Sunday, December 24, 2017

2018 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Kyle Larson

Welcome to TimersSports

Driver Name: Kyle Larson

Car #: 42

Make: Chevy 

Season Debut: 2014 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 0

# of Career Starts: 147

# of Career Poles: 4

# of Career Wins: 5

# of Career Top 5s: 35 

# of Career Top 10s: 62

# of Career DNFs: 20

# of Career laps led: 1,900

Career Average Finish: 15.7  

Career Average Start: 14.3

# of 2017 Wins: 4

# of 2017 Top 5s: 15

# of 2017 Top 10s: 20

# of 2017 Poles: 3

# of 2017 DNFs: 7

# of 2017 laps led: 1,352

2017 Average Finish: 13.3

2017 Average Start: 11.3

2017 Fantasy Recap -  Kyle Larson really took that next step as a driver and inserted him as the superstar that many of us already thought he was. He was good in 2016, but in 2017 he was simply amazing. He had career-highs across the board and was the 3rd-best driver in the series for most of the year. Outside of Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Busch (in the 2nd-half), no driver was better than him. He impressed me a lot and I think the improvements at CGR has some to do with that. CGR was a lot better than they were the last couple year and Larson really benefited him. Weird what happens when a driver get cars that actually match his talent behind the wheel. Larson had a lot of DNFs in the playoffs, but that wasn't his fault. None of them were his fault, in my opinion. You cannot predict mechanical failures or blown tires. It was a year to remember for Kyle Larson!

Strong Tracks - Homestead, Michigan, New Hampshire, Dover, Richmond and Pocono  

Weak Tracks - Daytona, Martinsville and Kansas  

2018 Fantasy Outlook - I think Kyle Larson will be very good in 2018, this kid is here to stay. CGR were producing a lot of good racecars throughout 2017 and unless something changes, then you can expect more of the same. Larson is one of those drivers who can drive above his equipment level. He is one of those guys who can flat-out driver anything. The difference from a couple years ago? He has better racecars and now has the experience to go along with it. If there was one thing I notice about him, it was that he couldn't close out races in 2017. If he can start to close out races, then he becomes even more dangerous. I wouldn't say that Larson has a specific area that he is weak on, but there are certain tracks. Such as Martinsville, Daytona and Kansas. Three tracks that he seemed to struggle on throughout his career so far. He had that really good year in 2016 at Daytona, but we saw how it was in 2017. A lot of bad luck. Martinsville always has been a weak point for him and Kansas is just a bad track for him. As for intermediate tracks in general, I think that will once again be his strongest area. He was extremely consistent in the top 3 when he had a car to finish with in 2017.

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18