2018 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Clint Bowyer

Welcome to TimersSports

Driver Name: Clint Bowyer

Car #: 14

Make: Ford

Season Debut: 2006 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 0

# of Career Starts: 433

# of Career Poles: 2

# of Career Wins: 8

# of Career Top 5s: 64 

# of Career Top 10s: 180

# of Career DNFs: 34

# of Career laps led: 2,360

Career Average Finish: 15.9  

Career Average Start: 17.8

# of 2017 Wins: 0

# of 2017 Top 5s: 6

# of 2017 Top 10s: 13

# of 2017 Poles: 0

# of 2017 DNFs: 4 

# of 2017 laps led: 22

2017 Average Finish: 15.5

2017 Average Start: 13.2

2017 Fantasy Recap - Bowyer returned to a big-time team in 2017 and it didn't exactly go as Bowyer so much expected. He didn't return to victory lane or really contend for top 5 finishes often. As he only produced 6 Top 5 finishes on the season. And 5 of those 6 top 5 finishes were on a short tracks, road courses and a plate track. Notice something? None of those tracks are the bread and butter of the intermediate tracks. That's not surprising. Excluding his top 5 finish at Cali (2.0 mile intermediate track), he didn't have any finishes better than 9th. Unless you want to add Dover to that list. Then you there's two. But still, most of his best runs were on the flats, short tracks, road courses and plate tracks. 9 top 10 finishes between Martinsville, Watkins Glenn, Sonoma, Daytona, Bristol, Pocono and New Hampshire. You get where Bowyer was good and where he had some issues. Also, I would like to point out that Bowyer ended the season good. He had 3 Top 13 finishes in the last four races in the 2017 season.

Strong Tracks - Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Bristol, Dover, Richmond and Martinsville

Weak Tracks - Michigan and Darlington 

Yahoo Grouping Tier Prediction: B-list Grouping

2018 Fantasy Outlook - I think Bowyer can (and will) improve on his first year with SHR. I felt like last year, he started out really consistent through the month of May. He only had one finish outside of the top 15. Then we enter June and he really started to fall off the map there. Dover and beyond where the wheels went off the track for him, in my opinion. He showed a lot of inconsistency after that point. But one thing remained consistent throughout 2017 and that was lackluster performances and results on the intermediate tracks in general. Statistically, Bowyer have never ran well on the intermediate in his career. When looking at his career average finishes, his 8 of 9 worst tracks are intermediate tracks. While places like Dover, Sonoma, Watkins Glen, Richmond, Martinsville, New Hampshire, Bristol, etc are at the top. What happen last season? All of those tracks I mentioned, he scored at least one top 10 finish. History says he will be good at these tracks once again and career trends like the ones we are seeing don't break overnight. If you are good at certain tracks for a decade or so, usually you don't lose a step from one year to another. Unless, something changes about you or the track.

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2018 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Ty Dillon

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Driver Name: Ty Dillon

Car #: 13

Make: Chevy

Season Debut: 2017 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 0

# of Career Starts: 54

# of Career Poles: 0

# of Career Wins: 0

# of Career Top 5s: 0 

# of Career Top 10s: 0

# of Career DNFs: 4

# of Career laps led: 43

Career Average Finish: 21.7  

Career Average Start: 26.6

# of 2017 Wins: 0

# of 2017 Top 5s: 0

# of 2017 Top 10s: 0

# of 2017 Poles: 0

# of 2017 DNFs: 3

# of 2017 laps led: 40

2017 Average Finish: 20.2

2017 Average Start: 26.2

2017 Fantasy Recap - Ty Dillon didn't have a rookie season of Erik Jones or Daniel Suarez, but it wasn't terrible by any means. Considering the equipment that he is in, I would say that it was a decent run for the younger Dillon brother. In 36 starts in 2017, he posted 20 Top 20 finishes. Which is little over half of his starts overall. Early on in the season, he seemed to accumulate those top 20 finishes at a higher rate though. In his final 14 starts, he only had 4 finishes inside the top 20. During his first 22 starts, he had 16 Top 20 finishes. See the fall-off from the first stench of races compare to the second group? That is typically backwards. Usually, a rookie will start off slow and progressively get better as the season goes on. With Dillon, his better days were early in the year. Still, 20 Top 20 finishes for the entire season with the #13 team is a upgrade over what Mears typically did. Then again, Dillon brings backing from RCR. So I am sure that helped a lot a bunch, too. 

