Category: Fantasy NASCAR

Hello, and welcome to the 2019 NASCAR season! In only three weeks the green flag will wave at Daytona International Speedway for the running of 61st annual “Great American Race”. But, even sooner than that Speed Weeks starts. That is only 2 weeks away.

Now before we get into what’s new for 2019 there is some exciting news for all of you fantasy racing players. The Commish is working on rolling out some exciting new changes this season. Customized leagues, with customized scoring! He has acknowledged that he isn’t quite finished with the project and also knows that there will be some bumps along the way as there were last year in the inaugural season on the Driver Group Game. From what I have seen so far, I am looking forward to creating some different leagues with their own scoring system. I like the fact you can now set your own scoring, run a playoff format for your league, and set your own groups.

My favorite of the ones I mentioned is setting your own groups. I know in the past the C group was mostly a hit or miss group with someone having to be extremely lucky to pick a driver who would even finish the race. I think this option is going to help everyone who spends time researching which drivers perform better on certain tracks and will give us a plan as we move through the season. Check out some of the new additions and create some leagues. Let me know if you have an interesting concept for a league.

So with that being said I will give you a few things that have changed this season in the sport.

There are three familiar names who won’t be running a full schedule if at all this season as of this time. They are Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, and Jamie McMurray. The only thing I have seen so far is that Jamie is going to run in the Daytona 500, but after that his schedule is up in the air and the other 2 have no definitive plans to run any races this season.

Rookie of the year candidates include the following: #8-Daniel Hemric, #36-Matt Tifft, #47-Ryan Preece, and #97-Tanner Berryhill.

Other driver without a ride this season include: #6-Trevor Bayne, #47-A.J. Allmendinger (who you will see on tv.), #96-Jeffrey Earnhardt, and Reed Sorenson (who is rumored to be close to signing a deal.)

Drivers switching teams this year include: Daniel Suarez who moves to the #41 for Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Newman who moves to the #6 for Roush Fenway Racing, Matt DiBenedetto who moves to the #95 for Leavine Family Racing, Kurt Busch who moves to the #1 for Chip Ganassi Racing, Corey LaJoie who moves to the #32 for Go Fas Racing, and Martin Truex, Jr. who moves to the #19 for Joe Gibbs Racing.

There will also be a news rules package at certain tracks that is supposed to make the cars more equal and, according to NASCAR, make it a race about drivers instead of a race about the fastest cars. We will have to see how this plays out, but in any event it is going to be learning curve when setting your lineup this season at these venues.

So, my predictions for this season are as follows:
Even with the new rules package the Ford drivers will still dominate on the intermediate tracks with the speed they carry.

Jimmie Johnson gets back to victory lane.

Roush/Fenway Racing is much improved this season.

Kyle Busch breaks Ford’s dominance during the playoffs and wins his second championship.

That’s all for now. Come back after the Duels at Daytona to see my picks for the first race of the season under the old format. If you have any trouble with the DGG or have questions, contact the Commish. I am looking forward to another season with all of you!

We’re all set for championship weekend unless there is some major points penalty handed out by NASCAR this week. The ‘Big Three’ will be joined by Joey Logano in a best finisher take all race. There are two Ford’s and two Toyota’s among these drivers and four different teams being represented.

I want to thank all of you loyal readers for following me once again this year and as always, I hope I helped some of you a bit in your leagues and made watching the races a little more exciting. I will caution you that the drivers I think will finish in the top five this week might not be on my DGG roster because I have used up all of their starts. I think the best thing to do this week is use the best drivers you have left and let the chips fall where they may.

FORD ECOBOOST 400

This is championship week for NASCAR and all three series will crown their champions at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. This is a mile and a half track with progressive banking in the corners and I think the Big Three are your top three favorites here. The question is who will stay mistake free, mechanical issue free, and make the right calls during the race to be crowned the champion of the 2018 season.

Kevin Harvick: I am going to pick Kevin Harvick to win the race and the championship this year. He has been fast all season long and is the driver with the most wins on this type of track this year. I just think that the Ford’s have shown their speed all year and Kevin is the better driver between him and Joey Logano who are the two drivers with Ford’s in the championship group.

