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Last week even before see any cars on the track, I thought it was clear-cut who the legitimate sleepers were for Vegas (click here to view last week's article). However this week, I don't think we get so lucky or get as many quality sleepers for Phoenix. I think there will be a few good fantasy options to choose from, but I doubt we see as many. Honestly Phoenix can be an tough place to pinpoint where a driver will finish sometimes. Have a bad restart late and you are pretty much screw since track position is usually pretty big here. There obviously reasons to go with some off-radar picks, but I would not get too crazy. If you want to go off the deep end, just wait until Bristol. That's where you want to go crazy with your lineups, not here. Below I have 4 sleepers that I really like headed into the weekend. Enjoy!
Austin Dillon - Dillon remains with the ''sleeper'' status tag, but if he keeps up this production like he have thus far this season, then he may outgrow that label. Dillon is off an awesome start this season with 3 Top 11 finishes in the first 3 races. Including an season-high (and probably best performance of his career) 5th place run at Vegas. Can he keep it up at Phoenix? Absolutely I think he can most definitely keep it up. Last season he swept the top 20 (finishes of 20th and 15th) and was competitively in the teens. With limited past track data, I think Dillon is more appealing because of his hot start than his recent numbers at Phoenix. That was the primary reason for selecting him last week and that worked out pretty well. So why not take a gamble with Dillon once again and hope for similar results to the first three races?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr - Despites finishing 10th and 12th in his previous two races, I get the feeling many people still don't want anything to do with Stenhouse and that's fine by me. Why? He been pretty good at Phoenix so far in his career. Minus last fall wreck, he have managed 5 Top 18 finishes in his past 5 races at Phoenix. Yet nobody is talking about Stenhouse! This is realistically one of his best racetracks. And remember Phoenix isn't an intermediate, so doubt aero will be as much of issue. Not to mention, Ricky finished an career-high 12th last fall. Why is that important? RFR was much further behind the competition than they are now. Even though he ran in the upper teens for majority of last season's event. Regardless, I think he backs up last season's 12th place run. I am fairly high on the driver of the #17 car!
Casey Mears - Mears is a deep sleeper in certain fantasy formats. He probably holds very little fantasy value in leagues that focus in on final finish position (such as Yahoo Fantasy Racing), however he can be a visible option in the salary cap leagues. Why? Well he have been very productive at Phoenix recently and I think that trend continues this weekend. Over the past 7 Phoenix races, he have finished 22nd or better in 5 of 7 races. Including 20th or better (20th and 14th - twice) in the previous 3 spring races. Looking deeper into the spring data, he have finished 4 of the past 5 spring races inside the top 20. To further validate Mears, he have a habit of running well at other short flats like New Hampshire and Martinsville. Last season he swept the top 18 at both of those tracks and finished 20th and 22nd at Phoenix. Mears may lack the speed at the intermediate racetracks, but he will run well at these smaller venues. I will have my eye on him this weekend!
AJ Dinger - The Dinger is another fantasy option that is way off the radar, but could make a powerful punch. IF you know how to use him correctly. Dinger won't be the first choice to any fantasy teams at Phoenix, but he have ran very respectably here throughout his career. Dinger is most known for his road course skills, but what most people don't realize is he is more consistent on the short-flat racetracks. He have a solid history at all of the shorter-flats and Phoenix is no differnet. The 47 team seems to excel on tracks 1 mile in length or less. Something I don't think many people take into consideration when evealuting Dinger's potential fantasy value. Believe it or not, Dinger have finished 18th or better in 10 of his 13 career starts at Phoenix. Including 3 of his past 5 races at PIR ending in 17th or better. Dinger also is coming off an top 15 finish at Vegas, so that should give him some momentum headed into the weekend.
Have a question?
Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Thanks for reading,
Garry Briggs
Last week even before see any cars on the track, I thought it was clear-cut who the legitimate sleepers were for Vegas (click here to view last week's article). However this week, I don't think we get so lucky or get as many quality sleepers for Phoenix. I think there will be a few good fantasy options to choose from, but I doubt we see as many. Honestly Phoenix can be an tough place to pinpoint where a driver will finish sometimes. Have a bad restart late and you are pretty much screw since track position is usually pretty big here. There obviously reasons to go with some off-radar picks, but I would not get too crazy. If you want to go off the deep end, just wait until Bristol. That's where you want to go crazy with your lineups, not here. Below I have 4 sleepers that I really like headed into the weekend. Enjoy!
Austin Dillon - Dillon remains with the ''sleeper'' status tag, but if he keeps up this production like he have thus far this season, then he may outgrow that label. Dillon is off an awesome start this season with 3 Top 11 finishes in the first 3 races. Including an season-high (and probably best performance of his career) 5th place run at Vegas. Can he keep it up at Phoenix? Absolutely I think he can most definitely keep it up. Last season he swept the top 20 (finishes of 20th and 15th) and was competitively in the teens. With limited past track data, I think Dillon is more appealing because of his hot start than his recent numbers at Phoenix. That was the primary reason for selecting him last week and that worked out pretty well. So why not take a gamble with Dillon once again and hope for similar results to the first three races?
Ricky Stenhouse Jr - Despites finishing 10th and 12th in his previous two races, I get the feeling many people still don't want anything to do with Stenhouse and that's fine by me. Why? He been pretty good at Phoenix so far in his career. Minus last fall wreck, he have managed 5 Top 18 finishes in his past 5 races at Phoenix. Yet nobody is talking about Stenhouse! This is realistically one of his best racetracks. And remember Phoenix isn't an intermediate, so doubt aero will be as much of issue. Not to mention, Ricky finished an career-high 12th last fall. Why is that important? RFR was much further behind the competition than they are now. Even though he ran in the upper teens for majority of last season's event. Regardless, I think he backs up last season's 12th place run. I am fairly high on the driver of the #17 car!
Casey Mears - Mears is a deep sleeper in certain fantasy formats. He probably holds very little fantasy value in leagues that focus in on final finish position (such as Yahoo Fantasy Racing), however he can be a visible option in the salary cap leagues. Why? Well he have been very productive at Phoenix recently and I think that trend continues this weekend. Over the past 7 Phoenix races, he have finished 22nd or better in 5 of 7 races. Including 20th or better (20th and 14th - twice) in the previous 3 spring races. Looking deeper into the spring data, he have finished 4 of the past 5 spring races inside the top 20. To further validate Mears, he have a habit of running well at other short flats like New Hampshire and Martinsville. Last season he swept the top 18 at both of those tracks and finished 20th and 22nd at Phoenix. Mears may lack the speed at the intermediate racetracks, but he will run well at these smaller venues. I will have my eye on him this weekend!
AJ Dinger - The Dinger is another fantasy option that is way off the radar, but could make a powerful punch. IF you know how to use him correctly. Dinger won't be the first choice to any fantasy teams at Phoenix, but he have ran very respectably here throughout his career. Dinger is most known for his road course skills, but what most people don't realize is he is more consistent on the short-flat racetracks. He have a solid history at all of the shorter-flats and Phoenix is no differnet. The 47 team seems to excel on tracks 1 mile in length or less. Something I don't think many people take into consideration when evealuting Dinger's potential fantasy value. Believe it or not, Dinger have finished 18th or better in 10 of his 13 career starts at Phoenix. Including 3 of his past 5 races at PIR ending in 17th or better. Dinger also is coming off an top 15 finish at Vegas, so that should give him some momentum headed into the weekend.
Have a question?
Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com
Thanks for reading,
Garry Briggs
