Saturday, March 31, 2018

2018 Fantasy Nascar Preview (Texas)

Welcome to TimersSports

Fantasy Nascar Preview -

1-JMac: When we compare Jamie from 2017 to this season, I think the difference is pretty noticeable. Sure, he has had a few races where he has had bad luck. But for the most part, he haven't sniffed the top 10 or been able to stay in the top 15. If you watch the #1 car in 2018, you will notice that he has hung hovering around the 18th-20th place mark. In 5 races (minus Daytona), he has 17.8 average running position and 24.6 average finish. Those numbers speak for themselves. On the two 1.5 mile tracks, he has compiled 27.5 average finish with 20.0 average running position and 62.8 driver rating. I think with Chevy being behind the curve, the 1 team is struggle to produce the consistent low-teens/top 10 runs they had the last few seasons. He is looking more like the driver he was awhile back. Inconsistent, unpredictable and untrustworthy. Over the last few seasons, his biggest and probbaly only asset was his ability to get solid finishes on a weekly basis. That trait seemed to be gone. I would say away from him for now!

2-Brad Keselowski: Keselowski is off to a great start his season overall. He has been fast week in and week out, consistently contending for top 5 finishes. In 5 races this season (minus Daytona), he has the 2nd-best average finish (7.4), 3rd-best average running position (6.0) and 4th-best driver rating (107.3). On the two 1.5 mile tracks, he has been a top 3 driver with ease. At those two races, he has compiled 4.0 average finish with 4.5 average running position and 113.1 driver rating. He ranked 2nd in all three categorizes to only Kevin Harvick. At Texas in the past two seasons, he has compiled 10.3 average finish with 12.5 average running position. In 5 of his last 7 races at Texas, he has finished 6th or better. He had finishes of 5th and 6th in 2017. Keselowski should be easily one of the best picks this week. 

3-Austin Dillon: Outside of Daytona, Austin Dillon haven't been okay I guess.. In his last 5 races, he has compiled 16.8 average finish with 17.8 average running position. With that said, he has finished 14th or better in all three intermediate tracks. On the two 1.5 mile tracks, he posted finishes of 14th and 13th. He also finished 10th at Cali. On the two 1.5 mile tracks, he has compiled 13.5 average finish with 15.0 average running position and 71.6 driver rating. Overall, he haven't been bad this season on the intermediate tracks. I think he is good enough to be a decent flier on a low-teen finisher. But I wouldn't expect a top 10 finish out of him, his upside is probably somewhere between 12th-15th. That also the most likely range he will run in, too.

4-Kevin Harvick: Harvick has been the most dominate driver on the 1.5 mile tracks this season and it haven't been close. Keselowski has been the 2nd-best driver and their numbers has a sizable gap. On the two 1.5 mile tracks, he has compiled 1.0 average finish with 2.5 average running position and 148.1 driver rating. If you are not familiar with how driver rating works, anything above 140 is simply near flawless. He was flirting with 150.0, which is the highest driver rating you can achieve in a Nascar event. He has been incredible this season. And this is the type of track that he has performed best on, which is kinda saying something,too.

9-Chase Elliott: Elliott has had his moments this season, but I don't think he quite ready for his first cup win yet. His best race of the season was when he finished 3rd at Phoenix and honestly I don't think he has came close to be that competitive in any other race. On the intermediate tracks, he has mainly just been top 10 good. I cannot recall any race where he showed top 5 ''potential''. Texas has been one of his best tracks so far in his cup career. In four career starts, he has finished 9th or better in all four races as well. In those 4 races, he has compiled 6.5 average finish with 9.8 average running position and 97.1 driver rating. Elliott still has question marks about him, but I do think his upside is way higher than the small risks that comes with him.

11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has started off 2018, much better than he has in recent seasons. I kinda was wondering how he would look out of the gate. If history is any indication, he will be a force later in the season. So with Hamlin's solid start, he could be for a very strong season. Any time will tell, if that actually holds true though. In 5 races (excluding Daytona), he has compiled 8.6 average finish with 8.6 average running position. That's solid. At the two races on 1.5 mile tracks, he has compiled 10.5 average finish with 10.5 average running position If there was a real concern about Hamlin, then it would be this: Hamlin last top 10 finish in the spring time at Texas was in April 2010. He has had a lot more success in the fall races than the spring races. Can he break that trend this weekend?

