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Fantasy Nascar Preview -
1-JMac: JMac is coming off a solid Michigan race, where he ended up finishing 9th place. However, once again, he finished worse than than he started. In 10 of his last 12 races this season, JMac has finished worse than he started. Not good! But, it was good to see him finish in the top 10 again though. Bristol is next up for him and it has been a great track for him lately. In his last six cup races at Bristol, he has finished 14th or better in every single race. While finishing 14th or better in 7 of his last 9 at Bristol. Pretty good, wouldn't you agree? Earlier this season, he was pretty good and finished 12th. He was probably right around that area for the event. Maybe a little better, but overall he got the finish he deserved. I don't think Jamie offer much this weekend, other than his consistency in general. If you are considering using Jamie, it is because he is consistent this season (top 12 good usually) and his consistency at Bristol. Otherwise, he usually doesn't contend for wins or even top 5 finishes. I expect him to run latter half of the top 10 like usual and finish between 8th-12th. He is not a bad option to have, at one of his better tracks.
2-Brad Keselowski: Keselowski had a great race at Michigan, but he kinda threw it away with the Logano caution. Not saying that he would had won, if he stood out. But, he ended any shot of winning, when he pitted though. Considering, he was outside of the top 10, when the caution did fall. Which meant, he was behind 6 to 8 cars, not including the guys who stood out. So he restarted like 10th with 10 laps to go. Yeah, your chances of getting to the front is pretty slim. If you aren't the first or second guy with fresh tires, you were pretty much made your bed. As you would expect, he finished mid-pack. He will look for a good finish at Bristol this weekend, but has been a tough place for him to get good finishes of late though. In six of his last eight races at Bristol, Keselowski has finished 14th or worse. Including 30th or worse in four of those eight races. Yeah, it haven't been good at all! He finished 33rd and 34th in his past two races at this track. He has finishes of 33rd, 34th and 35th in three of his last five starts overall. It's not that he haven't ran good (he's been competitive), but he haven't had any real good luck honestly.
3-Austin Dillon: Dillon and RCR as whole are still lacking speed, but I think they are better off than they were about month ago. Not saying much, considering RCR is still pretty far off where they need to be. At this point in his career, you expect Dillon to be contending for wins, not just riding around. He does have a win next to his name, but personally waiting for him to start contending regularly. Far as I am concerned, Dillon isn't close to being that sort of driver. Obviously, a good portion of that has to do with RCR lacking speed. With that said, I think places like Bristol are the places where he will be his best on. When you are struggling to keep up on the intermediate tracks, I think you need to take advantage when we come to places like Bristol. He is pretty good here, too. In his last five starts at Bristol, he has four finishes of 13th or better. In seven career starts, he has five finishes of 13th or better. He finished 4th in last August's race. While finishing 13th back in April's event. Based on history, Dillon could be a solid top 15 guy.
4-Kevin Harvick: Harvick once again has a good day turn to bad at Michigan for the second time this season. The 4 team just isn't quite there on speed this season, either. They are closing than most people realize, in my opinion. Still, there is a obvious difference with Ford this year. Bristol is a really good track for Harvick, even if he doesn't get the finishes here with the #4 car. In his first three starts with the #4 team, he had two dnfs. However, over his last 4 starts, he has compiled 4 straight top 7 finishes. In those four races, he has compiled 3 top 3 finishes. Including winning this race in last August. And earlier this season, he also finished 3rd. Pretty good finishes lately! I think SHR is still a little behind on the horsepower tracks, so people like Bristol are the tracks that Harvick need to pounce on. Bristol is a great track for him and he should be considered one of the favorites headed into the weekend.
5-Kasey Kahne: Last week was a bad week for Kasey Kahne. At start of the week, it was announced that Kahne would be released a year early from his deal with HMS. On Wednesday, his replacement was named in William Byron. And then on Sunday, he got involved in a nasty wreck at Michigan. T o say the least, it wasn't one of his better weeks. And I know many people will want to use Kahne here at Bristol as it use to be one of his better tracks. Noticed a key word I said in that last sentence? Yeah, use to be. That seems to be the best words to describe Kasey anymore. When that comes a common theme on a weekly basis, it is usual a very bad sign. Much like it is in Kasey's situation. Do I really need to breakdown his numbers at Bristol? 4 of his last 5 races here ending in 16th or worse and no finishes better than 13th in those five races. His last top 10 finish was early in 2014 here overall. Not good. Do yourself a favor and avoid him!
