 2013, August 2014 and April 2015). What stands out to me? He has finished 36th or worse in 3 straight races at Bristol. That's not a good sign for track history. On positive side, since joining JGR, he haven't had a bad race here. He has dominated multiple times in his past 8 races here. Including early on in last spring's race!

21-Ryan Blaney: Blaney is having a great season and I think this is definitely a kind of track that he will perform very well on. A few weeks ago at Texas, many people thought he was going to win that race. If he didn't have that speeding penalty, I think he would had finished inside the top 5, if not more. He should be a solid fantasy pick this weekend at Bristol, too. I really do like him a lot as a fantasy pick. He ran very well here last season and found plenty of success on this in the lower series. I remember Blaney saying this is his favorite racetrack in the lower series. No shock that he ran so well in his rookie season. He probably had one of his best races of the season last year as a rookie at Bristol. He was top 10 good in both races, just didn't get the finishes.

22-Joey Logano: Logano is having a solid season, but he haven't gone to victory lane yet though. Outside of Phoenix, it is hard to complain about Logano's results overall. Bristol could end going very well for Logano or very poorly. Depending on how you want to look at. Logano has produced 5 Top 10 finishes, including 2 wins over his past 7 races at Bristol. So he has found success here, right? Most definitely. Problem? Logano past 4 spring races at Bristol: 10th, 40th, 20th and 17th. His past 4 summer races: 10th, 1st, 1st and 5th. Now, trends aren't definite and tends can change. But recent history says that Logano will have problems this weekend at Bristol. But then again, he's finished 10th place in last spring's race, too. 

24-Chase Elliott: Elliott is having somewhat similar season to Kyle Larson's 2nd season (back in 2015). Consistently with top 10 speed with clear upside, but never can take that ''next step'' into top 5 territory. I think that is exactly what he had seen from Elliott. I really like Chase as a driver, I think he is gonna be really good driver down the line. As a young driver, he still has some progress to make. He ran well last season in both races at Bristol and should be a top 10 or so driver this weekend. However, I still say that the intermediate tracks are his bread and butter. I personally think that Elliott will not have his performance of the season at Bristol. Some drivers just go over the top at this place, while other are just good. I don't think Elliott is a kind of driver that goes over the top at this sort of place. He will be consistent and make his way to the front as the race progresses. I think he is better off saved for intermediate tracks, if you wondering if this will be one of his better races.

41-Kurt Busch: I am sorry but Kurt Busch has been basically trash so far this season. I have been very unimpressed by him through 7 races. Sure, he won the Daytona 500 and finished 7th at Atlanta but since then? 24th or worse in 4 o the past 5 races. Okay, he had a few mechanical problems, but that issue stopped after PIR. 37th, 25th and 10th in three races since then. He did finish 10th at Texas, but he wasn't ever in contention. Yet, people are still considering him as a ''visible'' fantasy option? I don't understand that at all. My number one factor in fantasy nascar and always have been consistency. Consistency is what build championships in sports. Kurt Busch, my friends, doesn't seem to understand how that works right now. He has a pretty solid record here, but he cannot be trusted. When he can knock off some solid finishes/performances, then we will talk about it!

42-Kyle Larson: Kyle Larson is off to a great start in the 2017 season. He has been nearly unstoppable through 7 races. In that span, he has posted 5 Top 2 finishes. Yes, 5 Top 2 finishes. Including his 2nd career win at Cali. This kid is for real and I think most people knew that heading into the season. The Cali kid grew up dirt tracking it but knew he had to go to Nascar to make it big time. Fast forward a odd number of years later, he's considered a heavy favorite at his Nascar track at Bristol. Larson has number of times said that Bristol is his favorite racetrack. Before, he really hit the spotlight in Cup, Larson had a epic battle in a NXS race with Kyle Busch back in 2013. I think that is the race, a lot of fans had a feeling what kind of drivers he could be. And every time, he has came here to Bristol, Larson has been a strong performance. This weekend will be no difference, make no mistake about it. I have very high hopes for him this weekend and pinned as a top 5 fantasy pick with winning potential!

