2019 Fantasy Nascar DGG Picks (Texas)

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Rough weekend for your buddy, Garry. Rough weekend. Stood up until after 12:30 on Friday night, then had to be at work on Saturday at 6 a.m! How often does that work out well? Felt like shit for the next 12 hours. Then came home and slept for another 12 hours. Where would I be without my DVR? Needless to say I am ready for some racing this afternoon! I did manage to do some research and watched practice, so got that going for me!

A couple weeks ago, I got asked why I only make picks for the Driver Group Game? I will be brutally honest, it's the only game that I am playing in 2019. I loved Fantasy Live under the salary cap format, but they changed it. I didn't mind the Fox game, until they discontinued it after 2017 season. As for DFS, I honestly never gotten in it. Would I make posts for these games or other ones out there? Absolutely! If they are requested, I would gladly make posts. I just thought I would finally get that off my chest!

DGG Picks -

A:

Starter - Kyle Busch

Bench - Kevin Harvick

Reasons - A lot of really good options to go with this week, but personally I am going with the hottest driver in the series. I will probably use him until he gives me a reason not to! I also really like Logano, Harvick, Keselowski and Larson.

B:

Starters- Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney

Bench- Kurt Busch and Erik Jones

Reasons - I think the best three picks are Almirola, Blaney and Kurt Busch in this grouping tier. I think picking any of those three picks would a pretty good combo. I love the speed out of the #1 car, but I would rather save him when he starts closer to the front. Aric starts deep in the field,  but I also have more starts with him!

C:

Starter - Chris Buescher

Bench - Daniel Hermic

Reasons - Honestly this is a tough decision. There isn't a clear cut choice this week. To me, they are pretty even overall. I am going Buescher because I trust him more.

Dark Horse- Aric Almirola

Winner- Joey Logano

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - Briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter- @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Texas)

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Final Rankings-

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

Twitter- @JeffNathans18

2019 Fantasy Nascar Update (Texas)

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Fantasy Nascar Update-

1. Kyle Busch- Busch is starting further in the field than usual, but I think he will be strong and ultimately sweep the weekend at Texas. At end of final practice, Jeff Gordon noted that Kyle Busch was one of the strongest drivers in the final 20 minutes. He has been impressive on the intermediate tracks in 2019. If he can reach the front without any indecents, I think he will be back in victory. Kyle haven't finished worse than 6th in a cup race on the season! 

2. Brad Keselowski- Keselowski always shows up fast at Texas and this weekend haven't been any different. That #2 Ford looks fast and Keselowski has been a stud on the other two 1.5 mile tracks in 2019. He finished 1st at Atlanta and 2nd at Las Vegas. Through 6 races, the Penske cars has been the most impressive organization as a whole. These intermediate tracks are where they really separate themselves from the pack!

3. Joey Logano - Last week, I was very surprised that Logano was that far off at Martinsville. Nothing like what we showed on Friday and Saturday. But it is safe to say that he will rebound at a strong track. He is a former winner here and is very capable of winning. Like his teammates, I feel like he is at his best on the intermediate tracks. Logano won at Las Vegas and should had won at Atlanta. That #22 car should have a big say in who wins the race at Texas!

4. Kevin Harvick - Harvick has been fast this season on this type of track, even though he haven't scored a top 3 finish, yet. He will start outside of the top 20, but I feel really good about the #4 car this weekend. In final practice, he was fast as expected. Texas has been a great track for him over the past few seasons. Even before that, going back to the "old Texas". He was great then, too. Honestly, I kinda felt like Harvick has been a little overlooked this weekend. Dont be a fool, he will at the very least be a top 5 contender!

5. Denny Hamlin - Hamlin has displayed some really good speed out of his #11 car, so far this weekend. Honestly, he has impressed here early in 2019. In recent seasons, he has been known as a slow starter. Before, he would get hot in the warmer month. In a sense, he was turning into the new Tony Stewart. In 2019, he kinda has broken that trend. In 6 races, he has posted 5 top 7 finishes and no finishes worse than 11th! Texas can be hit or miss, but I dont see him outside of the top 10. If I had to guess, he will probably finish between 4th and 8th.

6. Ryan Blaney - Blaney is on a 3-race top 5 streak over his last three races. Prior to that, he showed a lot of speed at both Atlanta and Vegas. However, he had issues at both races and finished mid-pack. There has been no secret how much I am loving these Penske Fords. Why shy away now? Especially when Blaney is on fire and going to a great track. Over his last four races here, he has posted 3 top 10 finishes with impressive 112.1 driver rating. For Blaney, that's strong. His consistency usually prevents him from posting numbers like that. It says a lot on how good he has been!