11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin had a okay weekend at Michigan, but it was far from what I expected it to be though. He was pretty noncompetitive for the most part and didn't ever contend in the top 10 honestly. I expected to him to be more of a threat, but I guess that happens from time to time. Prior to that, he had quite a streak of strong finishes going. Still, 16th place isn't terrible. Not great, but still not terrible. He's good at Bristol, so maybe he can turn it around here. The big question is will he be on baby watch still? The more weeks he is on baby watch, the riskier he will become as a fantasy option, in my opinion. Like I said, he's good at Bristol. In his last five Bristol races, he has compiled 12.4 average finish with 3 Top 10 finishes. Including 3rd place finishes in each of the past two summer races at Bristol. He finished 3rd in August 2016 and 3rd in August 2015. He started in the top 2 in both race as well. Good qualifying result could be key for him. Overall, I don't hate him at all, but I do understand the risks that comes with him. Personally, I will be watching to see how good he is in practice and qualifying. Along with other important factors as well.
18-Kyle Busch: Rowdy had a pretty solid Michigan race and could have a top 5 finish, if there no caution at the very end. It probably would had been pretty close still, but it would had been better than his 10th place finish. Overall, I kinda felt like an average weekend was in store for Rowdy anyways. He just doesn't ever seem to get it done at Michigan. It wasn't like Indy, Pocono and Watkins Glen. When, we all knew what kind of car he had. It wasn't the same at Michigan. He will try to return to dominance form at Bristol. A track where he has been great at, but never getting the results lately. I mean this literally, too. Since start of the 2014 season, Kyle Busch has an average finish of 30.0. You want to know how bad that is? Cole Whitt, Gray Gaulding and Jeffrey Earnhardt all have better average finishes. In his past 6 races at Bristol, Kyle has finished 29th or worse in 5 of those 6 races. That's just incredibly stupid bad. But you know to know something? He was competitive at one point or another in every single race. His bad luck here is very bad. But his finish potential is obviously high.
19-Daniel Suarez: Suarez is having a very good season, but for the first time in awhile (maybe all season), he made a mistake at Michigan. This might be the first race this season that he had a DNF, not named Daytona. I am not going to hate on him for that though. He was having a decent race prior to that and honestly hard to say who fault it was. Maybe it was Kasey for assuming Daniel would be side by side into the corner. Or maybe it was Daniel's for not checking up in time. Personally, I think there is plenty of blame to go around. It happened and that's end of story. Daniel have a few more shots at making the playoffs. Of the three tracks left, I would say that Bristol is his best shot. The Gibbs cars seems to be always strong here and he could sneak his way to victory lane, if things fall into his lap right.
20-Matt Kenseth: Kenseth restarted 3rd on the final restart and looked to be in a good position. But then he had a flat tire go down and well that all she wrote for Kenseth. Truthfully, I highly doubt he would had stopped Larson from getting to the lead with fresh tires. But I think he could had held down a top 10 spot at the checkers. He always run well at Bristol and seems to always be strong. However, Kenseth has a up and down track record here, too. In his last 8 races here, he has 4 finishes of 4th or better. Including 2 wins. On the downside, he had three straight finishes of 36th or worse, before finishing 4th back in April. So, he's boom or bust in his past 5 races at Bristol. 2 Top 4 finishes and 3 finishes of 36th or worse. He is a risk, but certainly one that could easily pay off.