12-Ryan Blaney: Entering the season, this was one of the places where I really thought that Blaney would contend for the win. I still believe that, after all he has looked pretty good on the other two 1.5 milers already this season. In 2 races on 1.5 mile tracks, he has compiled 8.5 average finish with 8.5 average running position and 97.1 driver rating. At Las Vegas, he stood out and I expected him to. I would consider it the most comparable track to Texas. Earlier this season, he started on the pole, held a driver of 114.1 and finished 5th. In his last four races this season, he had finished 3 times in 8th or better. Including 8th place at Cali and 3rd at Martinsville. He has a lot of momentum entering the weekend. On top of that, he led 148 laps in last spring race here.

14-Clint Bowyer: Bowyer is coming off a win at Martinsville, his first win since the 2013 season. It was a long time coming. It started to sink in that he was about to dominate at Martinsville, when he was consistently catching the 12 car on the long green flag run, before end of stage 2. I was just watching his lap times and watching him chewing into the #12 car lead. I was like, ''Yeah that 14 car is hooked up''. After he took the lead, he never really gave it back.He also has been solid on the intermediate tracks in 2018 so far. In two races on 1.5 mile tracks, he has compiled 10.5 average finish with 10.5 average running position.

18-Kyle Busch: Rowdy has been awesome this season and has already collected 4 top 5 finishes and a series-best 3.2 average finish since Atlanta. In that span, he also leads the series in average running position (4.0), series-best driver rating (122.1), 2nd-most laps led (233) and 2nd-most fast laps (212). Yeah that's pretty stout and his numbers on the 1.5 mile tracks are top 3, too. He has compiled 4.5 average finish with 6.0 average running position and 110.0 driver rating. Rowdy has a strong record at Texas, too. However, last season was not very strong by the 18 team. He had finishes of 19th and 15th. Prior to last season, he had 5 straight top 5 finishes at Texas, dating back to the 2014 season. From 2013 to 2016 spring races, he had no finishes worse than 4th. He had wins in 2013 and 2016. Why is that important? He missed the 2015 race. Which means, he won in 2013, didn't win in 2014, won in 2016, didn't win in 2017. Trends suggest that he will be back into victory lane in this season's spring race. Question is will the trend hold up? I wouldn't bet against it!

19-Daniel Suarez: I haven't been too impressed with the young JGR driver so far this season. He haven't really contended for any top 10 finishes, kinda like he started off his rookie season. I figured after a year of experience, he would start the season off better. He haven't, as he has posted 18.0 average finish with 17.0 average running position and 70.5 driver rating. Those are bad numbers, considering what kind of equipment that he is in. In the two 1.5 mile races, he has compiled 20.5 average finish with 16.0 average running position. He does have one top 10 finish to his credit and that was at Phoenix. He finished 15th at Atlanta, 26th at Las Vegas and 23rd at Cali. This weekend, I would expect a finish somewhere between 12th-16th most likely. He had things not go his way at Atlanta and Cali, so I will give him a pass at both races. He is capable of finishing in the top 15 at Texas. But I would cap him there though.

20-Erik Jones: Jones is having a nice season so far. He is not doing anything special, but he has remained consistent. In his last 5 races (since Atlanta), he has compiled 10.4 average finish with 12.6 average running position and 85.7 driver rating. Not great, but respectable in the early stages of the season. On the 1.5 mile tracks this season, he has compiled 9.5 average finish with 13.0 average running position. Between Atlanta and Cali (races no.2 through 5), he did not finish worse than 11th. He finished 17th at Martinsville. So like I said, it has been a solid start to the season for driver of the no.20 car. I would say that Jones will contend for another top 10 finish, but I am not expecting a breaking out party for him though. I think the 20 team is still working on their way to be race winning contenders with their new driver. He will get wins, but I think that will happen a little later in the season. He's still a solid fantasy pick!

22-Joey Logano: Heading into the season, I expect Joey to bounce back from that dreadful 2017 season. It looks like he is on his way to doing that, at least in the early going. I think some of that has to do with the strength of the Ford cars, in general. Joey has been very solid on these 1.5 mile tracks in 2018, too. He has compiled 6.5 average finish with 7.0 average running position and 100.2 driver rating. And his record at Texas is pretty awesome, as well. In his last 4 races at Texas, he has compiled 3.8 average finish with 7.0 average running position and 110.6 driver rating. Over the past two seasons, no driver in the series has a better average finish than Joey Logano does at Texas. In 10 career starts with Penske, he has posted 7 Top 5 finishes. His other three finishes are 12th, 40th and his recent finish of 7th.

