After a 16th-place finish in last week’s Daytona 500, Stewart-Haas Racing has decided that Regan Smith will once again be in the #41 Chevrolet this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch, who is the main driver for this race car, has been indefinitely suspended by NASCAR amid allegations of domestic abuse against ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll. There’s no timeline for when–if ever–Busch will be back in the #41 race car.
Although Regan Smith has been announced as the driver for this week’s QuickTrip Folds of Honor 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing has not said whether he will remain in the car or if another driver will come in when the series travels to Las Vegas on March 8.
Fantasy Perspective
This is an interesting situation to monitor when it comes to fantasy NASCAR. As far as allocation leagues, Regan Smith will provide great relief for lower tiers of drivers if he does race for the entire season. However, it would be a wise decision to not use up your allocations early, just in case he does end up in the #41 Chevrolet for the rest of 2015. You’ll probably want those later. When it comes to other leagues, Smith may provide upside, especially in salary cap games, as his cap number should be quite low. Regan has Sprint Cup experience and should be a teen-finishing pick on a weekly basis.
All of the legal drama surrounding Kurt Busch has finally come to a head. On February 20, 2015–just two days before the season-opening Daytona 500–NASCAR decided to suspend the previous champion indefinitely with allegations of domestic abuse looming above the Stewart-Haas drivers’ head. NASCAR issued this statement on Friday:
“Given the serious nature of the findings and conclusions made by the Commissioner of the Family Court of the State of Delaware, NASCAR has indefinitely suspended driver Kurt Busch, effective immediately. He will not be allowed to race nor participate in any NASCAR activities until further notice. Kurt Busch and his Stewart-Haas Racing team are fully aware of our position and why this decision was made. We will continue to respect the process and timetable of the authorities involved.”
Busch and his attorney, Rusty Hardin, are planning an immediate appeal.
Although nothing has been confirmed out of the Stewart-Haas camp, rumors have been floating around that Regan Smith will be filling in for Kurt Busch, at least for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. This story will be updated once details are confirmed. From a fantasy perspective, obviously you should avoid Kurt Busch, but his replacement may be of some value, especially in salary cap leagues.
Photo Credit: Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images
We knew last weekend that Jeff Gordon will lead the field to the green for this year’s Daytona 500, his final full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series. Alongside him will be teammate Jimmie Johnson, as those two posted the fastest speeds in qualifying last Sunday. However, the rest of the starting lineup was yet to be determined; we had to race Thursday night’s Budweiser Duels to figure that out.
From a racing perspective, the two Duel races were entertaining and full of great racing action–hopefully a good precursor for Sunday’s Great American Race. Fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the first race over teammate Jeff Gordon, and the full results can be found here. In the second Duel, Hendrick patriarch Jimmie Johnson took the win, making it a night filled with Hendrick domination…much like last Sunday. Will we see much of the same in this year’s Daytona 500? Only time will tell.
The long-awaited 2015 Sprint Cup season is finally here, as this year’s Great American Race–the Daytona 500–is set to go green on Sunday. We already saw Matt Kenseth win the Sprint Unlimited on Saturday night (recap here) and Jeff Gordon won the pole on Sunday by topping teammate Jimmie Johnson. On Thursday, the two Budweiser Duel races will determine the rest of the starting lineup for Sunday’s event.
