By Mark Michalek, NASCAR Fantasy Expert
@MarkAMichalek
“Its Bristol Baby!!!!” I’ve heard that phrase about 142 times at the track today. This is by far my favorite track to attend all season. There is just something about a short tracks and the atmosphere that makes this place so special. When it comes to fantasy in order to win a GPP you are going to need to nail all the dominator points. With 500 laps there is a possibility of 250 fastest laps points and 125 laps lead points. While cautions will cut the fastest laps points down, there will still be plenty of points scored.
Kevin Harvick – $11,500 – Kyle Busch – $11,300- Shocker Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick are good plays this week…. They make this slate the most interesting nascar slate all season. You have the top two priced guys, one starting in the rear of the field and the other on the pole. Making lineup construction very interesting if you want to fit both. Kevin Harvick has the highest floor of any driver in the race. Starting last you would expect him to drive through the field and score place differential points but he also has the upside to lead laps and get fast lap dominator points. He was 7th fastest in 10-lap runs in final practice and has an average finish of 4.75 in the last 4 races here. Kyle Busch on the other the hand comes into the race as the hottest driver on the planet right now. Coming off his first win of the season last week he has finished 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 2nd, and 1st in his last 5 races and now comes to a track where he has 6 career wins. Having his brother get sent to the back due to a wreck in final practice was a boost for Kyle as I don’t think Stenhouse has near the car that Kurt did. I know its going to be tough to fit them both but in my opinion they offer the most upside out of any drivers.
Erik Jones – $8,300 – Starting 13th Jones is easily my 2nd favorite play behind Harvick and Busch. In his 2 career starts here at Bristol he finished 17th and 2nd. In the August race last year Jones showed off the talent he has by running the bottom of the race track and leading a race high 260 laps. If it wasn’t for Kyle Busch running him down Jones would have had his first win. In final practice he had the fastest 10-lap run and again showed that he is one of the fastest drivers in the field.
Jamie McMurray- $7,000- I feel like this year has been the Jamie McMurray year. IN years past McMurray always found a way to qualify a little to high and make himself unplayable. This year has been the complete opposite this year. He’s Starting 31st which gives him a safe floor because of his potential for place differential. In the last 7 races here at Bristol his lowest finish is 14th. If he finishes 14th he will score 47 DK points and if he finishes with a top 10 he 50-60 point upside without factoring in any dominator points. In final practice he was 16th in 10-lap runs so like Harvick I expect J-Mac to move up through the field.
Trevor Bayne- $6,000- Bayne in my opinion offers the highest floor/highest upside out of the value guys. If your looking to play both the studs your going to need value guys. Bayne was 19th in 10-lap runs in final practice and 18th in single lap runs In his last 5 races here at Bristol he has finished 15th, 5th, 12th, 11th, and 7th. In his price range I don’t see anyone who has the car to get to the top 10 outside of Bayne. Even if he only finishes 15-20th he will still score 35-45 DK points.
Fantasy Live- This is a week that you want to remember to use your garage spot wisely. You can swap out a driver prior to the end of stage 2. If you watched the Xfinity race on Saturday you saw how 1 little mistake can take out a bunch of cars. You want to make sure that if that happens early you get to make your swap. My favorite plays this week are Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Kyle Larsen. For the lesser guys I like Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon, and Michael McDowell.