21-Ryan Blaney: Blaney is having a good season, as he scored his first cup win earlier this season. However, he is just scratching the surface right now. You can tell that by how inconsistent he is. Since his win at Pocono, he has been pretty up and down. One week top 10 finish and the next outside of the top 10. Sadly, it been more outside of the top 10 than not. In his past 12 races (dating back to Charlotte) this season, he has compiled just 4 top 10 finishes. In his past 9 races (since his win at Pocono), he has just 5 finishes of 19th or worse. While finishing 15th or worse in 6 of his last 9 races overall. Like I said, very inconsistent and more on the bad than good. At Bristol, it been much like that, too. In four career starts, he has 3 finishes of 22nd or worse.
22-Joey Logano: Logano is a good driver here at Bristol and it probably his last shot at a win. Honestly, I think the odds are very much against him overall. The summer time is the right time for Mr. Logano at Bristol. Since 2012, he haven't finished worse than 10th place at Bristol in the summer race. He has two career wins and both were in the summer races. He won back in 2014 and then again in 2015. So yeah, he has some success here at Bristol and most it has came in the summer time. As much as I would like to say he will win this weekend, I have my doubts about him. I think he will gamble and put it all on the line. Much like the last few weekends, I think he will be more aggressive in the race with how he attacks it. I think his team will, too.
24-Chase Elliott: In the offseason, I thought Elliott was due for a decline in his 2nd year in cup. And every race that ticks off, it is more clear that he will not breakout in 2017. But every week, you know what I hear? ''Oh Chase Elliott will break out, he is due!'' Or ''Elliott is gonna win one of these soon!'' Personally, I think he is further away this year than he was last year. In 2016, he was contending for race wins, not just top 5 finishes. This year? If he's lucky, he will run in the top 5. There's a different in finishing in the top 5 and contending for the win. A lot of people don't seem to understand that. With that said, I think his decline in 2017 has to do with HMS inability to keep up with other top teams. Bristol has been a good track for him though. In three career starts at Bristol, he has two top 7 finishes. Including 4th place finish back in April.
41-Kurt Busch: Kurt Busch has been a talked about a lot lately in silly season's talk, but it sounds like he will be back with SHR in 2017. At least, that how SHR sees it. I guess, we will have to wait and see on that though. Overall, Kurt has had an average season for the most part and haven't really been up front often. The road courses probably has been his best kind of track by far. The 41 team has been lacking speed this season, so it is hard to judge where to use him. But I am not against using him this weekend. As 4 of his last 6 races at Bristol has ended in 15th or better. Problem is his last two finishes at this place has ended in 25th and 38th. I am kinda interested in how he looks in practice and qualifying on Friday. 41 haven't been lighting the world on fire this season, but he is certainly a decent option to consider though.
42-Kyle Larson: Kyle Larson stole the show at Michigan! You just knew when he lined up behind Truex Jr on the restart, he was gonna win. There was no doubt about it, it was just matter of how. In Kyle Larson style, he did it the only way he knew how! He took the leader four wide into turn 1 and made it work. That was probably the most exciting restart of the season, in my honest opinion. He is now headed to another great racetrack on the schedule named Bristol. Number of times, Kyle has said that Bristol is his favorite racetrack and why wouldn't it be? It fits directly into his driving style overall. He dominated this race earlier this season and led the most laps. He's coming off a win and could easily go back-to-back wins. I think over the next few races, he could get very hot entering the chase. All good track for him, too.
48-Jimmie Johnson: Johnson is still in a slump, but this is pretty normal for him at this time of the year. Problem is, he haven't really dominated any races this season. Sure, he had led laps, but not impressive amount like we are use to. Usually, he would go out and win a couple race early. He did that this season, but just not the same feeling. It almost like, he won those races without anybody really noticing it. He has three race wins, but at the same times, I am like ''meh, that's not Jimmie-like.'' Could he get hot and knock off 3 or 4 wins in the chase? Sure! Do I think he will? No, but I wouldn't count him out by any means though. I am not trying to hate on Jimmie here, but I am just trying to put out that he is having a rough season. He's great here at Bristol. In his last 6 races, he has 4 top 4 finishes overall.