Kyle Busch: I think Kyle will finish right behind Kevin and make it a tight race right to the end. In my opinion he is the best driver out of the championship four, but I just don’t think he will have quite the speed or handling that Kevin has had all season. He is going to do everything he can to stay close and give Kevin a run for his money, but in the end I just don’t think he will have enough car.

Martin Truex Jr.: I think Martin sticks with the top two for most of the race and could pull off the second championship of his career if the other two falter somewhere along the way. Like I said, all of these drivers have to stay mistake free on pit road to stay in contention. They can’t afford penalties or loose wheels. A mistake like this is disaster when you have to beat the best in a one race playoff.

Joey Logano: Let’s not count Joey out though. For one thing, he is in a Ford which as I have said before have shown the most speed all year. He won two races this year. His teammates have each won multiple races this season and on this type of track. The thing I worry about with him and his team is that they often seem to lose the handling on their car as races progress and he also doesn’t have friends all over the track.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has led more laps than any other driver in his last two starts at Homestead. He looked really good last week at Phoenix and could pull off his first win of the season as he likes to run the high line and this is one of those tracks where it can really pay dividends. Definitely worth a shot if you are trying to make up some ground in your league or don’t have any of the Big Three left to run.

Chase Elliott: Chase looked like he had a shot at picking up the win at Phoenix and making the championship race for a while last week as he had the fastest car on the track as he made his way to the front. However, that was not to be as an ill timed caution moved him back in the field and then he got caught up in a wreck late in the race that took him out of contention. He did finish fifth in this race last year and has been good at the end of this season.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has qualified well in some races this year and then never really had the handling on his car that he needed to stay up front. He sat on the pole here in two of his last three starts and finished ninth in each of his last two starts here. I just don’t have faith in him being someone I want to start this week and he might get a little payback from Kurt Busch this week.

Austin Dillon: Austin has been running very well towards the end of this season and is someone you can have on your roster if you have used up some of the better drivers. He has finished in the top fifteen in each of his last three starts here. He might not have the speed he needs to run up front, but he could pull off a top ten finish this week.

Erik Jones: This is another driver who has really been running well since winning a race at Talladega earlier this year. This is also the kind of track where he has really shown a lot of poise and could pull off another win if everything falls into place for him again this week. He has a ton of potential and is going to be one of the stars in this series sooner rather than later.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan has shown a lot of speed all year and he has also shown that he can run towards the front no matter what kind of track he is racing on. This is the type of track where he can be at his best. He seems to have a little problem with patience once in a while, but this is one of those tracks with multiple grooves, so he should be able to move to different grooves to make passes this weekend.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.
• Kyle Larson

Driver Group Game Group B

• Chase Elliott
• Ryan Blaney
• Aric Almirola
• Erik Jones

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chris Buescher
• Michael McDowell

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT HOMESTEAD-MIAMI SPEEDWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Kyle Busch
3. Martin Truex Jr.
4. Kyle Larson
5. Chase Elliott

Dark Horse: Austin Dillon

Stay Away From: Clint Bowyer

Big 18: Alex Bowman

Congratulations to Kevin Harvick who won his eighth race of the season and snared a spot in the championship race coming up in two weeks. Right now the pressure is off both him and Joey Logano while the other six drivers in the playoffs are all going to be fighting for those final two spots. Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. hold those spots right now, but if one of the other four drivers can win next week at Phoenix one of them will be knocked out. Even an early wreck or mechanical problem will shake up the final four.

CAN-AM 500

As I already mentioned, this week the drivers head to the ISM Raceway in Phoenix, AZ for the running of the Can-Am 500. This is a one-mile fairly flat tri-oval race track. This should be a very interesting race where stage points are going to be huge for the playoff drivers not locked into the championship race and some need to win to move on because they won’t be able to make up enough points to get in that way. That means you might see a few more bumpers getting put to the cars in front of drivers who are desperate to get that win this week.

Kevin Harvick: It’s hard to pick against Kevin at Phoenix as he has finished in the top six in twelve of his last thirteen starts at this track and that includes seven wins. He won here this spring and would love to keep the momentum on his side going to Homestead. However, would he allow one of his teammates to win at the end of the race to ensure they are in the championship race with him and that would also knock out one of the other Big 3?

