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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