77-Erik Jones: I will be honest, I thought that Erik Jones had a real shot at victory lane and he may have had a shot, if we didn't get a red flag. That red flag period really cooled down the tires and that hurt both the 77 and 78 cars. At that point (on the restart), these guys were sitting ducks because Kyle Larson was a shark smelling blood in the water. As expected, he pounced on them and ran away with the race lead. Still, Jones finished 3rd and that was one of his better races this season. He was strong that entire race, so don't think he lucked into or something. Jones finished 17th earlier this season at Bristol, but he was about top 10 guy for the event. Probably just outside of that though.
78-Martin Truex Jr: Truex Jr is having a great season and I was kinda suprised that he didn't win at Michigan, too. He had the car to beat by far and I think he holds off Larson (more), if they don't throw the red flag. As Truex Jr mentioned the tires stayed somewhat warm under yellow. With the red flag, his tires were cold. As you saw on the restart, Larson just split through the middle. May not had been as easy, if his tires were a little warm. Still, I don't think he would had held him off. But I don't think it would had looked so easy, either. Still, it doesn't change that Truex Jr is the best driver this season on a consistent basis. Truex Jr was strong earlier this season. He led 116 laps and was probably the second-best driver to Larson. Truex Jr has currently three straight races with a driver rating above 100. That sort of rating usually translate to a top 10 performance. In his last three races, he has finishes of 8th, 14th and 23rd. In his past 8 races, he has only 3 top 20 finishes. But his performance earlier this season was impressive and he is running probably even better now. Hard to bet against him this season, even at tracks he have questionable track records on.
88-Dale Jr: Dale Jr is running his final season as a full-time cup driver and honestly he is kinda checked out on this season. I think he wants to win, but his will to be competitive seems to be gone. I don't think it is on purpose, but I think he is ready to retire. He just isn't the same driver that he was a few years ago. And I think part of it is because HMS lack of speed, but that's not entirely it though. He cannot even crack the top 10 much anymore and that says a lot. And hell, sometimes, he is not even running in the top 15. Do I need to say anymore about him? He probably isn't worth consideration to your fantasy team this weekend. I will wait until I see practice to make a final call. But I highly doubt that he will change my mind.
***All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18
Fantasy Nascar Preview -
1-JMac: JMac is coming off a solid Michigan race, where he ended up finishing 9th place. However, once again, he finished worse than than he started. In 10 of his last 12 races this season, JMac has finished worse than he started. Not good! But, it was good to see him finish in the top 10 again though. Bristol is next up for him and it has been a great track for him lately. In his last six cup races at Bristol, he has finished 14th or better in every single race. While finishing 14th or better in 7 of his last 9 at Bristol. Pretty good, wouldn't you agree? Earlier this season, he was pretty good and finished 12th. He was probably right around that area for the event. Maybe a little better, but overall he got the finish he deserved. I don't think Jamie offer much this weekend, other than his consistency in general. If you are considering using Jamie, it is because he is consistent this season (top 12 good usually) and his consistency at Bristol. Otherwise, he usually doesn't contend for wins or even top 5 finishes. I expect him to run latter half of the top 10 like usual and finish between 8th-12th. He is not a bad option to have, at one of his better tracks.
2-Brad Keselowski: Keselowski had a great race at Michigan, but he kinda threw it away with the Logano caution. Not saying that he would had won, if he stood out. But, he ended any shot of winning, when he pitted though. Considering, he was outside of the top 10, when the caution did fall. Which meant, he was behind 6 to 8 cars, not including the guys who stood out. So he restarted like 10th with 10 laps to go. Yeah, your chances of getting to the front is pretty slim. If you aren't the first or second guy with fresh tires, you were pretty much made your bed. As you would expect, he finished mid-pack. He will look for a good finish at Bristol this weekend, but has been a tough place for him to get good finishes of late though. In six of his last eight races at Bristol, Keselowski has finished 14th or worse. Including 30th or worse in four of those eight races. Yeah, it haven't been good at all! He finished 33rd and 34th in his past two races at this track. He has finishes of 33rd, 34th and 35th in three of his last five starts overall. It's not that he haven't ran good (he's been competitive), but he haven't had any real good luck honestly.