Kyle Busch: Kyle sits third in the standings with a twenty-eight point cushion over the fifth place driver, but he is only three points ahead of Martin Truex Jr. If one of the other four drivers can win this race he needs to stay ahead of Martin to secure a spot in the championship race. I think he should be able to do that as he has finished in the top five in five of his last six starts here including a runner-up finish this spring.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin is still looking for his first win here in his career and would love to get it this weekend and not have to worry about points racing. He finished third in this race last year and fifth in the spring race this year. He has looked good on the flat tracks this season and should make the championship race as long as one of the other four playoff drivers doesn’t win this weekend.

Chase Elliott: Chase is thrity-nine points out of the top four and almost certainly needs to win this week if he wants to make the championship race. The good news is he has looked good on the flatter tracks this season and finished second in this race last year. He also finished third in the spring race this year and could pull off a small upset this weekend.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is twenty-five points out of the top four in the standings and he almost needs to win this week also. The bad news is that he hasn’t won here since the spring race way back in the 2005 season. He does have six top ten finishes in his last eight starts here though and that should give him a little confidence going into the weekend. I know he won’t be afraid to move people out of his way to try to get to the front of the field this weekend.

Clint Bowyer: Clint absolutely needs to win this week if he wants to make the championship. That is going to be a tall task for a driver who only has one top ten finish in his last ten starts at Phoenix. Clint does run very well on most other flat tracks though, so it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities that he can go to victory lane this weekend. He needs to have a flawless weekend to do that though.

Aric Almirola: Aric is fifty-seven points out of the top four and will most likely need to win this weekend if he is to go for a championship this year. He doesn’t qualify well here and with the track being so short and hard to pass on that can be a problem. He has finished in the top ten in his last two races here though. I just don’t see him winning the race this weekend.

Denny Hamlin: Denny hasn’t had the season he was hoping for and every week I think he might do something I get disappointed. He has five top ten finishes in his last six races and ran well at Martinsville a few weeks ago. This track is twice that length, but the banking is somewhat similar. Most people will have Harvick on their roster this week and Denny might be someone to take a flyer on if you need to make up some ground in your league.

Eric Jones: Eric had a great run at Texas coming away with a fourth place finish. He has finished in the top ten in his last three Phoenix races and has only run here four times. I think he is worth having on your roster this week and if he qualifies and practices well you can start him once again.

Joey Logano: Joey won this race two years ago and always seems to qualify well here. The problem for him here lately has been that they don’t seem to make the correct adjustments to the car as the race progresses. If the temperatures are warm there will be a lot of adjustments needed to keep up with the changing track conditions and I’m not sure if they will make the right calls.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR ISM RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick
• Kyle Busch

Driver Group Game Group B

• Chase Elliott
• Eric Jones
• Kurt Busch
• Aric Almirola

Driver Group Game Group C

• William Byron
• Chris Buescher

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT ISM RACEWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Kyle Busch
3. Chase Elliott
4. Eric Jones
5. Kurt Busch

Dark Horse: Eric Jones

Stay Away From: Jimmie Johnson

Big 18: Kevin Harvick

I am writing this article before the race weekend in Las Vegas even gets started because I am out of town and won’t have many chances to get internet access once again this coming week. I should be back to civilization sometime around the middle of the week to answer your questions and possibly even update this article, so please bear with me.

FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 400

The second race of the playoffs will be run on the short, flat track known as the Richmond Raceway. This is a three-quarter mile D-shaped oval track with minimal banking. Now, I don’t know if hurricane Florence is going to have any affect on this track as she bears down on the East Coast and hopefully everyone stays safe and the damage is minimal everywhere. Fantasy racing is the least of our worries when a natural disaster is looming. Hopefully everything turns out better than they are predicting and we can get back to enjoying racing for the rest of the season.

Denny Hamlin: I keep picking Denny to take that next step and win a race soon and this is another week where he can do it. He has finished no worse than sixth in his last six races he has run here and that includes one of his three career wins here. Picking up a win during the playoffs punches a drivers ticket for the next round, so they all have a lot to fight for and if he can avoid problems on pit road he should be a contender this weekend.

