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I gotta say that was an interesting race at Pcoono on Saturday afternoon and guess what? We are back for the second race of the weekend later today! I think the great thing about this second race is that we have a more idea what to expect heading into the race. Obviously, we can't expect everything to be true about Saturday to be true on Sunday! With that said, I think we will have a better idea on who could be strong and who may not be. Below I have 3 drivers who I like for today's race and 3 drivers who I don't like for today's race! I hope this is hopeful for setting your lineups! I am leaving the favorites out of this, though. Guys like Harvick, Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, Logano, Hamlin, etc.
Drivers I like -
Aric Almirola - I had him as one of my sleepers for yesterday's race because I thought he could finish at latter part of the top 10, but he blew my expecations out of the water! I didn't think he could stay up front, let alone lead over 65 laps on his way to a 3rd place finish. He was really strong on Saturday's afternoon and has 3 straight top 5 finishes. It also marks 4 top 12 finishes in his last 5 races at Pocono. He has plenty of momentum and might be one of the better picks for today's race. My old saying is, ''use them while they are hot'' and Almirola is on fire!
Matt DiBenedetto - Watching Saturday's race and I was thinking to myself, ''man I wish I would had plugged the 21 car into my lineup.'' He ended up 13th place, but he spent some time up in the top 10 for the race. Matt D was on my radar before Saturday's race and he is on my radar entering Sunday's race even more so. In 2020, he has a clear finish range and that would be between 9th-15th place. He has finished 8 of the 14 races between 9th and 15th. If we exclude the two superspeedway races, he has finished between 9th and 15 in 66% of the races in 2020. He will not win you your league, but he is probably one of the more safer picks here in 2020 so far. At least as mid-tier fantasy pick. He is what Paul Menard was there for a while in the mid-2010s. Not flashy, but just consistent in the teens.
William Byron - I mentioned William Byron in my sleepers & dark horse post on Saturday's morning and he performed decently in the first Pocono's race. It wasn't anything special, but I thought he could had did better. His top 10 streak here at Pocono came to an end, but I think he will have a shot to finish better in today's race. I am still fairly high on him overall. I think he will finish somewhere 8th and 14th in the second race.
Drivers I don't like -
Kurt Busch - I wasn't super high on Kurt Busch entering Saturday's race and he didn't do much to make me change my mind too much. He is a former 3-time winner at this track, but his last win came in the 2016 season. In 8 races since that win, he has only once topped a 92.0 driver rating. In 5 of his last 6 races, he has failed to reach a driver rating of 80.0 or better. Obviously a lot happens during a race to impact a driver, but typically elite performer at Pocono will find ways to finish near the front at some point, right? In his last 8 races, he has just one finish better than 9th and that was a 4th back in 2016. The numbers aren't on Kurt side to finish better than 9th in today's race, folks. Could he? Sure, but I see plenty of other chances to use Kurt.
Erik Jones - Erik Jones could had a strong run on Saturday (I think he would had), but came to a halt after he checked up for Kurt Busch. Within matter of seconds, Tyler Reddick plowed in him causing him to crash into the wall. I don't blame anyone for that incident. But that has been the theme of Jones' 2020 season. He can't seem to shake the bad luck and that's the biggest reason that I am avoiding him in the second Pocono's race. He's great here, but he has been to inconsistent to trust at this point. Remember: Inconsistency kills fantasy value. I will take a consistent top 15 driver over a inconsistency top 10 upside driver. Until Jones can put together a string of runs, I think it is time to put him on the self for awhile.
Jimmie Johnson - Johnson wasn't very impressive to me on Saturday and I don't believe that he will be a great fantasy option in today's race, either. He finished 21st and was never even a top 15 contender. He was always somewhere in the middle teens at best and often worse than that. And recent history says you shouldn't a top 10 run out of him suddenly. In his last 9 races, only once has finished in the top 10 and that was in June 2018. In his 4 races since that race? Every single finish has been between 15th and 21st. He will have a chance some top 10 finishes in 2020 season, but numbers say it won't at Pocono!
