2019 Fantasy Nascar DGG Picks (Texas)

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Rough weekend for your buddy, Garry. Rough weekend. Stood up until after 12:30 on Friday night, then had to be at work on Saturday at 6 a.m! How often does that work out well? Felt like shit for the next 12 hours. Then came home and slept for another 12 hours. Where would I be without my DVR? Needless to say I am ready for some racing this afternoon! I did manage to do some research and watched practice, so got that going for me!

A couple weeks ago, I got asked why I only make picks for the Driver Group Game? I will be brutally honest, it's the only game that I am playing in 2019. I loved Fantasy Live under the salary cap format, but they changed it. I didn't mind the Fox game, until they discontinued it after 2017 season. As for DFS, I honestly never gotten in it. Would I make posts for these games or other ones out there? Absolutely! If they are requested, I would gladly make posts. I just thought I would finally get that off my chest!

DGG Picks -

A:

Starter - Kyle Busch

Bench - Kevin Harvick

Reasons - A lot of really good options to go with this week, but personally I am going with the hottest driver in the series. I will probably use him until he gives me a reason not to! I also really like Logano, Harvick, Keselowski and Larson.

B:

Starters- Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney

Bench- Kurt Busch and Erik Jones

Reasons - I think the best three picks are Almirola, Blaney and Kurt Busch in this grouping tier. I think picking any of those three picks would a pretty good combo. I love the speed out of the #1 car, but I would rather save him when he starts closer to the front. Aric starts deep in the field,  but I also have more starts with him!

C:

Starter - Chris Buescher

Bench - Daniel Hermic

Reasons - Honestly this is a tough decision. There isn't a clear cut choice this week. To me, they are pretty even overall. I am going Buescher because I trust him more.

Dark Horse- Aric Almirola

Winner- Joey Logano

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - Briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter- @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Texas)

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Final Rankings-

1. Kyle Busch
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Joey Logano
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Ryan Blaney
7. Kyle Larson
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Kurt Busch
10. Aric Almirola
11. Martin Truex Jr
12. Chase Elliott
13. Erik Jones
14. Austin Dillon
15. Clint Bowyer
16. Daniel Saurez
17. Ryan Newman
18. Alex Bowman
19. Chris Buescher
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
21. Paul Menard
22. William Byron
23. Daniel Hemric
24. Darrell Wallace Jr
25. Matt Dibenedetto
26. Ty Dillon
27. Ryan Preece
28. David Ragan
29. Michael McDowell
30. Corey Lajoie

Twitter- @JeffNathans18

2019 Fantasy Nascar Update (Texas)

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Fantasy Nascar Update-

1. Kyle Busch- Busch is starting further in the field than usual, but I think he will be strong and ultimately sweep the weekend at Texas. At end of final practice, Jeff Gordon noted that Kyle Busch was one of the strongest drivers in the final 20 minutes. He has been impressive on the intermediate tracks in 2019. If he can reach the front without any indecents, I think he will be back in victory. Kyle haven't finished worse than 6th in a cup race on the season! 

2. Brad Keselowski- Keselowski always shows up fast at Texas and this weekend haven't been any different. That #2 Ford looks fast and Keselowski has been a stud on the other two 1.5 mile tracks in 2019. He finished 1st at Atlanta and 2nd at Las Vegas. Through 6 races, the Penske cars has been the most impressive organization as a whole. These intermediate tracks are where they really separate themselves from the pack!

3. Joey Logano - Last week, I was very surprised that Logano was that far off at Martinsville. Nothing like what we showed on Friday and Saturday. But it is safe to say that he will rebound at a strong track. He is a former winner here and is very capable of winning. Like his teammates, I feel like he is at his best on the intermediate tracks. Logano won at Las Vegas and should had won at Atlanta. That #22 car should have a big say in who wins the race at Texas!

4. Kevin Harvick - Harvick has been fast this season on this type of track, even though he haven't scored a top 3 finish, yet. He will start outside of the top 20, but I feel really good about the #4 car this weekend. In final practice, he was fast as expected. Texas has been a great track for him over the past few seasons. Even before that, going back to the "old Texas". He was great then, too. Honestly, I kinda felt like Harvick has been a little overlooked this weekend. Dont be a fool, he will at the very least be a top 5 contender!

5. Denny Hamlin - Hamlin has displayed some really good speed out of his #11 car, so far this weekend. Honestly, he has impressed here early in 2019. In recent seasons, he has been known as a slow starter. Before, he would get hot in the warmer month. In a sense, he was turning into the new Tony Stewart. In 2019, he kinda has broken that trend. In 6 races, he has posted 5 top 7 finishes and no finishes worse than 11th! Texas can be hit or miss, but I dont see him outside of the top 10. If I had to guess, he will probably finish between 4th and 8th.

6. Ryan Blaney - Blaney is on a 3-race top 5 streak over his last three races. Prior to that, he showed a lot of speed at both Atlanta and Vegas. However, he had issues at both races and finished mid-pack. There has been no secret how much I am loving these Penske Fords. Why shy away now? Especially when Blaney is on fire and going to a great track. Over his last four races here, he has posted 3 top 10 finishes with impressive 112.1 driver rating. For Blaney, that's strong. His consistency usually prevents him from posting numbers like that. It says a lot on how good he has been!