7. Kyle Larson - Larson isnt having a bad season, at least not as bad as everyone makes it. Yet, everyone giving Kurt Busch all this praise? In reality, Larson and Busch been relatively close in performance. Larson just haven't got the finishes that he should had. This weekend, the #42 car is fast. He qualified a lot worse than he should had. He looked strong in final practice. Jeff Gordon thought so, too. He said Larson and Kyle Busch were the two strongest drivers in the final 20 minutes. Need more convincing? He was ranked 3rd in both the best 15 and 20 lap averages.

8. Jimmie Johnson - I am not a big believer in Jimmie Johnson, yet. Sure, he has been the fastest car in practice. But can he back it up? I have a lot of doubts about that. HMS has lacked speed on this type of track throughout 2019, so I am not buying the hype with him. Could they had learned things out west? Absolutely! I am just having hard time believing it was enough to go from a 20th place guy to race-winning. It kinda reminds me of the weekend that Austin Dillon had at Las Vegas. Strong in practice/qualifying, then quietly fell back! Of course, his pit road penalty kinda sealed his fate, though.

9. Kurt Busch - On pure speed, he should be higher. I would say at least a couple spots. Him and his teammate could both be a couple spots higher. But i will give them a little room for error, though. Kurt will start from 30th, but I think he is easily a top 10 driver with upside! He is awesome here at Texas and been really solid over the past few seasons here. The #1 car also haven't finished outside of the top 10 in 2019, minus Daytona and Martinsville!

10. Aric Almirola - This final spot in my ranking came down to Aric Almirola and Martin Truex Jr. I really liked what I saw out of the #10 car in practice. He also has been so damn consistent on these intermediate tracks, too. He was good on the lap average charts as well. He was 5th on the best-15 lap average. He's a good bet to finish in the top 10! As for Truex Jr, I just haven't been on the bandwagon. He has been strong at times in 2019, but overall I just cannot talk myself into him.

Just missed-

Martin Truex Jr

Erik Jones

Chase Elliott

Austin Dillon

Clint Bowyer

****All stats from DriverAverages.com

Twitter- @JeffNathans18 

2019 Fantasy Nascar Final Rankings (Mville)

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Final Rankings-

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

Twitter - @MattAleza

2019 Fantasy Nascar DGG Picks (Mville)

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Fantasy Nascar DGG Picks -

A:

Start - Joey Logano

Bench - Chase Elliott

Reasons - A is deep this week. There's five really good choices in this grouping tier. Keselowski, Truex Jr, Logano, Elliott and Busch. So there's plenty of options out there, but personally I am going with the pole sitter and the most recent winner there, Joey Logano!

B:

Start -  Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson

Bench - Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer

Reasons - A lot of great choices here, too. Hamlin is obviously one of the best choices in the field at Martinsville! His two teammates also are really strong this weekend, if you need some extra convincing! I know many of you are gun shy of Johnson and so am I! But we gotta use some starts with him at some point. I will give him a go at one of his best tracks. Bowyer would be a great option, if you didn't want to roll the dice with Johnson. Aric Almirola is also a very fine choice.

C:

Start - Ryan Preece

Bench - David Ragan

Reasons - I am on the Preece bandwagon this week. He has short track's roots and not looking too bad here at Martinsville. I haven't used a start with him yet, but I will at the paperclip. The only drivers I would use over him are the 37 or maybe 95. There's a lot to love about Ryan Preece!

Dark Horse - Aric Almirola

Winner - Kyle Busch

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12

2019 Fantasy Nascar Update (Mville)

Welcome to Timerssports

Fantasy Nascar Update -

1. Kyle Busch- Busch is starting deeper in the field than many expected, but he's the hottest driver in the series. Rowdy keep racking up the top 5 finishes (top 6 every race this season) and has two straight wins. More bad news for the competition, he has finished top 5 in his last 7 races here. In final practice, the #18 car looked like the one of the drivers to beat. He was 3rd on the best-20 lap average!

2. Martin Truex Jr - Truex Jr has been really knocking on the door of late and Martinsville could be a great place to do it! Last fall's race, he was in a position until he got into an incident with Logano. That happened on the final lap and he ended up 3rd. On Saturday, he looked like the guy to beat on the long run. He topped the best-20 and best-30 lap averages. More laps that he ran, it seemed like that #19 car just got better and better!

3. Joey Logano - Joey won at this track in the playoffs last season and will start from the pole (given he passes inspection) this weekend! I had said this a lot this season, but I love these Penske Fords. I won't lie, I don't think that they are as good as in recent weeks. I would imagine that at least 1 or 2 finishes in the top 5, but the question is where. Of the three, I give edge to Logano. It's difficult to overlook how much momentum this #22 team has! Through 5 races in 2019, he has 3 top 4 finishes and he should had won at Atlanta, too. He finished 2nd last week and won at ISM!