3-Austin Dillon: Dillon and RCR as whole are still lacking speed, but I think they are better off than they were about month ago. Not saying much, considering RCR is still pretty far off where they need to be. At this point in his career, you expect Dillon to be contending for wins, not just riding around. He does have a win next to his name, but personally waiting for him to start contending regularly. Far as I am concerned, Dillon isn't close to being that sort of driver. Obviously, a good portion of that has to do with RCR lacking speed. With that said, I think places like Bristol are the places where he will be his best on. When you are struggling to keep up on the intermediate tracks, I think you need to take advantage when we come to places like Bristol. He is pretty good here, too. In his last five starts at Bristol, he has four finishes of 13th or better. In seven career starts, he has five finishes of 13th or better. He finished 4th in last August's race. While finishing 13th back in April's event. Based on history, Dillon could be a solid top 15 guy.
4-Kevin Harvick: Harvick once again has a good day turn to bad at Michigan for the second time this season. The 4 team just isn't quite there on speed this season, either. They are closing than most people realize, in my opinion. Still, there is a obvious difference with Ford this year. Bristol is a really good track for Harvick, even if he doesn't get the finishes here with the #4 car. In his first three starts with the #4 team, he had two dnfs. However, over his last 4 starts, he has compiled 4 straight top 7 finishes. In those four races, he has compiled 3 top 3 finishes. Including winning this race in last August. And earlier this season, he also finished 3rd. Pretty good finishes lately! I think SHR is still a little behind on the horsepower tracks, so people like Bristol are the tracks that Harvick need to pounce on. Bristol is a great track for him and he should be considered one of the favorites headed into the weekend.
5-Kasey Kahne: Last week was a bad week for Kasey Kahne. At start of the week, it was announced that Kahne would be released a year early from his deal with HMS. On Wednesday, his replacement was named in William Byron. And then on Sunday, he got involved in a nasty wreck at Michigan. T o say the least, it wasn't one of his better weeks. And I know many people will want to use Kahne here at Bristol as it use to be one of his better tracks. Noticed a key word I said in that last sentence? Yeah, use to be. That seems to be the best words to describe Kasey anymore. When that comes a common theme on a weekly basis, it is usual a very bad sign. Much like it is in Kasey's situation. Do I really need to breakdown his numbers at Bristol? 4 of his last 5 races here ending in 16th or worse and no finishes better than 13th in those five races. His last top 10 finish was early in 2014 here overall. Not good. Do yourself a favor and avoid him!
11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin had a okay weekend at Michigan, but it was far from what I expected it to be though. He was pretty noncompetitive for the most part and didn't ever contend in the top 10 honestly. I expected to him to be more of a threat, but I guess that happens from time to time. Prior to that, he had quite a streak of strong finishes going. Still, 16th place isn't terrible. Not great, but still not terrible. He's good at Bristol, so maybe he can turn it around here. The big question is will he be on baby watch still? The more weeks he is on baby watch, the riskier he will become as a fantasy option, in my opinion. Like I said, he's good at Bristol. In his last five Bristol races, he has compiled 12.4 average finish with 3 Top 10 finishes. Including 3rd place finishes in each of the past two summer races at Bristol. He finished 3rd in August 2016 and 3rd in August 2015. He started in the top 2 in both race as well. Good qualifying result could be key for him. Overall, I don't hate him at all, but I do understand the risks that comes with him. Personally, I will be watching to see how good he is in practice and qualifying. Along with other important factors as well.
18-Kyle Busch: Rowdy had a pretty solid Michigan race and could have a top 5 finish, if there no caution at the very end. It probably would had been pretty close still, but it would had been better than his 10th place finish. Overall, I kinda felt like an average weekend was in store for Rowdy anyways. He just doesn't ever seem to get it done at Michigan. It wasn't like Indy, Pocono and Watkins Glen. When, we all knew what kind of car he had. It wasn't the same at Michigan. He will try to return to dominance form at Bristol. A track where he has been great at, but never getting the results lately. I mean this literally, too. Since start of the 2014 season, Kyle Busch has an average finish of 30.0. You want to know how bad that is? Cole Whitt, Gray Gaulding and Jeffrey Earnhardt all have better average finishes. In his past 6 races at Bristol, Kyle has finished 29th or worse in 5 of those 6 races. That's just incredibly stupid bad. But you know to know something? He was competitive at one point or another in every single race. His bad luck here is very bad. But his finish potential is obviously high.
