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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 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