When a game is heavily based on place differential points–as FOX Fantasy Auto is–it’s unfortunate when there are inspection problems during qualifying and a bunch of good cars have to start in the back. That’s exactly what happened this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, as a few of the favorites (namely Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott) never even made it on to the track during qualifying. It’s not as fun when situations like this happen, as it takes the skill out of the game, but that’s just how it is sometime. Those drivers starting in the back will be the highest-owned this weekend (and rightfully should) so keep in mind there’s some fade opportunities there.
My team points last week: 155
Overall team standings: 480th
Total team points for the season: 1,069
Top FOX Fantasy Auto Drivers for the 2017 Texas Race
Kyle Larson ($12,100) – Due to him being the points leader, Kyle Larson is the highest in terms of starting position among the drivers that missed qualifying on Friday. Still, the potential for a huge points day out of Larson in FOX Fantasy Auto is high considering this game is based so heavily on place differential. From a momentum perspective, this #42 team had a rough go of things at Martinsville last weekend despite starting on the pole, but you can’t look past the fact that they have been a legitimate threat to win in every other race this year. Larson was right there with the other fast cars during Happy Hour on Saturday, ranking inside the top 5 in both fastest lap and ten-lap average. He was also one of the few drivers to be fast in both practices on Saturday. Looking at the loop data for 2017, Larson has the most quality passes of any driver in the Cup Series and should add plenty more to that number this weekend.
Kyle Busch ($11,800) – There’s no other driver in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage that I would want making his way through the field more than Kyle Busch. We’ve seen Rowdy do this plenty of times in the Xfinity Series as well as a few times in the Cup Series, and there’s nobody better at navigating that traffic. Busch actually wrecked his primary car during the first practice session on Friday, and while there was extensive damage to the #18 Toyota, the team ultimately listened to the driver and decided to fix the car rather than go to a backup. Kyle obviously really liked the speed that his primary car had and didn’t mind starting in the back. Busch will be credited with the 34th-place starting spot on Sunday but should still be top 10 good–if not top 5. The #18 Toyota was just 18th-fastest in Practice #2 on Saturday but ended up 8th on the Happy Hour speed chart. Kyle won this race last year and has wound up inside the top 5 in seven of his last eight starts here at Texas Motor Speedway.
Chase Elliott ($11,600) – The #24 Chevrolet is super fast this weekend, and if Chase Elliott didn’t miss qualifying this weekend and was starting near the front, he’d definitely be considered a contender for the win. The good news for those that play FOX Fantasy Auto is that he’s going to start back in 33rd when Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 goes green, which means we’re potentially looking at a huge points day out of him. Just making it up to 10th is going to net FOX owners 54 fantasy points, but really this #24 Chevrolet is good enough to get into the top 5. Many people are concerned about whether or not the guys starting in the back will actually be able to pass and make their way through the field, but I’m not overly concerned about that. This is a 500-mile race and it wouldn’t be surprising if there are a higher-than-normal number of cautions, thus chances for additional restarts.
Erik Jones ($5,500) – Getting a potential 40+ fantasy points out of a guy in the mid-$5,000 salary range isn’t something we usually see outside of restrictor plate tracks but there’s a very good chance that Erik Jones changes that this weekend. Despite only having one top 10 to their credit thus far, this #77 team has been putting together fast race cars week in and week out, and it’s more of the same this weekend in Texas; before wrecking his primary car in the first practice session, Jones was 4th-fastest on the speed chart. He will be starting from 36th with a backup car on Sunday, but that hot rod has plenty of speed too: Erik was P24 in Practice #2 on Saturday and wound up 13th-fastest in Happy Hour. Jones did make one Cup start here at Texas on the “old” track, posting a 12th-place result in Matt Kenseth’s #20 Toyota back in 2015.
Other viable options: Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex, Jr., Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer
Stay away from…
Joey Logano ($13,100) – Using up $13,100 on one driver is almost never a good idea in FOX Fantasy Auto, and that’s even more true when said driver starts 4th and doesn’t look to have a race-winning car. Now, Logano should be able to ride inside the top 5 all day long on Sunday, but even if that happens you’re only looking at a high-30s points day out of him in this Fantasy NASCAR game. For comparison, you can jump down and grab Kyle Busch, and he’ll pass 40 FOX fantasy points if he ends up 17th or better–plus you’ll save $1,300 in cap room. It’s not a terrible idea to play a little conservative (meaning target finish fantasy points over place differential points) in this game during most races, but the best time to do that is when the driver is moderately priced. That’s not the case with Logano this weekend.
Ryan Blaney ($9,100) – Just like Logano, Ryan Blaney’s price is too high in FOX Fantasy Auto this weekend, especially considering the #21 Ford will be starting from the outside pole when this thing gets going. The latter point is the real reason to stay away from Ryan Blaney this weekend, though–at least in this game. Blaney does have a strong race car for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, but even if he does end up winning the race (which, honestly, isn’t likely), FOX Fantasy Auto owners are only looking at 45 points out of Blaney. Most likely, Ryan is going to end up between 6th and 10th on Sunday, which means he’s only getting finish points in this game. Over 20% of FOX teams had Blaney on their roster as of Saturday afternoon, but there are better options in this price range.