7. Kyle Larson - Larson isnt having a bad season, at least not as bad as everyone makes it. Yet, everyone giving Kurt Busch all this praise? In reality, Larson and Busch been relatively close in performance. Larson just haven't got the finishes that he should had. This weekend, the #42 car is fast. He qualified a lot worse than he should had. He looked strong in final practice. Jeff Gordon thought so, too. He said Larson and Kyle Busch were the two strongest drivers in the final 20 minutes. Need more convincing? He was ranked 3rd in both the best 15 and 20 lap averages.

8. Jimmie Johnson - I am not a big believer in Jimmie Johnson, yet. Sure, he has been the fastest car in practice. But can he back it up? I have a lot of doubts about that. HMS has lacked speed on this type of track throughout 2019, so I am not buying the hype with him. Could they had learned things out west? Absolutely! I am just having hard time believing it was enough to go from a 20th place guy to race-winning. It kinda reminds me of the weekend that Austin Dillon had at Las Vegas. Strong in practice/qualifying, then quietly fell back! Of course, his pit road penalty kinda sealed his fate, though.

9. Kurt Busch - On pure speed, he should be higher. I would say at least a couple spots. Him and his teammate could both be a couple spots higher. But i will give them a little room for error, though. Kurt will start from 30th, but I think he is easily a top 10 driver with upside! He is awesome here at Texas and been really solid over the past few seasons here. The #1 car also haven't finished outside of the top 10 in 2019, minus Daytona and Martinsville!

10. Aric Almirola - This final spot in my ranking came down to Aric Almirola and Martin Truex Jr. I really liked what I saw out of the #10 car in practice. He also has been so damn consistent on these intermediate tracks, too. He was good on the lap average charts as well. He was 5th on the best-15 lap average. He's a good bet to finish in the top 10! As for Truex Jr, I just haven't been on the bandwagon. He has been strong at times in 2019, but overall I just cannot talk myself into him.

Just missed-

Martin Truex Jr

Erik Jones

Chase Elliott

Austin Dillon

Clint Bowyer

****All stats from DriverAverages.com

Twitter- @JeffNathans18 

2019 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Mville)

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Final Rankings-

1. Kyle Busch
2. Joey Logano
3. Martin Truex Jr
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Denny Hamlin
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Chase Elliott
8. Aric Almirola
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Kyle Larson
11. Ryan Blaney
12. Jimmie Johnson
13. Kurt Busch
14. Erik Jones
15. Alex Bowman
16. Ryan Newman
17. Daniel Suarez
18. William Byron
19 Chris Buescher
20. Austin Dillon
21. Paul Menard
22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
23. Matt Dibenedetto
24. Ryan Preece
25. Ty Dillon
26. Michael McDowell
27. Daniel Hermic
28. David Ragan
29. Darrell Wallace Jr
30. Corey Lajoie

Twitter - @MattAleza

2019 Fantasy Nascar DGG Picks (Mville)

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Fantasy Nascar DGG Picks -

A:

Start - Joey Logano

Bench - Chase Elliott

Reasons - A is deep this week. There's five really good choices in this grouping tier. Keselowski, Truex Jr, Logano, Elliott and Busch. So there's plenty of options out there, but personally I am going with the pole sitter and the most recent winner there, Joey Logano!

B:

Start -  Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson

Bench - Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer

Reasons - A lot of great choices here, too. Hamlin is obviously one of the best choices in the field at Martinsville! His two teammates also are really strong this weekend, if you need some extra convincing! I know many of you are gun shy of Johnson and so am I! But we gotta use some starts with him at some point. I will give him a go at one of his best tracks. Bowyer would be a great option, if you didn't want to roll the dice with Johnson. Aric Almirola is also a very fine choice.

C:

Start - Ryan Preece

Bench - David Ragan

Reasons - I am on the Preece bandwagon this week. He has short track's roots and not looking too bad here at Martinsville. I haven't used a start with him yet, but I will at the paperclip. The only drivers I would use over him are the 37 or maybe 95. There's a lot to love about Ryan Preece!

Dark Horse - Aric Almirola

Winner - Kyle Busch

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Update (Mville)

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Fantasy Nascar Update -

1. Kyle Busch- Busch is starting deeper in the field than many expected, but he's the hottest driver in the series. Rowdy keep racking up the top 5 finishes (top 6 every race this season) and has two straight wins. More bad news for the competition, he has finished top 5 in his last 7 races here. In final practice, the #18 car looked like the one of the drivers to beat. He was 3rd on the best-20 lap average!

2. Martin Truex Jr - Truex Jr has been really knocking on the door of late and Martinsville could be a great place to do it! Last fall's race, he was in a position until he got into an incident with Logano. That happened on the final lap and he ended up 3rd. On Saturday, he looked like the guy to beat on the long run. He topped the best-20 and best-30 lap averages. More laps that he ran, it seemed like that #19 car just got better and better!

3. Joey Logano - Joey won at this track in the playoffs last season and will start from the pole (given he passes inspection) this weekend! I had said this a lot this season, but I love these Penske Fords. I won't lie, I don't think that they are as good as in recent weeks. I would imagine that at least 1 or 2 finishes in the top 5, but the question is where. Of the three, I give edge to Logano. It's difficult to overlook how much momentum this #22 team has! Through 5 races in 2019, he has 3 top 4 finishes and he should had won at Atlanta, too. He finished 2nd last week and won at ISM!

