Welcome to Timerssports
Well, I really wasn't up to writing up any articles this weekend. Since I been feeling down lately, but that's what I love about having this website and playing fantasy sports in general. It allows you to get away from your thoughts for awhile. Even if it only for 3 or 4 hours at a time.
Earlier this week, I posted my initial Sleepers, Dark Horses and even threw in a bust. Overall, I felt like I nailed all of those picks. Or at least came close. Well, it is time to update them, since we have some on-track data to use now. It is hard to say how much Saturday's practice will be worth, considering how different the track conditions will be though.
Let's get started!
Sleepers -
Paul Menard - If you followed my content back in 2014, 2015 and 2016, then you are well aware about my unhealthy fantasy nascar relationship when it came to Paul Menard. It wasn't very good in 2017, but I think he has bounded back in a way here in 2018. He has a lot of bad finishes, but most of them can be explained though. I think these 1.5 mile intermediate tracks has been a strength though. In 3 of the 4 races on 1.5 mile tracks, he has finished 17th or better. Including top 10 finishes at both Atlanta and Kansas. He will start from 14th this weekend and I realistically I think he could finish within give or take 2-3 positions. Menard is a lot better fantasy options than people think. The question is will he avoid the dreaded bad luck that the 21 team seem to find?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr - How about some love for Ricky? He started off the season rough in general. But he has really came into his own of late though. In 4 of his last 5 races, he has finished 15th or better. In 3 of 4 races on 1.5 mile intermediate tracks this season, he has finished 16th or better. His best finish was two weeks ago at Kansas, too. Things are looking up for this 17 team. He may get a bad name because of the 6 team struggles, but don't be fooled. Stenhouse Jr is vastly underrated right now. And he has 15.5 average finish over last two seasons here, with no finishes worse than 20th.
Dark Horses -
Erik Jones - Jones was one of my dark horse picks and I am loving what I am seeing this weekend. Jones had the best 5, 10 and 15 lap averages in final practice. He would had the best-20 lap average as well. On top of that, he has posted 7.5 average finish on 1.5 mile intermediate tracks this season. That's near top of the series overall. Each run on Saturday, I thought the No.20 car stood out. That car looked so good going around the track. And his lap times were just as smooth. Erik Jones is a scary threat for a possible win!
Kurt Busch - Kurt is a former Nascar champion and a proven winner. So it is little strange to call him a dark horse. But he is exactly that for obvious reasons. I think Kurt is being overlooked right now. He is consistently running well on this type of track here in 2018. He has three finishes of either 7th or 8th on 1.5 mile intermediate tracks this season. He qualified 16th, so he is a little further back than I would like. But his upside is still there. He is type of driver that should contend for a top 10 finish. You never know, he could do more damage than that even. I think Kurt is the kind of pick that I would take a chance on.
Busts -
Ryan Blaney - Yes, I know some of you will be looking at me like I have lost my mind. Trust me, I have. However, that is beside the point.Yes, he was awesome at Kansas. I was impressed by his performance, too. With that said, there are some red flags about Blaney this weekend. Firstly, he didn't impress me in practice. He was near the top of the board on the speed charts, but he certainly didn't scream top 5 when tracking his lap times. I say just inside the top 10. Then there, also the fact that Blaney doesn't seem to excel at Charlotte, like he does at other places. His best career race was last fall, when he finished 8th at Charlotte. He had 12.0 average running position and 89.6 driver rating. Both are career-best for him at Charlotte. Not bad at all! But I don't get that same feeling as I did at Kansas though. So my question is why use Blaney as a fantasy pick this weekend, when you know what he is capable of? He is not capable of leading laps and contending for a top 5 finish in Sunday night's race, in my honest opinion.
Jamie Mac - I think a lot of people are hyping up Jamie Mac this weekend. After he qualified in the top 10. He has great numbers recently here. As he has posted 11.5 average finish over his last 4 races here. With finishing 12th or better in 4 of last 5 races overall. That's great, but his numbers this season say to avoid him though. 22.3 average finish, 16.5 average running position and 72.1 driver rating. Those are bad numbers, no matter how you want to slice it. His 16.5 average running position is pretty good, I guess. His sole saving grace is the Texas' race. He finished 3rd there. Take that race out and here is his numbers on the 1.5 mile intermediate tracks: 28.9 average finish, 19.0 average running position and 64.7 driver rating. I am not saying those are ugly numbers, but if it was a person, I am pretty sure it would crack a mirror! He was 13th in final practice on the best-ten lap average. He didn't have a lot of long run speed from what I could see, honestly.