48-Jimmie Johnson: You know what I heard about a lot during the off-week? Jimmie Johnson and HMS are back with him winning at Texas. Hold your damn horses! Back? I am not ready to say that they are back. The facts remain that HMS as whole has struggled, minus that win. They may have a driver in the top 10 every week, but that all they are doing. Not many top 5 finishes this season.  I think they are much butter than they were back in the Atlatna area. But to say that they are back after one win is kinda bold. Especially considering all of the competitive teams in Nascar right now. Would it surprise me, if that was the case? Hell no, but I am not ready to jump on the bandwagon quite yet. However, Johnson has a pretty solid record at Bristol lately though. So I would keep tabs on him, no doubt.

77-Erik Jones: Jones is having a fine rookie season so far. He haven't blown us out of our shoes, as I directly said in the offseason. So yeah, I may had oversold him a little, but I also expected the Gibbs program to be a little stronger as well. That could be effecting him a little, so not to take anything from Jones. He has been impressive, while running top 10 more than a couple races. I am personally not very high on him this weekend. I am sold that Jones' first cup win will be on a intermediate track. I think the odds of that are very good. While, he will be a question mark on the short tracks throughout the season. Am I counting him out already? Oh no not by a long shot, but you have to wonder how good he will be this weekend at Bristol. Somewhere in the low to middle teens seems pretty reasonable, in my opinion, though.

78-Martin Truex Jr: Truex Jr is one of those drivers that always get overlooked on these kind of racetracks. I honestly don't know why, when he is usually pretty decent. He just isn't the same driver as he is on the intermediate tracks. So I do get why he is overlook to a certain extent, but at the same time it seems like he is buried under the radar. In my opinion, he get disrespected on the short tracks and shorter flats tracks. His Bristol record is ugly, but he did post a driver rating over 100.0 in both races in last season's races here. So that is a indication, he had a pretty good performance, despite less than stellar finishes. I am not saying that Truex Jr should legit be on your fantasy radar, but you would be a fool not to look into that possibility of keeping tabs on him. I sure am, either way.

88-Dale Jr: Dale Jr is having a tough season, but things did go well for him at Texas as he scored his first top 10 (and top 5) finish of the season. Looking at his season's trends, it was only matter of time before he's finally broke the ice. And he did that in the 7th race of the season, just a couple weeks ago. Now, he will try to keep the momentum going after the off-week. The biggest shocker is he has the 2nd-best average finish over the past two seasons at Bristol. Let's not say shock, but more of not expected. Especially since, he has only three top 10 finishes over his past 7 races and only 5 Top 10 finishes over his past 16 races at Bristol. Then again, that is just showing how tough it is to be consistent here. It is risky unpredictable at Bristol. Junior been pretty consistent though. With 5 of his past 7 races ending in 16th place or better.

***Sorry for the lack of Previews and Updates the past few weeks, it has been a pretty busy one for me. With problems at work and with the family, on top of celebrating my birthday a few weeks back. Yeah it has been busy. So hopefully this is the week (and going forward), things can get back to normal

***Stats from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatsheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2017 Fantasy Nascar Sleepers & Dark Horses (Texas)

Welcome to TimersSports

Sleepers -

Aric Almirola - Almirola should be a solid pick this weekend at Texas. He's very happy with his car and his team seem to like his chances, too. The driver of the No.43 Ford has started off the season with 5 Top 20 finishes in 6 races so far. I would say that this is his best yet. It comes a surprise that his best car would be on a intermediate track. But I am not shocked one bit about the speed that he is showing. The No.43 team has had it since Daytona. Another thing that standout to me? He's qualified inside the top 20 for just the second time since Daytona. Usually he's start in the high 20s/low 30s. I think the 43 car can definitely contend for a top 20 finish and maybe more.

