Strong Field Of Road Course Experts In Sprint Cup Already
Joey Logano leads the first five laps of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 before giving way to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin on Sunday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
Credit: Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR
Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on getting the monkey off his back at Michigan International Speedway this past weekend. The last time that he won a race was four years ago at this same track in a race decided by fuel mileage. Way to go Junior!
This week the series heads to the west coast and the first of two road-course races on the schedule. There will be a few so called “road-course experts” entered this week and you should be able to use one of these in your C group in the Yahoo fantasy racing league.
Toyota/Save Mart 350
Jeff Gordon: I think that it is Jeff’s turn to break his winless streak this week in California. He has finished in the top-10 in 15 of his last 17 starts here, including five wins and three runner-up finishes.
Marcos Ambrose: Marcos won last years race at Watkins Glen and has finished in the top-10 here in his last three starts. He is a must have on any fantasy team this weekend because he knows how to drive on these tracks.
Tony Stewart: Tony is another driver that knows what he is doing on a road-course. He had a great finish last week at Michigan after starting deep in the field. That tells me that this team will be ready to go this weekend.
Juan Pablo Montoya: Although Juan is having a terrible season, he has a shot at a win this week in Sonoma. He won this race the first time he ran it and has finished in the top-10 in four of his five starts here.
Jimmie Johnson: Jimmie won this race two years ago and seems to have gotten a good feel for running on these types of tracks in the last few seasons. Look for him to be running towards the front of the pack for most of this race.
Jeff Burton: Jeff always seems to have a great car when he gets here and works his way to the front only to get caught up in an accident late in the race. He races everyone clean all of the time and just needs a break to come away with a good finish here.
Kevin Harvick: Kevin is an aggressive driver and that’s what it takes to get a win on this type of track. He finished in the top-10 here the last two years and that is no fluke.
Greg Biffle: When Greg first started racing in the Sprint Cup series he was termed “crazy” when it came to practicing and qualifying here by Mark Martin. Greg needs to get that mentality back for this weekend to have a shot.
Kurt Busch: Kurt won this race last year while he was with Penske. He knows how to race here. The question is, will he have a car capable of winning here this weekend? I think that they will have a car capable of winning this race and we know he has the attitude to do it.
Kasey Kahne: Kasey won this race back in 2009 while driving for Richard Petty. He will have a car capable of winning this race once again this season, as he is driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
Yahoo Fantasy NASCAR Picks for Sonoma
Yahoo Driver Group A
- Jeff Gordon
- Tony Stewart
Yahoo Driver Group B
- Marcos Ambrose
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Kasey Kahne
- Kurt Busch
Yahoo Driver Group C (Depending on entry list.)
- Boris Said
- Brian Vickers
My Top-5 For Sonoma
- Jeff Gordon
- Marcos Ambrose
- Tony Stewart
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Jimmie Johnson
Dark Horse: Kurt Busch
Stay Away From: Aric Almirola
I am curious why you didn’t include Clint Bowyer. Would you pick Montoya over Bowyer in Yahoo now that you can see qualifying and practice data and why?
Clint Bowyer does have a good record at Sonoma. The reason that I like Juan in the Yahoo league is because you can only use a driver 9 times during the season and there are plenty of tracks that Clint can be used at this year. Juan should do very well this weekend and the difference in points between both of these drivers should be negligible this week.
I understand your need to save drivers on the B list, but based on my statistical criteria, Bowyer’s chassis choice and his performance in practice, I had to stick with Bowyer and I am glad I did. Here is why: In examining details of actual results at tracks, I eliminate the one race that is out of character because it was likely a flat tire, engine problem or some similar type of anomaly. I also discount early races because often times it takes a driver a few races (sometimes even more) to grasp the track and develop his personal strategy. With this criteria in mind, Bowyer has an average finish of 5 at Sonoma (4,4,8,4.) It appears to me that he has no better record than that other than perhaps at Talladega which is a crap shoot track anyway. I submit this solely because I love reading your advice and simply in this one instance disagee, which is very rare.
I’m glad that you ignored me this past week. Fantasy racing is a tough game. I still think that if Montoya wouldn’t have had an electrical problem he would have finished in the top 10. These are the type of decisions that can make or break your whole season. Good luck with your team this season and thanks for understanding!
That’s for sure! I am in a small pool with friends, some of whom know much less than I do about racing and don’t even do their homework and a few years I have lost to some of them, heh. A lot of it is luck. I have been lucky this year as I’m in the 99th percentile and I don’t think they can catch me. A score of 385 this week certainly helped. Getting your input has helped to keep me on top — glad to have found your website.