When the Sprint Cup Series stops at a short track, typically the best Fantasy NASCAR strategy is to pick the drivers that start up front. However, for this weekend’s Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, there are quite a few good drivers that are starting pretty far back, including Kyle Busch (12th), Joey Logano (15th), and Kevin Harvick (19th). With that being said, there are plenty of good drivers starting up front as well.
Last week at Chicagoland, our official Fantasy Racing Online team scored 352 points thanks to a last-minute change from Kevin Harvick to Brad Keselowski. We now sit in the 80th percentile overall with nine races to go. We probably don’t have the chance to score that many points this weekend at Loudon, but a 300-point week isn’t out of reach.
Yahoo! A Group Pick and Final Rankings for Loudon 2
We once again have a choice to make involving Kevin Harvick. Our two A Group drivers this week are him and Denny Hamlin, and although the #4 Chevrolet might be a little better speed-wise, Hamlin holds a definite advantage with starting position: 5th to 19th. Hamlin is a two-time winner here at Loudon and finished 2nd in this race one year ago. However, that’s his only top 5 here in the last seven events at this track. However, with the momentum that this team has, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he finished up front once again. Harvick, on the other hand, is going to have to work his way through traffic, but if he can get up front, he could win this race. Our gut says go with Kevin Harvick but our brain says Denny Hamlin, and as of now we’re starting him.
Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth both have top 5 potential this weekend, although Rowdy has more speed in race trim. With that being said, Kenseth has won the last two races here at Loudon and three of the last six. Don’t be surprised if both challenge for the win on Sunday. Jimmie Johnson once again has a great car and could find his way up front pretty early considering he starts 4th. However, that team continues to make mistake after mistake, and any mistake at New Hampshire is a race-killing error. Both of the Penske Racing Fords (Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano) have great records at this race track but haven’t found a lot of speed this weekend. We’re confident that they will be fine on race day, although probably not top 5.
Final A Group Rankings: (1) Denny Hamlin, (2) Kevin Harvick, (3) Kyle Busch, (4) Jimmie Johnson, (5) Matt Kenseth, (6) Brad Keselowski, (7) Joey Logano, (8) Kurt Busch
Yahoo! B Group Picks and Final Rankings for Loudon 2
Well, our plan to save Martin Truex, Jr. and Carl Edwards doesn’t look like the best choice this weekend. Not only did they both qualify on the front row for the Bad Boy Off Road 300, but they both look like they have enough speed to challenge for the win on Sunday (especially Truex). However, we’re not going to waste all of our time talking about drivers we don’t have so let’s get to our B Group selections.
Our four B Group drivers for Loudon 2 are Ryan Newman (qualified 3rd), Jamie McMurray (7th), Kasey Kahne (9th), and Austin Dillon (29th). Right off the bad, Austin Dillon is eliminated from potentially starting. Yes, we like him in other leagues that award points for place differential, but he’s not even an option in Yahoo!, in our opinion. And while Ryan Newman does have the starting position advantage everyone else, he didn’t show a whole lot of speed during the practice sessions on Saturday and has been a fantasy disappointment in most races this season.
So that means we’re going to roll with Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne in the B Group this weekend. Right now, Kahne has more momentum than he has had in quite a while, and he finished 9th in this race one year ago. Additionally, #5 Chevrolet was 3rd-fastest in Happy Hour on Saturday and had the 8th-best ten-lap average as well. Jamie McMurray, on the other hand, has ended up 16th or better in six of the last seven Loudon races and had better-than-average speed in both practice sessions on Saturday. Both of these drivers should at least be top 15 on Sunday.
Kyle Larson is another B Group driver that could potentially win this race on Sunday. He starts 6th and had great speed on Saturday, posting the 6th- and 3rd-best ten-lap averages during the two sessions. Larson has ran up front here at Loudon in the past and is a legitimate top 5 threat this weekend. Other than that, we don’t really see many other B Group drivers having a great race on Sunday. Tony Stewart starts back in 22nd and hasn’t shown a whole lot of speed this weekend. He’s one of those drivers that often gambles on fuel here at Loudon, though, which can either be great or terrible for fantasy owners. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is a nice sleeper option this weekend in most leagues, but when you’re going for maximum points in Yahoo!, he’s probably not worth it. At best, Stenhouse has a top 15 car, but it’s more likely just a top 20 machine.
Final B Group Rankings: (1) Martin Truex, Jr., (2) Carl Edwards, (3) Kyle Larson, (4) Kasey Kahne, (5) Jamie McMurray, (6) Ryan Newman, (7) Tony Stewart, (8) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., (9) A.J. Allmendinger, (10) Austin Dillon, (11) Aric Almirola, (12) Paul Menard, (13) Greg Biffle, (14) Trevor Bayne, (15) Danica Patrick, (16) Clint Bowyer, (17) Casey Mears,
Yahoo! C Group Pick and Final Rankings for Loudon 2
Once again Chase Elliott has a whole bunch of speed and with how streaky this #24 team can be, it should be a good weekend to have Chase on your Fantasy NASCAR rosters. He’s by far the best C Group driver this weekend, but depending on your start situation it may not be the best race to use him. Ryan Blaney has been just middle-of-the-road in terms of speed this weekend but if this race turns into an attrition event he could very well finish up around 11th like he did here back in July. So in an effort to save our last 2 remaining Chase Elliott starts, we’re going to go with Blaney on Sunday. If you have 3 or more Elliott starts, we’d recommend going with the #24 on Sunday, and you could even make a case for starting him with 2 starts left. As far the only other viable C Group option, Alex Bowman showed top 10 speed in both practice sessions on Saturday and could very well run up there during the race on Sunday. He was a top 10 threat late in the race here back in July but wrecked and ended up 26th.
Final C Group Rankings: (1) Chase Elliott, (2) Ryan Blaney, (3) Alex Bowman, (4) Chris Buescher, (5) David Ragan, (6) Michael McDowell, (7) Landon Cassill, (8) Brian Scott, the rest