***All stats are from DriverAverages.com
Email - Garrybriggs265@gmail.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
I gotta say that was an interesting race at Pcoono on Saturday afternoon and guess what? We are back for the second race of the weekend later today! I think the great thing about this second race is that we have a more idea what to expect heading into the race. Obviously, we can't expect everything to be true about Saturday to be true on Sunday! With that said, I think we will have a better idea on who could be strong and who may not be. Below I have 3 drivers who I like for today's race and 3 drivers who I don't like for today's race! I hope this is hopeful for setting your lineups! I am leaving the favorites out of this, though. Guys like Harvick, Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, Logano, Hamlin, etc.
Drivers I like -
Aric Almirola - I had him as one of my sleepers for yesterday's race because I thought he could finish at latter part of the top 10, but he blew my expecations out of the water! I didn't think he could stay up front, let alone lead over 65 laps on his way to a 3rd place finish. He was really strong on Saturday's afternoon and has 3 straight top 5 finishes. It also marks 4 top 12 finishes in his last 5 races at Pocono. He has plenty of momentum and might be one of the better picks for today's race. My old saying is, ''use them while they are hot'' and Almirola is on fire!
Matt DiBenedetto - Watching Saturday's race and I was thinking to myself, ''man I wish I would had plugged the 21 car into my lineup.'' He ended up 13th place, but he spent some time up in the top 10 for the race. Matt D was on my radar before Saturday's race and he is on my radar entering Sunday's race even more so. In 2020, he has a clear finish range and that would be between 9th-15th place. He has finished 8 of the 14 races between 9th and 15th. If we exclude the two superspeedway races, he has finished between 9th and 15 in 66% of the races in 2020. He will not win you your league, but he is probably one of the more safer picks here in 2020 so far. At least as mid-tier fantasy pick. He is what Paul Menard was there for a while in the mid-2010s. Not flashy, but just consistent in the teens.
William Byron - I mentioned William Byron in my sleepers & dark horse post on Saturday's morning and he performed decently in the first Pocono's race. It wasn't anything special, but I thought he could had did better. His top 10 streak here at Pocono came to an end, but I think he will have a shot to finish better in today's race. I am still fairly high on him overall. I think he will finish somewhere 8th and 14th in the second race.
Drivers I don't like -
Kurt Busch - I wasn't super high on Kurt Busch entering Saturday's race and he didn't do much to make me change my mind too much. He is a former 3-time winner at this track, but his last win came in the 2016 season. In 8 races since that win, he has only once topped a 92.0 driver rating. In 5 of his last 6 races, he has failed to reach a driver rating of 80.0 or better. Obviously a lot happens during a race to impact a driver, but typically elite performer at Pocono will find ways to finish near the front at some point, right? In his last 8 races, he has just one finish better than 9th and that was a 4th back in 2016. The numbers aren't on Kurt side to finish better than 9th in today's race, folks. Could he? Sure, but I see plenty of other chances to use Kurt.
Erik Jones - Erik Jones could had a strong run on Saturday (I think he would had), but came to a halt after he checked up for Kurt Busch. Within matter of seconds, Tyler Reddick plowed in him causing him to crash into the wall. I don't blame anyone for that incident. But that has been the theme of Jones' 2020 season. He can't seem to shake the bad luck and that's the biggest reason that I am avoiding him in the second Pocono's race. He's great here, but he has been to inconsistent to trust at this point. Remember: Inconsistency kills fantasy value. I will take a consistent top 15 driver over a inconsistency top 10 upside driver. Until Jones can put together a string of runs, I think it is time to put him on the self for awhile.
Jimmie Johnson - Johnson wasn't very impressive to me on Saturday and I don't believe that he will be a great fantasy option in today's race, either. He finished 21st and was never even a top 15 contender. He was always somewhere in the middle teens at best and often worse than that. And recent history says you shouldn't a top 10 run out of him suddenly. In his last 9 races, only once has finished in the top 10 and that was in June 2018. In his 4 races since that race? Every single finish has been between 15th and 21st. He will have a chance some top 10 finishes in 2020 season, but numbers say it won't at Pocono!
***All stats are from DriverAverages.com
Email - Garrybriggs265@gmail.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