Strong Tracks - Phoenix, Pocono and Atlanta 

Weak Tracks -  Sonoma and Martinsville 

Yahoo Grouping Tier Prediction: B-list grouping

2018 Fantasy Outlook - After a quality rookie season, Dillon will look to bulid on that in his second-full season as a cup driver. Despite the No.27 car being empty in 2018, Ty Dillon will stay put with the #13 team. Good for Ty though. I think him getting put in the 27 car would put a bad taste in some people mouths. One thing I noticed about Ty Dillon last year (and pretty much expected to happen too), was that he had his best days on the shorter tracks in general. More specially, his numbers on the shorter flats. He finished 22nd or better at both Phoenix and New Hampshire. In 3 of those 4 races, he finished 16th or better. In general, Dillon was amazing on the flats in 2017. He finished inside the top 20 at both larger flats. In three races, he finished 18th or better all three times. If there was a consistent strong spot for Dillon last year, it had to be on the flats in general. No other type of track, where there any real consistency. At other type of tracks, it a good result here, followed by a bad result at times. Overall, I think Dillon will have a shot to improve on his numbers in 2018. But I don't think it really about that though. For Dillon to have success, it is not about having 20 Top 20 finishes again. It is about having some top 5 and top 10 finishes. Even if he adds 1 or 2 top 10 finishes and retain some consistency along with that, then I think 2018 will be success. If there's one thing I want to see from him, then it being consistent. I can live with him not scoring any top 10 finishes, but he needs to be consistent. That for me will be the biggest thing!

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2018 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Ryan Blaney

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Driver Name: Ryan Blaney

Car #: 12

Make: Ford

Season Debut: 2016 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 0

# of Career Starts: 90

# of Career Poles: 2

# of Career Wins: 1

# of Career Top 5s: 8 

# of Career Top 10s: 25

# of Career DNFs: 12

# of Career laps led: 332 

Career Average Finish: 19.3  

Career Average Start: 12.9

# of 2017 Wins: 1

# of 2017 Top 5s: 4

# of 2017 Top 10s: 14

# of 2017 Poles: 2

# of 2017 DNFs: 5

# of 2017 laps led: 301

2017 Average Finish: 17.2

2017 Average Start: 10.3

2017 Fantasy Recap -  It was a very interesting 2017 for Ryan Blaney. He was wildly inconsistent for most of the season, but still posted his first career win at Pocono. I will be honest, I was little surprised that his career win came at Pocono. Logically, you would have thought it would have been at an intermediate-type of track. But instead, it finally came on a flat track in Pocono. Otherwise, he had some really good runs early in the year. He was very strong at places such as Texas and Kansas. He led the most laps in both races, but never could put it altogether though. Still, he still really potential. After Pocono, he never really showed that same level of competitiveness. Sure, he was good but I don't recall him truly contending for another race win after the month of June. He had some good runs, but not that good. As the season progressed (especially during the playoffs), it seemed like Blaney was more predictable and got the finishes he deserved!

Strong Tracks - Chicago, Kansas, Talladega and Pocono  

Weak Tracks -  Homestead, Richmond and Dover 

Yahoo Grouping Tier prediction: A-list grouping tier

2018 Fantasy Outlook - Blaney will move to Team Penske in 2018 from the Wood brothers. This was pretty much expected from Penske to make this move, as they didn't want him escaping them to some other team. And to be fair, Blaney has earned his shot with Penske. He deserves to be in that 12 car full-time. Where can you expect to Blaney to be strongest? I would have to say the intermediate tracks and the plate tracks. Both kind of venues stand out as the strongest for Blaney so far in his career. I think he will also have some really good runs on both kind of flats. With that said, I also think there will be some inconsistency as well. It is pretty much expected that he will make mix results from time to time though. Personally, I would be disappointed if he didn't get back to victory after the year he had in 2017. He is more than capable of winning a race and adding on his numbers from that solid 2017

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2018 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Denny Hamlin