4. Kevin Harvick - I don't know, I still not feeling the #4 team this season. He's still one of the best in the series, but he has that meh feeling to him, though. I should say "meh" compared to recent seasons. By now, he usually has at least one win and multiple top 3 finishes. Through 5 races, he has no top 3 finishes. He has 2 top 4 finishes in his last 3 races, though. I guess, I am being a hater of some sort. A lot of drivers would love his finishes. He's top 5 guy again this weekend!

5. Brad Keselowski - Keselowski always show up here to Martinsville! In 5 of his last 6 races here, he has finished 5th or better. His lone non-top 5 finish? 10th place. So overall, he has 6 straight top 10 finishes at this track. Brad is having a great season and Penske is running great. Every week one (at least) of these Penske cars are up there battling for the win. I really like the #2 car this weekend. I am not sure if I love him, but I think we will find out more in the race about that!

6. Denny Hamlin - Hamlin has always been stout at Martinsville in his career. The #11 car has been really smooth this weekend and he has been surprisingly pretty consistent in 2019. He will start from the 5th starting position (pending inspection) and should at the very least contend for a top 10 finish. When I say top 10, I mean closer to the top 5. His car is really good, so I would say that he will have a great shot at a top 5. Through 5 races in 2019, he has 6.8 average finish with 4 top 10 finishes. In all five races, he has finished in the top 11!

7. Chase Elliott- I have had a really good feeling about the #9 car all week. I dont say that often, so you know I mean it. I probably like Elliott more than most do. I personally think this will be one of his better races of the season. The HMS haven't been good enough so far this season, but this might be one of the places for them to be solid. I am not expecting any wins, but Elliott gotta be top 10 here or something is really wrong. Dont forget, he was impressive here in 2017 during both races. He wasn't bad in last fall's race, either.

8. Aric Almirola - Aric was looking great in second half of 2018 and has kept that momentum going in 2019. Aric is off to a very strong start in 2019. No top 3 finishes, but boy is he getting closer. In his last 4 races this season, he has 4 top 9 finishes. His best race of the season was at ISM. He led 42 laps on his way to a season-high finish of 4th. He always been a big fan of places like Martinsville and Bristol. Couple years ago, I remember reading quotes he loves both of those tracks. That's something that stick with you!

9. Kyle Larson- Larson never been great here at Martinsville. He always seem to be good to average at this track. This weekend, he has probably shown more promise than I expected. I still believe he will finish worse than he will start (assuming he passes inspection). Larson, in my opinion, is only a driver with potential to finish in latter part of the top 10. I am personally just not very high on him!

10. Clint Bowyer - Bowyer is off to a pretty disappointing start to the 2019 season. In 4 of 5 races, he has finished 11th or worse. So far his finishes are: 20th, 5th, 11th, 14th and 33rd. Not horrible, but you expect more out of him. A lot more, in my opinion. Martinsville is a great track for him. He has always ran well here and should again in Sunday's race. I have high hopes for him, but personally I rather stay away from him as a fantasy pick. I want to see more consistency in the top 10 from him. There's safer options out there!

Just missed-

Ryan Blaney

Jimmie Johnson

Erik Jones

Ryan Newman

Kurt Busch

****All stats from DriverAverages.com

Twitter- @Jeffnathans18

2019 Fantasy Nascar DDG Picks (Auto Club)

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DDG Picks -

A:

Starter - Joey Logano

Bench - Kyle Larson

Reasons - The Penske Fords are fast this weekend and I think at least two of them end up in the top 5 when the checker waves. I love Larson on this type of track, but personally I think Logano will have a better day than Larson. I would put the likes of Keselowski and Kyle Busch up there with Logano in this grouping tier.

B:

Starter - Austin Dillon and Aric Almirola

Bench - Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch

Reasons - Dillon has been on my radar this week because of his past success at Auto Club and how fast these RCR cars has been. I could easily use Busch or Bowyer, both probably have more upside and safer. However, I am gonna need to rest the big guns at some point. Dillon at Auto Club is good place as any, imo. In 5 career starts, he has 3 top 11 finishes. It would be 4 top 11 finishes, if a pit gun didn't break on the final stop in 2016. Who should I pair him with? That's easy, Aric Almirola! I love Ryan Blaney this weekend, too. Denny Hamlin will be good, as well.

C:

Starter - Daniel Hemric

Bench - Chris Buescher

Reasons - Hemric has looked good this weekend and he was my guy all week long to start. He will start inside the top 20 and has a pretty good chance of finishing there, too. Buescher is probably safer pick to go with, but I have used Buescher twice this season and he will be the top option the whole season. This is as good as any week to use Hemric!

Dark Horse - Ryan Blaney

Winner - Joey Logano

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Sleepers & Dark Horses (Auto Club)

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We are at Auto Club Speedway this weekend. This place can be referred to as Fontona or Cali, as I call it sometimes. A few weeks ago, we saw the ''full package'' on display at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I know we are suppose to have a better ideal what to expect, but honestly I am still kinda blank from that race. I have a lot better idea who will probably be good, but as for the racing, I think there's still plenty of unknowns. Personally, I think we are gonna need 4 or 5 races of data on this type of track.

