Fantasy NASCAR Blog

Almost a third of the way through the season and we have ten different winners already. There has been some pretty good racing so far and that’s why we have so many different winners. Now will that trend continue? There are three drivers who won a total of twenty-one races between them last season that don’t have any wins yet this year.

GOODYEAR 400

This week the series heads to the Darlington Raceway also know as The Lady in Black or The Track Too Tough To Tame. Both of these names are appropriate for this track which is a slightly less than mile and a half track, but the configuration is more of an egg shape than an oval. That makes getting the cars to handle appropriately a bit of a challenge for the crew chiefs. You can make adjustments to help you on one end of the track, but they might hurt the handling on the other end of the track. Makes for some interesting racing.

Kevin Harvick: I’m going to pick Kevin to win his first race of the season at Darlington. He has won two of the last three races run here and has nine top five finishes in his last ten starts at this track. His lowest finish in that stretch is a ninth place finish. This team has some good notes they can use to get their car close to handling the way they want it to off the truck and should have a slight advantage early in this race.

Kyle Larson: Kyle right now seems like the odds on favorite to win the championship this year. That can all change as we have a long way to go to even get to the playoffs, but he is in the mix each and every week. He is going to provide the most competition for Kevin this week once again. He has only run six races at this track and is looking for his first win, but has finished in the top three in three of his last four starts here and has lead more laps in his last two starts than anyone else has in their last five starts.

Kyle Busch: Last week’s winner hasn’t won at Darlington since the 2008 season and that is his only win here. With that being said we can also look at his track record and see that once he wins a race he can win multiple races in a row. He has finished in the top ten in nine of his last eleven starts at this track and has momentum on his side.

Brad Keselowski: Brad won here in the fall of 2018 and has been pretty consistent. Not as consistent as Kevin, but still someone to watch. He has four top five finishes and hasn’t finished worse than fifteenth in his last eight starts at this track. This team does a good job of figuring out what changes they need to make to their cars to get them to handle the way they want as the race progresses which gives them a shot a winning.

Kurt Busch: Kurt hasn’t run as well as I expected him to so far this season, but you never know when they are going to hit on something. He has finished in the top ten in six of his last eight starts at Darlington, but surprisingly has never won here. This could be one of those weeks where experience comes out on top as the younger drivers will be messing with the Darlington stripe and Kurt should be able to avoid that.

Denny Hamlin: Denny has three wins at this track with the last one coming in the middle race here last year. This team is looking for their first win of the season and this track is a little bit like Pocono in the fact that both ends of the track are configured differently and you need to have your car setup to be balanced so you don’t lose too much time on one end as opposed to the other.

Erik Jones: Erik in my dark horse this week. He has only run six races at this track and has never finished outside the top ten. He also has one win here. The reason he’s a dark horse instead of a solid contender is the fact that he’s on a new team this season and hasn’t shown a lot yet. Still, if he can relay what he needs to his crew chief they could make the right adjustments and get him another top ten finish here.

Joey Logano: Joey is another driver looking for his first win at this track. He isn’t as consistent as some of the other drivers here, but he still run well more often than not. He has five top six finishes in his last eight starts and has scored points in eight of the last twelve stages run here. There are probably tracks where Joey is more consistent and we’ll save him up for those races.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin runs well here himself, but just doesn’t seem to come away with the finishes he would like. In the last twelve stages run here he has won four and finished the stage in the top three eight times. In fact, the only person who has lead more laps here over the past five races is Kyle Larson. Sooner or later things are going to break right for Martin and he will head back to victory lane for the second time in his career at this track.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR DARLINGTON RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Kevin Harvick

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kyle Larson
• Kurt Busch

Driver Group Game Group C

• Michael McDowell

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Kyle Larson
3. Kyle Busch
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Brad Keselowski

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Bubba Wallace

Big 18: Kyle Larson

The second restrictor plate race is in the books and it kind of reminded me of the Tour De France. All of the manufacturers drivers stuck together to draft and only made moves to pass when the wanted to take spots away or to gain stage points. The big wrecks were a part of the overall race once again too.

BUSCHY MCBUSCH RACE

This week the series heads to the Kansas Speedway and the running of the Buschy McBusch Race. Kansas Speedway is another of the cookie cutter mile and a half tracks on the circuit. So far this season the Hendrick teams have looks like the dominant teams on this type of track. So, we’ll most likely want to stick with those drivers in our lineup this weekend.

