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Fantasy Nascar Preview -
1-JMac: The CGR cars are strong week in and week out, but people still give no respect to JMac. He's having a career year with the 1 team right now and is coming off one of his strongest races of the year at Kentucky. He may have a bad race here and there, but for the most part, he been rock solid. What do I preach all of the time? Consistency is the baseline for fantasy success. Jamie is proving it this season. He is not going out there and dominating, but he has quickly became an asset to us by being consistent. What should you expect this weekend? You can expect good things from him honestly. In his past 7 starts at this track, he's finished 16th or better five (5) times. Including a 6th place finish in last season's race. He's finished 19th in the second race here in 2016. The two most similar tracks are Richmond and Phoenix. He had strong runs at both races. He's finished 15th at Phoenix, but he was better than that. He's finished 6th at Richmond. Jamie is a great shorter-flat driver. He knows how to get good finishes and that should be the case again this weekend at New Hampshire.
2-Brad Keselowski: Keselowski has shit for luck this season a lot of lately and Kentucky continued that trend. In his past 7 races (back to Charlotte), he has finished 31st or worse four (4) times. It has been pretty ugly to watch, as most of it haven't been his fault. The thing is for him, he has been competitive for the most part. He wasn't anything special at Kentucky, but he certainly would had figured it out eventually. He will have to rebound at New Hampshire. Like Kentucky, this is also a great racetrack for him. In his past 11 races here, he haven't finished worse than 15th. In his past 6 races, he's finished 7th or better four (4) times. He's finished 15th and 4th in last season's races, while leading in both races. As for similar shorter flats, he's finished 5th at Phoenix and led 110 laps to 2nd place finish at Richmond. He can certainly rebound this weekend at New Hampshire!
3-Austin Dillon: Dillon is having an awful season and things aren't really getting better it seems. He was very noncompetitive at Kentucky and I don't think anyone was shocked. We into the part of season, where we know what everyone have for the most part. Dillon, outside of his win, has been a bitter disappointment. In 18 races this season, Dillon has only posted 5 Top 15 finishes. His number on the other two shorter flats haven't been great. He had finishes of 18th and 20th. That pretty much around where he is finishing on average this season. Over the past 2 season, he has an 14.5 average finish at New Hampshire. So you draw the conclusion about him? Yeah, he's probably just good enough to be a high-teen (17th-19th) driver with little upside. At this point, the 3 team probably just mailing it in until the playoffs start up.
4-Kevin Harvick: I was hoping for a little more out of Harvick at Kentucky, but overall he had a solid night. I thought that was one of his better performances this season, when he didn't start on the pole. He was fast and moved up into the top 5 pretty quickly. For the most part, he stood there and finished 9th. He faded at the end, but still a good night for that team. They are gaining speed as the season goes on, they will eventually get there, I think. How will he do this weekend? He should be solid. His crew chief is one of the best at setting up cars for these shorter flats. He has finishes of 5th and 6th this season on the first two shorter flats. That's pretty solid overall. His numbers on at New Hampshire are also very good. In his past 5 races here, he has compiled 4 Top 5 finishes. Including a win here in last September's race.
5-Kasey Kahne: Kahne days are numbered at HMS and I feel bad for the guy honestly. This whole season (and the last couple years) has been one big mess and a lot of it not his fault. I swear, I don't know if any driver in the series has worst luck than Kasey. In his past 12 races this season, he has finished 18th or worse nine (9) times. In that 12-race span, he has only finish better than 15th place. And that was at Talladega. We are at the point of the season, where he can no longer gamble on Kahne. For the past two months, he has proven that he cannot be trust. And it goes way beyond trust, too. His performance is never anything better than 13th or 14th. There's drivers out the finishing in the same range as he is, but they offer more upside. Kahne offer zero upside right now. Most times, we take chances with a driver because of their potential and upside. Kahne offer us mediocrity at best. Avoid him at all cost!
