FullTime Fantasy

Facebook-f X-twitter Instagram Youtube

Category: Season Long – NASCAR

Fantasy NASCAR: Firekeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway Quick Picks

We’ve got a busy weekend of racing, and the Cup Series has a pair of races on tap at Michigan International Speedway. Saturday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 will kick things off, and while you can definitely have Fantasy NASCAR success at two-mile tracks like Michigan by loading up on big names, the weekend format creates opportunities to steal some starts from other options. For starters, there are only a couple of two-mile ovals on the schedule, Michigan and Auto Club Speedway, so we don’t have a ton of data to work with, especially with this rules package. More importantly, we essentially have a chance to scout ahead for Sunday’s second race during Saturday’s event. For Fantasy Live and the Driver Group Game, I like the idea of skewing my lineups more towards the big names in the first race while I try to identify potential mid-tier and sleeper options to use in the second leg of the doubleheader on Sunday. This way, you should be able to have a couple of successful races at Michigan while also helping to budget your driver allocations a bit. The format could also create the opportunity to post a big score in the Slingshot contest on Sunday. Instead of the field being set by owner point tiers, the Top 20 finishers on Saturday will be inverted while the rest of the drivers start Sunday’s race where they finished in the first event. In other words, we could actually see some big names have serious place differential upside instead of all of them starting towards the front. Join FullTime Fantasy for top advice in the industry from check-cashing, proven winners! NASCAR.com Fantasy Live Kevin Harvick He has been the most consistent driver in the series all year, and Harvick has cracked the Top 10 in all four races at two-mile ovals with the new rules package, posting a 5.2 average finish and winning at Michigan last August. After drawing the No. 3 starting spot, Harvick should run in the Top 5 all afternoon and will likely contend for the win. Joey Logano With just a couple of starts remaining, I was toying with the idea of saving Logano for another week. That changed when he ended up on the pole for Saturday’s race. He led 163 of the 203 laps in a win at Michigan last June, and he led 52 more laps in the August event, finishing fourth in both stages. It could be a clean sweep for Logano in the first leg of the MIS doubleheader. Chase Elliott Although his speed has dipped a bit in recent weeks, Elliott’s record at Michigan speaks for itself. He has seven Top 10s in eight starts here, posting a 7.6 average finish. Elliott also notched a Top 5 at Auto Club earlier this year. A Top 10 starting spot only bolsters his already high floor. Aric Almirola I am burning through starts from Almirola, but while I am getting Top 10 production from an unexpected source, I am going to continue to take advantage. He has reeled off nine straight Top 10s heading into Michigan, posting a 5.6 average finish. Almirola has scored the third-most points in the series in that span, sitting just three points behind top-scorer Kevin Harvick. Kurt Busch Busch is a former winner a both Auto Club and Michigan, and the veteran has still been getting the job done at the two-mile ovals. He has three finishes of sixth or better in the four races since the start of 2019, picking up a third-place finish at Auto Club earlier this season. Rolling off in the Top 10, Busch is set up for a solid finish and a chunk of stage points. Garage Driver – Alex Bowman The finishes haven’t been there for Bowman, who has developed a bad habit of fading later in races. However, he logged Top 10s in both Michigan races in 2019, and he clobbered the field at Auto Club back in March. Not only did Bowman win at Auto Club, but he led 110 laps and piled up 19 stage points. Starting sixth, I want him available in case the speed he showed at Auto Club carries over to MIS, the other two-mile oval on the schedule. Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet Driver Group Game Joey Logano (A) He put on a pair of impressive performances at Michigan last year, leading 163 laps in a win in the June race and leading 52 laps in the August event. Logano picked up double-digit stage points in both starts, and after drawing the pole Saturday, another dominating showing seems likely. Alex Bowman (B) Bowman has been struggling later in races for a while now, but he picked up Top 10s in both races at Michigan last year, and he dominated the Auto Club race in March. He led a race-high 110 laps, finishing first and second in the two stages on his way to the win. Starting sixth, I am going to roll the dice on his upside and hope that Bowman’s success at the two-mile ovals continues. If you want a safer play, Kurt Busch has a solid history at the 2.0-mile tracks. Matt DiBenedetto (B) Ryan Blaney is my top play in this group, but I only have a few starts left from him the rest of the way. I am going to try to steal some exposure to Team Penske equipment by going with DiBenedetto, who is essentially driving a fourth Penske car. He finished 13th at Auto Club earlier this year, and I think he will challenge for a Top 10 Saturday. Cole Custer (C) I think Tyler Reddick will be a Top 10 contender, but I am low on starts from him, and I want to keep him for the mile-and-a-half ovals. Instead, I will go with the surging Custer. He has four Top 10s in the last five races, and he finished 18th at Auto Club back in March. At worst, he should deliver another