Chase Elliott: I’m going to go with Chase to pick up his first win of the season as one of the Hendrick drivers who should be good once again this weekend. It’s time for last year’s champion to visit victory lane and punch his ticket for the playoffs. He has one win and has finished in the top twelve in each of his last seven starts here.

Kyle Larson: Kyle is looking for his first win at this track, but has run very well in his first season with Hendrick Motorsports. This is one of those tracks where he can run either on the top like he likes or on the bottom depending on how well his car handles. I look for him to have another very good run this weekend.

Alex Bowman: I think this might be the week where Alex gets back to running as well as the rest of his teammates. This is one of his favorite tracks and he has finished in the top three in two of his last four starts at Kansas. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him run away with this race similar to what William Byron did at Homestead-Miami earlier this year.

William Byron: Speaking of William, he should have a great shot at winning here this week too. There is no reason to think that his win at Homestead was a fluke as he dominated the final stage of that race. I look for all of the Hendrick drivers to lend some stiff competition to the rest of the field this week.

Denny Hamlin: Denny won this race last year and is looking for his first win of the season to get himself squared away for the playoffs. I mentioned last week that some drivers will start pushing a bit more if they don’t have a win on the year. Everyone wants that win to secure a spot in the playoffs before the final race before they start so they don’t have to worry about pointing themselves in.

Martin Truex Jr.: Martin had been dominant on a couple of short tracks this season being the only driver with multiple wins thus far this year. He usually runs very well on this type of track and has seven top ten finishes in his last eight starts at this track including back to back wins in the 2017 season.

Kevin Harvick: Another driver looking for his first win of the year, Kevin doesn’t seem like someone who’ll get rattled as we get closer to the playoffs. I’m sure this team has had meetings trying to figure out what they need to do to be a little faster and they know that sooner or later everything will land right if they just keep doing what they do best.

Brad Keselowski: Last week’s winner has been fairly good at Kansas lately coming away with four top six finishes in his last five starts including a win in this race two years ago. Now that they have a win to their credit this season they can take chances they might not take otherwise to get Brad into a position to compete for another win at Kansas.

Joey Logano: Joey won the fall race here last year and should be able to bring a similar setup this weekend and could be pretty fast right from the git go. The only issue I see here is that Joey isn’t real consistent at this track only having three top ten finishes in his last eight starts. I think there are better tracks to use Joey at and all of the Penske teams will get better as the season progresses.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR INSERT TRACK NAME

Driver Group Game Group A

• Chase Elliott

Driver Group Game Group B

• Alex Bowman
• William Byron

Driver Group Game Group C

• Chase Briscoe

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT INSERT TRACK NAME

1. Chase Elliott
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Kyle Larson
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Alex Bowman

Dark Horse: Erik Jones

Stay Away From: Chris Buescher

Big 18: Alex Bowman

We now approach race number ten on the season. The weeks are flying by and we’ll be to the playoffs before you know it. Some drivers are starting to get antsy looking for their first win on the season and the chance to lock themselves into the playoffs. This could be the week where the pressure really mounts depending on who wins this race.

GEICO 500

This week’s race is the second restrictor plate race of the season will be held at the Talladega Superspeedway and I’ll warn you right away. Don’t use the best drivers in your group. As in those you will use on nine other tracks during the season. The risk of an accident taking out a third of the field through no fault of most of those involved is too great to take here. I’ll tell you who I think is going to be good this week, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll have them in my lineup. It’s a game of deciding when is the best time to use them.

Joey Logano: Joey has lead more laps at Talladega than any other active driver. Then again, he only has three wins to show for it. That kind of tells you that someone can be really good here and lead a lot of laps but still find it difficult to win a race. In fact, in twenty-four starts at Talladega, Joey hasn’t finished seven of those races. Mostly because of accidents that were no fault of his own.

Denny Hamlin: I’m really tempted to use Denny here because of how good he is on both of the restrictor plate tracks. He has two wins here and only Joey has lead more laps than him during their careers when we talk about active drivers. You really need to look at each of your leagues and how many starts you get with your drivers and who is in each group. For the DGG league it might be worth it to take either of these top two drivers as there are plenty of other options for the rest of the season with most of those drivers being contenders at every track.

Brad Keselowski: Brad leads all active drivers with five wins at Talladega. That kind of fits in with teammate, Joey Logano, leading more laps than any other active driver. Brad seems to be able to find his teammates and draft well with them and if they aren’t around he finds someone else who can get him to the front and you know he isn’t going to be content pushing someone else to the victory without trying to pass them at the end himself.