Sleepers -

Daniel Hemric - The RCR cars has shown a lot of speed overall this season so far and seem to be one of the team who has got the jump on this package. Hemric didn't qualify quite as well as his teammate did, but Hemric has displayed good speed all weekend long. He didn't make any super long runs in final practice, but he did post the best-ten lap average, though. The #8 car has shown speed all season in practice, but he haven't quite backed it up in the race. He was looking promising at Vegas and Atlanta, but only was able to muster finishes of 20th and 23rd. Those aren't bad finishes, but I think he could do better than that. In one of those races, I believe he had to make a late unscheduled pit stop.

Austin Dillon - There's a few reasons why Austin Dillon has been on my radar this week and one of them I mentioned up above. As I said with Hemric, the RCR cars has shown a lot of peed this season. Specifically two weeks ago, Austin Dillon was impressive in the speed department. But he was never the same, after that pit road penalty. He was fast again last weekend at ISM and should had finished top 10. He is showing good speed again this weekend and will start on the pole. Personally, I don't think anyone believe he will contend for the win. I don't either for the record. He may not even contend for a top 10. But his potential reminds me a lot of the 2016 event here. He was running well in the top 10 before the final pit stop, but then his pit gun broke on the final stop. He finished 24th. He has been very good here at Cali. In the last five races, he has posted 3 finishes of either 10th or 11th. If that pit gun didn't break in 2016, he would have 4 finishes in the top 11 in 5 career starts! 

Dark Horses - 

Ryan Blaney - Blaney should be a great dark horse pick this weekend! He has had a very strong showing so far and has a lot of speed in his #12 car again. I am not sure, if he's good as last weekend. But he's top 5 good on the speed charts, though. His two teammates are really strong, too. This has been the common theme through four races, where all three of the Penske cars has stoodout. My only concern about Blaney? He has a tendency of finding ways to not get the finish that he deserves. 

Aric Almirola - Almirola has never ran well here at Cali, but in 2018 he was very consistent on the 2-mile tracks. In fact, he swept the top 12 at both Cali and Michigan. As for this season, he has been having a strong season. As he has posted 3 straight top 8 finishes. Including two top 10 finishes on each of the first two intermediate tracks. This weekend, he will start from 3rd starting position and should at least contend for a top 10 finish. I honestly wouldn't be shocked, if he ended up in the top 5! Aric has been so smooth since middle of last season overall, I think he's due for another win very soon. 

Have a question or want to chat? 

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Update (Auto Club)

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Fantasy Nascar Update -

1. Kyle Busch - Say what you want about Kyle Busch, but he has been one of the most consistent, no matter what package we had used this season. He haven't dominated all of the races, but he has been pretty solid all season long. He has ran well here at Cali in the past, too. This weekend, he will start from inside the top 10 and will most likely contend for a top 5 finish, too. At end of the Vegas' race, he was very good. I probably had the best car, in my opinion! When was the last time that Kyle didn't have a top 3 or 5 car on an intermediate track at some point? Him and his team are just that damn good!

2. Brad Keselowski - The Penske cars all has been really fast all season long and that hasn't changed this weekend. The #2 car has stood out to me over the past couple days, though. Keselowski has looked very good and has been good here at Cali over past couple seasons. Prior to 2015, he had zero finishes better than 18th. Since the 2015 seasons (4 races), he has posted 3 top 4 finishes. However, he has only led 1 laps during that span. That one lap was an important one that resulted in a race in 2015. I love the speed in the #2 car and I love his consistency this season. If he get another top 5 finish at Cali, I wouldn't be shocked. In fact, I would actually be surprised!

3. Joey Logano - I have said this a lot this season, but I love these Penske Fords! They are fast and they keep knocking out great finish after great finish! The #22 car is looking great and should be a contender for a win. He was solid in both practices and he will start inside the top 5 on Sunday's afternoon. He won at Atlanta and finished at Vegas. This team has shown a lot of strength on these intermediate tracks this season. In 5 of his last 6 races at Auto Club, he has finished in the top 7. The lone race he didn't? 2014. You newer fans may not remember as much, but 2014 is referred to as the debacle race at Auto Club. There were a lot of tire blowouts in practice and in the race. Logano actually had to start the race in the back in that event because he blew a tire in practice! 

4. Kevin Harvick - I like Harvick this season so far, but I don't love him, though! He is still top 5 good, but he not quite the driver that we had seen over the past couple seasons. He led laps at both Vegas and Atlanta, but i don't know. I am personally not getting the same vibe from him as I do from other top drivers. Maybe that is just me? In final practice, he was 10th in the best-ten lap average. I don't believe he posted any 15 or 20 lap runs in practice, though. I am sure Harvick will be just fine on Sunday and most likely lead some laps in the race. I will say that Auto Club has been a unkind place to him recently. In 4 of his last 6 races here, he has finished 13th or worse. There obviously has been plenty of bad luck for him at this track in that span. But still, you get my point, though.

