Welcome to TimersSports
Sleepers -
Paul Menard - Menard is the first guy that I am thinking of as a sleeper for tonight's race. He showed speed in both practice and qualifying. Not to mention, this 21 team has been showing quite often this season. Their terrible luck just gotten in the way far too often. In last season's races at Kansas, the 21 team swept the top 5 with Ryan Blaney. Including 4 of the last 5 races in the top 7. Obviously, Menard isn't nearly as talented as Blaney. But he qualified in the top 12 and has enough speed to stay in that range. Don't be shocked, if he does indeed steals a top 10 finish in the race!
Chris Buescher - A lot of people were shocked by Chris Buescher's strong day on Friday, but I wasn't nor anyone else who did their research. Buescher has been excellent on the 1.5 mile tracks this season. In three races on this type of track, he has produced 18.3 average finish and 20.4 average running position. In his first race, he finished 25th at Atlanta. His last two results? 15th at Las Vegas and 15th at Texas. In those races, he has posted 15.0 average finish, 18.7 average running position and 67.7 driver rating. And this is not the first time that he has been good at Kansas. In his last 4 Kansas, he has posted 17.3 average finish, 22.3 average running position and 63.3 driver rating. In his first two starts, he was with the #34 team. He had finishes of 24th and 21st. In last season's race with JTG, he had finishes of 18th and 6th. Even better? His final finishing position has improved in each race. To simply all of this, Chris is very good on these 1.5 mile cookie cutters. A good teen results is certainly out of the question!
Darrell Wallace Jr - If you play with numbers for awhile, it funny what you can learn. What have I learned when looking at Darrell Wallace Jr? He is kinda underrated on these 1.5 mile tracks. He has only made 4 career starts, but he has 18.0 average finish with 3 finishes of 21st or better. He has finishes of 11th, 32nd, 21st and 8th. At Texas and Vegas, he has posted 14.5 average finish, 19.0 average running position and 65.6 driver rating. It should be noted, he finished 8th at Texas. That probably really amps up his numbers. But still, he has good decent finishes across the board. Nothing crazy good, but still not bad. And if you want to throw Cali on there too (2.0 mile intermediate track), he finished 20th there. Overall, I wouldn't mind taking a chance on Bubba in certain fantasy games!
Dark Horses -
Ryan Blaney - Blaney has obviously been one of the most popular fantasy picks this week and for very good reason. In 4 of his last 5 races at Kansas, he finished 7th or better. He swept both races last season in the top 4. In last season's races here, he posted 3.5 average finish (2nd-best), 4.5 average running position (only 2nd to Kyle Busch) and 117.4 driver rating (3rd-best). And he has posted 8 top 11 finishes in his last 9 races on 1.5 mile track, dating back to last season. He is a machine! That was before, he looked so strong on Friday. He had one of the best cars in the field and qualified 2nd. What so great about him qualifying in the top 5? He has qualified 5 times in the top 5 in 2018. 4 of those finishes went for top 7 finishes. He finished 3rd at Martinsville (led 145 laps), 5th at Las Vegas, 5th at Texas, finished 7th at Daytona (led 118 laps) and 35th at Bristol (led 100 laps, wrecked). All best performances this season has came when he has started in the top 5.
Aric Almirola - Almirola is one of my favorite picks for tonight's race. These Stewart Haas Fords are all very fast. I think all 4 will challenge for at least a top 10 finish. This has been the common theme all season long. Kansas is looking more of the same. Aric is the only SHR car to not post a top 5 finish this season. He came close, when he finished 6th at Bristol. Otherwise, almost all of his has been between 7th-17th. While 8 of his 11 races has came between 7th-14th. I think it is safe to say that is his safe range. He finished 13th and 10th at Atlanta and Vegas earlier this season. Then, he finished 32nd at Texas. In that event, he held 20.0 average running position, completed 51% of the laps in the top 15 and held 71.2 driver rating. He was very strong in that event. He ran top 10 for that entire race. I don't think he fell below 11th place, before that late-race accident with the 11 car. If that didn't happen, I say he would been somewhere between 6th-9th at the checkers. I think Aric is gonna be one of his best races of the season at Kansas!
Erik Jones - Jones has had a tough season at times, but his strength on these intermediate tracks are what has stood out to me. On 1.5 mile tracks, he has finished 11th or better in every race. At these tracks, he posted 7.7 average finish, 11.0 average running position and 90.7 driver rating. In his last race on this type of track, he finished 5th at Texas. It was his best race of the season, too. He led 64 laps and finished in the top 3. He has produced 4 top 10 finishes on the season and 3 of them has came on intermediate tracks. I am including Cali on this list for anyone wondering. As it is also categorized as an intermediate track. I will admit that Kansas is not a great track for him. He has career-best finish of 22nd. Then again, he has only 3 career starts, too. He is overdue for a great finish. Back in 2015, he was replacing Kyle Busch and was running in the top 5, before wrecking. I think he is due for a strong run here. Tonight just may be his night!