41-Kurt Busch: With how strong SHR has been and how well it seemed often that the 41 has ran, I am kinda surprise that Kurt haven't scored a top 5 finish yet. That's weird to me, as he been up near the front just like his teammates been. Yet, he has no finishes better than 8th. And 5 of his 6 races this season has ended in 10th or worse. He started off the season strong in Atlanta and actually led 52 laps on his way to a season-high 8th place finish. He wrecked out at Las Vegas and finished 14th at Cali. Then there's Martinsville, where he once again did not finish in the top 10. Texas haven't been bad place for him, but he haven't overachieved at it, either. In his last 4 races at Texas, he has compiled 12.0 average finish with 13.0 average running position and 86.9 driver rating. Not bad numbers at all, but I think he can do better though. For this weekend, I wouldn't be shocked if he finished anywhere between 10th-15th. He obviously have the speed to contend for a spot in the top 10, but he haven't proven that he can close the deal this season.

42-Kyle Larson: Some people are asking, ''what's wrong with Kyle Larson?'' If you are worried about Kyle Larson, you have ridiculous high standards. There was a very good chance that Larson would decline in numbers from a year ago. And he haven't been bad at all. Martinsville (his worst track, in my opinion) was by far his worst performance of the season. He has been solid everywhere else. I think Chevy's slow start has also held Larson back some. But it haven't stopped him from contending for top 5 finishes. In 5 races (excluding Daytona), he has compiled 9.6 average finish with 9.2 average running position and 97.1 driver rating. Those numbers are miles better than any other driver from CGR, RCR or HMS. At Atlanta, he finished 9th. Then he had top 3 finishes at both Las Vegas and Cali. Three top 10 finishes in three races on intermediate tracks. He will be fine this weekend and has enough upside to contend for a top 5 finish.

48-Jimmie Johnson: The jury is probably still out on Johnson, but honestly I am not expecting much from him. I mean, look how he has performed so far this season. It haven't been terrible, but that is the best thing I can say about him. He has no finishes better than 9th. While 5 of his 6 races this season has ended in 12th or worse. In his last 5 races (excluding Daytona), he has compiled 15.4 average finish with 16.4 average running position. You don't need numbers to tell you that Johnson has been at best average. He doesn't look like a top 10 driver right now and sometimes he barely looks like a top 15 driver. Some of this may be because of the new car, they are using. But you cannot sit here and tell me that he is a good pick this week. He isn't until he shows something legit on the track. All I see is a driver whom ceiling is at best high-single digit finish.

78-Martin Truex Jr: Truex Jr haven't quite gotten the love that he did last season, but he is nobody to underestimate though. Currently, he is on a 3-race top 5 finish streak. He have not finish worse than 5th place since the opening race at Daytona. He finished 5th at Atlanta, 4th at Las Vegas and won at Cali. He was so impressive at Cali. The strength of that car was impressive. He led 125 laps on his way to victory lane. He also has started on the pole in three straight races now. All three races, of course, led to top 5 finishes. And Texas is one of his best tracks, too. Over past two seasons, no driver has been better. He has compiled 4.8 average finish with 4.0 average running position and 125.9 driver rating. He has the best average running position and driver rating in the last two seasons. He also has led the most laps over the past two seasons. Truex Jr's strength on the intermediate tracks in recent seasons should not be overlooked. He is a top 3 driver entering the race.

88-Alex Bowman: There is not a lot to really say about Bowman yet, he is a young driver still. He is learning as the season goes on. He been off to a good start overall, I would have to say. In 2 races on 1.5 mile tracks, he has compiled 18.0 average finish with 17.5 average running position and 66.3 driver rating. So far (minus Daytona), Bowman has posted 13.4 average finish with 16.4 average running position in his last 5 races. Based on what I have seen this season, he will probably be somewhere in the teens. Personally I would say that he finishes somewhere 13th-17th range. That where most of his finishes has came this season. With that said, he haven't finished outside of the top 20 this season.