19-Daniel Suarez: Suarez is having a very good season, but for the first time in awhile (maybe all season), he made a mistake at Michigan. This might be the first race this season that he had a DNF, not named Daytona. I am not going to hate on him for that though. He was having a decent race prior to that and honestly hard to say who fault it was. Maybe it was Kasey for assuming Daniel would be side by side into the corner. Or maybe it was Daniel's for not checking up in time. Personally, I think there is plenty of blame to go around. It happened and that's end of story. Daniel have a few more shots at making the playoffs. Of the three tracks left, I would say that Bristol is his best shot. The Gibbs cars seems to be always strong here and he could sneak his way to victory lane, if things fall into his lap right.
20-Matt Kenseth: Kenseth restarted 3rd on the final restart and looked to be in a good position. But then he had a flat tire go down and well that all she wrote for Kenseth. Truthfully, I highly doubt he would had stopped Larson from getting to the lead with fresh tires. But I think he could had held down a top 10 spot at the checkers. He always run well at Bristol and seems to always be strong. However, Kenseth has a up and down track record here, too. In his last 8 races here, he has 4 finishes of 4th or better. Including 2 wins. On the downside, he had three straight finishes of 36th or worse, before finishing 4th back in April. So, he's boom or bust in his past 5 races at Bristol. 2 Top 4 finishes and 3 finishes of 36th or worse. He is a risk, but certainly one that could easily pay off.
21-Ryan Blaney: Blaney is having a good season, as he scored his first cup win earlier this season. However, he is just scratching the surface right now. You can tell that by how inconsistent he is. Since his win at Pocono, he has been pretty up and down. One week top 10 finish and the next outside of the top 10. Sadly, it been more outside of the top 10 than not. In his past 12 races (dating back to Charlotte) this season, he has compiled just 4 top 10 finishes. In his past 9 races (since his win at Pocono), he has just 5 finishes of 19th or worse. While finishing 15th or worse in 6 of his last 9 races overall. Like I said, very inconsistent and more on the bad than good. At Bristol, it been much like that, too. In four career starts, he has 3 finishes of 22nd or worse.
22-Joey Logano: Logano is a good driver here at Bristol and it probably his last shot at a win. Honestly, I think the odds are very much against him overall. The summer time is the right time for Mr. Logano at Bristol. Since 2012, he haven't finished worse than 10th place at Bristol in the summer race. He has two career wins and both were in the summer races. He won back in 2014 and then again in 2015. So yeah, he has some success here at Bristol and most it has came in the summer time. As much as I would like to say he will win this weekend, I have my doubts about him. I think he will gamble and put it all on the line. Much like the last few weekends, I think he will be more aggressive in the race with how he attacks it. I think his team will, too.
24-Chase Elliott: In the offseason, I thought Elliott was due for a decline in his 2nd year in cup. And every race that ticks off, it is more clear that he will not breakout in 2017. But every week, you know what I hear? ''Oh Chase Elliott will break out, he is due!'' Or ''Elliott is gonna win one of these soon!'' Personally, I think he is further away this year than he was last year. In 2016, he was contending for race wins, not just top 5 finishes. This year? If he's lucky, he will run in the top 5. There's a different in finishing in the top 5 and contending for the win. A lot of people don't seem to understand that. With that said, I think his decline in 2017 has to do with HMS inability to keep up with other top teams. Bristol has been a good track for him though. In three career starts at Bristol, he has two top 7 finishes. Including 4th place finish back in April.