11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin got back to running well (and finish well) at Kentucky, as he finished in the top 5 and he is legit now. Outside of his wreck at Daytona, he is one of the best drivers in the series. This is the time to jump on the bandwagon. Not many people are willing to trust him yet and New Hampshire is a great track for him. In his past 7 races this season, he has finished in the top 12 in 6 of those 7. In 5 of those 7 races, he's finished 8th or better. In his past four starts, he's finished in 4th three (3) times. He's finished 4th place at Michigan, Sonoma and most recently Kentucky. He is knocking on the door! Even better? He's finished 3rd earlier this season at Richmond. Also, he's led a season-high 59 laps. His numbers aren't great here, but they aren't terrible. He's finished 15th or better in five of the past races at New Hampshire. Including three top 10 finishes. I am more appealed to him because of his momentum than his recent stats. But I don't hate his numbers, either way.
18-Kyle Busch: Rowdy Busch won the NXS race on Saturday afternoon and led about the first 100 or so laps on Saturday night in the Cup race. Then enter Martin Truex Jr. After that, it was over. Truex Jr would dominate rest of the night. Busch proabbly had the 3rd or 4th best car in the second half of race. Larson was better once he got track position and kept it. And Elliott was a little better at the end, too. Right now, Kyle Busch is in a rock and a hard place. He is fast enough to contend for wins, but isn't quite on Truex Jr's or Larson's level (speed wise). He's close at times, but at the end he cannot quite put it together. I thought Kentucky was his best shot to win and New Hampshire was in my top 3. This is a great track for him overall. In his past 8 races here, he's finished in the top 3 five (5) times. So 5 top 3 finishes in his past 8 New Hampshire races. While finishing in the top 8 in 7 of the past 8 races. His finishes over the past 4 July races: 2nd, 2nd, 1st and 8th. He's been great on the shorter flats tracks. He's finished 3rd at Phoenix and led over 100 laps. At Richmond, he's finished 16th, but he was far better than that. He was running 2nd, but got a pit road penalty. He should had finished in the top 5.
19-Daniel Suarez: Suarez was having a solid day in the top 10, maybe just outside of that at times. But on the final lap, he was collected in a wreck. It certainly wasn't his fault, but he was involved and finished 18th place. He would had finished at best 9th though, since there was only 8 cars on the lead lap. Regardless, he is having a good rookie season. Not quite good as Erik Jones, but he is getting good finishes and that's good enough for him. The one thing I love about him? He isn't wrecking cars and he is making progress. He is not going backwards. And that's key as a rookie. Your primary goals are to make progress and log laps. Long as that is happening, I cannot complain much about him. Most weekends, he will be a top 15 contender and hover around the back-end of the top 10 at times. You can expect more of the same this weekend at New Hampshire.
20-Matt Kenseth: Kenseth season of shit luck continued at Kentucky Speedway and one have to wonder when Kenseth will finally put together a string of races. Kenseth was very strong at Kentucky and was putting together a promising season. Then all of sudden, the main theme of his season came to full circle. He wrecked on the final lap and collected two other drivers. He almost escaped Kentucky Speedway, but not so quite. He has a great track record at New Hampshire. In his past 7 races, Kenseth has 4 Top 5 finishes. In his past three New Hampshire races, he has either finished 1st or 2nd. Including two wins in those three races. His numbers at New Hampshire are great, but problem is he having a bad season. No momentum, no consistency and haven't proven he can contend for wins. Those aren't great things to think about when you make your fantasy picks.
21-Ryan Blaney: Blaney is having a good season, but he is starting to develop a trend lately that does not bodes well for this weekend. In his past 6 races, he has alternating top 10 finishes and finishes outside of the top 24. Look at his past 6 races (starting at Dover): 32nd, 1st, 25th, 9th, 26th and 10th. If the trend holds true, he will finish outside of the top 25 at New Hampshire this weekend. But it is only a trend and they can be broken as easily as they are started. That's the cool thing about stats, they are just stats and enough more. His record at New Hampshire is decent. Last season, he had finishes of 11th and 12th. He was a race-winning contender, but he wasn't bad at all. I think he is at his best on the intermediate tracks, but with some luck he can do well on the shorter flats. He's finished 23rd and 36th at Richmond and Phoenix. He had stupid bad luck in both races. If he has some luck, he can finish in the top 10 or top 12.
