The Coca-Cola 600 is this weekend, which means that the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams that didn’t qualifying well this weekend will have plenty of time to make their way to the front by the end of the race. With that being said, when you look at last year’s Coke 600, each of the top 5 finishers started 8th or better, and in 2015 four of the top five finishes qualified inside the top 10. The FOX Fantasy Auto game is built around place differential points, but it’s not a bad idea to target finish points this weekend either.
My team points last week (Kansas): 169
Overall team standings: 434th
Total team points for the season: 1,983
Top FOX Fantasy Auto Drivers for the 2017 Charlotte Race
Kyle Larson ($13,600) – Yes, using $13,600 of your $50,000 salary cap (27.2%) on one driver typically isn’t a very smart move. However, this isn’t a typical situation. Kyle Larson wasn’t able to make a qualifying run on Thursday and because of that he will start from way back in 39th when the Coca-Cola 600 goes green. So not only does Larson have an extra-long race to get to the front, but he’s also one of the best driver in the garage in working his way through traffic. From a fantasy points perspective, a 10th-place finish out of Larson this weekend is going to net FOX Fantasy Auto owners 60 fantasy points, and if he’s able to pull off a top 5, we’re looking at 70+ fantasy points. He should be worth every penny this weekend; Larson has been a top 5 machine this season and finished 5th here at Charlotte last fall. The #42 Chevrolet looked really fast during Happy Hour on Saturday, although practice doesn’t mean a lot this weekend.
Jimmie Johnson ($12,100) – While the #48 team’s 14th-place qualifying effort this weekend wasn’t overly impressive, it’s actually a lot better than their normal starting spot. This year, on the intermediate tracks specifically, Johnson has an average starting spot of 22.2 with an average finish of 9th–a positive place differential of 13.2. As far as Charlotte Motor Speedway, Jimmie is an eight-time winner here and has posted four top 5 finishes in four of the last seven races here, including sweeping the top 5 in both races last season (as well as winning the fall race). Johnson has been one of the fastest drivers here as of late, and it wouldn’t be surprising at all if he was challenging for his third win of the season here on Sunday night.
Joey Logano ($11,500) – Joey Logano is currently in a bit of a slump right now, considering he has finished 37th and 32nd in the last two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series events, and he got off to a rough start here at Charlotte this weekend with a 23rd-place qualifying effort on Thursday. So while it’s a bit of a risk in picking him on Sunday–isn’t that weird to say?–the payoff potential is huge. A 7th-place finish out of Logano in this year’s Coca-Cola 600 is going to net FOX Fantasy Auto owners 50 fantasy points, and that’s not exactly out of reach considering Joey has a series-best average finish of 11.2 at this track along with nine top 10s in his sixteen career starts. He finished 9th in last year’s Coke 600 and has an average driver rating of 106.9 in the last four races here, which is 3rd-best in the series. There’s some concern here as far as speed in the #22 Ford this weekend, but don’t forget that Logano and his team have improved their car during the race in almost every event this season. Joey should be there at the end on Sunday night.
Ty Dillon ($6,700) – Honestly, the Coca-Cola 600 kind of has Ty Dillon’s name written all over it. This race is all about endurance for both the driver and the equipment, and this season Ty Dillon has shown time and time again that he’s one of those drivers that is going to keep his nose clean and be around the top 15 at the end. The #13 Chevrolet has an average finish of 17th on the intermediate tracks this season, and if Ty is able to finish there here at Charlotte on Sunday, FOX Fantasy Auto owners are looking at 34 fantasy points out of him. This will be Ty’s first Cup start here at Charlotte Motor Speedway but in his five Xfinity starts here he finished 11th or better in four of them. With the high-dollar drivers being such great options this weekend, we’re going to need to go with a couple of low-dollar guys, and Ty Dillon is one of the best options under $8,000 in FOX Fantasy Auto.
Other viable options: Martin Truex, Jr., Kyle Busch, Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Austin Dillon, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Regan Smith
Stay away from…
Kevin Harvick ($11,200) – Just for the record, Kevin Harvick is the driver that I think is going to take the checkered flag here at Charlotte on Saturday night. So why is he on my avoid list for the FOX Fantasy Auto game? Well, it’s all about max points. Harvick’s salary this week is pretty low (for him anyway) but it’s much too high for a driver that is starting on the pole and has no shot at getting any place differential points in this game. If Harvick wins from the pole and leads the most laps on Sunday night, he’s going to get 45 fantasy points in FOX Fantasy Auto–a mark that a guy like Joey Logano ($11,500) would surpass if he finished 9th or better. The main reason I’m staying away from Harvick in this game–and only this game–is because of his high ownership; as of Saturday afternoon, he was on 38% of the FOX Fantasy Auto rosters (4th-most-owned driver in the game). That’s an excellent fade opportunity should something happen to the #4 Ford on Sunday night.
Erik Jones ($5,900) – Erik Jones had another late-race decline at Kansas a couple of weeks ago and ended up finishing 22nd, which now gives him an average finish of 24th over the last six Cup races with just one result better than 17th. I’ve been burned by Jones too many times this season, and I’m not about to let it happen again. With that being said, the #77 team did bring a hot rod to Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend, and Jones even mentioned that it’s the best car he has had in awhile. However, he qualified 5th for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, so that means we’re probably looking at only finish fantasy points out of Jones in this FOX Fantasy Auto game, as it is unlikely that he improves any positions. Jones is a cheap option there at $5,900 but I’d rather go with a driver that at least has some potential for place differential points, such as Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (also $5,900) or Regan Smith ($5,600).