Michael McDowell - McDowell has looked fast this weekend at Texas. McDowell qualified 13th and showed speed in every practice session since unloading on Friday. This is by far the best car he has had this season so far. I think it is realistic to think that, he will finish inside the top 20 in the race. I had high hopes for him last week and he didn't deliver. This week, however, I have even higher hopes for him. So let's just hope he doesn't fail to meet my expectations. Unless something happens to him, then I would think his likely finish range is 17th-23rd. I think 16th or better will simply gravy for McDowell. Even though, I wouldn't be shocked one bit about it, either.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr - Stenhouse Jr is having a tough season, with some bad finishes. But that's okay because I think he can get things turned around. In last season's event here in the spring, he was a standout driver. He ran top 10 all race long and was running in the top 5 or top 6 at one point. Until Austin Dillon spun in front of him. Then his car was never the same really. This weekend, he has a pretty good car overall. Both of the RFR Fords showed speed at some point this weekend. Stenhouse Jr qualified well in 11th and had the 4th-best ten lap average in final practice. Hard to say what he really got, but Stenhouse Jr could be a nice play, if he can keep it in the lower-teens in the race. I think he can, too.

Dark Horses -

Chase Elliott - Elliott has a fast car, but he is starting way in the back. I am not too worried about that though. I think the No.24 car will make his way through the field with the other cars back there. Elliott will likely contend for a top 10 finish before it is over, but I doubt he's dominate though. Elliott has a fast enough car where I don't think it matter much that he is starting so deep in the field. However at the same time, you have to wonder if he will ever make it to the top 5. I think he can get to the top 10, but will he take that next step? With a one-groove track, I think he will have to use pit road as a equalizer to get the track position. Or at least a portion of it. I think track position will be pretty big.

Ryan Blaney - The driver of the No.21 Wood brother Ford been fast all season long and Texas has been no difference. Some people would categorize him as a ''sleeper''. But I disagree with that assessment of him. Yes, he hasn't really had that breakout performance which is commonly associated with trendy dark horse picks. At the same time, sleepers are typically drivers under the radar. Nobody has him under the radar. He has enough speed to contend for a win right now and that's enough for him to be consider a dark horse in my mind. The 21 car is very quick this weekend overall. Qualified very well and seems to have a car that is more than capable of staying in the top 10. If he doesn't do something unwise, then expect the 21 car to be in the top 10 all day long.

Clint Bowyer - Bowyer is having a great season so far. I think the one thing that has stood out is his performance on the intermediate tracks this season. He has ran top 15 at all of them and is coming off a top 10 run at Martinsville. As for Texas, he's qualified 3rd and seems to be good enough to have potential to finish inside the top 10 or maybe at worst somewhere in the lower teens. The Fords this weekend look really good. More specificallhy the Fords from SHR and Penske. The Fords seems to have found something that other teams haven't yet. Bowyer is one of the drivers I expect to be a surprise. With all of the momentum this 14 team has, I wouldn't be shocked to see Bowyer run in the top 5 at some point in the race.

Question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2017 Fantasy Nascar RaceDay Thoughts (Texas)

Welcome to TimersSports

RaceDay Thoughts -

Garry Briggs (@Garryy12):

-I expect a very crazy race, so don't be shocked if your lineup look like complete crap before it is all over

-Several fast cars starting in the back including Larson, Busch and Elliott. I expect all three to find the top 10 before it is all over

-I love Aric Almirola this weekend. Probably the best car he has had in practice this season. Even better than last week's. Aric loves Texas and so does his car this weekend

-RCR looked slowed in practice. Which isn't too much of a surprise honestly

Matt Aleza (@MattAleza):

-SHR showed a lot of speed on Friday in qualifying and looked good in practice. Harvick will start on the pole and honestly I believe he may be tough to beat. Remember the last time he started on the pole?

-The Fords in general are pretty quick this weekend. Harvick, Keselowski, Logano, Blaney, Bowyer. Heck even Aric Almirola been a pretty standout.