4. Kevin Harvick - I don't know, I still not feeling the #4 team this season. He's still one of the best in the series, but he has that meh feeling to him, though. I should say "meh" compared to recent seasons. By now, he usually has at least one win and multiple top 3 finishes. Through 5 races, he has no top 3 finishes. He has 2 top 4 finishes in his last 3 races, though. I guess, I am being a hater of some sort. A lot of drivers would love his finishes. He's top 5 guy again this weekend!

5. Brad Keselowski - Keselowski always show up here to Martinsville! In 5 of his last 6 races here, he has finished 5th or better. His lone non-top 5 finish? 10th place. So overall, he has 6 straight top 10 finishes at this track. Brad is having a great season and Penske is running great. Every week one (at least) of these Penske cars are up there battling for the win. I really like the #2 car this weekend. I am not sure if I love him, but I think we will find out more in the race about that!

6. Denny Hamlin - Hamlin has always been stout at Martinsville in his career. The #11 car has been really smooth this weekend and he has been surprisingly pretty consistent in 2019. He will start from the 5th starting position (pending inspection) and should at the very least contend for a top 10 finish. When I say top 10, I mean closer to the top 5. His car is really good, so I would say that he will have a great shot at a top 5. Through 5 races in 2019, he has 6.8 average finish with 4 top 10 finishes. In all five races, he has finished in the top 11!

7. Chase Elliott- I have had a really good feeling about the #9 car all week. I dont say that often, so you know I mean it. I probably like Elliott more than most do. I personally think this will be one of his better races of the season. The HMS haven't been good enough so far this season, but this might be one of the places for them to be solid. I am not expecting any wins, but Elliott gotta be top 10 here or something is really wrong. Dont forget, he was impressive here in 2017 during both races. He wasn't bad in last fall's race, either.

8. Aric Almirola - Aric was looking great in second half of 2018 and has kept that momentum going in 2019. Aric is off to a very strong start in 2019. No top 3 finishes, but boy is he getting closer. In his last 4 races this season, he has 4 top 9 finishes. His best race of the season was at ISM. He led 42 laps on his way to a season-high finish of 4th. He always been a big fan of places like Martinsville and Bristol. Couple years ago, I remember reading quotes he loves both of those tracks. That's something that stick with you!

9. Kyle Larson- Larson never been great here at Martinsville. He always seem to be good to average at this track. This weekend, he has probably shown more promise than I expected. I still believe he will finish worse than he will start (assuming he passes inspection). Larson, in my opinion, is only a driver with potential to finish in latter part of the top 10. I am personally just not very high on him!

10. Clint Bowyer - Bowyer is off to a pretty disappointing start to the 2019 season. In 4 of 5 races, he has finished 11th or worse. So far his finishes are: 20th, 5th, 11th, 14th and 33rd. Not horrible, but you expect more out of him. A lot more, in my opinion. Martinsville is a great track for him. He has always ran well here and should again in Sunday's race. I have high hopes for him, but personally I rather stay away from him as a fantasy pick. I want to see more consistency in the top 10 from him. There's safer options out there!

Just missed-

Ryan Blaney

Jimmie Johnson

Erik Jones

Ryan Newman

Kurt Busch

****All stats from DriverAverages.com

Twitter- @Jeffnathans18

2019 Fantasy Nascar DDG Picks (Auto Club)

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DDG Picks -

A:

Starter - Joey Logano

Bench - Kyle Larson

Reasons - The Penske Fords are fast this weekend and I think at least two of them end up in the top 5 when the checker waves. I love Larson on this type of track, but personally I think Logano will have a better day than Larson. I would put the likes of Keselowski and Kyle Busch up there with Logano in this grouping tier.

B:

Starter - Austin Dillon and Aric Almirola

Bench - Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch

Reasons - Dillon has been on my radar this week because of his past success at Auto Club and how fast these RCR cars has been. I could easily use Busch or Bowyer, both probably have more upside and safer. However, I am gonna need to rest the big guns at some point. Dillon at Auto Club is good place as any, imo. In 5 career starts, he has 3 top 11 finishes. It would be 4 top 11 finishes, if a pit gun didn't break on the final stop in 2016. Who should I pair him with? That's easy, Aric Almirola! I love Ryan Blaney this weekend, too. Denny Hamlin will be good, as well.

C:

Starter - Daniel Hemric

Bench - Chris Buescher

Reasons - Hemric has looked good this weekend and he was my guy all week long to start. He will start inside the top 20 and has a pretty good chance of finishing there, too. Buescher is probably safer pick to go with, but I have used Buescher twice this season and he will be the top option the whole season. This is as good as any week to use Hemric!

Dark Horse - Ryan Blaney

Winner - Joey Logano

Have a question or want to chat?

Email - briggs_garry48@yahoo.com

Twitter - @Garryy12