5. Kyle Larson - Kyle Larson is known as a 2-mile ace, but I haven't seen the speed out of the No.42 car like when he has gone to victory lane in the past! Overall, the No.42 team is still searching for speed for Larson this season. Sure, he showed dominance at Atlanta. However, he looked lost once he got back in dirty air. At Vegas, it hard to say how good that car really was. Last week? He was solid on the short runs, but that car started to fall off on the long runs. 6th place was probably best as he could had expected. As for this weekend, I think he will finish with a spot or two (either way) of this ranking! Kyle Larson will be good, but he will not go to victory lane, though. If I had to guess, I think he finishes between 4th and 7th!

6. Martin Truex Jr - Truex Jr will start deep in the field in today's race, but he's capable of making it to front of the field! Last season, he was stout here at Cali. He dominated this event and he eventually went to victory lane. On the best-ten lap average in final practice, he was 9th on that chart. Aside from Daytona, Truex Jr has quietly has had a pretty solid season. He has finishes of 2nd (Atlanta), 8th (Vegas) and 2nd (ISM) in his last three races this season. He will start further back than any of those races, but I feel like Truex Jr can at least contend for a top 10 today.

7. Aric Almirola - There's a lot to like about Aric this season and this weekend. He was strong a couple weeks ago at Vegas and he's showing plenty of speed this weekend. Overall, this 10 team keep unloading fast cars and keep piling up the good finishes. On this type of track in general, he has finished in the top 10 in his last five races! This weekend, he will start from 3rd and been hovering around the top in the speed department.

8. Ryan Blaney - Blaney has two top 10 finishes in his last two races at Auto Club, but of the three Penske cars I have the least amount of faith in him. That's no hate on Blaney, but he has proven to be the most inconsistent driver of the three. Much like last weekend, I am ranking him lower than he should be because of his inconsistency. If he can put together a few full-race (like last weekend) and retain that speed, then he will be closer to the top 5 in my rankings. On pure speed, he's easily a top 5 driver. He was 2nd-fastest on the best-ten lap average, 2nd-fastest on best-15 lap average and 3rd-fastest on the best-20 lap average. The #12 car could be tough to beat on the long run, if this practice end up meaning anything. 

9. Kurt Busch - Busch is off to a great start this season with his new team and Auto Club is one of his best track. He didn't quite qualify as I would had expected (or wanted) him to, but I think he will be just fine. He will be able to drive up to the top 10. That's the big difference in the #1 car in 2019 compared to in recent years. In recent seasons, if the #1 car started deeper in the field, then it was a wrap. We already knew that he wouldn't probably contend for anything beyond a top 14 or top 15 finish. However, with Kurt behind the wheel, we know he can drive up into the top 10. He's that much better than Jamie was. He has shown us that already and there's no reason to expect anything else this weekend.

10. Denny Hamlin - Hamlin was great last weekend at ISM and scored a top 5 finish. I wasn't really shocked, even though he really wasn't quite that good for the whole race. Still, it was a very strong race for that raceteam. I don't think he has that kind of upside this weekend, though. The #11 team is not showing anything more than being a top 10 driver this weekend and that's nothing to be shame of. I think he will finish somewhere 7th and 10th on Sunday. He will be a solid fantasy pick, but I just don't get the feeling that he can get into that next tier of drivers!

Just missed -

Erik Jones

Austin Dillon

Clint Bowyer

Chase Elliott

Jimmie Johnson

***All stats are from DriverAverage.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2019 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Auto Club)

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Final Rankings -

1. Kyle Busch
2. Joey Logano
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Kyle Larson
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Martin Truex Jr
7. Kurt Busch
8. Aric Almirola
9. Denny Hamlin
10. Ryan Blaney
11. Clint Bowyer
12. Chase Elliott
13. Jimmie Johnson
14. Austin Dillon
15. Erik Jones
16. Ryan Newman
17. Daniel Suarez
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
19. Alex Bowman
20. William Byron
21. Chris Buescher
22. Paul Menard
23. Daniel Hermic
24. Matt DiBenedetto
25. Ty Dillon
26. Michael McDowell
27. Ryan Preece
28. Darrell Wallace Jr
29. David Ragan
30. Corey LaJoie

Twitter - @MattAleza
 

2019 Fantasy Nascar Early Rankings (Auto Club)

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Early Rankings -

1. Kyle Busch
2. Kyle Larson
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Martin Truex Jr
6. Joey Logano
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Kurt Busch
9. Chase Elliott
10. Aric Almirola
11. Erik Jones
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Austin Dillon
15. Jimmie Johnson
16. Ryan Newman
17. Alex Bowman
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
19. William Byron
20. Daniel Suarez
21. Paul Menard
22. Chris Buescher
23. Daniel Hemric
24. Darrell Wallace Jr
25. Matt DiBenedetto
26. Ty Dillon
27. Ryan Preece
28. Michael McDowell
29. David Ragan
30. Corey LaJoie

Twitter - @MattAleza

2019 Fantasy Nascar RaceDay Thoughts (ISM)

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RaceDay Thoughts -

Jeff Nathans (@JeffNathans18):

- Track position will be key as usual here

- Harvick and Rowdy are the two drivers to beat

- I like the HMS cars more than I have in the first three races

- Penske has a lot of speed this weekend

Garry Briggs (@Garryy12):

- Kyle Larson is someone to watch out for. He has a really good car and could be a factor, if he get to the front