***All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacinCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

Saturday, March 24, 2018

2018 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (MVille)

Welcome to timerssports

Final Rankings -

1. Kyle Busch
2. Martin Truex Jr
3. Brad Keselowksi
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Joey Logano
6. Kyle Larson
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Chase Elliott
10. Jimmie Johnson
11. Ryan Newman
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Jamie Mac
14. Aric Almirola
15. Daniel Suarez 
16. Kurt Busch
17. Erik Jones
18. Paul Menard
19. Alex Bowman
20. Austin Dillon
21. AJ Dinger
22. Trevor Bayne
23. William Byron
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
25. Kasey Kahne
26. Darrell Wallace Jr
27. Chris Buescher
28. Ty Dillon
29 Michael McDowell
30. David Ragan

Twitter - @MattAleza

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

2018 Fantasy Nascar Early Rankings (MVille)

Welcome to TimersSports

Early Rankings -

1. Kyle Busch
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Chase Elliott
6. Martin Truex Jr
7. Joey Logano
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Ryan Blaney
11. Kurt Busch
12. Kyle Larson
13. Erik Jones
14. Aric Almirola
15. Jamie Mac
16. Ryan Newman
17. Paul Meanrd
18. Austin Dilllon
19. Daniel Suarez
20. Alex Bowman
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
22. AJ Dinger
23. Trevor Bayne
24. Ty Dillon
25. William Byron 
26. Kasey Kahne
27. Chris Buescher
28. Darrell Wallace Jr
29. Micheal McDowell
30. David Ragan

Twitter - @MattAleza

Sunday, March 18, 2018

2018 Fantasy Nascar Preview (Mville)

Welcome to TimersSports

Fantasy Nascar Preview -

1-JMac: Martinsville has been a tough place for JMac over the past couple seasons. In 3 of his last 4 races here, he has finished 23rd or worse. In 6 of his last 10 races overall here, he has finished 16th or better. With 5 of those 6 races ending in the top 10. His last top 10 finish was back in 2016 though. He finished 8th in fall 2016. Prior to finishing 29th in last fall's race, he has finished 3 of his last 4 fall's races in the top 10. The lone non-top 10 finish was 16th place back in 2014. Jamie Mac haven't finished worse than 17th since the 2011 season in the fall-time, where he finished 35th. He has been a lot better in the fall races than the spring races.

2-Brad Keselowski: Keselowski is easily one of the best drivers in the series at Martinsville. Since 2015, he has been simply a machine. In his last 6 races at MVille, he has posted 5 top 5 finishes. Over his last four races, he has compiled 3.0 average finish with 5.8 average running position and 120.7 driver rating. Those are only second-best to Kyle Busch. Nobody has been on Kyle Busch's level, but Keselowski has been as close as anyone else. In 8 of his last 11 races overall, he has finished in the top 6. Since entering the top level in 2012, he has only posted 3 finishes outside of the top 10. Problem is? His three bad finishes all has ended outside of the top 30. When he finishes out races, he usually contends for the win and finishes up front. When he doesn't, he will probably be a very regretful fantasy option. He's boom or bust, folks. But history says he is a lot more boom than bust. The risk isn't really that high. In fact, he is one of the safest options in the filed to choose.

3-Austin Dillon: Dillon isn't exactly the kind of driver that you would expect to find the success he has at Martinsville, but his numbers are quite good over his career. In 7 of his 8 career starts, he has finished in 18th or better. Over his last 4 races (2 seasons) at MVille, he has compiled 9.8 average finish with 14.3 average running position and 83.3 driver rating. Dillon has performed well during that 4-race span as you can tell. During that span, he has posted 3 top 13 finishes in 4 races. His lone non-top 13 finish was of 17th place back in fall 2016.

4-Kevin Harvick: Week in and week out, he is one of the fastest drivers in the series by far. He has been a good performer at Martinsville over the years, but he never quite get the finishes that he deserve though. Over the last 4 races at this track, he has compiled 15.5 average finish with 12.5 average running position and 88.6 driver rating. In 3 of his last 6 races, he has finished 8th or better. His other three races ended in 17th or 20th. In 5 of his last 9 races overall, he has finished 8th or better. Harvick is one of those drivers that you expect to perform consistently and to contend for the win. Regardless of what his track record says. He will from time to time have those bad finishes, but the speed of the No.4 car is undeniable this season. If he isn't contending for a win, then I would be shocked. He has ran very well here in the past. Very well!

