Welcome to Timerssports
Sleepers -
Michael McDowell - McDowell was one of my sleepers in last week's articles and boy was it a HUGE one. He ended scoring his first career win at Daytona and comes to another strong kind of track for him. McDowell has been great on these road courses and that should be the case once again. In his last 8 road courses, he has produced 5 Top 20 finishes. In 5 of his last 7 races on road courses, he has finished between 10th and 18th. That is likely his range this weekend and that should make him a pretty good value. Especially since there aren't many races where we can say that he is almost a lock for a top 20.
William Byron - I have high hopes all 4 of the HMS cars and I think Elliott is the only one getting any credit. Byron is pretty underrated road course racer! He started off his career pretty rough, but he is currently on a 4-race top 10 streak on this type of track! All 4 top 10s has came in the past two seasons! If you are looking for an underrated driver on a top team, then you might want to seriously consider William Bryon! I love what he offers, but as usual he is a tough guy to trust. The numbers may look appealing, but he brings risk. I found out the hard way last season, but I think he can make it 5 in a row, though.
Dark Horses -
Alex Bowman - I love Bowman better than most this weekend and his road course numbers are the biggest reason why. Only 5 drivers have produced a better average finish over the last 8 road courses than Alex Bowman has! In fact, he has finished in the top 15 in 9 straight road courses races! You have go back to 2015 to find a road course race where he finished worse than that. In 2020, he had finishes of 8th and 12th. In the clash, he ended finishing 7th. If we count that, then he has 10 straight top 14 finishes (I am not counting that). Bowman isn't the first driver we think of, but the combination of his consistency and equipment makes him a very solid fantasy option this weekend!
Ryan Blaney - I would compare Blaney on plate races to Blaney on road courses. A lot of times, he will run well, but doesn't always seem to get the finishes. But make no mistake that Ryan Blaney is good enough to challenge for the win on these road courses. A few weeks ago at the Clash, he was very strong and was in a great position late but instead got wrecked by Chase Elliott. In his career, he has 56% career top 10 rate at road courses in his young career. In 2020, he had finishes 31st and 5th in the two road course races. He has made 8 career starts in the #12 car (4 in the #21) and he finished in the top 13 in six of those races. Blaney isn't the first guy we think of, but he is quickly becoming a major player on this type of track. If you were gonna gamble, then you might want to look at the Driver of the No.12 car!
**All stats are from DriverAverages.com
Email - Garrybriggs265@gmail.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
