Saturday, March 03, 2018

2018 Fantasy Nascar Update (Las Vegas)

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Fantasy Nascar Update -

1. Kevin Harvick - Heading into the week, I probably had Harvick in my top 3 drivers. But soon as the cars hit the track this weekend at Las Vegas, he went to top of my list. He unloaded very fast this weekend and he haven't looked back, either. He qualified 2nd on Friday and has remained impressive on Saturday. In the first session, he was very happy with his car. So happy that he only made 10 laps. In the final practice session, he started off practice with an impressive opening run. I tracked his lap times with other top contenders and he was the best, in my opinion. He remained very fast for rest of final practice. On top of having a great car, he is coming off a win at Atlanta, where he completely dominated. I think the results are gonna be very similar. My pick to win this weekend is Kevin Harvick again!

2. Kyle Larson - Kyle Larson has been at top of the speed charts all weekend long at Las Vegas. He finished 2nd last season and I wouldn't be shocked at all if he won. During final practice on Saturday's afternoon, Darrell Waltrip said the spotters he spoke to said the 4 or 42 gonna win. It is DW, we are getting the information from. So take it for whatever it worth, but I would believe that. I think the 4 and 42 are both top 3 cars. Kyle Larson is starting 5th and has a lot of speed in his car. He had the best-ten lap average in final practice, but fell more than the 4 car of Kevin Harvick after 15 or 20 laps though. If anyone can knock off the 4 of Kevin Harvick, I think it will be the 42 car. He's a great pick to go with!

3. Martin Truex Jr - When we think of drivers to beat on the 1.5 mile tracks, we automatically look at the 78 car. To be honest, I wasn't expecting that much from Truex Jr at Atlanta. He was starting in the back and Atlanta is more of a driver's track. He are good or you just not. Truex Jr will be a bigger factor for the win, I think. In practice, I thought the 78 car was pretty good. He wasn't completely happy with his car on Friday, but he did qualify 4th. On Saturday, he got better as the day went on. In final practice, it was reported that Truex Jr said was happy overall with his car. I wouldn't doubt that at all. He has solid speed and that car seems to drive well, too. Not perfect, but better than most out there. His team made no major adjustments to his car in final practice. That's a good sign! I have him as a top 3 driver entering the race.

4. Brad Keselowski - I love the Penske Fords this weekend at Las Vegas, just like any other time we come to this place. They all are pretty fast, but I don't think any of them are good as the drivers mentioned above. Keselowski was awesome last week at Atlanta and I think he will keep up the momentum here at Las Vegas. On top of that, he has won every two seasons at Las Vegas since the 2014 season. The trends says he is due for another win at Las Vegas, since he didn't win here in 2016. He was strong in that race and probably had the only car that could stay with the 78 of Martin Truex Jr. He was very good on the long runs in practice this weekend, too. He also ran the most laps in final practice, which is typically a good sign. A driver who runs a lot of laps, usually pretty happy with their car. You aren't gonna run a lot of laps, if you aren't happy with the car.

5. Kyle Busch - Kyle Busch is starting from 13th place and should be able to move forward well in this race. And Jeff Gordon noted that he made impressive run late in final practice. If Jeff Gordon thinks it notable, then I am gonna take his word for it. And the 18 team was one of the best on 1.5 mile tracks in 2017. The 78 car is quick this weekend, too. So if the 78 is fast, then you would have to imagine that the 18 isn't too far off then. I will be honest that I didn't watch much of the 18 car in either practice session. Mainly because I had many other drivers that I had more concerns with. I felt good about Kyle entering the weekend, I haven't heard anything to make me feel uneasy about him. He was 6th in final practice best-ten lap average.

6. Ryan Blaney - Blaney will start on the pole and he has a lot of speed in his No.12 Ford. He is quick enough to contend for a top 5 to top 10 finish, I believe. The one thing I have heard about him is he is looking to be more comfortable in his car. I wouldn't doubt if he saw him in victory lane on Sunday's afternoon though. In two races at Las Vegas in his career, he has not finished outside of the top 10. In two career starts, he has 6.5 average finish with 8.0 average running position and 102.1 driver rating. The amount of success that Penske has had in recent season should only make him a more desirable fantasy option!

7. Chase Elliott - Elliott was one of the drivers that the guys on FS1 kept mentioning as one of the more impressive drivers on Saturday. His lap times pretty much backed that up. He posted very good lap times in latter half of the first practice on Saturday and looked good in final practice, too. The 9 car looked a lot better than last weekend's race. He been good enough to easily be in the top 10 with some upside in it. In last season's race at Las Vegas, he was a top 5 driver for the event. In his rookie season, he was top 10 good and driving toward the top 10 before getting involved in a wreck. I think Elliott gonna have another solid result. His range is probably just on top of the top 5 or just outside.

8. Clint Bowyer - I think Clint Bowyer is gonna be really good again this weekend. He qualified 11th, but he is good enough to contend for a top 10. At end of the first practice session, his team told him that he had one of the best cars so far this weekend. In final practice, he didn't fall. He opened the practice with about 16-lap run and he was solid as more laps went on his tires. His lap times were legit better than some pretty big name drivers. He was told during that first run that he was running some really good laps. His teammate has the car to beat and Clint Bowyer may not be too far of that. If you need a dark horse pick, then your man may be Clint Bowyer!

9. Erik Jones - It is hard to bet against Erik Jones to challenge for a top 10 finish. He isn't quite fast enough to be challenging for a top 5 finish yet, but I would be stunned if he didn't contend for a top 10 finish. The No.20 car qualified in the top 10 and his lap times been right around there, too. He is nothing too flashy, but he will probably get a solid finish out of the weekend. He ran a lot of laps in both practice and should stay out of trouble. I don't really have much more to say about him.

10. Joey Logano - Logano will start off 10th for Sunday's race and he should be a top 10 contender for the race. I didn't really watch him or track his lap times that much, so I cannot really say how good he is. He ran well last week and I haven't heard anything bad about him yet. He isn't down on any of the speed charts. Either. Top 10 in pretty much everything so far this weekend, too. And Penske cars overall seems to be pretty good. I also find it hard to believe that Joey won't be good enough to challenge for the top 10. Especially how good the Fords are to start off the year and how good Joey has been in the past here. He isn't my first choice as a fantasy pick, but I wouldn't having him though. He could be a really sneaky pick to have.

Just missed -

Jimmie Johnson
Daniel Suarez
Ryan Newman
Denny Hamlin
Kurt Busch
Jamie Mac

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

Twitter - @JeffNathans18