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Driver Name: Denny Hamlin

Car #: 11

Make: Toyota 

Season Debut: 2006 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 0

# of Career Starts: 434

# of Career Poles: 25

# of Career Wins: 31

# of Career Top 5s: 132 

# of Career Top 10s: 218

# of Career DNFs: 37

# of Career laps led: 8,884

Career Average Finish: 14.1  

Career Average Start: 12.8

# of 2017 Wins: 2

# of 2017 Top 5s: 15

# of 2017 Top 10s: 22

# of 2017 Poles: 2

# of 2017 DNFs: 4

# of 2017 laps led: 710

2017 Average Finish: 11.6

2017 Average Start: 8.4

2017 Fantasy Recap - I know a lot of people will solely remember his rivalry with Chase Elliott, but it goes much deeper than that. He had a great season in 2017. Not only did he make the chase again, but he was one of the hottest drivers in the series in 2nd half of the season again. That trend has been obvious over the past couple seasons. He start off slow, but after the month of May, then he really start to put together the finishes. In 2017, he was on quite of tear. From Michigan (15th race of the season) through Texas (34th race of the season), he was nearly unstoppable. During that 20-race span, he compiled 15 Top 7 finishes. While 13 of those 15 finishes ended up inside the top 5! That's 65% of the time during that 20-race span. He ended up finishing 6th in the standings, after being eliminated after the Phoenix race. I think a lot of that has to do with his battle with Chase Elliott. If Elliott didn't race him like he did (saw that coming, too), then maybe he would have found a way to advance. But in Elliott's defense, he only raced him like he felt he was raced at Martinsville. So I cannot blame him, but still that rivalry had an impact on the playoffs'. Overall, it was a very solid season for Denny Hamlin!

Strong Tracks - Darlington, Martinsville, New Hampshire, Chicago, Kentucky and Homestead 

Weak Tracks -  Cali and Kansas  

Yahoo Grouping Tier: A-list Grouping

2018 Fantasy Outlook - I am sort of interested how quickly Hamlin will start off in 2018, because the last couple seasons he has started off really slow. Of course, then he really started to wheel off the top 5 finishes and wins. Will that be the same trend in 2018? As much as I hate agreeing with trends like this, he haven't given us anything to believe otherwise though. When do I expect him to be strongest at? I think he will be stout as usually on the intermediate tracks. You can expect some inconsistency early on, but I do think he will eventually find his footing as we further into the season. But places like Martinsville, New Hampshire, Phoneix and Richmond are the tracks where I think he will be a stud on. For years, he has proven he is one of the best series on. At times, he may have lost the edge at these places. But personally, I think he at the peak of his career after those down years in 2013 and 2014.

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2018 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Aric Almirola

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Driver Name: Aric Almirola

Car #: 10

Make: Ford

Season Debut: 2012 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 0

# of Career Starts: 244

# of Career Poles: 1

# of Career Wins: 1

# of Career Top 5s: 11 

# of Career Top 10s: 32

# of Career DNFs: 34

# of Career laps led: 176

Career Average Finish: 21.4  

Career Average Start: 21.2

# of 2017 Wins: 0

# of 2017 Top 5s: 3

# of 2017 Top 10s: 6

# of 2017 Poles: 0

# of 2017 DNFs: 3

# of 2017 laps led: 2

2017 Average Finish: 18.8

2017 Average Start: 22.4

2017 Fantasy Recap -  I know a lot of people will say that Aric had another bad season, but I have to disagree very much on that. It is highlighted by his big crash at Kansas, but aside from that it was pretty consistent. In fact, it was his third-best season of his full-time cup career. He posted 3 top 5 finishes (tied for 2nd-most in his career) and 6 Top 10 finishes as well (also tied for 2nd-most in his career). And his 18.8 average finish was his 3rd-best average finish of his career with RPM. However, at end of the season, he decided to part ways with the 43 team and move on. I think a lot of that was where the money was headed, too. All-in-all, Aric had a fine career with Richard Petty Motorsports. If I take one thing away from 2017 for Aric it is that he was predicable. He had good and bad runs at 1.5 mile tracks, but excelled and had his best runs at the tracks we expected him to. In his level of equipment, I think that all we could ever ask for.

Strong Tracks - Bristol, Martinsville, Phoenix, Talladega and Dover

Weak Tracks - Pocono, Kansas and Las Vegas   

Yahoo Grouping Tier: B-list grouping

2018 Fantasy Outlook - It is hard to say what to expect out of Aric Almirola with his new team at SHR. I would say that Aric's expectations should be grounded switching over to SHR. You cannot expect too much out of him overall. It seems like new drivers at SHR have a slow first season overall. Look at Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer as good examples recently. With that said, he is in good equipment compared to what he had at RPM. Even if the #10 car get the leftovers, it is a upgrade over the stuff he typically would get at RPM. I guess to a certain extent though. I wouldn't say that I have super high expectations for Aric, but I think he will get better as the season goes on. He will have his opportunities, but he's a really good short track racer. I expect places like Martinsville, Phoenix, New Hampshire, etc will once again be where he has the most success. You can also expect that Aric will see some sort of uptick in production on the intermediate tracks.