Kurt Busch: Kurt is my dark horse this week. Not because you could pick any driver to be a dark horse, but because he has been so good here and never won yet. He’s bound to break into the win column sometime and always seems to run better here than at Daytona for some reason. He’s as good a pick as anyone else to win this race, but once again look at your options before you decide to use him.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan has won twice in only thirteen starts here and that leads me to comment on the Penske teams at this track. They all seem to have something that other teams are missing. That something is being able to pull out of the draft and still pass cars in front of them. There is something they have in the power of their cars that give them an advantage when trying to pass that can get them a spot here or there and at the end of the race you might only need to pass one car to win.

Chase Elliott: Another driver with out a lot of starts at Talladega, Chase has been very impressive here too. In only ten start he has one win and has finished in the top five in three of his last six starts. That tells me he has learned in each of his races here how to get to the front and give himself a chance to win at the end. The main thing is trying to be patient and stay out of trouble early in the race.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Here is the real wild card. You just never know if he’s going to do something early in the race to cause an accident or create a bunch of enemies who won’t want to help him at the end. On the other hand he has finished in the top ten in sixty percent of his starts here. He always has a car fast enough and he knows how to side draft other cars to his advantage, but he also makes mistakes while doing that and creates a lot of chaos. Still worth taking a shot on this week.

Aric Almirola: Aric really runs well here and has one win to show for it along with almost winning again last year. In fact, he had a streak of eight straight top ten finishes broken up last year when he got knocked into the wall late in the race while leading which is the reason he didn’t have another top ten finish to keep that streak alive. Another driver you have to decide on when you really want to use him.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is another driver who fares a bit better at Daytona than Talladega, but that doesn’t mean he can’t win here. He has one win in his career and he’s patient if his car isn’t handling real well early in the race. When that happens you won’t even here much about him until all of a sudden in the last fifteen laps or so it seems like he comes out of nowhere to be a contender once again.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Brad Keselowski

Driver Group Game Group B

• Matt DiBenedetto
• Chris Buescher

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY

1. Denny Hamlin
2. Joey Logano
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Aric Almirola
5. Ryan Blaney

Dark Horse: Kurt Busch

Stay Away From: Martin Truex Jr.

Big 18: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Congratulations to Martin Truex Jr. who became the first repeat winner of the 2021 season on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway after the race was halted on Saturday night for rain and had to be continued the following day. Two tough weeks in a row for race fans with races being pushed back. Not to mention what it means to the drivers and their teams.

TOYOTA OWNERS 400

This week the series heads to the Richmond Raceway for the running of the Toyota Owners 400. Once again we are on a flat track that is relatively short, but not as short as Martinsville. We should see some of the same type of racing this week.

Martin Truex Jr.: I have to stick with Martin to win back to back races this week. In his last four Richmond starts, Martin has two wins, a runner-up finish and a third place finish. He will be the odds on favorite to win once again this weekend and there’s no reason to think he won’t run up front most of the day.

Kyle Busch: This might be the time to take a chance on Kyle if you are behind and know the leaders are going to take other drivers. In his last ten starts at this track Kyle has two wins, three runner-up finishes and has only finished outside the top ten once during that stretch. He could pull out a win this weekend.

Brad Keselowski: After a rough weekend at Martinsville, Brad and his team will be looking for a little better conclusion to this week’s race. Brad won the race here last fall and hasn’t finished outside the top eleven in his last ten starts at Richmond. He should fair much better this week than last.

Chase Elliott: Chase came close to winning last weekend and all of the Hendrick teams have been running well this year for the most part. I think Chase has a good chance to pick up his first win at this track where his previous best was a second place finish. I think he’ll be in the mix once again this weekend.

Denny Hamlin: Denny dominated the early parts of the race last weekend at Martinsville before being overtaken late in the race by both Martin and Chase. He has eight top six finishes in his last ten starts here and should have some confidence following last weeks strong start.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin is looking for his first win at Richmond since the 2013 season. However he has still finished in the top five in eight of his last twelve starts and has been very consistent here throughout his career. He should be a contender once again this week.

Joey Logano: Joey also had a pretty good run at Martinsville last week and has been very consistent over the long haul at Richmond. In fact, Joey has finished in the top ten here in eleven of his last thirteen starts. This is going to be a great race to watch with so many drivers who are consistently good.

Kyle Larson: Kyle has been having a great season so far and this is another week where he should run well. He won here back in the 2017 season and has finished in the top ten in four of his last five starts. It seems that he has been running even better with his new team than he has throughout his early career.

