If you’re new to Fantasy NASCAR this year, let me be the first to welcome you to Bristol Motor Speedway. This ‘bull ring’ of a race track is a steeply-banked half-mile venue that usually provides some great racing. Track position is quite important here since the leader will start lapping cars soon after the green flag waves, although it’s not impossible for a driver to make his or her way through the field, either. Staying on the lead lap will usually guarantee you a respectable finish here. As far as Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing goes, this is a great week to use some ‘start save’ drivers in the B and C Groups in order to save the studs for more predictable race tracks. With the A Group, it’s not as important to save, as there are just so many good options available.
Yahoo! A Group Early Picks and Rankings for Bristol
Kyle Busch (8 starts remaining) – Kyle Busch is going to be on a whole lot of Yahoo! rosters this weekend, and for good reason: he’s a five-time winner at Bristol Motor Speedway and has also led over 190 laps in two of the last three races here. However, it seems like trouble has found this #18 team more often than not here in “Thunder Valley” as of late, as Rowdy has four finishes of 29th or worse in the last four races here. With that being said, this #18 Toyota was the best car at both Phoenix and Martinsville this season, and those are the only two shorter tracks that we have been to thus far. It’s tempting to leave him off of the roster entirely this weekend (great fade opportunity) but at the same time we all know that Rowdy could easily dominate this race, too.
Joey Logano (8 starts remaining) – This #22 team is coming off of another top 5 finish at Texas a couple of weeks ago and Logano now has just one finish worse than 6th so far through the 2017 season. And unless he gets into trouble here at Bristol on Sunday, you can expect that statement to stay true as we head to Richmond. Joey is a two-time Bristol Motor Speedway Cup Series winner and has finished inside the top 10 in six of his last nine starts at this track. This team is still looking for their first visit to victory lane in 2017, and you just know that once they finally hit on the perfect setup for a race weekend, Logano could easily go out and dominate the race. Will it happen this weekend at Bristol? We’ll find out soon enough…
Brad Keselowski is my top-ranked A Group driver this weekend despite having only two top 10s in his last seven starts here at Bristol. However, this #2 team is running like such a well-oiled machine right now, and don’t forget that Keselowski is a two-time winner here in “Thunder Valley.” If you want to take a contrarian strategy this weekend, keep an eye on Kevin Harvick‘s ownership before lockdown. Less than 20% of Yahoo! teams had him rostered as of this post, and that’s incredibly low for a guy that won here last August and is on a three-race streak of top 7s at this track. Harvick has also led at least 13 laps in five of the last six Bristol races. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is coming off of a great finish at Texas and really likes this track. He also finished 2nd in this race one year ago. It’s hard to trust him right now, but he’s another contrarian option.
Pre-Lockdown A Group Rankings: (1) Brad Keselowski, (2) Joey Logano, (3) Kyle Busch, (4) Kevin Harvick, (5) Jimmie Johnson, (6) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., (7) Denny Hamlin, (8) Matt Kenseth, (9) Martin Truex, Jr.
Yahoo! B Group Early Picks and Rankings for Bristol
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (9 starts remaining) – Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. has been quite the hidden gem here at Bristol Motor Speedway, and although his ownership percentage in Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing should be quite a bit higher than normal this weekend, he’ll probably still be under-owned. It’s hard to argue with consistent results here at Thunder Valley and Stenhouse has yet to finish worse than 21st in his eight career starts here and also has four results of 6th or better to his credit, including a pair of 2nd-place finishes. With the increased performance of Roush-Fenway Racing this year, don’t be surprised if Stenhouse looks strong for most of the Food City 500 race weekend. Typically he qualifies mid-pack and works his way to the front, but he could have a strong qualifying effort here on Friday.
Trevor Bayne (8 starts remaining) – The other Roushkateer doesn’t quite have as impressive stats here at Bristol specifically–although Bayne is currently on a three-race streak of top 15s in Thunder Valley–but the signs are all pointing toward another strong performance out of this #6 team on Sunday. Believe it or not, Trevor Bayne is having one of the most consistent season in the Cup garage right now, with five finishes of 13th or better in the first seven races. He has also finished better than he started in all but one event–and that was the Texas race where he ended up 13th after officially qualifying 12th (although he started in the rear). The two Roush Fords are becoming respectable again, and if you’re going with the ‘start save’ approach in Yahoo! this week, Stenhouse and Bayne are two of the best options out there.