- Penske looking very good and Blaney has the best car of the bunch

- Aric needs more attention than he's getting. He is coming off back-to-back top 10 finishes and good enough to challenge for a third straight top 10 finish

- I am not high on Kurt Busch. I don't think he make it three straight top 5 finishes

DDG lineups -

Jeff's lineup - 4,12,10,8

Garry's lineup - 18,12,11,13

Dark Horse -

Jeff's pick - Blaney

Garry's pick - Elliott

Winner -

Jeff's pick - Kyle Busch

Garry's pick - Kyle Busch

2019 Fantasy Nascar Picks (ISM)

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Fantasy Nascar Picks -

DDG:

A -

Starter - Kyle Busch

Bench - Kevin Harvick

Reasons - This is a very close call between Harvick and Busch, it's almost impossible to make the correct call. With that said, I don't believe there's a bad call, either. Both are these drivers are the top 2 in almost everybody's rankings (or should be), heading into the race. I am personally giving the edge to Kyle because he has slightly better numbers over the last few seasons here. Also, I believe a lot more people will pick Harvick than Busch. I am taking that value and running with it!

B:

Starters - Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney

Bench - Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch

Reasons - I believe the top two drivers in B this week are Hamlin and Blaney. After that, I think it is close between the likes of Almirola, Kurt Busch, Bowyer and Jones. So there's certainly no lack of options in this grouping tier this weekend. There are plenty of drivers to choose from!

C:

Start - Ty Dillon

Bench - Chris Buescher

Reasons - I believe Buescher will be the highest finishing C-list driver, with Hemric being the 2nd-highest finishing driver. After that, I don't know exactly. With that said, I am using this week as a week to get a good start-save from Ty Dillon. The #13 car always seem to run well here at ISM and he has been good this weekend. Qualified 20th and could finish top 25, in my personal opinion!

Dark Horse - Chase Elliott

Winner - Kyle Busch

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Sleepers & Dark Horses (ISM)

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Sleepers -

Austin Dillon - Something I think many people learned the hard way last week that practice speed doesn't always translate into raceday speed. Now, I am not saying Dillon didn't have a fast car. He certainly did and that pit road penalty definitely didn't do him any favors! He did get back on the lead lap eventually, but he was never the same honestly. This weekend, he is once again showing some speed out his #3 car and will start from inside the top 15. Obviously, he is not showing the same amount that he did at Vegas. I usually approach Dillon with a lot of caution, but he is certainly someone to watch out for in the race! In 7 of his last 8 races at ISM, he has finished inside the top 20 and has finished a career-best 8th in last fall's race!

William Byron - Byron could be a very sneaky fantasy play in today's race! There were several drivers who I could choose to breakdown. Such as Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ryan Newman or Paul Menard, etc. But William is truly the most appealing out of that group, though. Byron ran very well here at ISM in 2018. He had a pair of top 12 finishes in his rookie season at this track. On the shorter flats in 2018, he posted 4 top 15 finishes in 5 races. In his other finish was 20th in Richmond's fall race. For this weekend, he's looking decent. He qualified 7th and has shown good enough speed that he might score another top 15 finish. I honestly kinda expecting him to finish in the top 15 in today's race!

Other Options - Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ryan Newman and Paul Menard 

Dark Horses -

Chase Elliott - Elliott isn't getting enough attention this weekend as a legit fantasy option and I really like him overall. He has a really good record here! In 6 career races, he has posted 5 finishes inside the top 12. In last fall's race, he finished 3 laps down and finished 23rd. He was strong in that event, prior to getting in a wreck. Even with finishing 3 laps down, he still managed to post a driver rating of 100.4. Usually, if you can still post a driver rating like that, then it says a lot about your performance. This weekend, he will start from the 2nd position and should at least contend for a top 10 finish! A top 5 certainly isn't out of the question, either.

Denny Hamlin - I actually like Denny Hamlin more than usual at ISM. He has ran well here recently, he just haven't gotten the finishes to back it up! In 5 of his last 7 races, he has finished inside the top 10. In November 2017, he had the car to beat and led 193 laps. In 2018, he had finishes of 4th and 13th. He wasn't great in last season's race at ISM, but he slightly better than that 13th place finish. I think he would had performed better, if he was still in championship contention. On Saturday, he was good. He showed some decent long run speed in the final practice session. He was 5th on the best-20 lap average chart. I would assume not a lot of drivers went 20 straight laps in a race, though. He will start from the 3rd starting position. I have him finishing somewhere between 4th and 8th.