****All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
Well, I really wasn't up to writing up any articles this weekend. Since I been feeling down lately, but that's what I love about having this website and playing fantasy sports in general. It allows you to get away from your thoughts for awhile. Even if it only for 3 or 4 hours at a time.
Earlier this week, I posted my initial Sleepers, Dark Horses and even threw in a bust. Overall, I felt like I nailed all of those picks. Or at least came close. Well, it is time to update them, since we have some on-track data to use now. It is hard to say how much Saturday's practice will be worth, considering how different the track conditions will be though.
Let's get started!
Sleepers -
Paul Menard - If you followed my content back in 2014, 2015 and 2016, then you are well aware about my unhealthy fantasy nascar relationship when it came to Paul Menard. It wasn't very good in 2017, but I think he has bounded back in a way here in 2018. He has a lot of bad finishes, but most of them can be explained though. I think these 1.5 mile intermediate tracks has been a strength though. In 3 of the 4 races on 1.5 mile tracks, he has finished 17th or better. Including top 10 finishes at both Atlanta and Kansas. He will start from 14th this weekend and I realistically I think he could finish within give or take 2-3 positions. Menard is a lot better fantasy options than people think. The question is will he avoid the dreaded bad luck that the 21 team seem to find?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr - How about some love for Ricky? He started off the season rough in general. But he has really came into his own of late though. In 4 of his last 5 races, he has finished 15th or better. In 3 of 4 races on 1.5 mile intermediate tracks this season, he has finished 16th or better. His best finish was two weeks ago at Kansas, too. Things are looking up for this 17 team. He may get a bad name because of the 6 team struggles, but don't be fooled. Stenhouse Jr is vastly underrated right now. And he has 15.5 average finish over last two seasons here, with no finishes worse than 20th.
Dark Horses -
Erik Jones - Jones was one of my dark horse picks and I am loving what I am seeing this weekend. Jones had the best 5, 10 and 15 lap averages in final practice. He would had the best-20 lap average as well. On top of that, he has posted 7.5 average finish on 1.5 mile intermediate tracks this season. That's near top of the series overall. Each run on Saturday, I thought the No.20 car stood out. That car looked so good going around the track. And his lap times were just as smooth. Erik Jones is a scary threat for a possible win!
Kurt Busch - Kurt is a former Nascar champion and a proven winner. So it is little strange to call him a dark horse. But he is exactly that for obvious reasons. I think Kurt is being overlooked right now. He is consistently running well on this type of track here in 2018. He has three finishes of either 7th or 8th on 1.5 mile intermediate tracks this season. He qualified 16th, so he is a little further back than I would like. But his upside is still there. He is type of driver that should contend for a top 10 finish. You never know, he could do more damage than that even. I think Kurt is the kind of pick that I would take a chance on.
Busts -
Ryan Blaney - Yes, I know some of you will be looking at me like I have lost my mind. Trust me, I have. However, that is beside the point.Yes, he was awesome at Kansas. I was impressed by his performance, too. With that said, there are some red flags about Blaney this weekend. Firstly, he didn't impress me in practice. He was near the top of the board on the speed charts, but he certainly didn't scream top 5 when tracking his lap times. I say just inside the top 10. Then there, also the fact that Blaney doesn't seem to excel at Charlotte, like he does at other places. His best career race was last fall, when he finished 8th at Charlotte. He had 12.0 average running position and 89.6 driver rating. Both are career-best for him at Charlotte. Not bad at all! But I don't get that same feeling as I did at Kansas though. So my question is why use Blaney as a fantasy pick this weekend, when you know what he is capable of? He is not capable of leading laps and contending for a top 5 finish in Sunday night's race, in my honest opinion.
Jamie Mac - I think a lot of people are hyping up Jamie Mac this weekend. After he qualified in the top 10. He has great numbers recently here. As he has posted 11.5 average finish over his last 4 races here. With finishing 12th or better in 4 of last 5 races overall. That's great, but his numbers this season say to avoid him though. 22.3 average finish, 16.5 average running position and 72.1 driver rating. Those are bad numbers, no matter how you want to slice it. His 16.5 average running position is pretty good, I guess. His sole saving grace is the Texas' race. He finished 3rd there. Take that race out and here is his numbers on the 1.5 mile intermediate tracks: 28.9 average finish, 19.0 average running position and 64.7 driver rating. I am not saying those are ugly numbers, but if it was a person, I am pretty sure it would crack a mirror! He was 13th in final practice on the best-ten lap average. He didn't have a lot of long run speed from what I could see, honestly.
****All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
