The NASCAR Cup Series has reached race No. 15 on the schedule and that means there are 12 races left in the Fantasy Live regular season. There are a lot of crazy races on the schedule this summer. That includes trips to Sonoma, Chicago Street Course, whatever Atlanta is now, Pocono, Indy Road Course and Daytona. It is not going to be easy to navigate these races, but I have a plan to get us to the top of our league standings when the regular season is completed.
The Fantasy Live picks were doing great. We entered the race at Charlotte outscoring 99.2% of the entries in the Fantasy Live game. The team did not live up to expectations at NASCAR’s home track. Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin decided to wreck each other while running in the top-10. Ross Chastain did not show up at all and Kyle Larson did not show up until the final Stage. The picks are outscoring 98.5% of the entries. That is not bad, but my goal is over 99%. We need to heat up over the summer to get to the top of our league standings.
STRATEGY FOR WWT RACEWAY
The race this week at WWT Raceway was hard to predict because the track is flat, like Phoenix and Richmond, but the aero package will be different this week. So, do we use the data from last year’s race, or the data from Phoenix and Richmond or maybe the data from the intermediate tracks using the same aero package that will be used Sunday? These questions were answered in the short practice session that the Cup Series had Saturday. I will use the drivers who were fast in practice for my lineup this week. Also, I am not worried about saving allocations Sunday because we can do that in some of the “funky races” list above.
CUP SERIES PRACTICE SPEEDS
The Cup Series had a 20-minute practice session Saturday and then the teams lined up for qualifying. Most of the teams were able to make some long runs in practice, so now we have an idea of the speeds the cars will have in the race at WWT Raceway. Here are the speeds from the practice session Saturday…
FANTASY LIVE LINEUP FOR WWT RACEWAY
KYLE BUSCH (4): Busch led the most laps (66) and finished second in this race last year. That was in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Now we get to see what Rowdy can do in a Richard Childress Racing Chevy. Busch is no stranger to Victory Lane at WWT Raceway. He won an Xfinity Series race at the track in 2009. The No. 8 car won the pole and has the No. 1 pit stall. That is huge at WWT Raceway. Rowdy dominated this race last year. She has a great chance to do it again Sunday.
DENNY HAMLIN (5): Hamlin struggled on the flat tracks this year and he wrecked out of the race at WWT Raceway last year (thanks to Ross Chastain). So, should I fade the No. 11 car Sunday? Hamlin posted the sixth-fastest speed in practice, with the fastest car on the long runs. The No. 11 car also qualified third for the race. Hamlin has a car that can finish up front in this short race. He just needs to avoid mistakes on pit road and stop fighting with other drivers during the race. At least I can put Hamlin in the Garage if he has problems Sunday.
MARTIN TRUEX JR. (7): Truex is one of the best drivers in the field on the flat tracks. He had one of the best cars at Richmond and he finished third at Martinsville. Truex was good at WWT Raceway last year too. He had the fifth-best Driver Rating, led the second-most laps and finished sixth in the race. The No. 19 car looks fast again this weekend. Truex did not look great in practice, but he usually races a lot better than he practices. The No. 19 car starts fifth, so Truex has the track position to score well Sunday. I have plenty of allocations with the No. 19 car, so I will use one of them this week.
RYAN BLANEY (8): Blaney finally got the monkey off his back and ended his 59-race winless streak. Now that he found Victory Lane, could he go back-to-back this week? I think he can. Blaney finished fourth in this race last year and he finished second earlier this season on the flat track in Phoenix. The No. 12 car did not post the fastest laps in practice, but Blaney was in Group B and they were at a disadvantage on the speed chart. Blaney qualified second for the race at WWT Raceway. Blaney should score well in your Fantasy Live lineup Sunday.
JOEY LOGANO (7): Logano is not having a great season. He only has three finishes in the top-five in the 14 races. The No. 22 car has a habit of coming out of nowhere and winning a race. That is what happened last year at WWT Raceway. His car looks fast this weekend. Logano posted the fastest speed and qualified sixth for the race. I have plenty of allocations with Logano, so I will use one of them Sunday.
(GARAGE PICK) KEVIN HARVICK (4): I debated between Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick for the Garage picks. Harvick finished fifth at Phoenix and fifth at Richmond this year. His 33rd-place finish at WWT Raceway last year is misleading. He was running in the top-10 when he was wrecked. Harvick is at his best on the flat tracks, so I want to use him this week and at Richmond. I like to use Harvick when he starts up front, so I will use the No. 4 car over the No. 1 car.
Good luck and be sure to follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR. I will send out a Tweet during the race to let you know if I plan to swap out one of my drivers for my Garage pick.