*****All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Have a question or want to chat?
Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
Sleepers -
Paul Menard - Menard is the first guy that I am thinking of as a sleeper for tonight's race. He showed speed in both practice and qualifying. Not to mention, this 21 team has been showing quite often this season. Their terrible luck just gotten in the way far too often. In last season's races at Kansas, the 21 team swept the top 5 with Ryan Blaney. Including 4 of the last 5 races in the top 7. Obviously, Menard isn't nearly as talented as Blaney. But he qualified in the top 12 and has enough speed to stay in that range. Don't be shocked, if he does indeed steals a top 10 finish in the race!
Chris Buescher - A lot of people were shocked by Chris Buescher's strong day on Friday, but I wasn't nor anyone else who did their research. Buescher has been excellent on the 1.5 mile tracks this season. In three races on this type of track, he has produced 18.3 average finish and 20.4 average running position. In his first race, he finished 25th at Atlanta. His last two results? 15th at Las Vegas and 15th at Texas. In those races, he has posted 15.0 average finish, 18.7 average running position and 67.7 driver rating. And this is not the first time that he has been good at Kansas. In his last 4 Kansas, he has posted 17.3 average finish, 22.3 average running position and 63.3 driver rating. In his first two starts, he was with the #34 team. He had finishes of 24th and 21st. In last season's race with JTG, he had finishes of 18th and 6th. Even better? His final finishing position has improved in each race. To simply all of this, Chris is very good on these 1.5 mile cookie cutters. A good teen results is certainly out of the question!
Darrell Wallace Jr - If you play with numbers for awhile, it funny what you can learn. What have I learned when looking at Darrell Wallace Jr? He is kinda underrated on these 1.5 mile tracks. He has only made 4 career starts, but he has 18.0 average finish with 3 finishes of 21st or better. He has finishes of 11th, 32nd, 21st and 8th. At Texas and Vegas, he has posted 14.5 average finish, 19.0 average running position and 65.6 driver rating. It should be noted, he finished 8th at Texas. That probably really amps up his numbers. But still, he has good decent finishes across the board. Nothing crazy good, but still not bad. And if you want to throw Cali on there too (2.0 mile intermediate track), he finished 20th there. Overall, I wouldn't mind taking a chance on Bubba in certain fantasy games!
Dark Horses -
Ryan Blaney - Blaney has obviously been one of the most popular fantasy picks this week and for very good reason. In 4 of his last 5 races at Kansas, he finished 7th or better. He swept both races last season in the top 4. In last season's races here, he posted 3.5 average finish (2nd-best), 4.5 average running position (only 2nd to Kyle Busch) and 117.4 driver rating (3rd-best). And he has posted 8 top 11 finishes in his last 9 races on 1.5 mile track, dating back to last season. He is a machine! That was before, he looked so strong on Friday. He had one of the best cars in the field and qualified 2nd. What so great about him qualifying in the top 5? He has qualified 5 times in the top 5 in 2018. 4 of those finishes went for top 7 finishes. He finished 3rd at Martinsville (led 145 laps), 5th at Las Vegas, 5th at Texas, finished 7th at Daytona (led 118 laps) and 35th at Bristol (led 100 laps, wrecked). All best performances this season has came when he has started in the top 5.
Aric Almirola - Almirola is one of my favorite picks for tonight's race. These Stewart Haas Fords are all very fast. I think all 4 will challenge for at least a top 10 finish. This has been the common theme all season long. Kansas is looking more of the same. Aric is the only SHR car to not post a top 5 finish this season. He came close, when he finished 6th at Bristol. Otherwise, almost all of his has been between 7th-17th. While 8 of his 11 races has came between 7th-14th. I think it is safe to say that is his safe range. He finished 13th and 10th at Atlanta and Vegas earlier this season. Then, he finished 32nd at Texas. In that event, he held 20.0 average running position, completed 51% of the laps in the top 15 and held 71.2 driver rating. He was very strong in that event. He ran top 10 for that entire race. I don't think he fell below 11th place, before that late-race accident with the 11 car. If that didn't happen, I say he would been somewhere between 6th-9th at the checkers. I think Aric is gonna be one of his best races of the season at Kansas!
Erik Jones - Jones has had a tough season at times, but his strength on these intermediate tracks are what has stood out to me. On 1.5 mile tracks, he has finished 11th or better in every race. At these tracks, he posted 7.7 average finish, 11.0 average running position and 90.7 driver rating. In his last race on this type of track, he finished 5th at Texas. It was his best race of the season, too. He led 64 laps and finished in the top 3. He has produced 4 top 10 finishes on the season and 3 of them has came on intermediate tracks. I am including Cali on this list for anyone wondering. As it is also categorized as an intermediate track. I will admit that Kansas is not a great track for him. He has career-best finish of 22nd. Then again, he has only 3 career starts, too. He is overdue for a great finish. Back in 2015, he was replacing Kyle Busch and was running in the top 5, before wrecking. I think he is due for a strong run here. Tonight just may be his night!
*****All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com
Have a question or want to chat?
Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