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2018 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Trevor Bayne

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Driver Name: Trevor Bayne

Car #: 6

Make: Ford

Season Debut: 2015 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 0

# of Career Starts: 166

# of Career Poles: 0

# of Career Wins: 1

# of Career Top 5s: 5 

# of Career Top 10s: 71

# of Career DNFs: 22

# of Career laps led: 71

Career Average Finish: 23.2  

Career Average Start: 22.0

# of 2017 Wins: 0

# of 2017 Top 5s: 2

# of 2017 Top 10s: 6

# of 2017 Poles: 0

# of 2017 DNFs: 5

# of 2017 laps led: 8

2017 Average Finish: 19.5

2017 Average Start: 21.1 

2017 Fantasy Recap - In last offseason's profile's of Trevor Bayne, I projected him to have 0 wins, 2-4 top 5 finishes, 3-6 top 10 finishes and 18-22 top 20 finishes. Well, I nailed every single of those total right there. It doesn't take a rocket science to figure out what Bayne is probably capable of. Still, it is nice to have a set of prediction to plan out according. In 2016, Bayne had a career-year in his young cup career. He posted slightly even better numbers in 2017. He had same amount of top 5 finishes, one more top 10 finish and a slightly better average finish of 19.5 compared to his 19.9 in 2016. My biggest thing heading into the season with Bayne was not decending in 2017. I thought early in the season, he showed real potential and promise with all of those top 10 and top 15 finishes he had in the first 11 races. In those first 11 races, he had 8(!!) top 13 finishes!

Strong Tracks - Bristol, Michigan and Atlanta  

Weak Tracks - Sonoma, Indy and Darlington   

Yahoo Grouping Tier: B-list grouping

2018 Fantasy Outlook - Over the last two seasons, Bayne has shown something as driver. He is showing us that he belong at this level and is capable of being in the #6 car. Early last season, he started off very strong. Similarly to how good he was to start off in 2016 as well. I know a lot of people will say that RFR is slow and Bayne is talentless and whatever nonsense is out there. But I don't believe that stuff. RFR is slowly getting back to being more competitive than it was three years ago and Bayne is also starting to improve as a driver, too. Bayne will be capable of running well and of course he will have his share of bad races, as well. In 2018, I think he will have a similar season to the last two seasons he had. And like the past two seasons, I think he will continue to improve. He was good in 2016, but slightly better in 2017. For Bayne's sake, I hope he is slightly better in 2018. And if he can have a strong start to the season like in 2017, then he has a chance to have really good year. Because believe it or not, I think RFR will be better than it has been over the past two seasons and we all know they have came quite long ways from 2014 and 2015.

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2018 Fantasy Nascar Profile: Kevin Harvick

Welcome to TimersSports

Driver Name: Kevin Harvick

Car #: 4

Make: Ford

Season Debut: 2001 (First-Full Season)

Number of Championships: 1

# of Career Starts: 610

# of Career Poles: 21

# of Career Wins: 37

# of Career Top 5s: 168 

# of Career Top 10s: 307

# of Career DNFs: 31

# of Career laps led: 11,091

Career Average Finish: 13.4  

Career Average Start: 15.9

# of 2017 Wins: 2

# of 2017 Top 5s: 14

# of 2017 Top 10s: 23

# of 2017 Poles:  4

# of 2017 DNFs: 4  

# of 2017 laps led: 850

2017 Average Finish: 11.1

2017 Average Start: 8.8

2017 Fantasy Recap -  During the 2017 season, Harvick was very good overall. He wasn't always a top tier contender for wins, especially early in the season. He had that really strong race at Atlanta, but then he was just top 10 good or so for awhile. I think SHR switching to Ford in 2017, it was a huge transition period for Harvick and everyone else at SHR. So it only made sense that the drivers and teams were a little behind the pitch. But as the season progressed, Harvick started to get on a roll. He ended up winning 2 races and was actually outperforming drivers that were consistently outrunning him early in the year. He punched his ticket to Homestead with a win at Texas and could had a shot at winning, if things played out a little differently. No shame in the season that he had!

Strong Tracks - Homestead, Texas, Phoenix, Michigan and Pocono 

Weak Tracks - Daytona and Martinsville  

Yahoo Grouping Tier: A-list Grouping 

2018 Fantasy Outlook - I have high hopes for Kevin Harvick in 2018! I don't think SHR will start off as slow as they did in 2017. Now that they have a year at Ford, I think they will have a better idea where they need to improve and work on that to have more speed off the truck in 2018. As usaul, you can expect Harvick to be very strong at every type of track. He will be strong on the intermediate tracks and most likely offer possible winning upside most races. He will be really solid on the flats tracks. In my opinion, he is the most underrated driver in the series on them. Phoenix, Richmond, Indy and Pocono. He is pretty phenomenal on all those tracks. As for weak links, I would say that the plate tracks and maybe the road courses. I think this can be said about most drivers out there. It is so unpredictable, anything can go wrong. He's a skilled driver at both kind of tracks, but far from flawless though.

*All stats are from DriverAverages.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18