9-Chase Elliott: Heading into the season, I thought Elliott's first win would come on one of three tracks: Phoenix (he finished 3rd - few weeks ago), Michigan or this weekend's race at Martinsville. Last fall's race at Martinsville, he was just a few laps from going to victory. He crash late in the event, which led to a feud with JGR driver Denny Hamlin. He was strong in that event. He compiled 4.0 average running position with 106.6 driver rating and spent 98% of the race in the top 15. His 4.0 average running position was ranked 3rd-best only behind Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. I have to believe his 27th place finish affected that stat, too. In last spring's race, he was strong again. Very strong as he was a top 5 driver for the entire race and led 20 laps. In that event, he held 3.0 average running position and 122.1 driver rating. He started 2nd for the event and pretty much was a top 3 all race long. He was impressive at Martinsville in 2017 and may just go to victory this time around. It is only matter of time now! 

11-Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has always been very good at Martinsville and that haven't changed, either. For his career, he holds 10.0 average finish in 24 career starts. He is a five-time winner at this place, but four of his wins came between 2008 and 2010. That the time period where he owned this place. Since, his numbers have came back down to earth though. Still, pretty good though. In 5 of his last 8 races at Martinsville, he has finished 8th or better. Bad news? 3 of his last 4 spring races at Martinsville has ended in 19th or worse. His most recent win has came in the spring time though. That was back in 2015. In his last two spring races, he has finished 39th and 30th. This is his chance to turn things around and get a quality finish this weekend.

12-Ryan Blaney: Blaney is not a great driver here at Martinsville, in fact I would advise avoiding him here altogether. He had a great finish of 8th place back in last fall's race. That is his only career top 10 finish though. Prior to that, he has no finishes better than 19th place. Of course, he only made three career starts. Still, Blaney isn't the type of driver that I would expect him to exceed at Martinsville, at least this early in his career. I think it may be difficult for him to repeat his success from last fall. I wouldn't be shocked, if he did. Considering he is a pretty talented driver, but I am not expecting it either though. 

17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr: Stenhouse Jr is not a very good driver here at Martinsville. This has been long considered one of Ricky's worst tracks on the schedule. However, he finished 10th twice last season. That was very shocking since, from 2013 to 2016, he posted just one finish better than 25th. His 6 other races previously were 31st or worst. His best career finish up to end of 2016 was 15th in 2014. I am not sure if last season's success was a fluke or a sign of things to come for Ricky and the 17 team. I am gonna proabbly play the wait and see card and hope for the best. If he looks legit, then I say take the gamble with him. If not, there are plenty of other underrated drivers to look at. Ricky will have better days ahead, I am sure. Personally, I am not expecting him to back up his top 10 finishes from 2017!

18-Kyle Busch: Rowdy is the man here at Martinsville. Nobody is on his level when you look at the numbers overall. He is a stud at this track. Over his last 4 races here, he has compiled 2.3 average finish with 3.0 average running position and 134.6 driver rating. All three of those stats ranked no.1 and by a pretty large margin, too. He has nearly nearly 600 more laps than any other driver in the series in the past two seasons as well. In 7 of his last 10 races here, he has finished in the top 5. Including 5 straight top 5 finishes in his last 5 races at this place. In his last four races at this track, he has led over 180 laps three times. Busch is simply owning this place lately and I am not sure if anyone can step up. Kyle Busch is my early pick to win this weekend!

19-Daniel Suarez: A lot of young drivers will struggle at a place like Martinsville. That is just how it is, this is a tough place to master. No shocker that Daniel struggled in his first career start back in April. He wasn't very good and finished 32nd, 11 laps down. In his second career start, he was much better and finished 15th. Biggest take away? He completed all of the laps and finished 15th. That is the best thing you can do as a young driver. Get experience and avoid any issues. With more track time, I fully expect Daniel to improve and keep getting better. For this weekend, I would say that he is the low teen to middle teen range most likely. Pretty much what we been seeing out of him on a weekly basis in 2018. I don't think this will be one of those races where he exceed his expectations. If anything, he might finish worse than usual. I say his upside is the top 15 for the weekend, he isn't someone that screams ''potential''. At least not in this stage of his career.

20-Erik Jones: In 2017, Jones had mix final results. In the spring's race, he ran decent enough and finished 12th. He held 15.0 average running position with 75.6 driver rating. He spent just under half of the race in the top 15. So yeah, he ran respectable enough to say that he earned that 12th place finish. In the fall's race, he didn't get as a good of a finish. He ended up with 26th place finish, after compiling 19.0 average running position and completing just 33% of the laps in the top 15 for the event. His numbers weren't significant worse than the spring race. But yes, they were worse in the end. Whatever way you want to slice, he was nothing special at Martinsville. I would probably put him in the same range as Daniel Suarez honestly.