Other options - Aric Almirola, Erik Jones and Clint Bowyer

***All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Have a question or want to chat?

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Twitter - @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (ISM)

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Final Rankings -

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Kyle Busch
3. Joey Logano
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Ryan Blaney
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Chase Elliott
8. Kyle Larson
9. Aric Almirola
10. Martin Truex Jr
11. Clint Bowyer
12. Erik Jones
13. Jimmie Johnson
14. Kurt Busch
15. Ryan Newman
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
17. Daniel Suarez
18. Austin Dillon
19. Alex Bowman
20. Chris Buescher
21. William Byron
22. Paul Menard
23. Daniel Hemric
24. Matt DiBenedetto
25. Darrell Wallace Jr
26. Ty Dillon
27. Ryan Preece
28. David Ragan
29. Michael McDowell
30. Corey LaJoie

Twitter - @MattAleza

2019 Fantasy Nascar Update (ISM)

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Fantasy Nascar Update -

1. Kevin Harvick - I don't think Harvick has a dominating car, like we had seen in the past. However, he's one of the best drivers in the series at this place. He's in the top 2 for sure! Does he has the best car this weekend? It's close, I would say. I say he has a top 3 car for sure. Last season, he was one of two drivers to compile an average finish better than 3.0 on shorter flats tracks. Kyle Busch was the other driver, for anyone who was wondering. There's nothing I can say that you don't already know. He has been near top of the speed charts in every practice and will most likely finish somewhere among top 2 or 3!

2. Kyle Busch - Rowdy should be one of the heavy favorites to win. He won here in last fall's race, the most important race to look back on, if you are looking at recent data. Over the last few seasons, there has been no driver better at this track than Kyle Busch! He was stupid good in 2018 on the shorter flats. He had the best average finish in the series and posted three wins. This weekend, he's looking really strong once again. That #18 car has a lot of speed in it and Kyle is easily one of the most consistent drivers in the series. I think he will lead plenty of laps and he may give the lead up easily, either!

3. Brad Keselowski - Keselowski has been running very well out of the gate in 2019, where he has finishes of 12th, 1st and 2nd. It's rough to beat those kind of results. The Penske cars are looking pretty good once again this weekend. And it does not hurt that Keselowski has ran very well here at ISM in the past. I am little surprised that Brad haven't won here yet in the Cup series. He was 5th on the best-ten lap average chart in final practice on Saturday's afternoon. He has the car to go to victory lane and maybe nobody has more momentum than him, either. Yes, maybe even more than his Penske's teammate, Joey Logano!

4. Joey Logano - I really like Logano this weekend and I really liked what I seen from these Penske Fords this season and this weekend. They had been near top of the speed charts in whatever we look at. Joey has another great car this weekend and topped final practice's best ten-lap average. With about 6 minutes left, the guys on Fox said the top 5 for the best-20 lap averages. Joey was 4th on that list. He was behind Harvick, Kyle Busch and Blaney. For me, it is always hard for me to pick against a guy coming off a win. Between him and his teammate, it is hard to say who has more momentum overall. Both guys has finished in the top 2 twice this season already. We are just three races into the 2019 season!

5. Denny Hamlin - I always been a big fan of the JGR cars on the shorter flats and I think Hamlin will be very good in the race this weekend. He has had some solid speed in his car. He has been good in every practice session and qualified inside the top 5. He may drop a few spots behind this ranking, but I would not be shocked if he sneaked out of the state of Arizona with a top  finish! He wasn't quite as good as his teammate of Kyle Busch, but I wasn't expecting him to, though. Something I really like about him lately at ISM? He has put together some really impressive performances, despite having two finishes outside of the top 10 in his last three races. Over his last three races at ISM, he has compiled an average driver rating of 109.5. Of course that 2017 race really shoots that average up. But still, he has been really solid. I like him a lot this weekend! He had the 5th-best 20 lap average with about 6 minutes left in final practice.

6. Chase Elliott - I don't know if Elliott will challenge for the win this weekend at ISM, but I think he will mix it up at latter part of the top 5/top-end of the top 10 for most of the race. He has had some good top 10 speed. Overall the HMS cars has shown good speed all weekend, but none of are exactly on the Fords/JGR's level, though. Elliott has been good here in the past, too. Which makes me believe he will back up his practice more than his teammates will. In 6 career races, he has finished in the top 10 in 66% of his career races! He has been awesome here the last few seasons. Including a pair of top 3 finishes in his last three here. He finished 23rd in last fall's race, after getting involved in a wreck. He was very strong in that race, before finding those issues.

7. Martin Truex Jr - I am not really super high on the #19 team this weekend. Truex Jr haven't been horrible, but he haven't exactly been that good, either, though. He's probably top 10 good for the race, but I think that will be it. Personally, it is just not him lacking speed this weekend, though. Over his last 10 races, he has finished outside of the top 10 in 7 of those 10 races. I don't know, I just don't have a good feeling about him here at ISM. Should it be shocking? Truex Jr is more commonly known as a 1.5 mile guy than on a shorter flat like ISM!

8. Ryan Blaney - Blaney has shown a lot of speed this weekend and I love the Penske cars. This has nothing to do with the speed in the #12 car. If we were basing it just off speed, I would have him somewhere between 3rd and 6th most likely. But it isn't just based on speed, though. Over the last two seasons here, he haven't finished better than 16th. Despite starting in the top 12 in all four of those races, too. As for this season, he haven't finished better than 22nd in three races. Those things could easily change, but it will drop him a couple spots in my rankings. Again, I really love the Penske cars this weekend.

9. Kyle Larson - Larson is starting in the back, so he will have his work cut out for him on Sunday's afternoon. I think he will have enough speed to make it to the front. The #42 car is good enough to challenge for a top 10 finish on his own. If he can get track position, I think he can get a top 5 finish, too. I wouldn't say that this is Larson's best type of track, though. I am not really concern about that, I am more worried about him on pit road. If Larson's team can go flawless on pit road, he's talent enough to be a lot better than this 9th place ranking!