Kevin Harvick: Not to be outdone by too much, Kevin has finished in the top five here in six of his last eight starts. This team has been the cream of the crop for most of the season and I think they show us what they have once again this weekend. Their biggest downfall seems to be poor pit stops because someone is making a mistake and that makes Kevin start back in the field quite often where he has to race his way back to the front multiple times during races.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin hasn’t come away with the finishes that he probably should over the past few years, but he has led over five-hundred laps in his last five starts here. Martin would love to win another championship for Furniture Row Racing before they disband at the end of the season. I thought it was great to have a team like this show the big boys that they could compete, but the cost was still too high. Another black eye for NASCAR in my opinion.

Joey Logano: Joey is a great driver to take a chance on this weekend. He has finished in the top ten in his last nine starts here including his win last spring where he didn’t pass post race inspection and lost his spot in the playoffs. Even after that he came out and finished in the top five in both races he ran here including a second place finish in this very race last fall.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is the most consistent driver at this track coming away with sixteen top five finishes in twenty-six starts. He won the race here in the spring and leads all active drivers with five wins here. This is a tough place to pick you A group driver because there are so many good choices. If you have starts left for Kyle you really need to have him on your roster this weekend unless you are trying to make up ground late in the season in your league.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has been very consistent here himself although not quite as good as his little brother. Kurt has two wins here and has finished in the top ten in eight of his last eleven starts at Richmond. Kurt seems to be at his best on the short flat tracks and this is one of the tracks I will definitely have him on my roster for. He could surprise once again as his future is once again in doubt.

Brad Keselowski: Brad is pretty good here in his own right and had momentum on his side when the playoffs started. He hasn’t finished worse than seventeenth in his last ten starts here and has led over seven-hundred laps in that stretch. Once again, this is a place where he can get the job done if there aren’t any mistakes made in the pits because once you get down laps here it is hard to get them back.

Kyle Larson: Let’s not count this guy out yet. He won this race last year and finished second in the fall race in the 2016 season. Kyle could easily come away with a victory here and make his way into the second round of the playoffs. He is another of the A group drivers you could have on your roster that might make you big gains this week.

Daniel Suarez: Daniel has only run three races at this track in his young career and he hasn’t finished any worse than twelfth. He is a good driver to have on your roster this weekend as he might be that driver who astounds a lot of people in your league. He is a diamond in the rough this week and my dark horse to win.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie hasn’t been real fast all season, but this isn’t a track where the speed is the most important thing. Handling is by far the most important thing here this weekend and we have seen how Jimmie and Chad can make the right adjustments to the car to get it to be at its best late in races. Jimmie hasn’t finished worse than eleventh in his last eight starts here and could very well be a contender once again this weekend.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR RICHMOND RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Denny Hamlin
• Kyle Busch

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Daniel Suarez
• Clint Bowyer
• Ryan Newman

Driver Group Game Group C

• Alex Bowman
• William Byron

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT RICHMOND RACEWAY

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Kyle Busch
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Kyle Larson

Dark Horse: Daniel Suarez

Stay Away From: Ryan Blaney

Big 18: Denny Hamlin

With only one more race left to go before the playoffs start there are still some unanswered questions as to who will all be in and who will be out. Ryan Newman or Austin Dillon could make a big move and get in on points yet. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is about the only driver in the top seventeen who has to worry about that final spot. It looks like the top fifteen are pretty much guaranteed to be in no matter who wins this week’s race. A surprise winner or one of the two drivers already mentioned could knock him out of that final spot.

BIG MACHINE VODKA 400 AT THE BRICKYARD

Congratulations to Brad Keselowski whose crew had a great pit stop late in the race and helped get him a win as we approach the playoffs. With one wee to go most of the drivers who are in are going to be going all out for all the playoffs points they can accumulate this weekend besides the fact that every driver will be doing everything in their power to win at the prestigious Brickyard.