22-Joey Logano: After getting his win taken away at Richmond raceway, he has been struggling to produce many good results. But he has been turning it around lately though. In his past 4 races, he has compiled 3 top 12 finishes. Including finishes of 3rd, 12th and 8th. Okay, it is a very small sample size. But he is putting up better finishes (and performing better) than he was a month ago. It may take awhile for him to get back where he was at end of last season, but it's a long season. For now, I don't trust him at all. So I don't have him on my fantasy radar, but I am open to the idea, if he keep producing good numbers.
24-Chase Elliott: I was pretty hard on him earlier in the season, but it seems like he back on the right track. In his past 6 races, he's finished 8th or better in five (5) races. In his lone non-top 8 finish? Daytona, where he's finished 22nd, after being in a wreck. Elliott led 106 laps earlier this season at Phoenix and finished 12th place. I am not really sure what happened at Richmond and finished 24th place. His record at New Hampshire isn't great, but it is only time before he get a good finish here. Like with other drivers, his most appealing asset is the finishes he has gotten lately. A driver with momentum can be a powerful thing. Elliott is rolling right now and if he fast, then he can keep it going. In his past 6 races, he has produced 3 top 5 finishes. I think he can add another top 10 finish and first career top 10 at New Hampshire.
41-Kurt Busch: Busch had a tough night at Kentucky speedway. He wasn't ever a top 10 contender, but he was definitely good enough to be a top 15 finisher. And if he didn't lose an engine with under five to go, then he would had. As he was running 14th, when he had his issues. So yeah, Kurt up and down season continues. I don't know why, but it is almost impossible to get a good read on him. Good one race and bad the next. After three straight top 12 finishes from Pocono to Sonoma, he has finishes of 28th and 30th in his past two races. Does he go back to a good finish or decides to be predictable and go for three straight bad finishes? I really don't know at this point. His numbers aren't great here, with only three Top 10 finishes in his past 12 races at this track. However, two of those three races has came with the #41 team in the past two seasons.
42-Kyle Larson: Larson is having his season of his career so far and keep piling up the top 5 finishes. In his first three seasons, Larson posted 20 Top 5 finishes combined. In 18 races this season, he already has 8 Top 5 finishes. Including 2 career wins (he had one in his three seasons)! So yeah, he is having a great season and is bound to find more success in the upcoming races. As for New Hampshire, I think he will be his usual self. He was a top 5 contender at Richmond and Phoenix earlier this season. Which is a good sign for some success this weekend for him. His numbers at New Hampshire has been going south since his rookie season. In his rookie season, he scored a top 5 finish in his two career finishes in 2014. He's finished 31st in his third start, but is trending in the right direction again. As he has finishes of 17th, 17th and 10th in his past three starts. If that trend continues, he will finish somewhere in the top 9 on Sunday afternoon.
48-Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie Johnson has been a mix bag of tricks this season. He's either a great fantasy option or one that you regret a lot. He has scored three wins on the season, but he also has a habbit of finding trouble, too. In his past 8 races this season, he has compiled 6 finishes outside of the top 10. Including 4 finishes of 17th or worse. He did win at Dover, but that's his lone great finish. Otherwise, everything else been 10th or worse. And honestly, I have yet to see a ''complete'' race by the 48 team. Sure, he won ways to win races. But not a dominating performance like Truex, Larson and Busch seems to every week. To certain extend, Johnson is kinda overrated. And I say that with the greatest respect absolutely possible.
