Now that we have gotten through the wreckfest that was the Daytona 500, it’s time to get to the ‘real’ racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series teams are set to run 325 laps for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 on Sunday and there are quite a few storylines to keep an eye on. First: how will Stewart-Haas do? Many thought that they would be a little slow out of the gates with their move to Ford, and while Kurt Busch did win last week at Daytona, this Sunday will be the real test. Also, what about Dale Earnhardt, Jr.? Atlanta is, statistically, his best track on the circuit, but he may not be fully back in the swing of things after missing most of last year due to his concussion. Atlanta is a driver’s track and the cream will rise to the top in the end. Good pit strategy toward the end will also help a lot, too.
Yahoo! A Group Early Picks and Rankings for Atlanta
Kevin Harvick (9 starts remaining) – I’m not backing away from Stewart-Haas. As said before, Atlanta is a race track that the most talented drivers really excel at, and Harvick is one of the best in the garage area. Not to mention, his numbers here at Atlanta are pretty damn impressive. Over the last five races in the ATL, Harvick has an average running position of 4.2–which is insane–and has also led 543 total laps. For comparison, Joey Logano is the 2nd-best in those particularly categories, with an average running position of 9.0 and 162 laps led over the same exact span. Harvick has just one career win here at Atlanta (back in 2001) but should be adding another soon. Will it be this weekend?
Jimmie Johnson (9 starts remaining) – You can’t go wrong with Jimmie Johnson at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He’s a five-time winner at this race track–two more wins than any other active driver–and has posted fourteen top 5 finishes in twenty-five career starts (56%). The thing about the seven-time champ that isn’t ideal is that he’s not really a dominator here; with his five career wins here, he’s only gone over 100 laps led once, and Jimmie is 7th on the list of career laps led here with 583–which, don’t get me wrong, is still impressive, just lower than most would have thought. Johnson has five top 5s in the last seven Atlanta races and will be a contender for the win once again this weekend.
If you’re looking for an A Group driver that is going to be pretty low-owned, go with Martin Truex, Jr. Not only does many people think he’s going to have a down year with Erik Jones being added to the Furniture Row team, but Truex is now in the A Group and surrounded with established elite competition. Still, he has the 2nd-best average running position (9.0) in the last five races at Atlanta.
Pre-Lockdown A Group Rankings: (1) Jimmie Johnson, (2) Joey Logano, (3) Kevin Harvick, (4) Kyle Busch, (5) Brad Keselowski, (6) Martin Truex, Jr., (7) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., (8) Matt Kenseth, (9) Denny Hamlin
Yahoo! B Group Early Picks and Rankings for Atlanta
Kurt Busch (9 starts remaining) – When you run the numbers for Kurt Busch at Atlanta Motor Speedway, it’s actually pretty damn impressive. He started on the pole and led 62 laps in this race last season before finishing 4th, and in his last seven overall starts here at Atlanta, Kurt owns five finishes of 6th or better, one win, and no result worse than 13th. And in the momentum factor from last week’s Daytona 500 win and you have a very solid Fantasy NASCAR pick. For what it’s worth, I have a formula that ranks drivers based on their average finish in the last six races at that particular track as well as the last six Cup races overall–with the former being weighted more than the latter–and Kurt Busch came out P1 this weekend.
Kyle Larson (9 starts remaining) – When you think of someone who excels in a position where pure driving ability can get you in a spot to win the race, you think of Kyle Larson. Hell, this kid almost went out and won the Daytona 500 last weekend by himself. Seriously, not enough people are talking about Larson’s pass for the lead late in the race without any drafting help at all. That was the most impressive thing I’ve seen in awhile. Anyway, Kyle has been boom or bust here at Atlanta thus far in his Cup career, with an 8th-place finish back in 2014 followed by 26th-place results the last two years. Still, you can expect those Ganassi cars to be stronger than they have been in a while this season, and Larson is in prime position to have his breakout year.
Chase Elliott (9 starts remaining) – Chase Elliott got off to a good start in the season-opening Daytona 500, but this week’s QuikTrip Folds of Honor 500 is going to be the real test. Very often we see promising rookies get hit with the sophomore slump, but Chase could very easily be a totally different story this year. The #24 Chevrolet was one of the cars to beat at many late-season intermediate races last season, and Elliott wound up finishing 8th in this race last season after starting back in 24th–which is actually quite impressive considering how tough Atlanta is. Heading into the weekend, I have Chase Elliott as a solid top 10 Fantasy NASCAR pick with a chance at a top 5 finish. He needs to be on your Yahoo! roster this week.
A.J. Allmendinger (9 starts remaining) – Do not sleep on A.J. Allmendinger this weekend. No, this is not a joke. The Dinger was a solid choice on intermediate race tracks last season, and it really showed at the end of the year, when he four top 10s in the last six races with a worst overall finish of 17th. And it gets even better. Here at Atlanta, A.J. owns a career average finish of 17.2 and has wound up inside the top 10 in three of the last seven Cup races he has ran here. Finally, this #47 team is coming off of that solid top 5 finish at Daytona last weekend, and ‘early season momentum’ is a real thing in Fantasy NASCAR. You always have to be looking ahead with the Yahoo! game, and Allmendinger could be a great start save option this weekend.
Pre-Lockdown B Group Rankings: (1) Kurt Busch, (2) Chase Elliott, (3) Kyle Larson, (4) Jamie McMurray, (5) Ryan Newman, (6) Ryan Blaney, (7) A.J. Allmendinger, (8) Kasey Kahne, (9) Clint Bowyer, (10) Austin Dillon, (11) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., (12) Trevor Bayne, (13) Aric Almirola, (14) Danica Patrick, (15) Paul Menard, (16) Chris Buescher
Yahoo! C Group Early Picks and Rankings for Atlanta
This season in the C Group we have two solid Rookie of the Year contenders in Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones, and then another potential candidate in Ty Dillon. The latter is in ‘pretty good’ equipment while Suarez and Jones are in some of the best. However, we have a full 27 C Group starts from these three drivers in 2017, so it won’t be such a struggle to conserve them like we did with Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney last season. For Atlanta, I’m going to stick Ty Dillon on my roster alongside Erik Jones. Ty has actually raced here in the Cup Series before (17th last season, 25th in 2014) and should be a top 15 challenger on Sunday. Jones also has Cup Series experience, with four career starts under his belt and a best finish of 12th at Texas. Suarez is probably going to have some growing pains as he transitions into his new ride, although it should be noted that Carl Edwards finished 5th in this car in last year’s Atlanta race.
Pre-Lockdown C Group Rankings: (1) Erik Jones, (2) Daniel Suarez, (3) Ty Dillon, (4) Michael McDowell, (5) Landon Cassill, (6) David Ragan
Is there a limit on how many times we can pick a driver?
Is there a how to section. Or rules page?
Here’s a link to their ‘Help’ page, which gives you all of the rules if you search for them: https://help.yahoo.com/kb/fantasy-auto-racing/#
To answer your first question, you’re allowed to ‘start’ each drivers 9 times per year.