The NASCAR season is complete but that does not mean it is too early to starting thinking about next year. One of my favorite games to play is the Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing game. I have been playing it since it debuted in 2001. I think it is the best game for people who are new to Fantasy NASCAR to play.
Usually Yahoo opens the game the second week of January and allows people to create leagues and view the Groups for the upcoming season. Last year they launched the game in December, so it is hard to tell what their plans are for the 2018 season.
There are some big name drivers who are left the sport and this will affect the Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing game in 2018. Here are my predictions for what group each driver will be placed in next year…
Group A Drivers
Group A is always the easiest group to navigate throughout the season. There is no need to save allocations in this group. My additions to Group A in 2018 are Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. They should be replacing Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joey Logano.
Last year I only used one allocation with Jimmie Johnson and four with Kevin Harvick. The off-season is just beginning but I expect the Toyotas to have the fastest cars in 2018 with the Chevys closing the gap with their new aero-dynamic Camaro chassis. We will find out a lot more during Speed Weeks at Daytona (Feb. 10th – Feb. 18th).
|
# |
Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske |
Ford |
|
4 |
Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports |
Chevy |
|
10 |
Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske |
Ford |
|
18 |
Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 42 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing |
Chevy |
|
48 |
Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevy |
| 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing |
Toyota |
Group B Drivers
Group B will be the toughest group to navigate in 2018. If my predictions are correct, there will be only one driver from Group A moving down to Group B (Joey Logano). Usually we see two or three drivers that were in Group A the year before move down to Group B but the loss of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth prevented that from happening next year.
Kurt Busch has not signed a contract to drive with Stewart-Haas Racing yet. Fantasy players really need him to get his contract complete because his allocations will be very valuable in 2018.
The other drivers who will have the most value in Group B include Joey Logano, Jamie McMurray, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Clint Bowyer.
Fantasy players will need 72 allocations from Group B to make it through the season. The five drivers listed above + Kurt Busch provides 54 allocations. This means you will need to find 22 allocations elsewhere. Fantasy players should consider the other drivers for the four races on the Superspeedways and three races on the road courses (Charlotte was added as an additional road course in 2018). The races on the Superspeedways and road courses provide 24 allocations and you only need 22 from the drivers not listed above.
|
# |
Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing |
Chevy |
|
3 |
Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevy |
| 6 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing |
Ford |
|
10 |
Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 13 | Ty Dillon | Germain Racing |
Chevy |
|
14 |
Clint Bowyer | Stewart Haas Racing | Ford |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Roush Fenway Racing |
Ford |
|
19 |
Daniel Suarez | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
| 20 | Erik Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing |
Toyota |
|
21 |
Paul Menard | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford |
| 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske |
Ford |
|
31 |
Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevy |
| 37 | Chris Buescher | JTG Daugherty Racing |
Chevy |
|
41 |
Kurt Busch? | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford |
| 47 | AJ Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing |
Chevy |
|
95 |
Kasey Kahne | Leavine Family Racing |
Chevy |
Group C Drivers
Group C should be about the same as the 2017 season. Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez had the most valuable allocations in Group C last year. They will be replaced by the two Hendrick Motorsports drivers this season (William Byron and Alex Bowman). Fantasy players will have to use their allocations wisely.
Bubba Wallace Jr. will take over for Aric Almirola in the No. 43 car for Richard Petty Motorsports. He will provide another great option in Group C.
Fantasy teams can get 27 allocations from William Byron, Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace Jr. They will need to find nine allocations elsewhere. Danica Patrick will provide one of these allocations when she competes in the Daytona 500. The rumor is that she will drive a car provided by Chip Ganassi Racing.
Michael McDowell and David Ragan have not signed a contract for the 2018 season. The rumor is that they will be the two drivers for Front Row Motorsports. If this is true, they will be a good option for the eight remaining allocations needed.
The other driver that may come into play in 2018 is Brennan Poole. The rumor is that Poole will move to the MENCS level and drive the No. 27 car vacated by Paul Menard. I think we would have heard more about this if the rumors were true. My opinion is that Richard Childress Racing will scale back to two cars in 2018, but it would be nice if the organization provided us another option for Group C.
I added Matt Kenseth to Group C because there are still 3 months before the 2018 season starts. Anything can happen in the Silly Season so if someone makes Kenseth a good offer, I think he will climb back into the car. I am not banking on it though.
I would not be surprised if Yahoo does not put Kenseth in Group B next year, the same way they did with Greg Biffle and Justin Allgier in 2017. If they put Kenseth in Group B I think Kasey Kahne will get moved to Group C. That would make this group the easiest to navigate in the history of the game.
| # | Driver | Team |
Manufacturer |
| 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports |
Chevy |
|
27? |
Brennan Poole | Richard Childress Racing | Chevy |
| 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Go Fas Racing |
Ford |
|
34 |
Michael McDowell? | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
| 38 | David Ragan? | Front Row Motorsports |
Ford |
|
43 |
Bubba Wallace Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsport | Chevy? |
| 88 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports |
Chevy |
|
7? |
Danica Patrick | Chip Ganassi Racing? | Chevy? |
| ? | Matt Kenseth | ? |
? |
I will post my best tracks to use each driver once the 2018 Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing game is released. The offseason will fly bye so be sure to keep checking the website for updated NASCAR info.
If you need any further advice with your team, look for me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR
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