-A lot of people are worried about all of the drivers starting in the back. And that's fair, but there's 500 miles. If you keep it clean and don't make any major mistakes, then you will make it to the top 10 at least before the checkers

-HMS is still off to me

Yahoo Lineups -

Garry's lineup - 2,21,1,13

Matt's lineup - 2,24,14,19

Sleeper -

Garry's Pick - Aric Almirola

Matt's Pick - Michael McDowell

Winner -

Garry's Pick - Kevin Harvick

Matt's Pick - Brad Keselowski

2017 Fantasy Nascar Picks (Texas)

Welcome to TimersSports

Off to a great start in the two primary fantasy games in Fantasy Nascar this season. 95% Percentile in Yahoo and 99% Percentile on Nascar.com popular game's Fantasy live. Last week was all about having a good week and not damaging your season any. I think we accomplished that for the most part overall. Fantasy Nascar have a lot to do with good luck. Sometimes, you have it and sometimes you don't. When you have it, everything is amazing. When you don't have it, you just want to get the race over with. It the name of the game, which is why we call it fantasy. It's not real, but we get some into, it sure feels like this is a real game. To a lot of it is real. I like to think, at least.

Alright, let's get ourselves some more points!

Yahoo -

A:

Start - Brad Keselowski (8)

Bench - Martin Truex Jr (9)

Reasons -Missed out of using Harvick, but that's okay because Brad Keselowski has a great car for this weekend. I would make a strong case that he is on the odds-on favorite to win honestly. He looked strong in final practice and had the best 10 and 15 lap averages,too. Truex Jr will be good, but I am not feeling he will be able to dominate though.

B:

Start - Chase Elliott (7),Clint Bowyer (8)

Bench - Kyle Larson (6), Jamie Mac (8)

Reasons - My golden rule always been to avoid drivers that start in the back since so much can happen during the race. However, I am going against that rule this weekend though. Elliott is very fast, so I don't think it will take too long for him to get up there in the top 10. Sure passing it tough, but fast cars always find a way to be there at the end. I think a lot of people will bench the 24 because of his starting position. Not often do you get a chance like this. With 7 starts, I feel okay with that. The second starting spot is tough because Bowyer, Larson and Jamie Mac are all solid choices. But I am going with Bowyer because he has a lot of momentum and has ran well on the intermediate tracks. Also, Bowyer starting 3rd, too.

C:

Start - Daniel Suarez (8)

Bench - Erik Jones (6)

Reasons - Honestly, I wish I had Dillon this weekend instead one of these drivers but that okay. Jones is the prefer play by far. However, Suarez is less valuable. Meaning, Jones starts are more important. Do I think Jones finishes top 10 this weekend? I don't think so and a lot of that has to do with where he is starting. Just cannot risk using up one of my final 6 starts. 

Fantasy Live - 2,18,77,43,37

Reasons - I am going with a well balanced lineup in Fantasy live. Keselowski is the driver that I hope can lead some laps up front. While the likes of Kyle Busch and Erik Jones comes through the field. Then it for the value plays. Almirola is pretty happy with his car and has potential for a top 20 finish. That's solid points. You could trade down for a field-filler option to upgrade the Jones pick with someone like Elliott or Larson. However, then you are top-heavy. I don't want that. The finally Buscher because he is starting outside of the top 35. He will gain decent amount of spots. Enough that makes him worth the price. Again like Almirola, you could trade down to add more money to the top of the lineup. But as I said before, I want a well-balance lineup. This is the best combo I could come up with

Sleeper -Michael McDowell

Winner - Brad Keselowski

Twitter - @MattAleza

2017 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Texas)

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1. Kevin Harvick
2. Joey Logano
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Martin Truex Jr
5. Kyle Busch
6. Jimmie Johnson
7. Kyle Larason
8. Chase Elliott
9. Kurt Busch
10. Clint Bowyer
11. Jamie Mac
12. Ryan Newman
13. Matt Kenseth
14. Denny Hamlin
15. Ryan Blaney
16. Kasey Kahne
17. Erik Jones
18. Dale Jr
19. Austin Dillon
20. Aric Almirola
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
22. Ty Dillon
23. Paul Menard
24. AJ Dinger
25. Trevor Bayne
26. Daniel Suarez
27. Michael McDowell
28. Landon Cassill
29. David Ragan
30. Chris Buescher

Twitter - @Mattaleza

2017 Fantasy Nascar Early Rankings (Texas)

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Fantasy Nascar Early Rankings -