This weekend could be hot in Indiana as the teams head to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the running of the Big Machine Vodka 400. This track is very flat with wide sweeping corners and a hot track will make for some interesting racing with cars sliding around on the track. Look for those with a dirt track background who have had fast cars most of the year to be the contenders here this week.

Kyle Busch: Kyle is my pick to win heading into the playoffs and gain at least five more playoff points. He has won two of the last three here and finished in the top two in three of the last four races at Indy. He know that every playoff point counts and momentum heading into the playoffs will easily get him through the first round. The only thing that can keep him out of victory lane is impatience, mechanical failure, or a penalty. If he keeps a cool head early and avoids the other two catastrophe’s he will be back in victory lane.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin won his only race here was back in the 2003 season. However, he has finished in the top ten in eleven of his seventeen starts at this track. He knows a second place finish here this week won’t mean anything to him in the short or long term. He will be doing all he can to win this race and take those five playoff points away from Kyle and get his own momentum heading into the final ten races of the season.

Kyle Larson: After dominating the race at Darlington last week and then coming away with a disappointing third place finish, Kyle will have a chance to win once again this weekend. He is one of those old dirt track racers and has had a good car most of the season. In his four starts at the Brickyard he has finished in the top ten three times. This week he looks to make that big move to the winner’s circle here.

Joey Logano: Joey is looking for his first win at this track, but he has finished second here once in his nine starts. He also has six top ten finishes including his last five starts here. He is guaranteed a playoff spot with a win at Talladega earlier this year and would like to get another win at a different type of track heading into the playoffs so he can show everyone the Penske teams will need to be reckoned with the rest of the year.

Denny Hamlin: Denny won the pole once again last week, but failed to carry that through to the checkered flag. He could very well win the pole here once again this weekend. He finished in the top five in three of his last four starts here which tells us that he knows how to get around this track on a consistent basis. This team needs to figure out what adjustments they need to make during the race to keep this car fast when it comes down to crunch time.

Brad Keselowski: Last week’s winner will be looking to make it two wins in a row this week at Indy. Brad has always been pretty good here during his eight race career coming away with four top ten finishes and leading laps in six of those eight races which means he usually runs towards the front here. We might be able to see if this team finally found something at the right time of the year or not this weekend.

Matt Kenseth: Matt is going to be behind the wheel of the #6 car once again this weekend and could be a dark horse. Granted, he hasn’t run real well in his stints this season, but this is one of those tracks where he is probably the most consistent of all those entered for this race. In his eighteen starts here he has finished in the top five half of the time and in the top ten two-thirds of those races. Can he do it again? Might be worth having on your roster and watching how he practices and qualifies once again this weekend.

Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie leads all active drivers with four wins at this track. Jimmie is another of those drivers who came up through the dirt track ranks and loves running on this track. The big question is do they have enough speed for the long straightaways at this track. I’m not sure this team has shown me enough during the season or lately to peg his as a legitimate contender for this race, but one never knows for sure.

Clint Bowyer: Now I am getting into some of the drivers who haven’t been very consistent here. Clint has always been a pretty good flat track driver, but he only has three top ten finishes in his twelve starts and has led a total of six laps in those starts. Why can’t he run better here? Granted, some of those races he was running for teams without the funds of the team he is on now. So, can he have a good run this weekend? I think he can seeing how well the SHR teams have performed all season.

Ryan Newman: Ryan finished third here last year and won this race in the 2013 season. He hasn’t been the model of consistency here, but he is from Indiana and considers this his home track. He ran well last week until getting into a wreck as he was trying to pit and the Childress teams have shown a little more speed lately, so he might be worth taking a shot with if you need to find someone to fill your roster with and save some starts as there will still be ten more races to go after this week.

I am on vacation this week and will have limited access to the internet, so I might not be able to answer a lot of questions or give out advice, so don’t be disappointed.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kyle Busch
• Denny Hamlin

Driver Group Game Group B

• Ryan Newman
• Matt Kenseth
• Daniel Suarez
• Jamie McMurray

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chris Buescher
• Alex Bowman

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

1. Kyle Busch
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kyle Larson
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Joey Logano

Dark Horse: Matt Kenseth

Stay Away From: Ryan Blaney

Big 18: Kyle Busch