Fantasy NASCAR Picks for the Finger Lakes 355 at Watkins Glen
This week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers will make their second trip to a road course. This time it is Watkins Glen International Speedway.
Although Sonoma and Watkins Glen are both road courses, drivers who are good at one are not necessarily good at the other. Do not plan to simply use your Sonoma fantasy roster for this week’s race at Watkins Glen.
Fantasy NASCAR players in the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing game will get a chance to see two practices before your team must be selected. Be sure to check out the practice speeds Friday night before you select your team.
The road course races are usually easy to predict. It does make it difficult to separate from the other teams in your league, because usually the teams have the same drivers. I will try to provide some sleeper picks to help you gain on your competition.
Here are my picks for the Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing game….
Yahoo Group A Drivers
1 of 4Tony Stewart should be on all teams this week. Until Marcos Ambrose began his NASCAR career, Stewart had been the man to beat at Watkins Glen.
In 13 races at Watkins Glenn, Stewart has five wins, seven top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes. He has completed every lap in the 13 races and has led 225 laps at Watkins Glen in his career.
Stewart is a sure bet to finish in the top-five this week.
Kyle Busch is not the name most fans think of first when it comes to races at Watkins Glen. Busch has been the third best driver at the track (other than Stewart and Ambrose) in the last three years.
Busch has competed in seven NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Watkins Glen with one win, three top-five finishes, six top-ten finishes and one pole. Like Stewart, Busch has also completed every lap of each of his races at Watkins Glen.
If Busch can avoid mechanical problems on Sunday, he is a sure bet to finish in the top-five.
Other good picks: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski
Yahoo Group B Drivers
2 of 4Marcos Ambrose
Marcos Ambrose must be on every team. He is the king of road courses and Watkins Glen is his specialty.
Ambrose’s statistics at Watkins Glen are amazing. In his four races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen, Ambrose has one win and has finished every race in the top-five. Ambrose has never finished worse than third.
Put Ambrose in your line-up for Sunday and reap the rewards along with everyone else in your league.
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya will be another popular selection this week.
Montoya has started five career races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen. Montoya has one win, two top-five finishes, four top-10 finishes and has led 80 laps. His average finish in the last two races at Watkins Glen is fourth.
If you take Montoya on your team this week, you will probably have the same group B drivers as many of the teams in your league. If you want to score the maximum amount of points, you almost have no other choice.
Martin Truex Jr.
Martin Truex Jr. was great at Sonoma earlier this year. He qualified in the top 10 and finished No. 4. Truex has slowly become one of the better road course racers in NASCAR.
Truex has started six races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen. He has two top five finishes and three top 10 finishes.
Last year Truex qualified No. 9 and finished No. 4. As good as Michael Waltrip Racing has looked on the road courses this season, Truex should improve upon those numbers.
Jamie McMurray
My last selection is my sleeper pick this week.
Jamie McMurray is actually really good on the road courses. In the last three years on the two road courses—Sonoma and Watkins Glen—McMurray has scored the seventh most points. He even outscored Montoya over that time period.
If you want a driver who your competitors may not have on their team, McMurray is your guy. Watch him in practice and if he looks strong, he may be a driver on which to take a chance.
Other good picks: Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman
Yahoo Group C Drivers
3 of 4Brian Vickers
If you do not have Brian Vickers on your team this week then you are not paying attention.
Every driver who has driven the No. 55 car has had some success. Vickers has had the most success and his best race came at Sonoma where he finished fourth. Vickers may have won the race if he had not qualified outside of the top 20.
Vickers has not been as good at Watkins Glen as he has been at Sonoma, but he is on a mission this year to get a full-time job in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. If he keeps driving the way he has, teams will begin to notice.
Sam Hornish Jr.
There is not a lot of information to go on with Sam Hornish Jr. at Watkins Glen. He has only raced one race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Watkins Glen. In that race he started in the No. 12 position and finished two positions further back. If he could repeat those numbers on Sunday, many fantasy NASCAR players would be happy.
Other good picks: Casey Mears, Bobby Labonte and Aric Almirola
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Watkins Glen Facts
4 of 4Here are the driver’s career statistics at Watkins Glen:
|
| Average | Average | Laps | Average |
| Driver | Start | Finish | Led | Rating |
1 | Marcos Ambrose | 7 | 2 | 29 | 129.1 |
2 | J.P. Montoya | 4 | 4 | 78 | 129.3 |
3 | Kyle Busch | 5.5 | 5.5 | 49 | 111.5 |
4 | Carl Edwards | 4.5 | 8.5 | 0 | 98.6 |
5 | Kevin Harvick | 21.5 | 8.5 | 0 | 90.4 |
6 | Jeff Burton | 31 | 9 | 0 | 88.9 |
7 | Martin Truex Jr. | 17 | 9.5 | 0 | 95.2 |
8 | Brad Keselowski | 22 | 11 | 2 | 88.1 |
9 | Jamie McMurray | 8 | 11.5 | 5 | 88.4 |
10 | Jeff Gordon | 16.5 | 11.5 | 6 | 93.1 |
11 | Matt Kenseth | 27.5 | 13.5 | 0 | 77.8 |
12 | Ryan Newman | 12.5 | 14 | 1 | 78.3 |
13 | Sam Hornish Jr. | 12 | 14 | 0 | 83.3 |
14 | Tony Stewart | 6.5 | 17 | 0 | 109.4 |
15 | Jimmie Johnson | 6.5 | 19 | 1 | 86.1 |
16 | Joey Logano | 15.5 | 19 | 0 | 82.5 |
17 | Kurt Busch | 16 | 20 | 0 | 83.1 |
18 | Casey Mears | 26 | 20 | 0 | 55.6 |
19 | 32.5 | 20.5 | 0 | 69.5 | |
20 | Kasey Kahne | 27 | 21.5 | 0 | 72.8 |
* Driver ratings include: Finish, average running position, average speed and number of fastest laps run in the race.
*Stats courtesy of NASCAR Media Department.
My predicted Top-10: 1. Marcos Ambrose, 2. Tony Stewart, 3. Kyle Busch, 4. Jeff Gordon, 5. Juan Pablo Montoya, 6. Jimmie Johnson, 7. Martin Truex Jr., 9. Clint Bowyer and 10. Ryan Newman
Good luck this week!
If you need any further advice with your team, look for me on Twitter @HuskerMagic.
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