Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing players got a couple breaks this weekend. First was Jeff Gordon being placed into the C Group, which means we have an excellent start save option for this week’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well as next week’s race at Pocono. The second break we got was being able to see practice before locking down–although sometimes it’s more difficult to analyze those practice sessions as opposed to a “normal” weekend. As mentioned in our FOX Fantasy Auto picks post this week, starting position doesn’t mean a whole lot here. With that being said, starting up front is always more re-assuring for the fantasy owner, and we saw the drivers that started up front at Pocono last month also finish there, so that’s something to remember.
Last week at Loudon, we had top 10 finishers Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman on our bench while we started Carl Edwards and Kyle Larson, who both disappointed. We ended up with 234 points and fell down to the 63rd percentile overall.
Yahoo! A Group Pick and Final Rankings for Indy
Our initial picks in the A Group for Yahoo! this week were Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano, but after the two practice sessions on Friday, we decided to go with Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson instead. Honestly, that #48 Chevrolet had one of the best cars on Friday, and if he’s going to break out of this little (actually, pretty big) slump he’s in, why not at a track where he’s won at four times? Yes, just one top 10 finish since April is very concerning–and it shows with only 15% of teams rostering Johnson this week–but we can’t argue with speed.
Johnson was fastest in Practice #1 this week and ranked 7th on the overall speed chart in Happy Hour with the 4th-best ten-lap average. Kyle Busch, on the other hand, posted the fastest lap in that final session and had the 2nd-best ten-lap average. He’s also the defending winner of this race. Kyle Busch is probably the safer pick this weekend, but both he and the #48 should be contenders here on Sunday. We’re going to start Kyle Busch, though, because he starts on the pole and he has that badass Skittles paint scheme this weekend. Sometimes you just have to go with the crowd in this game, and Kyle Busch was rostered by almost half of all Yahoo! teams this week.
Kevin Harvick has a car strong enough to contend here on Sunday, and has had one of the best at Indianapolis over the past couple of years as well. But with how this pit crew continues to screw him over week after week, we think it’s better to hold off on using him until the Chase or until changes are made to that crew. Harvick won’t win another race until changes are made. Kyle Busch, Johnson, and Harvick were the three best A Group drivers on Friday, but Denny Hamlin through his name into the mix by focusing on race runs in Happy Hour and posting the best ten-lap average. He’s also finished top 5 in the last two Brickyard races, so he’s a nice off-sequence pick as well. The rest of the A Group drivers are top 10 at best going into Sunday but you never know how these races are going to play out. If you have any of the four mentioned above on your roster, though, we think you have to start one of those guys. One note we would like to make about Joey Logano: he has been disappointing this whole weekend, and we’re not sure why. He’s been really good here over the last few years, but this might be the Brickyard race to avoid him…
Final A Group Rankings: (1) Kyle Busch, (2) Kevin Harvick, (3) Jimmie Johnson, (4) Denny Hamlin, (5) Brad Keselowski, (6) Kurt Busch, (7) Matt Kenseth, (8) Joey Logano
Yahoo! B Group Picks and Final Rankings for Indy
Carl Edwards made our roster this weekend but it was only for potential qualifying points, so that eliminates him as a potential starter right away. That leaves Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, and Kasey Kahne, all of whom had pretty good practice sessions on Friday. “The Rocketman” had good speed off the truck, which doesn’t happen often. He was 5th-fastest in Practice #1 and ranked 4th in Happy Hour. He hasn’t finished worse than 12th here at Indianapolis since the 2010 season, and that streak includes his win here in 2013.
Kasey Kahne has also looked pretty good this weekend, ranking 11th on the Practice #1 speed chart and 5th on the ten-lap average chart in Happy Hour. It’s never easy to trust Kahne but he does have six finishes of 13th or better in the last eight Indianapolis races and has been running pretty well overall over the last few months. Tony Stewart has been as well, with four finishes of 7th or better in the last five Sprint Cup races. He’s making his final start here at The Brickyard on Sunday and that #14 team has been improving on the car all weekend long. Smoke may not look like a great fantasy option heading into the Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400, but he should be there in the end.
As far as the other B Group drivers go, Carl Edwards has finished between 13th and 15th in four of the last five Indianapolis races. He’s shown decent speed this weekend but we don’t think it’s worth a start. Martin Truex, Jr. should at least be a top 10 threat (if not top 5), but he’s still hitting bad luck on a pretty consistent basis. We think there are other viable B Group options to use to save a Truex start. Speaking of bad luck, Kyle Larson says that he’s running into that a lot lately, but we disagree. We think it’s an incompetent crew chief on the pit box. Still, Larson has finished 7th and 9th in his two career Brickyard starts and posted a top 5 lap in Happy Hour on Friday.
Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon have shown top 15 potential this weekend, and Paul Menard is one of the most consistent top 15 finishers here at Indianapolis (five in the last six races). If you’re looking for a sleeper, A.J. Allmendinger is your guy. He had top 15 speed in both practice sessions on Friday and has never finished worse than 23rd in seven career starts at this track. Greg Biffle is running well as of late and getting top 10 finishes, but it’s the same story every week: he never looks that good in practice or qualifying (or both) so it’s hard to recommend him with confidence. By the way, we plan on starting Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman on Sunday.
Final B Group Rankings: (1) Tony Stewart, (2) Martin Truex, Jr. (3) Carl Edwards, (4) Ryan Newman, (5) Austin Dillon, (6) Kyle Larson, (7) Jamie McMurray, (8) Greg Biffle, (9) Kasey Kahne, (10) Paul Menard, (11) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (12) Trevor Bayne, (13) Danica Patrick, (14) A.J. Allmendinger, (15) Aric Almirola, (16) Casey Mears, (17) Clint Bowyer
Yahoo! C Group Pick and Final Rankings for Indy
Yahoo! Fantasy Auto players that haven’t been wise with their Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney starts this season got a huge–huge!–gift this weekend when it was announced that Jeff Gordon will race here at Indianapolis and was then subsequently placed into the C Group. No matter what your start situation is with these lower drivers, you have to have Jeff Gordon as your C Group starter this weekend. The only excuse not to is if you don’t have him on your team, and if that’s so, we can’t help you. Gordon is in top tier equipment, if a five-time winner at this race track, and has seven top 10 finishes in the last nine Brickyard races. Jeff Gordon should be the C Group starter for everyone playing this game, no questions asked. In order to make the start math work this season, you basically have to. Plus, he was pretty speedy in practice this weekend, posting the 9th-best lap in Practice #1 on Friday.
Final C Group Rankings: (1) Ryan Blaney, (2) Chase Elliott, (3) Jeff Gordon, (4) David Ragan, (5) Michael McDowell, (6) Chris Buescher, (7) Landon Cassill, (8) Regan Smith, the rest