77-Erik Jones: Jones had another great race at Kentucky and he seems to be getting better and better on the intermediate tracks. If he get into the chase, I think he can make a real deep run. Because he a legit top 10 threat and sometimes more than that. Jones is still a working progress on these shorter flats, but he is better than most people give him credit for though. He has been a top 10 threat at both shorter flats this season, but didn't get the finish at Richmond though. As he's finished 38th there. He did finish 8th at Phoenix. I don't know if Jones is a top 10 threat at New Hampshire right off the bat, but he could be close to it. If he qualifies well and practices well, then I think he can be a top 10 or at worst a top 15 driver. That is the normal for him and there's no reason to change up that thinking. We know what we got in Erik Jones at this point in the season.
78-Martin Truex Jr: Martin Truex Jr kicked everyone's asses at Kentucky Speedway and that his a nice way of putting it. I have never seen something like that. It not like there wasn't fast cars. Kyle Larson had a great car and Larson never got within striking distance on that long green flag run. Not only that, he never really chewed into it at all. And you know how Truex Jr had a great car? He held off the field with fresher tires. Kyle Busch (2 tires) and Kyle Larson (4 tires) couldn't do anything with him. It was a great performance from him overall, he led 145 laps. So yeah, he's good on the intermediate tracks. And he's good everywhere he go. People don't give him enough respect at places like New Hampshire though. I don't know why, either! He dominated this place in 2016! In led 123 laps in the first race here and led 141 laps in the second race. He didn't win either race, but he had the dominant car at this track. The 78 team is running even better in 2017, too.
88-Dale Jr: Dale Jr is starting to run out of time to make the chase. At this stage of the year, the 88 team will have to win to make the chase. Personally, I highly doubt if it does happen though. I just don't see it. I know the 88 fans don't want to hear it, but he just isn't the same driver that he was a couple seasons ago. I think part of it has to do with HMS just a little off right now. Of course there are other factors you have to consider as well. But not like he is running terrible, either. In his past 7 races this season, he has compiled 5 Top 12 finishes. Including 2 finishes in the top 10 over his past 4 races. Including finishes of 9th and 6th. Another top 10 to top 15 finish is likely out of him. Anything better than that is probably out of his range.
**All stats are DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
Fantasy Nascar Preview -
1-JMac: The CGR cars are strong week in and week out, but people still give no respect to JMac. He's having a career year with the 1 team right now and is coming off one of his strongest races of the year at Kentucky. He may have a bad race here and there, but for the most part, he been rock solid. What do I preach all of the time? Consistency is the baseline for fantasy success. Jamie is proving it this season. He is not going out there and dominating, but he has quickly became an asset to us by being consistent. What should you expect this weekend? You can expect good things from him honestly. In his past 7 starts at this track, he's finished 16th or better five (5) times. Including a 6th place finish in last season's race. He's finished 19th in the second race here in 2016. The two most similar tracks are Richmond and Phoenix. He had strong runs at both races. He's finished 15th at Phoenix, but he was better than that. He's finished 6th at Richmond. Jamie is a great shorter-flat driver. He knows how to get good finishes and that should be the case again this weekend at New Hampshire.
2-Brad Keselowski: Keselowski has shit for luck this season a lot of lately and Kentucky continued that trend. In his past 7 races (back to Charlotte), he has finished 31st or worse four (4) times. It has been pretty ugly to watch, as most of it haven't been his fault. The thing is for him, he has been competitive for the most part. He wasn't anything special at Kentucky, but he certainly would had figured it out eventually. He will have to rebound at New Hampshire. Like Kentucky, this is also a great racetrack for him. In his past 11 races here, he haven't finished worse than 15th. In his past 6 races, he's finished 7th or better four (4) times. He's finished 15th and 4th in last season's races, while leading in both races. As for similar shorter flats, he's finished 5th at Phoenix and led 110 laps to 2nd place finish at Richmond. He can certainly rebound this weekend at New Hampshire!
