Welcome to Timerssports
For several years, Jeff Nathans had an article here at Timerssports and that piece was called ''Fantasy Nascar Update''. I am taking over that piece, but I want to make it my own. So I have decided to rename it, but it will be the same concept, though. I am gonna look at the top 10 drivers for the weekend and breakdown their chances and give my personal opinions on each driver. I do appericate Nascar giving the drivers a short practice session each week, but the data is still small. I hope in the future, they will give them multiple practice sessions again. I miss those days where we will see two practice sessions and qualifying as well. I am also very interested in how much last week's results will translate into this week? Will we see as many spins and/or tire issues? Will some of the surprise teams keep going strong? Will the expected strong teams be able to rebound? Folks, we are gonna find out very soon!
1. Kyle Larson - Folks, it wasn't what we expected from Kyle Larson for about 80% of the event. He was good, but he wasn't race winning good. Idk, if it was a combination of drivers crashing or his team getting him better as race went on, but Larson had the best car for those final 50 laps. As for this weekend, he has one of the best cars (in my opinion) on Saturday. He will start 2nd on Sunday afternoon. I believe that Larson is the odds on favorite to win and it comes on an intermediate track. He is tough to beat on these tracks in 2021 and I think he will be very tough to beat this weekend. He isn't starting 13th like he did last week, he is starting from 2nd. I think you should be worried, if you are thinking about betting against him.
2. Chase Elliott - Elliott looks really good once again this weekend and will start in the top 5. I really loved what I saw last weekend from the Hendrick cars and I feel the same way from the speed from them again. This is the type of track that they perform the best on. Everything we have seen the past two weekends say the Hendrick cars should be the heavy favorites again, and so far this weekend at Vegas that has been the case.
3. Ryan Blaney - Even dating back to his days at the Wood brothers, Ryan Blaney has been great at Vegas. Every time he comes here, he seems to be very good. Bad sign for the competition? He was fast off the truck and he has displayed some very good long run speed in practice. Combine that with a strong showing at Auto Club and a great track record in recent years? He should be employed in every kind of format. You know how you know you should trust him? I am not very often super high on Blaney, but folks I am very high on him. That alone should tell you something!
4. Christopher Bell - Bell is starting from the pole and was higher on the 10 and 15 lap averages in practice than the drivers above him, but I don't really trust Bell that much. But he is very strong this weekend, though. He is starting from the pole and looks by far the best Gibbs car. Which is odd because I would had expected his teammates to be stronger than him. Then again, he looked top 5 good in practice at Auto Club and was a teen-like driver all race long. I think Bell could be a make or break to fantasy lineups. You play him and he flops? You are screwed. You play him and he kills it? You are sitting pretty. Practice data says, he is a top 5 driver. If he can lead laps and finish in the top 5, then I say he is worth gambling on. I think that is the most likely thing to happen
5. Joey Logano - Logano, like his teammate, he is looking pretty fast this weekend. Much like last weekend, he is showing top 5 speed. Vegas has always been a good track for Penske and I would gladly take a shot with him this weekend. I think Logano might be a little under the radar overall and be a very good option to go off-sequence with. Clearly a lot of people will be on the Larson bandwagon and probably all the Hendrick cars. Same with his teammate, Ryan Blaney, but don't overlook the No.22 driver. He will likely mix it up in the top 5 and contend for the win.
6. Denny Hamlin - You know I am not very high on Hamlin and I could drop him a few spots, if I wanted to. But I am gonna give him benefit of the doubt and believe he gonna race better. With that said, he didn't many any real long runs. He did enough long runs to appear on the 10-lap average, but he was only 11th fastest, though. A lot like last weekend, I wasn't super impressed by him in practice on the longer runs in practice. I think he will be somewhere in the top 10. I say somewhere between 6th and 8th most likely. He isn't a bad option, but I don't think I would play him in DFS, though.
7. William Byron - I have trust issues with Byron sometimes and for that reason, I have him lower than I should. In terms of speed, he was awesome last week and should had contended for a race win. However, he got caught up in someone's else mess. But he is looking just as strong this weekend. He probably had the best long run speed in practice, when we look at the averages. Like I said these Hendrick cars are really good this weekend.
8. Kyle Busch - Hard to say how good Busch is this weekend because he wrecked his primary car in practice and using a backup car. Sounds like that car was suppose to be a ''parts car'' for Joe Gibbs Racing. Yeah it is not very ideal for Rowdy, but guessing his team been working effortlessly all weekend to get ready for today's race. So I couldn't tell you what to expect from him, but he gonna be one of the top picks this weekend by far in DFS. He gonna be an awesome play, if he can finish in the top 10. Honestly, I am not sure if he is playable (outside of DFS).
9. Tyler Reddick - I was pretty high on Reddick last weekend, but man did he surprise me! He was by far the best driver at Auto Club, but he didn't get that fairy tale ending that he deserved! I don't think he looked as strong this weekend so far, but he didn't look like that in practice, either. I think these are two completely different tracks. I think one of the reasons that i loved him so much last weekend was because it was his type of track. Vegas is a different animal and you really don't have a chance to stay up against the wall to find that extra speed. So I think he will be top 10 good, I just don't see him being a possible race winning driver.
10. Alex Bowman - I say Bowman the slowest of the Hendrick cars but he has top 10 upside to him, so I would gladly gamble on him this weekend at Vegas. He was pretty decent on the lap averages, though. I think he is also starting further back among the Hendrick cars, too. So he could be a solid fantasy option in DFS, if you are looking for PD points. But for his price tag, I wish I had more faith in him for being a top 5 finisher. I just don't see it. I feel good about that, so if you good with that then I say go with him.
***All stats from DriverAverages.com
Twitter - @Garryy12
Email - Garrybriggs265@gmail.com
