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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
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