1. Martin Truex Jr
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kyle Larson
4. Joey Logano
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Chase Elliott
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Jamie Mac
11. Denny Hamlin
12. Erik Jones
13. Ryan Newman
14. Ryan Blaney
15. Clint Bowyer
16. Kurt Busch
17. Dale Jr
18. Kasey Kahne
19. Austin Dillon
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
21. Trevor Bayne
22. Aric Almirola
23. Paul Menard
24. AJ Dinger
25. Ty Dillon
26. Daniel Suarez
27. Danica Patrick
28. David Ragan
29. Chris Buescher
30. Michael McDowell

Twitter - @MattAleza

2017 Fantasy Nascar RaceDay Thoughts (Mville)

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RaceDay Thoughts -

Jeff Nathans (@JeffNahtans18)

- The JGR cars are getting better each week and Kyle Busch is usually the man that has the best car. This weekend is no difference, except he has a car that is very capable of wining. He's my pick to win, too

-I like Daniel Suarez and all, but some of you hyped that kid up too much. Two top 10 finishes is great, but it would be nice if he actually earned them. Prove me wrong, Daniel!

-Chip Ganaassi Racing is for real this season. They are fast once again this weekend. I like both the 1 and 42

-I am not that high on Jimmie Johnson or any HMS driver honestly for today's race

Garry Briggs (@Garryy12):

- You know who is having a great season? Aric Almirola is. 4 top 19 finishes in 5 races this season. Got who has a pretty good car this weekend? Aric Almirola. Lap times in final practice says he is a legit top 15 driver with upside. Best he has looked in practice this season

-Austin Dillon has gotten off to a bad start, but he's looks pretty good this weekend. Dillon was happy with his car in final practice. He has a good track record here, too

-Ryan Blaney was someone that I had high hopes for this weekend and so far he has lived up to it. I am suprised more people haven't talked about him honestly.

-Go with your gut as always

Yahoo Lineups-

Jeff's lineup - 18,31,1,38

Garry's lineup - 18,1,21,95

Sleeper -

Jeff's Pick - Austin Dillon

Garry's Pick - Aric Almirola

Winner -

Jeff's Pick - Kyle Busch

Garry's Pick - Kyle Busch

2017 Fantasy Nascar Picks (Martinsville)

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You know, last week was your average Fontona race. All of the contenders were at the front pretty much at end of the day. That how it usually goes at Cali, as it is a very fantasy-friendly kind of racetrack. Now, we go to one of the more difficult places to make fantasy picks! As a pure racing fan, I just love this racetrack. It has always been one of my personal favorites. However, it is a challenge from a fantasy racing, point of view though. A driver could easily get taken out of the event with a bad wreck. Does that often happen? Not as much as you would think, but only certain drivers seem to consistently run well here. I would personally look at track history than season's success. Drivers that has struggled this season could easily find success this weekend. Not much changes at Martinsville from year to year overall.

Yahoo -

A:

Start - Kyle Busch (9), Joey Logano (8)

Reasons - Both Logano and Busch look to have the best two long runs cars in final practice. But I thought Busch had the better car though. The 18 car looked really good on the long run and seemed to be a little better than Joey. However, Joey does have the better starting position, too. But I am goig with Busch though. He's due for a win.

B:

Jamie Mac (8), Ryan Newman (9)

AJ Dinger (9), Kyle Larson (6)

Reasons -It is very hard to bench Kyle Larson from the pole, but I am down to 6 starts with him already and cannot afford to use him up just yet. If I thought he would dominate then I would consider it. However, it seems like that the 42 car is pretty good overall. Just don't get the feeling, he will stay out front and lead the most laps though. At this point, that what I am looking for from Larson. Because we all know he is capable of! So I am going with Jamie Mac and Newman. Both drivers had good long run speed in final practice and both have excellent track records here, too.

C:

Start - Michael McDowell (9)

Bench - Ty Dillon (9)

Reasons - The plan this week was to start a start with the 77,13 and 19. And that exactly what will happen, too. McDowell has a decent enough car to challenge for at least a top 25 finish and ran top 20 in last season's race here, too. So no shocker that he is fast again. McDowell is a road course racer, so the skillset translate in round about way.