3-Austin Dillon: Dillon is having an awful season and things aren't really getting better it seems. He was very noncompetitive at Kentucky and I don't think anyone was shocked. We into the part of season, where we know what everyone have for the most part. Dillon, outside of his win, has been a bitter disappointment. In 18 races this season, Dillon has only posted 5 Top 15 finishes. His number on the other two shorter flats haven't been great. He had finishes of 18th and 20th. That pretty much around where he is finishing on average this season. Over the past 2 season, he has an 14.5 average finish at New Hampshire. So you draw the conclusion about him? Yeah, he's probably just good enough to be a high-teen (17th-19th) driver with little upside. At this point, the 3 team probably just mailing it in until the playoffs start up.
4-Kevin Harvick: I was hoping for a little more out of Harvick at Kentucky, but overall he had a solid night. I thought that was one of his better performances this season, when he didn't start on the pole. He was fast and moved up into the top 5 pretty quickly. For the most part, he stood there and finished 9th. He faded at the end, but still a good night for that team. They are gaining speed as the season goes on, they will eventually get there, I think. How will he do this weekend? He should be solid. His crew chief is one of the best at setting up cars for these shorter flats. He has finishes of 5th and 6th this season on the first two shorter flats. That's pretty solid overall. His numbers on at New Hampshire are also very good. In his past 5 races here, he has compiled 4 Top 5 finishes. Including a win here in last September's race.
5-Kasey Kahne: Kahne days are numbered at HMS and I feel bad for the guy honestly. This whole season (and the last couple years) has been one big mess and a lot of it not his fault. I swear, I don't know if any driver in the series has worst luck than Kasey. In his past 12 races this season, he has finished 18th or worse nine (9) times. In that 12-race span, he has only finish better than 15th place. And that was at Talladega. We are at the point of the season, where he can no longer gamble on Kahne. For the past two months, he has proven that he cannot be trust. And it goes way beyond trust, too. His performance is never anything better than 13th or 14th. There's drivers out the finishing in the same range as he is, but they offer more upside. Kahne offer zero upside right now. Most times, we take chances with a driver because of their potential and upside. Kahne offer us mediocrity at best. Avoid him at all cost!
11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin got back to running well (and finish well) at Kentucky, as he finished in the top 5 and he is legit now. Outside of his wreck at Daytona, he is one of the best drivers in the series. This is the time to jump on the bandwagon. Not many people are willing to trust him yet and New Hampshire is a great track for him. In his past 7 races this season, he has finished in the top 12 in 6 of those 7. In 5 of those 7 races, he's finished 8th or better. In his past four starts, he's finished in 4th three (3) times. He's finished 4th place at Michigan, Sonoma and most recently Kentucky. He is knocking on the door! Even better? He's finished 3rd earlier this season at Richmond. Also, he's led a season-high 59 laps. His numbers aren't great here, but they aren't terrible. He's finished 15th or better in five of the past races at New Hampshire. Including three top 10 finishes. I am more appealed to him because of his momentum than his recent stats. But I don't hate his numbers, either way.
18-Kyle Busch: Rowdy Busch won the NXS race on Saturday afternoon and led about the first 100 or so laps on Saturday night in the Cup race. Then enter Martin Truex Jr. After that, it was over. Truex Jr would dominate rest of the night. Busch proabbly had the 3rd or 4th best car in the second half of race. Larson was better once he got track position and kept it. And Elliott was a little better at the end, too. Right now, Kyle Busch is in a rock and a hard place. He is fast enough to contend for wins, but isn't quite on Truex Jr's or Larson's level (speed wise). He's close at times, but at the end he cannot quite put it together. I thought Kentucky was his best shot to win and New Hampshire was in my top 3. This is a great track for him overall. In his past 8 races here, he's finished in the top 3 five (5) times. So 5 top 3 finishes in his past 8 New Hampshire races. While finishing in the top 8 in 7 of the past 8 races. His finishes over the past 4 July races: 2nd, 2nd, 1st and 8th. He's been great on the shorter flats tracks. He's finished 3rd at Phoenix and led over 100 laps. At Richmond, he's finished 16th, but he was far better than that. He was running 2nd, but got a pit road penalty. He should had finished in the top 5.