Paul Menard (9 starts remaining) – Keep an eye on Paul Menard’s ownership before lockdown this weekend. As of this post, only 5% of Yahoo! teams had Menard on their roster. While this may seem like a typical percentage for a guy like Menard this season–considering he hasn’t finished better than 19th since his 5th-place result in the Daytona 500–let’s not forget that this is the same guy that has wound up inside the top 15 in seven of the last ten Bristol races, five of which were also top 10s. Menard isn’t a guy that’s going to look like a great Fantasy NASCAR pick this weekend, but he’s probably going to be there at the end–and that’s all that really matters.
Jamie McMurray (6 starts remaining) – Even though Bristol provides an excellent opportunity for saving starts in this Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing game, it’s not a bad idea to keep one or two of the upper tier B Group drivers on your roster this week. Jamie McMurray has been a legitimate top 10 threat in every single race this season and there’s no reason to think that will stop here in Thunder Valley. Jamie Mac finished 8th the last time we were here at Bristol and has wound up inside the top 15 in each of the last five races at “The Bullring.” The big thing to consider with McMurray right now is whether or not you think he will continue these strong showings all year long. He tends to be a streaky driver, so if the #1 team fades halfway through the year, it would have been better to use McMurray right now.
Want to dig deep in the sleeper bag? Chris Buescher. The #37 team is actually putting out very good race cars right now, and Buescher has a knack for being there at the end of races. He has finished 25th, 21st, and 5th in his three Cup starts here at Bristol Motor Speedway. As far as the two B Group studs, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson, there’s no doubt that they could potentially finish top 5 here on Sunday. However, with how valuable those two are on the bigger tracks, do you really want to waste a start here at Bristol, a track where one minor mistake can ruin a driver’s day entirely? You might stick one of those two on your roster as a backup plan but I’d prefer to not even be tempted to start them on Sunday. Austin Dillon‘s only top 10 finish of the season thus far came at the only other short track race of the season (Martinsville) a few weeks ago, and he has finished 13th or better in four of his six career starts here in the Cup Series. If his ownership in Yahoo! stays at less than 30%, he’s probably going to be on my roster this weekend.
Pre-Lockdown B Group Rankings: (1) Chase Elliott, (2) Kyle Larson, (3) Jamie McMurray, (4) Clint Bowyer, (5) Ryan Blaney, (6) Kurt Busch, (7) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., (8) Austin Dillon, (9) Kasey Kahne, (10) Ryan Newman, (11) Trevor Bayne, (12) Paul Menard, (13) A.J. Allmendinger, (14) Chris Buescher, (15) Aric Almirola, (16) Danica Patrick
Yahoo! C Group Early Picks and Rankings for Bristol
Since he finished 6th and 17th in the two Bristol races last season, Matt DiBenedetto is going to be on significantly more rosters than normal this weekend. Obviously he makes a nice start save option here but I’d rather go with a driver that is a little more reliable (and who has better equipment, too). Michael McDowell has finished 19th and 29th in the last two Bristol races and has wound up 22nd or better in three of his last five starts here as well. Additionally, Landon Cassill finished 22nd and 20th in the two Cup races here in Thunder Valley last season and even led 20 laps in this race one year ago. As far as the top C Group drivers go, I personally wouldn’t even consider rostering Erik Jones or Ty Dillon this weekend simply because they are far too valuable on other track types. Daniel Suarez, on the other hand, is an option if you want to hope for some fantasy luck on race day, and provides a nice backup plan in case McDowell or Cassill look terrible all weekend.
Pre-Lockdown C Group Rankings: (1) Erik Jones, (2) Ty Dillon, (3) Daniel Suarez, (4) Michael McDowell, (5) Landon Cassill, (6) Matt DiBenedetto, (7) David Ragan, the rest
Hey Jordan, how come on ifantasyrace you have Harvick and Johnson both ahead of KyBu in your A Tier rankings? According to the consensus on ifantasyrace the top 2 A tier drivers would be Harvick and Keselowski……just wondering?