Fantasy Live -18,43,47,2,14

Sleeper - Austin Dillon

Winner - Kyle Busch

Twitter - @MattAleza

2017 Fantasy Nascar Update (MVille)

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Fantasy Nascar Update -

1. Kyle Busch - Rowdy looks to have the car to beat in final practice. He's consistent had the best car, in my opinion. He had the best-10, best-15 and best-20 lap averages. His car was very good on the long run and I didn't really see anyone better than the #18 car. I think most of us expected this out of him honestly. He had the car to beat a few weeks ago at Phoenix, but lost after a late caution. He would had a shot to win last week, if it would had ended on a long run. Good news about Martinsville? We usually see some pretty good green-flag runs, considering we run 500 miles. You can be confident that Rowdy will be at the front, when (or before) that happens. My pick to win on Sunday is Kyle Busch!

2. Kyle Larson - It is very hard to pick against Kyle Larson right now. He's on it and doesn't seem to slowing down either. After sweeping Auto Club last weekend, he will start on the pole for Sunday's race. After qualifying was rained out on Friday's afternoon. Larson had a rocket in the first session on Saturday, while posting the best 10,15 and 20 lap averages. In final practice, he wasn't nearly as good. His lap times were definitely top 10 good, but I am not sure if they were in that top 3 though. I think Larson starting from the pole will be huge for him. As it is difficult to pass here and I do feel good about him overall. His record history worries me, but remember that Larson ran very well here last spring as well. I think with all of the momentum and him starting on the pole, it is hard to think that he's finishes outside of the top 5 in Sunday's race. I expect Larson to keep up the strong start to the season with another top 5 finish!

3. Brad Keselowski - Keselowski had a pretty fast car on Saturday and looked top 5 good, in my opinion overall. The No.2 car was at top of the speed charts in final practice and seemed pretty happy with his car. Keselowski has had success here before and seems ready to do so again. He's also has 4 straight top 4 finishes this season, as well. If you take out the Daytona race, he haven't had a race yet. I am not sure what else to say really about Keselowski. He's the ideal fantasy pick this weekend. Starting up front, solid momentum, good speed, etc. That's damn good, folks. If he is available to you, then I would definitely consider using him.

4. Joey Logano - Logano has a top 5 car for Sunday's race. He was very strong on the long runs in final practice. He was the only driver to be in top 2 in best-15,20 and 30 lap averages in final practice. He's clearly has a great long run car with a lot of speed in it. I thought he was 2nd-best in terms of long-run speed. Logano has a great history here at Martinsville and seems primed to run very well again. I honestly cannot find a reason not to trust him, especially since he is starting from inside the top 5, too.

5. Martin Truex Jr - Truex Jr is a very underrated guy at Martinsville and has flown under the radar this week, for the most part. I figured he would for the most part, as he isn't the first driver that we think of at this place. However, he has finished 3 of the past 4 races inside the top 7. In last fall's event, he's led nearly 150 laps from the pole. For this weekend's race, he will start from the 3rd starting position. I cannot say that he is stout this weekend at all. He looked a bit off on the lap average charts, honestly. But that's Martin Truex Jr though at Martinsville. He's never comes out with a super bad-fast car. But I am sure he will be in good shape and contend for at least a top 10 finish. With his hot start to the season, I think it is very reasonable to think that he will be a top 5 player before it is all over.

6. Denny Hamlin - Hamlin is a great driver here at Martinsville and usually does pretty well for himself here. However, I haven't seen that consistent speed from him this season to say that he is that legit. Also, I don't think that he has a dominating car for that matter. I think he will have potential to run inside the top 5 for the race. Problem is for Hamlin to have any true fantasy value at this point in the season, he will have go out and lead some laps. He won't. So I won't likely use him this weekend. What should you expect out him in the race? Realistically, he's a top 10 driver with more than enough upside to potentially have a top 5 race. With his record, you always have to keep that in back of your mind.

7. Jimmie Johnson - It's hard to say that Johnson won't be a factor at Martinsville, but let's be realistic here for a few seconds. Johnson isn't the same dominating force that he once was here. A lot of that has to do with the competition has caught up with him and passed him. People say that past history is a big factor when predicting success. And that's true, but I don't think it holds true with Johnson though. He's won here in last fall, but I wouldn't put too much into that though. Johnson is a great driver at Martinsville, but to me, he is only a top 10 driver. That what all of the signs are pointing to this weekend, especially with starting around 20th place, too.