19-Daniel Suarez: Suarez was having a solid day in the top 10, maybe just outside of that at times. But on the final lap, he was collected in a wreck. It certainly wasn't his fault, but he was involved and finished 18th place. He would had finished at best 9th though, since there was only 8 cars on the lead lap. Regardless, he is having a good rookie season. Not quite good as Erik Jones, but he is getting good finishes and that's good enough for him. The one thing I love about him? He isn't wrecking cars and he is making progress. He is not going backwards. And that's key as a rookie. Your primary goals are to make progress and log laps. Long as that is happening, I cannot complain much about him. Most weekends, he will be a top 15 contender and hover around the back-end of the top 10 at times. You can expect more of the same this weekend at New Hampshire.
20-Matt Kenseth: Kenseth season of shit luck continued at Kentucky Speedway and one have to wonder when Kenseth will finally put together a string of races. Kenseth was very strong at Kentucky and was putting together a promising season. Then all of sudden, the main theme of his season came to full circle. He wrecked on the final lap and collected two other drivers. He almost escaped Kentucky Speedway, but not so quite. He has a great track record at New Hampshire. In his past 7 races, Kenseth has 4 Top 5 finishes. In his past three New Hampshire races, he has either finished 1st or 2nd. Including two wins in those three races. His numbers at New Hampshire are great, but problem is he having a bad season. No momentum, no consistency and haven't proven he can contend for wins. Those aren't great things to think about when you make your fantasy picks.
21-Ryan Blaney: Blaney is having a good season, but he is starting to develop a trend lately that does not bodes well for this weekend. In his past 6 races, he has alternating top 10 finishes and finishes outside of the top 24. Look at his past 6 races (starting at Dover): 32nd, 1st, 25th, 9th, 26th and 10th. If the trend holds true, he will finish outside of the top 25 at New Hampshire this weekend. But it is only a trend and they can be broken as easily as they are started. That's the cool thing about stats, they are just stats and enough more. His record at New Hampshire is decent. Last season, he had finishes of 11th and 12th. He was a race-winning contender, but he wasn't bad at all. I think he is at his best on the intermediate tracks, but with some luck he can do well on the shorter flats. He's finished 23rd and 36th at Richmond and Phoenix. He had stupid bad luck in both races. If he has some luck, he can finish in the top 10 or top 12.
22-Joey Logano: After getting his win taken away at Richmond raceway, he has been struggling to produce many good results. But he has been turning it around lately though. In his past 4 races, he has compiled 3 top 12 finishes. Including finishes of 3rd, 12th and 8th. Okay, it is a very small sample size. But he is putting up better finishes (and performing better) than he was a month ago. It may take awhile for him to get back where he was at end of last season, but it's a long season. For now, I don't trust him at all. So I don't have him on my fantasy radar, but I am open to the idea, if he keep producing good numbers.
24-Chase Elliott: I was pretty hard on him earlier in the season, but it seems like he back on the right track. In his past 6 races, he's finished 8th or better in five (5) races. In his lone non-top 8 finish? Daytona, where he's finished 22nd, after being in a wreck. Elliott led 106 laps earlier this season at Phoenix and finished 12th place. I am not really sure what happened at Richmond and finished 24th place. His record at New Hampshire isn't great, but it is only time before he get a good finish here. Like with other drivers, his most appealing asset is the finishes he has gotten lately. A driver with momentum can be a powerful thing. Elliott is rolling right now and if he fast, then he can keep it going. In his past 6 races, he has produced 3 top 5 finishes. I think he can add another top 10 finish and first career top 10 at New Hampshire.
41-Kurt Busch: Busch had a tough night at Kentucky speedway. He wasn't ever a top 10 contender, but he was definitely good enough to be a top 15 finisher. And if he didn't lose an engine with under five to go, then he would had. As he was running 14th, when he had his issues. So yeah, Kurt up and down season continues. I don't know why, but it is almost impossible to get a good read on him. Good one race and bad the next. After three straight top 12 finishes from Pocono to Sonoma, he has finishes of 28th and 30th in his past two races. Does he go back to a good finish or decides to be predictable and go for three straight bad finishes? I really don't know at this point. His numbers aren't great here, with only three Top 10 finishes in his past 12 races at this track. However, two of those three races has came with the #41 team in the past two seasons.