Fantasy NASCAR: Foxwoods Casino Resort 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Quick Picks

After several weeks of building Fantasy NASCAR lineups for mile-and-a-half tracks, we get a break from the “cookie-cutter” ovals this weekend when the Cup Series visits New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Nicknamed the “Magic Mile,” the flat, one-mile oval will host Sunday’s Foxwoods Resort Casino 301. While many of the top drivers still excel at New Hampshire, the importance of track position and disparity between the two grooves on restarts allows crew chiefs and drivers to steal some spots and creates a little more unpredictability overall. As a result, I like to use the New Hampshire race as an opportunity to save a few starts from the elite options in both Fantasy Live and the Driver Group Game. Not only do you have a few middle tier drivers who elevate their game at flat tracks, but depending on when cautions fall, the drivers with the best cars often forfeit stage points in favor of track position. You also have to worry about a rash of cautions at the end of the race jumbling up the final results as drivers on the inside typically hemorrhage spots. Add it all up, and it makes a lot of sense to roll the dice on a couple of high-upside midrange drivers. For Slingshot Fantasy Auto, I paired a couple of studs with three mid-priced drivers who have a decent amount of place differential upside. NASCAR’s current qualifying format continues to put all the top drivers towards the front, so I feel a balanced approach makes more sense than top loading my lineup with three high-priced studs who have little opportunity to gain place differential points. Join FullTime Fantasy for top advice in the industry from check-cashing, proven winners! NASCAR.com Fantasy Live Denny Hamlin At their best, I don’t think there is any team better than the No. 11 bunch right now, and Hamlin has always been a force at flat tracks. Of his 42 Cup wins, 19 have come at flat or low-banked tracks, including three at New Hampshire. Despite starting at the rear of the field here last year, he still led 113 laps and finished second. He will start on the front row Sunday, and as good as he has been in 2020, I’m expecting Hamlin to flex some serious muscle this weekend. Kyle Busch I know it hasn’t been a banner year for the defending champ, but because of that, I have a surplus of starts available as we head to one of his best tracks. Busch leads all drivers in basically every category in the last 10 New Hampshire races, and he has led more than 90 laps in three of his last four starts here, leading a race-high 118 laps last season. Rolling off fifth, I think a Top 5 finish and double-digit stage points are his floor. Joey Logano You can’t go wrong with Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. this week either, but Logano has been reliable at New Hampshire, and his team has been one of the best at acquiring stage points all season. He currently ranks third with 173 stage points in 2020 and second with 19 Top 5 finishes in stages, and Logano has finished 11th or better in eight of his last nine New Hampshire starts. He should deliver a solid point total no matter how the race breaks. Brad Keselowski Since stage points could be tougher to predict depending on when cautions fall, I think there is added value in a consistent performer like Keselowski. Over the last 10 New Hampshire races, he ranks fourth in points scored, posting a 9.6 average finish and seven Top 10s. He only has one finish outside the Top 15 in that stretch, and last season, he ranked in the Top 5 in both green flag speed and driver rating at New Hampshire while logging the best average running position. A Top 5 starting spot should help matters. Aric Almirola He extended his streak of Top 10 finishes to eight races with his sixth-place run at Kansas last weekend, and during that stretch, Almirola leads all drivers with a 5.4 average finish and 312 points scored. I’m going to keep playing the hot hand, especially after he drew the pole at a New Hampshire track where he has had success recently. Almirola led 42 laps and logged seven stage points on his way to a third-place finish here in 2018, and last year, he piled up 18 stage points and was leading when another car slid into his pit box and caused a slow stop. Garage Driver – Erik Jones His lack of consistency is a can be a major headache for fantasy purposes, but Jones has plenty of upside, and we’ve seen him go on hot streaks in the past. He has six finishes of sixth or better in 2020, and four of them have come in the last seven races. He also finished third at New Hampshire last year, ranking fifth in green flag speed, and he has an 8.3 average finish in the last three races here. Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet Driver Group Game Denny Hamlin (A) Hamlin has a series-leading five wins under his belt already this season, and he could add to that total Sunday. He led 113 laps in a runner-up effort at New Hampshire last year after starting dead last, and he will get to start from the front row this weekend. I could see him sweeping both stages and winning the race. Aric Almirola (B) He has a series-best 5.4 average finish during his current streak of eight straight Top 10s, and I think he stays hot at New Hampshire. He led 42 laps and finished third at the track in 2018, and he finished third and first in the two stages here last season. Starting on the pole, I’m riding the Almirola train until it comes off the tracks. Matt DiBenedetto (B) He had the best run of his career at New Hampshire last season, logging a