8. JMac -  JMac is having a great start to the season and it is getting harder to ignore,too. Not only is he having a strong start to the season, but he has looked great this weekend. He was ranked inside the top 4 in best 10,15,20 and 30 lap averages in final practice. More noticeable, his lap times were better than teammate's Kyle Larson. It shouldn't come a shock that JMac is looking pretty good at one of his best tracks on the schedule. JMac will start from the 6th position and I think he has what it takes to finish inside the top 10 on Sunday!

9. Matt Kenseth - Kenseth will start deep in the field for Sunday's race, a driver that has had a lot of bad luck this season. Right now, Kenseth is currently wrecking out in 60% of his races in 2017. Yes, that's a scary rate, folks. Even though, we are only 5 races into the season. I think the 20 team will figure it out, just like they did in 2016. Kenseth had shitty luck for the first 10 races before winning at Dover. I believe we will see a similar faith for him in 2017. He's a stud here at Martinsville. Great numbers overall since joining JGR. However, I do have some concerns about Kenseth though. He did not make any long runs in final practice, I don't believe he even made a 10-lap run, either. Usually when you make a lot of short runs like that, it is a cause for some concern. He will be top 10 good, I am sure, but you better be ready to possible see him slip into the teen-range, too.

10. Ryan Newman - Newman is an interesting play this week. He has a great record here, but he haven't gotten any finishes this season (outside of win) better than 15th place. Newman does have a pretty standout car on the long runs in final practice though. He was ranked inside the top 5 in the 15 and 20 lap averages in final practice. The number says he get more speed as the run went on. He completed about a 25 lap run in final practice and looking to get better as the run went on. Never a bad sign, when trying to make a fantasy pick. Few weeks ago at Phoenix, Newman ran top 10 for most of the race, in case you were wondering. Newman won't win your league for you, but could easily be a difference maker for you though.

11. Chase Elliott - I think this will be one of the tracks that I would want to avoid Elliott on. I think Chase is a great driver and will have many top 5 finishes on the season. However, I don't consider Martinsville as one of them. I specifically noted that Martinsville was one of the worst track in my off-season content. And it is clear that the 24 car is good, but not great this weekend. I don't think it will prevent him running and possibly finishing inside the top 10 on Sunday. But I do believe that Elliott still has some work to do at Martinsville. He isn't a driver that I would go over the moon for. Realistically, you can expect a finish in the back-half of the top 10 or possibly high-teen like result. I am personally gonna stay away from him this weekend.

12. Ryan Blaney -  Blaney is off to a great start to his 2nd season in the Cup series. He's yet to visit victory lane, but I think it is closer than I originally figured before the season started. The No.21 team has made gains, no doubt. Blaney has looked great this weekend at Martinsville. Blaney looked like a threat in final practice. He was ranked in the top 7 on all of hte lap averages charts and seemed happy with his car, too. Blaney knows how to get around this place, that is not what is being question. Can the 21 team not shoot themselves in the foot is. If they can go mistake-free, then I think the 21 car has a shot of being a top 10 car, if not better. For now, I am lowering the ceiling for him.

Noticeable drivers

13. Clint Bowyer
14. Kurt Busch
15. Austin Dillon 

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2017 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Mville)

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Final Rankings -

1. Kyle Busch
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Kyle Larson
4. Joey Logano
5. Matt Kenseth
6. Martin Truex Jr
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Jamie Mac
9. Chase Elliott
10. Denny Hamlin
11. Dale Jr
12. Ryan Newman
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Ryan Blaney
15. Kurt Busch
16. Austin Dillon
17. Kasey Kahne
18. Erik Jones
19. Paul Menard
20. Aric Almirola
21. AJ Dinger
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
23. Trevor Bayne
24. Ty Dillon
25. Danica Patrick
26. Michael McDowell
27. Daniel Suarez
28. David Ragan
29. Landon Cassill
30. Chris Buescher

Twitter - @MattAleza