42-Kyle Larson: Larson is having his season of his career so far and keep piling up the top 5 finishes. In his first three seasons, Larson posted 20 Top 5 finishes combined. In 18 races this season, he already has 8 Top 5 finishes. Including 2 career wins (he had one in his three seasons)! So yeah, he is having a great season and is bound to find more success in the upcoming races. As for New Hampshire, I think he will be his usual self. He was a top 5 contender at Richmond and Phoenix earlier this season. Which is a good sign for some success this weekend for him. His numbers at New Hampshire has been going south since his rookie season. In his rookie season, he scored a top 5 finish in his two career finishes in 2014. He's finished 31st in his third start, but is trending in the right direction again. As he has finishes of 17th, 17th and 10th in his past three starts. If that trend continues, he will finish somewhere in the top 9 on Sunday afternoon.
48-Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie Johnson has been a mix bag of tricks this season. He's either a great fantasy option or one that you regret a lot. He has scored three wins on the season, but he also has a habbit of finding trouble, too. In his past 8 races this season, he has compiled 6 finishes outside of the top 10. Including 4 finishes of 17th or worse. He did win at Dover, but that's his lone great finish. Otherwise, everything else been 10th or worse. And honestly, I have yet to see a ''complete'' race by the 48 team. Sure, he won ways to win races. But not a dominating performance like Truex, Larson and Busch seems to every week. To certain extend, Johnson is kinda overrated. And I say that with the greatest respect absolutely possible.
77-Erik Jones: Jones had another great race at Kentucky and he seems to be getting better and better on the intermediate tracks. If he get into the chase, I think he can make a real deep run. Because he a legit top 10 threat and sometimes more than that. Jones is still a working progress on these shorter flats, but he is better than most people give him credit for though. He has been a top 10 threat at both shorter flats this season, but didn't get the finish at Richmond though. As he's finished 38th there. He did finish 8th at Phoenix. I don't know if Jones is a top 10 threat at New Hampshire right off the bat, but he could be close to it. If he qualifies well and practices well, then I think he can be a top 10 or at worst a top 15 driver. That is the normal for him and there's no reason to change up that thinking. We know what we got in Erik Jones at this point in the season.
78-Martin Truex Jr: Martin Truex Jr kicked everyone's asses at Kentucky Speedway and that his a nice way of putting it. I have never seen something like that. It not like there wasn't fast cars. Kyle Larson had a great car and Larson never got within striking distance on that long green flag run. Not only that, he never really chewed into it at all. And you know how Truex Jr had a great car? He held off the field with fresher tires. Kyle Busch (2 tires) and Kyle Larson (4 tires) couldn't do anything with him. It was a great performance from him overall, he led 145 laps. So yeah, he's good on the intermediate tracks. And he's good everywhere he go. People don't give him enough respect at places like New Hampshire though. I don't know why, either! He dominated this place in 2016! In led 123 laps in the first race here and led 141 laps in the second race. He didn't win either race, but he had the dominant car at this track. The 78 team is running even better in 2017, too.
88-Dale Jr: Dale Jr is starting to run out of time to make the chase. At this stage of the year, the 88 team will have to win to make the chase. Personally, I highly doubt if it does happen though. I just don't see it. I know the 88 fans don't want to hear it, but he just isn't the same driver that he was a couple seasons ago. I think part of it has to do with HMS just a little off right now. Of course there are other factors you have to consider as well. But not like he is running terrible, either. In his past 7 races this season, he has compiled 5 Top 12 finishes. Including 2 finishes in the top 10 over his past 4 races. Including finishes of 9th and 6th. Another top 10 to top 15 finish is likely out of him. Anything better than that is probably out of his range.
**All stats are DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
