For this week’s race at Bristol, we’re in a situation similar to the one at Martinsville a couple weeks ago: there’s not going to be a lot of “movers” who make their way from mid-pack or worse. Since that is the basis of scoring points in the FOX Fantasy Auto game, it’s important to capitalize on the few good drivers that didn’t qualify as well this week. From there, our strategy will be to pick the “safest” options for the Food City 500 to secure the finish points. The good news this week is that there are plenty of great mid-to-high-priced driver options because of how the salaries were determined, as opposed to Texas last weekend where the best picks all ate a big chunk of your salary cap. Carl Edwards won the pole for Sunday’s race, and the full starting lineup can be found by clicking here.
Our Fantasy Racing Online FOX team bounced back with a 187-point week at Texas last Saturday night, which was led by race winner Kyle Busch and his 58 points. We are now back up to 1,875th place overall and 4th in our private group. Our team is averaging 182.3 points per week through the first seven races of the 2016 Sprint Cup season.
FOX Fantasy Auto Picks for the Bristol Food City 500
Kyle Busch ($13,400) – With this pick, we’re going for what we considered guaranteed points. Kyle Busch isn’t going to get us many place differential points on Sunday (if any), but he’s going to be a definite threat to win the Food City 500, and he’s probably going to lead the most laps, too. The #18 Toyota was far and away the best car during Practice #2 on Saturday morning and Rowdy had the 2nd-best ten-lap average during Happy Hour. He’s a five-time winner in Thunder Valley and has a shot at winning his third Sprint Cup race in a row. We’re okay with picking Kyle Busch this week despite the fact that he starts 5th on Sunday.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ($14,100) – Junior’s salary in the FOX Fantasy Auto game this weekend is a ridiculous $14,100, but we found a way to fit him on our roster. He will start 20th for the Food City 500 on Sunday but should be at least a top 10 car before it’s all said and done. The #88 Chevrolet wasn’t super fast during the practice sessions on Saturday, but the rest of the Hendrick clan has shown plenty of speed, so we’re not too worried about it. Junior finished 9th in the fall race here last season after starting 20th and we’re expecting something of the same this weekend. Initially we had Kurt Busch and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. on our roster instead of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Chase Elliott, but right now we’re leaning toward the latter pair. Which brings us to…
Chase Elliott ($5,000) – Chase Elliott is still priced at the minimum in this FOX Fantasy Auto game, so might as well take advantage of that while we can. The impressive rookie starts right ahead of Junior on Sunday (19th), but the #24 Chevrolet looks like it has enough speed to make its way toward the front. So obviously now it comes down to the team and the driver. Chase had a respectable top 20 outing at Martinsville a couple of weeks ago and will now have to attempt another 500 laps here at Bristol. We typically don’t like picking rookies at short tracks but that’s just how our roster worked out this weekend. Chase posted the 2nd-fastest lap in Happy Hour on Saturday along with the 8th-best ten-lap average. With Elliott starting 19th on Sunday, and at his $5,000 price point, it’s worth taking a shot with the #24 this weekend. Remember, you don’t lose points in this game if the driver wrecks and finishes worse than he starts.
Matt Kenseth ($8,700) – This is nowhere near guaranteed points but we’re using the same basic principle that we used with Kyle Busch on Matt Kenseth. This #20 Toyota is really fast this weekend and Matt is comfortable with it. That should have the rest of the field worried because, remember, he’s the defending winner of this race. On Sunday, Kenseth will roll off the grid on the outside pole alongside teammate Carl Edwards, and it will be interesting to see which one of these drivers takes off and leads for the first part of the race. We think that Kenseth has a shot at leading the most laps here on Sunday, so that would be worth another point in the FOX game. There’s virtually no room for place differential points when taking Matt Kenseth, but a top 5 finish is worth at least 36 points, and that’s a decent amount for a driver in Kenseth’s price range.
Kyle Larson ($8,700) – We weren’t a huge fan of Kyle Larson coming into this weekend, but there’s actually a lot to like with this young kid. First and foremost, it seems like him and his new crew chief, Chad Johnston, are starting to gel. This #42 team has finished 14th or better in three of the last four Sprint Cup races, and that includes their 3rd-place run at Martinsville a couple of weeks ago–which is our second thing to like about Larson this weekend. Yeah, Bristol and Martinsville are totally different tracks, but they’re still both short tracks. Third on our “What To Like About Larson” list (WTLAL for short) is the fact that he ran the Xfinity race here on Saturday, finishing 3rd. It seems like drivers that run double duty this season are learning a lot for the big race on Sunday. Last but not least on WTLAL is his record here at Bristol Motor Speedway. He did end up finishing 41st here last fall (accident), but in Kyle’s three other starts here in Thunder Valley he hasn’t finished worse than 12th, which is where he ended up after starting 40th in the 2014 fall race. There’s some risk in taking Larson this weekend but he starts 25th and has the chance to run top 10. The #42 Chevrolet had the best ten-lap average during Happy Hour on Saturday.