10. Aric Almirola - There were several drivers up for consideration in my final spot in my rankings. It was between Aric Almirola, Erik Jones and Kurt Busch. I am giving Aric the edge among the three drivers. I gave him the edge, simply because he has ran really well here lately and shown good speed throughout the weekend. In final practice, he had the third-best 10 lap average and had the 5th-best fastest lap overall. He will start from 14th and he has quietly been having a very good season so far in 2019! He finished 8th at Atlanta and 7th at Vegas. Can he keep the trend going up? I wouldn't be shocked, if he did!

Just missed -

Erik Jones

Kurt Busch

Clint Bowyer

Jimmie Johnson

****All stats are from DriverAverages.com


Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2019 Fantasy Nascar Picks (Vegas)

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Fantasy Nascar Picks -

DDG:

A -

Start - Kyle Larson

Bench - Martin Truex Jr

Reasons - I originally didn't have Larson in my lineup, but I put him at the last minute. His numbers of late here are stupid good. He has finishes of 2nd, 3rd and 2nd over his last three races here. Another thing to love is how the 42 car has ran on the 1.5 mile track of late, there's a lot of things to love about him. I like Truex Jr, too. But I don't think he will be as good as last week, though. I also love the Penske cars this weekend!

B -

Start - Ryan Blaney and Ryan Newman

Bench - Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola

Reasons -This grouping tier is tough because none of them are starting well. Three of them are starting 25th or worse. Not exactly as I expected things to go. Blaney was basically a lock heading into the week and that hasn't changed. I don't want to use Aric here, as I feel like he will be better at other tracks. Kurt could be a very solid option, but his numbers of late hasn't exactly set the world on fire. Like Aric, I think there's better places for Kurt. So why not go with a guy like Newman? 7 Top 13 finises over his last 9 races and usually good for a top 15 finish most weekends

C:

Start - Matt DiBenedetto

Bench - Ryan Preece

Reasons - I regret leaving Daniel Hemric off my team this week, as he looked fast in practice on both Friday and Saturday. I don't think Hemric will back up the speed in the race though. As for my picks, I will be using Matt DiBenedetto as my starter. He's probably the third best driver in this grouping tier overall. Behind drivers like Buescher and Hemric. With that said, I don't think the difference between DiBenedetto and Preece is significant! 

Dark Horse - Ryan Blaney

Winner - Kyle Busch

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Sleepers & Dark Horses (Vegas)

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A few years ago, I would stay up to 2 or 3 in the morning and working my fantasy nascar articles. So far this season, I been going to sleep at 7 or 8 at night and waking up at 4 in the morning to work on them! Not gonna lie, I am not looking forward this race at Las Vegas. Mainly because there's so many unknowns with this new package. And after qualifying, I am over here scratching my head! As for practice, I am not really taking what we seen seriously as what we should expect in the actual race. If you think you know what to expect, then you are simply lying to yourself!

Sleepers -

Ryan Newman - Newman qualified way back in the 29th position, because of that screwball qualifying session on Friday! He's much better than that, if it wasn't already obvious. In 2018, he had a pair of top 11 finishes. In his last 9 races (since 2011), he has posted 7 finishes of 13th or better. As I mentioned, he will start from the 29th position. In his last 4 races (not including today's race), he has started 21st or worse. In those 4 races, he has finished 13th or better in 3 of those races. Newman just consistency get the job done and that is the really the only that truly matters!

Chris Buescher - Buscher is one of the more underrated drivers in the field, in my personal opinion! He doesn't run up front, but he usually runs better than most people think he does, though. Most weekends, he is just inside the top 20 or just outside of that. More times than not, he will outrun drivers in similar equipment. At Las Vegas, he has been above average over the last few seasons. In his last three races (from most recent): 15th, 15th and 23rd. I don't personally think he will make three straight top 15 finishes here, but I do believe he will finish inside the top 20. He's good enough to finish between 17th-21st!

Dark Horse -

Ryan Blaney - Blaney will start from the 13th position in today's race, but I think he's much better than that. He's a legit top 10 driver in the race. I had always considered Vegas as Ryan's best intermediate track and maybe his best track overall, too! In his last four races here, he has not finished worse than 7th in a race. In 2018, he had a pair of 5th place finishes at Vegas! This weekend, he has liked his car overall. The #12 seems pretty happy with how the car did on Saturday. I liked their comments and even the guys in the booth had some positive things to say about the #12 car.

****All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Vegas)

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Final Rankings-

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Martin Truex Jr
4. Kyle Busch
5. Kyle Larson
6. Joey Logano
7. Kurt Busch
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Ryan Blaney
10. Clint Bowyer
11. Erik Jones
12. Chase Elliott
13. Austin Dillon
14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
15. Aric Almirola
16. Ryan Newman
17. Jimmie Johnson
18. Alex Bowman
19. William Byron
20. Daniel Suarez 
21. Paul Menard
22. Daniel Hemric
23. Chris Buescher
24. Matt DiBenedetto
25. David Ragan
26. Ryan Preece
27. Michael McDowell
28. Darrell Wallace Jr
29. Ty Dillon
30. Corey Lajoie

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12