22-Joey Logano: Logano is a very good driver here at Martinsville overall and a lot of time underrated. Even in last fall's race, where he finished 24th, he was still strong. He posted a driver rating above 100 and led 59 laps on his way to a disappointing 24th place finish. 5 of his last 8 races overall, he has finished in the top 9. Prior to finishing 24th in last fall's race, he had three straight finishes of 11th or better. In his last 4 races at this track, he has compiled 12.0 average finish with 9.3 average running position and 100.1 driver rating. Logano is off to a solid start to the season, too. I think Penske is lacking a little speed to SHR and JGR, so a place like Martinsville could help off-set that.

31-Ryan Newman: Newman will be his consistent usual self and probably contend for a finish somewhere in the low teens. That is Newman for you! Over the last four races here, he has compiled 12.0 average finish with 14.3 average running position and 82.1 driver rating. His in-race performance and final finishing position are almost on point with one another. In 3 of his last 5 races, Newman has finished in the top 10 at Martinsville. Newman won't lead any laps or contend for a top 5 finish, but he knows a thing or two how to get around this place. And it only take a few cars to have issues and he has a legit shot at finishing in the top 10. He is really one of those safe drivers that you can pretty much depend for a solid finish regardless. Not much to hate about an experienced driver like Newman.

41-Kurt Busch: Kurt's numbers at Martinsville aren't that good and he has never been that good here. He is two-time winner, but he is pretty much all or nothing here. In 35 career starts, he has posted 12 top 15 finishes. Yes, 12 top 15 finishes in 35 career starts. That is well below 50% of the time. Since his last win in 2014, he haven't been very good. In 5 of his last 7 races here, he has finished 22nd or worse. You don't have to dig far to see that Kurt has had a lot of problems at this racetrack. However, he is off to a great start this season as SHR as a whole has been strong in pretty much every race. It is hard to overlook the success of SHR in 2018, but at the same time it is hard to overlook his lack of success at Martinsville. We are gonna find out which trend will hold true soon enough.

42-Kyle Larson: Kyle Larson had his breakthrough performance back in spring 2016 at Martinsville. That reamins his sole good performance of his career at Martinsville. In fall 2016, he was on the boarder line of another top 10 finish. But he was running 11th late in the event and smashed the wall. He finished 14th in that race. In spring 2017, he started on the pole. He looked good early on, both of the CGR cars did. But they eventually tapered off as the race went on. Larson would finished 17th in that race. Then last fall's race, he did not finish the event and finished 17th. Other than the 2016 season, Larson does not have a finish better than 17th since becoming a full-time driver at the top level. History says that Larson shouldn't be trusted to repeat his 2016 success.

48-Jimmie Johnson: Johnson use to be a great driver here at Martinsville and has more wins than any active driver, but that was then and this is now. Johnson is not the same driver he was a few years ago. And he isn't driver for the best team in Nascar at the moment, either. I think that is another factor in the Johnson's equation. His numbers over the last four races aren't bad by any means overall. In his last four races, he has compiled 9.3 average finish with 9.5 average running position and 101.6 driver rating. He won here in fall 2016 and finished 9th earlier in the spring race. In 2017 (last season), he compiled 13.5 average finish with 11.0 average running position and 93.5 driver rating. Not bad at all, but obviously not quite on the Jimmie Johnson's standards that we are use to here. If Johnson gonna go to victory lane or challenge for a top 5 in the foreseeable future, I would imagine that it will be here.

78-Martin Truex Jr: Truex Jr usually only get the respect he deserves on the intermediate tracks and I think that is such bullshit. He is a guy that can contend for wins on any type of track. His recent numbers at Martinsville will back that up. His last four races at this track, he has compiled 10.8 average finish with 7.5 average running position and 100.9 driver rating. Only two driver has a better average running position and only three drivers has a better driver rating. That's elite company right there over the past two seasons. Since 2015 (6 races), he has posted 4 top 7 finishes in 6 races. He is legit driver here at Martinsville and he has ran very well all season long. There is no reason to not think that he won't contend for another top 5 finish on Sunday!