41-Kurt Busch: Kurt Busch has been a talked about a lot lately in silly season's talk, but it sounds like he will be back with SHR in 2017. At least, that how SHR sees it. I guess, we will have to wait and see on that though. Overall, Kurt has had an average season for the most part and haven't really been up front often. The road courses probably has been his best kind of track by far. The 41 team has been lacking speed this season, so it is hard to judge where to use him. But I am not against using him this weekend. As 4 of his last 6 races at Bristol has ended in 15th or better. Problem is his last two finishes at this place has ended in 25th and 38th. I am kinda interested in how he looks in practice and qualifying on Friday. 41 haven't been lighting the world on fire this season, but he is certainly a decent option to consider though.
42-Kyle Larson: Kyle Larson stole the show at Michigan! You just knew when he lined up behind Truex Jr on the restart, he was gonna win. There was no doubt about it, it was just matter of how. In Kyle Larson style, he did it the only way he knew how! He took the leader four wide into turn 1 and made it work. That was probably the most exciting restart of the season, in my honest opinion. He is now headed to another great racetrack on the schedule named Bristol. Number of times, Kyle has said that Bristol is his favorite racetrack and why wouldn't it be? It fits directly into his driving style overall. He dominated this race earlier this season and led the most laps. He's coming off a win and could easily go back-to-back wins. I think over the next few races, he could get very hot entering the chase. All good track for him, too.
48-Jimmie Johnson: Johnson is still in a slump, but this is pretty normal for him at this time of the year. Problem is, he haven't really dominated any races this season. Sure, he had led laps, but not impressive amount like we are use to. Usually, he would go out and win a couple race early. He did that this season, but just not the same feeling. It almost like, he won those races without anybody really noticing it. He has three race wins, but at the same times, I am like ''meh, that's not Jimmie-like.'' Could he get hot and knock off 3 or 4 wins in the chase? Sure! Do I think he will? No, but I wouldn't count him out by any means though. I am not trying to hate on Jimmie here, but I am just trying to put out that he is having a rough season. He's great here at Bristol. In his last 6 races, he has 4 top 4 finishes overall.
77-Erik Jones: I will be honest, I thought that Erik Jones had a real shot at victory lane and he may have had a shot, if we didn't get a red flag. That red flag period really cooled down the tires and that hurt both the 77 and 78 cars. At that point (on the restart), these guys were sitting ducks because Kyle Larson was a shark smelling blood in the water. As expected, he pounced on them and ran away with the race lead. Still, Jones finished 3rd and that was one of his better races this season. He was strong that entire race, so don't think he lucked into or something. Jones finished 17th earlier this season at Bristol, but he was about top 10 guy for the event. Probably just outside of that though.
78-Martin Truex Jr: Truex Jr is having a great season and I was kinda suprised that he didn't win at Michigan, too. He had the car to beat by far and I think he holds off Larson (more), if they don't throw the red flag. As Truex Jr mentioned the tires stayed somewhat warm under yellow. With the red flag, his tires were cold. As you saw on the restart, Larson just split through the middle. May not had been as easy, if his tires were a little warm. Still, I don't think he would had held him off. But I don't think it would had looked so easy, either. Still, it doesn't change that Truex Jr is the best driver this season on a consistent basis. Truex Jr was strong earlier this season. He led 116 laps and was probably the second-best driver to Larson. Truex Jr has currently three straight races with a driver rating above 100. That sort of rating usually translate to a top 10 performance. In his last three races, he has finishes of 8th, 14th and 23rd. In his past 8 races, he has only 3 top 20 finishes. But his performance earlier this season was impressive and he is running probably even better now. Hard to bet against him this season, even at tracks he have questionable track records on.
88-Dale Jr: Dale Jr is running his final season as a full-time cup driver and honestly he is kinda checked out on this season. I think he wants to win, but his will to be competitive seems to be gone. I don't think it is on purpose, but I think he is ready to retire. He just isn't the same driver that he was a few years ago. And I think part of it is because HMS lack of speed, but that's not entirely it though. He cannot even crack the top 10 much anymore and that says a lot. And hell, sometimes, he is not even running in the top 15. Do I need to say anymore about him? He probably isn't worth consideration to your fantasy team this weekend. I will wait until I see practice to make a final call. But I highly doubt that he will change my mind.
***All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Twitter - @JeffNathans18