This week with our FOX Fantasy Auto picks, it’s going to be a little more difficult to pick the drivers that will make their way toward the front after starting further back in the pack. We say this because of how the races here at Texas Motor Speedway played out last season: in both events, most of the drivers that finished up front also started there. The majority of top 10 finishers in the Texas races last season started inside the top 15, so that doesn’t leave a lot of room for place differential points. There’s also some outrageous pricing this week, with Jimmie Johnson leading the way at $14,200. There’s also quite a gap between the low dollar drivers and the mid-to-high dollar drivers, so strategies are probably going to differ across the board this week–meaning rosters with mostly mid-dollar drivers or those with a few high dollar ones paired with a very low dollar ones.
Last week, the Fantasy Racing Online team had its worst outing of the season at Martinsville with a pathetic 107 total points. We’re definitely looking to rebound this week at Texas and “get back on track” a bit. Remember, these full-season Fantasy NASCAR games are marathons, not sprints. You’re going to occasionally have bad weeks, so try not to overreact and go with a hail mary roster this week to try and make up for it.
FOX Fantasy Auto Picks for the Texas Duck Commander 500
Kyle Busch ($13,100) – It’s going to be interesting to see what the best roster in FOX Fantasy Auto is going to be comprised of because, on paper, the absolute best choices are the guys that cost the most. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Jimmie Johnson will all start outside of the top 10 on Saturday night yet should be the ones that are fighting for the win when it’s all said and done. Anyway, Kyle Busch hasn’t been overly impressive on the speed charts this weekend but the #18 Toyota has gotten progressively better since the team unloaded. In Happy Hour, Rowdy ended up 3rd on the speed chart with the 14th-best ten-lap average. He has finished 4th or better in five of his last six starts here at Texas Motor Speedway and if it wasn’t for that blown tire at Fontana Kyle’s worst finish in 2016 would be 4th as well. In our opinion, he’s a must-pick in FOX Fantasy Auto this week.
Kevin Harvick ($13,800) – We simply can’t pass up these place differential points. Kevin Harvick will start the Duck Commander 500 from 22nd on Saturday night but should definitely be a challenger for the win. This #4 Chevrolet is a top 5 threat every single week so why would this weekend be any different? Harvick hasn’t finished worse than 3rd in the last three Texas races and probably would have four finishes inside that mark if it wasn’t for his blown engine in the spring race of 2014. Surprisingly, he’s never been to victory lane here at Texas Motor Speedway (in a Cup car) but that’s going to change soon. Will it be this weekend? The #4 Chevrolet will definitely be in the mix. Harvick had the 4th-best ten-lap average during Happy Hour.
Brad Keselowski ($11,500) – Brad Keselowski has been one of the best drivers here at Texas Motor Speedway as of late and is currently on a three-race streak of top 5 finishes. Overall, he has six results of 9th or better in the last seven races here and his only exception was the spring 2014 race where he finished 15th. It should be noted that Keselowski led 85 laps in that race, though, and started on the outside pole. For Saturday night’s Duck Commander 500, Brad will start from the 8th place, so there’s a little bit of room for place differential points there. We’re really just banking on him finishing around the top 5, though. The #2 Ford ranked 3rd in ten-lap average during Happy Hour on Friday and momentum-wise, this team is starting to build some with four top 10s in the last five Sprint Cup races–and that includes that win at Las Vegas.
Chase Elliott ($5,000) – This might not seem like the best pick on paper, but hear us out on this one. This #24 Chevrolet has a bunch of speed this weekend (Chase will start 4th) and we really think the driver’s style of racing is really going to be an advantage on Saturday night. Additionally, Chase won the XFinity race here last season, and that’s noteworthy because there were five Sprint Cup drivers that finished right behind him–including Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. The #24 Chevrolet ranked 6th in ten-lap average during that final practice session on Friday and if Elliott can pull off a top 10 finish (or better) on Saturday night, we’ll be just fine with that. Remember, you don’t lose points based on place differential in this game.
Danica Patrick ($6,500) – In order to afford those high-priced drivers above, we’re going to have to put a couple low-dollar drivers on our roster. We’ve decided on Danica Patrick for a couple of reasons. While this may be a risky pick, we don’t see a lot of other teams going with her, plus there aren’t many other options in this price range. Anyway, to the reasons we’re rolling with the #10 Chevrolet this weekend. First, Danica finished 16th in both Texas races last season. That’s also finished there last weekend at Martinsville, and she has been a top 20 car for almost every race this season so far, excluding the Daytona 500 and Fontana, where Kasey Kahne flat-out wrecked her. Also, Danica posted the 9th-best lap in Happy Hour on Friday, and that’s typically a good sign for her. Her ten-lap average was dead last in that session, but it was so far off the leaders that we think she was on old tires during her run. The #10 Chevrolet will start Saturday night’s race from 26th place, meaning a top 20 finish would net us close to 30 points. We’ll take that out of a $6,500 driver any week.