88-Alex Bowman: Bowman does not have a lot of experience here at Martinsville, so it will be interesting how well he does this weekend. There is no real comparable track to Martinsville, so it will make it difficult to say how well the 88 car does this weekend. I would have to say somewhere between 14th-20th seems likely. If he doesn't do well, you can expect a finish in the low-20s. Personally, I wouldn't expect anything better than the middle to high teens out of him. I am not really that confident in Alex Bowman. I think he will be a lot better in the fall race than the spring time.


***All stats are from DriverAverages.com and FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com

Twitter - @JeffNathans18

2018 Fantasy Nascar RaceDay Thoughts (Cali)

Welcome to TimersSports

RaceDay Thoughts -

Jeff Nathans (@JeffNathans18)

- Harvick is the man to beat again

- Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch are two guys that will give Harvick a challenge

- There are a lot of drivers starting outside of the top 20. Two guys I really like are Elliott and Hamlin.

-Erik Jones is a very solid pick today. He has been fast all weekend. Showing a lot of speed in his No.20 car.

Garry Briggs (@Garryy12):

-Bowyer is starting outside of the top 25, but I really like what I saw from him on Saturday.

-Harvick, Larson, Busch and Truex Jr are the top 4. Then there is everyone else

-Watch out for Brad Keselowski. He seemed pretty confident about his chance in his cup car

-The last two seasons, Austin Dillon has been a legit top 10 or top 12 driver here at ACS. He got screwed last year on a late pit stop. He had the 2nd-best 15 lap average in final practice. Sleeper alert

Driver Game lineup -

Jeff's lineup - 4,20,41,88

Garry's lineup - 4,41,14,37

Dark Horses -

Jeff's Pick - Erik Jones

Garry's Pick - Erik Jones

Winner -

Jeff's Pick - Kevin Harvick

Garry's Pick - Kevin Harvick

Saturday, March 17, 2018

2018 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Cali)

Welcome to TimersSports

Final Rankings -

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kyle Larson
4. Martin Truex Jr
5. Joey Logano
6. Kurt Busch
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Erik Jones
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Chase Elliott
11. Ryan Blaney
12. Clint Bowyer
13. Aric Almirola
14. Jimmie Johnosn
15. Austin Dillon
16. Ryan Newman
17. Jamie Mac
18. Daniel Suarez
19. Alex Bowman
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
21. Paul Menard
22. Darrell Wallace Jr
23. Kasey Kahne
24. William Byron
25. Trevor Bayne
26. Chris Buescher
27. AJ Dinger
28. Ty Dillon
29. Michael McDowell
30. David Ragan

Twitter - @MattAleza

2018 Fantasy Nascar Picks (Cali)

Welcome to Timerssports

Fantasy Nascar Picks -

A:

Start- Kevin Harvick

Bench - Martin Truex Jr

Reasons - I am gonna be out of starts with Harvick soon and I don't really care. The best appraoch in this game is to use them while they are hot. Harvick is stupid hot right now. You are not benching him. Now, I usually don't recommend benching the polesitter, but that is what I am saying you should do. However, I would not be against using Truex Jr, if you are looking to get off-sequence.

B:

Start - Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer

Bench - Aric Almirola and Jamie Mac

Reasons - The SHR cars are hot right now. Who knows how long that will last. Busch has a great track record here and starting from 5th. Bowyer looked fast since unloading, but starting mid-pack. Not ideal, but I am okay with that. He will make his way up to the top 10 or top 15 eventually.

Erik Jones is probably the best pick for this week out of this grouping tier, if you were wondering. If I could repick my picks, I would start Jones and probably pair him with either Blaney or one of the SHR cars.

C:

Start - Chris Buescher

Bench - William Byron

Reasons - I know a lot of people are gonna use either Byron, Bowman or Wallace. And that's fine, but this week I noticed that Buescher had an 20.0 average finish at Vegas/Atlanta. I jumped on him. And ended up qualifying 12th. He won't stay there. He will probably be good enough for a top 25 finish. The glad this week is to stay within 2-3 spots of the top 3 in this grouping tier. And with the way they been so unpredictable, I think it is a good gamble to take.

Dark Horse - Erik Jones

Winner - Kevin Harvick

*****Note - Due to the lack time I have this weekend, I will not be posting my picks for Slingshot Game and Fantasy Live . If you really want my picks for those games, email me or message me on twitter.

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12