Austin Dillon: Austin didn’t run very well here in his early years, but lately he has figured something out. He finished fourth here last year and has finished in the top six in three of his last four starts. He’s my dark horse this weekend.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR RICHMOND RACEWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kyle Busch
• Austin Dillon

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT RICHMOND RACEWAY

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Chase Elliott
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Austin Dillon

Stay Away From: Erik Jones

Big 18: Martin Truex Jr.

After the fiasco that was the Bristol Dirt Race and a week off for the Easter holiday, the drivers head to the Martinsville Speedway for the running of the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500.

BLUE-EMU MAXIMUM PAIN RELIEF 500

What can you say about NASCAR’s attempt to run a race on a dirt track without doing any testing prior to it. What a fiasco it turned out to be once again. When will they learn to take expert advice? They could have went to Eldora Speedway to run the races and that has been proven for years and years. This is Tony Stewart’s track and it wouldn’t have taken much advertising to get fans interested in the race. Instead they had tire issues and overheating issues because they didn’t want to listen to anyone.

Anyway, let’s see what we can figure out for this Saturday night’s race at Martinsville. The shortest track on the circuit and one of the flattest tracks too. Handling means more than speed at this track and the use of the chrome horn usually comes into play. Drivers won’t be having a lot of patience with slower cars in front of them as they move them out of the way to get by.

Martin Truex Jr.: I’m picking Martin to win this week on a short flat track. He has won 2 of the last three races here and has finished in the top five in five of his last seven Martinsville starts. He also has lead almost 750 laps in his last six races here which leads all drivers over that stretch.

Brad Keselowski: Brad has nine top five finishes in his last ten Martinsville starts including two wins. His other finish in that stretch was a top ten finish. That tells me that Brad has figured out a way to get around this track and communicate with his crew chief to relay the adjustments he needs to make his car handle better as the race moves through it’s stages.

Ryan Blaney: Ryan has finished runner-up here in each of his last two starts. He has also finished in the top five in five of his last six races here. This is the type of racing Ryan enjoys. The type where you can trade a little paint with your competitors if you need to move them to get by. One of the moves that has been prevalent here for a long time.

Chase Elliott: Chase won the fall race here last year on his way to his first championship. I think he has really learned how to run on the flat tracks over the past few seasons and is one of the drivers to beat on a weekly basis no matter what type of track he is on.

Joey Logano: All of the Penske drivers run extremely well here and Joey is no exception. He has seven top ten finishes in his last nine starts including a win back in the fall of 2018. With three drivers on the same team it makes it a bit tougher to get by them all if they are running up front together. Two can do a bit of blocking to keep the leader out front.

Kyle Busch: Not that long ago, Kyle had a run of eight straight top five finishes at Martinsville which included two wins and two runner-up finishes. The last year and a half has been a struggle for this team, but they seem to be getting a bit better once again. I’m not sure if this is the right time to use Kyle or if we should give them more time and see if they can consistently run in the top ten again.

Kurt Busch: Kurt has four top ten finishes in his last five starts at this track and has actually been more consistent than his little brother lately. This is the type of track where this team has a better chance to win as they don’t need the power as much as the handling on this track. I think Kurt should come away with another top ten finish this week.

Denny Hamlin: Denny used to be very dominant here early in his career. He has won five times at Martinsville, but four of those wins came before the 2011 season. Lately he has been doing a lot of wheel hopping here and with all of the pit road speeding penalties he gets this isn’t the place to take a chance on him. A pit road penalty will put you multiple laps down and those are very hard to make up.

Kevin Harvick: Kevin has had good stretches and bad stretches at this track in his career. He has never been consistent enough to say, yes, this is Kevin’s week to win. In his last ten starts he had a stretch of five straight top ten finishes and then the other five races he finished anywhere from fifteenth to twentieth. That just isn’t good enough to take a chance on him this week when you are limited in the amount of starts a driver gets during the season.

DRIVER GROUP GAME FANTASY NASCAR PICKS FOR MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

Driver Group Game Group A

• Martin Truex Jr.

Driver Group Game Group B

• Kurt Busch
• Alex Bowman

Driver Group Game Group C

• Ryan Preece

MY TOP-5 OVERALL AT MARTINSVILLE SPEEDWAY

1. Martin Truex Jr.
2. Brad Keselowski
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Chase Elliott
5. Kyle Busch

Dark Horse: Alex Bowman

Stay Away From: Ross Chastain

Big 18: Denny Hamlin