Saturday, June 03, 2017

2017 Fantasy Nascar Update (Dover)

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Fantasy Nascar -


1. Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch has been a standout this weekend at Dover, not becuase he is starting on the pole. But because he has a very strong car. Track position is huge here and he has great amount of momentum right now. On top of that, I think he is very motivated at the moment. In practice, he looked very strong and had one of the best cars. I think the winner of Sunday's race could come from that Toyota camp and it wouldn't shock me at all. The Toyota set the pace since unloading and that haven't changed. I think Kyle Busch is the man that is leading the charge entering Sunday's race. He was pretty happy with his car during practice.

2. Martin Truex Jr - Truex Jr been the man to beat week in and week out, that have not changed this weekend. The past two races, Truex Jr has led the most laps and finished in the top 3. I think that is a very bad sign for the competition. On top of having all of this momentum, Truex Jr been a beast at this track the past couple seasons. In last season's fall race, he's dominated that event. He led 147 laps on his way to victory lane. In spring 2015, he was great again. He's led 131 laps on his way to misleading 13th place finish. Over the past four races here, no driver have a better average driver rating. He's led 100+ in at least one race in each of the past two seasons. This weekend, he is very fast again. Many people pointing towards the 78 car as the one to beat. In practice, many teams were watching the 78 and using him as a baseline for comparison.

3. Jimmie Johnson - Outside of the Toyota cars , Johnson looked to have the best car. Honestly, I thought Johnson had the best car on Saturday. And he would likely be ranked number 1, if he qualified a little better. Honestly, I don't think it will matter much. I fully expect the 48 car to make his way to the front pretty easily. His car looked really good in final practice. Jeff Gordon said that Johnson had the car to beat about halfway through final practice. And I would have to agree with that, after looking over the lap times that I tracked. Johnson is a 10-time winner and loves this place, it really fits into his driving style. Track position will be key, once he get it, I think he could be tough to beat. With all of that said, I don't think anyone will run away with this race. I think there are a good 4 or 5 guys that are pretty close to each other.

4. Kyle Larson - In final practice, Kyle Larson made two race runs and they were both pretty impressive really. I cannot recall another driver staying out on the track for 30 straight laps, let alone two of those kind of runs. A couple drivers made strong 15 or 20 laps runs, but nobody else made a 30-lap run. The scary part about it? He was still fast at end of those runs. Larson said that he was pretty happy with his car and that the fall-off wasn't bad. Everything seems to line up. Last week at Charlotte, he's wrecked. It was the first time that he didn't finish on the lead lap this season. I highly doubt that Larson goes back-to-back with bad finishes. I think Larson runs top 5 and a strong contender for the win.

5. Matt Kenseth - In my preview earlier in the week, I thought Kenseth was a great under the radar pick. What I loved most about him was that he was coming off his best run of the season. Well, that 20 team seemed to found something lately. Because that 20 car may been the best JGR car in final practice. He was very consistent and his lap times impressed me. I was tracking his long run with Kyle Larson. The 20 car was little better. Also tracked his lap times with Kyle Busch for a run. He was a little better on the long run. For whatever it is worth. That 20 car is fast this weekend and it shouldn't be shocking. He is a 3-time winner, including last year's spring race. Kenseth is a driver you should have your eye on. If we take everything out of the equation and only judge it on practice. He's in my top 3.

6. Brad Keselowski - I haven't been super impressed by the Penske cars honestly, but Keselowski has been the better of the two though. He is starting from the 8th starting position and was decent in practice overall. But like I said, I wasn't super impressed by him though. He was pribably top 10 good, but I didn't think it much beyond that. There is not a lot to say about Keselowski. He has been super consistent all year long and that will not change this weekend. He will likely finish in the 6th-9th place run and probably run in that range, too.

7. Kevin Harvick - Harvick really haven't blown me away and his deeper starting position haven't done him any favors, either. He is starting 18th and just haven't displayed that same speed like the 18, 20, 48, 78, etc have. He should move up the leaderboard and settle in that top 10 most likely. With Harvick, there is always that top 5 upside. But honestly, so far this season, we haven't seen it. More specifically when he DOESN'T qualify on the pole. When he start outside that top 10, it been a indicate he won't challenge for a top 5 run. He has dominated recent races here, but I don't get that same feeling. He should be in that 6th-10th place range when it is over!

8. Kurt Busch - Kurt Busch has had a solid month of finishes with a pair of 6 place finishes in May. He is not turning heads, but last week got my attention. He was very strong at the Coke 600 and had his best race of the season. They have figured something out with the 41 car because it is one of the few Fords showing speed since unloading. Other fords have made gains, but the 41 of Kurt Busch been the consistent one. Fast on Friday and again fast on Saturday. Not only fast, but consistent near top of the speed charts, too. I like that from him, I really do like that from him. Kurt has a up and down record here, but he could surprise some people. And if you have followed my articles every week, I am usually pretty hard on Kurt. This is a big deal for me to be high on him for a change.

9. JMac: JMac qualified just inside the top 20 for Sunday's race, which kinda have put him under the radar. But I remain high on the CGR driver. He had a birthday on Saturday and he's looked fast in both practice. Overall, he was pretty pleased with his car and made a lot of long runs in both practices on Saturday. The 1 car displayed really good speed overall and this comes no suprise As his teammate has one of the cars to beat this weekend. I really do like what the 1 has for Sunday race. I think the bigger issue will be him getting track position. If he can get it, then I think he is a top 10 or at worst a top 12 driver.

10. Chase Elliott - It has been a good weekend for the 24 team, but not a great weekend. They have good top 10 speed in that 24 car, but not anything close enough to be contending for the win. Elliott swept the 3rd position at Dover in 2016, but I think that will be very difficult to accomplish. Not because they are lacking a little speed. But because Elliott has shit luck right now. I am sorry, but I have no faith in him. He haven't finished in the top 10 since Texas. He's finished outside of the top 23 at Richmond, Talladega, Kansas and Charlotte. That's the last four tracks we have visited, folks. We have to go back to April 24th at Bristol to see a top 20 finish. That also was his last top 10 finish, too. My biggest rule in fantasy racing is never take a chance with a cold driver and Elliott is freezing.

Notable Drivers struggling this weekend -

22-Joey Logano

11-Denny Hamlin

5-Kasey Kahne

Solid drivers just outside of my top 10 -

88-Dale Jr

77-Erik Jones

17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr

14-Clint Bowyer

19-Dainel Suarez

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

Twitter - @JeffNathans18