When it comes to making good fantasy picks for the events at Daytona, there really is no perfect science. Every fantasy NASCAR expert has a different strategy for how they do things, and sometimes they simply pull names out of a hat (I’ve done this before). In reality, practice speeds aren’t all that important, and neither is starting position. Most drivers who finish up front on Sunday in these races can attribute it to luck as much as–if not more than–skill. With that being said, it’s always good to look at the favorites heading into the Great American Race, so without further ado…
Fantasy Favorites for Daytona
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. – Big surprise, huh? NASCAR’s most popular driver will be the most-picked guy in fantasy this Sunday as well. Junior is the most skilled restrictor plate driver in the series and he has the best equipment to go along with that talent, so what’s not to like? Exactly. Earnhardt hasn’t finished worse than 15th–including all events, points-paying and non–since the 2012 Budweiser Shootout. He’s also the defending winner of the Daytona 500 and finished 2nd in the two Great American Races before that. I’ll venture to guess that the majority of all fantasy NASCAR rosters will have Earnhardt, Jr. on them on Sunday, so there’s the potential there to gain some points if Junior wrecks and you don’t have him…but do you want to take that risk? I wouldn’t. In The Showcase, the driver of the #88 Chevrolet will get 0 handicap points this week. Because of this, I wouldn’t recommend putting him as your All Star Driver, and I’d be even more inclined to avoid Junior as well. But that’s just me…
Matt Kenseth – PJ over at FantasyNASCARPreview had a great article this week on Sprint Unlimited winners and how they end up doing in the Daytona 500 that year. What he found was that 60% of the time they end up finishing inside the top 10 in the Great American Race, and even when the winner doesn’t finish up front, they typically run well. I’ll take those odds. Looking at points-paying races at Daytona International Speedway, Kenseth ended up winning the 2012 Daytona 500–his last season with Roush–and was 3rd in the July event. He had a rough 2013 at this track but bounced back with a solid 6th-place finish in last year’s 500. What I like most about Kenseth is that he does all he can to get to the front and lead laps. Personally, I think this is the best strategy a driver can have, and it’s a lot easier to avoid the wrecks when you’re up there. In The Showcase, Matt Kenseth has a decent 3-point handicap going into the race. Therefore, if he’s your All Star Driver, that will be 6 additional points to those he gains you with his finish and potential laps led. The #20 Toyota will probably make my roster this week.
Kevin Harvick – About 5 years or so ago, Kevin Harvick was considered one of the best restrictor plate racers in the Sprint Cup garage. That opinion has since been forgotten about “The Closer,” but he’s still a decent pick when we come to these big super speedways. Also, let’s not forget that the #4 Chevrolet is consistently one of the fastest in the garage. Last year at Daytona, Harvick ended up 13th and 39th in the two points-paying events, but he was 7th and 9th in the Talladega events. On Sunday, I expect a strong showing out of Harvick as a sort of kick-off to his back-to-back title attempt. Let’s just hope him and Joey Logano can keep from wrecking each other… In The Showcase, Kevin Harvick will receive 4 handicap points for the season-opening event, which is a pretty good value when you consider his potential to win Sunday’s race.
Fantasy Racing Online offers two unique fantasy NASCAR games for the 2015 season. The Showcase allows you to pick different drivers every week while you have the same roster all year for the Salary Cap Challenge. There are thousands of dollars in prizes that are up for grabs this year, so get in on the action now!
When considering the content for this post, I first thought that the best way to select the drivers I would write about would be by taking 20 driver’s car numbers, attach one each to the dartboard in my house, blindfold myself, and fire a way. Whichever four it lands on, they are it. Luckily for you readers, I put more thought into this post than that.
However, for most fantasy NASCAR players, the dartboard approach may be thought of as a logical choice when selecting teams for the Daytona 500 simply because of the unpredictability that race can bring. Let me try to help by identifying two sleepers to consider as well as two drivers to avoid to help narrow down the prospects.
Sleeper Fantasy Picks for the 2015 Daytona 500
Austin Dillon – #3 Chevrolet
It’s trivia time! Can you name the 3 drivers that swept the top 10 at Daytona last season? Dale Earnhardt Jr? After all, he did win the 2014 Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon perhaps? How about the 2015 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick? Nope, nope, and nope. The three who posted top 10s in both Daytona races last year were Denny Hamlin, Casey Mears, and Austin Dillon. Use that as a trivia question at your next party/bar outing and when nobody gets it right, collect yourself a cold one. You’re welcome. Anyways, the iconic black #3 piloted by Dillon sat on the pole last year in his rookie season and brought it home 9th . Then, for an encore at the night race in July, he scored his only top 5 of the season. Lately Austin has talked about being more confident coming into Daytona this year. He also looks to be more aggressive, which bodes well for him at this track. Also, without the rookie stripes on the back of his car, more respect should be given, and he should have a fast Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with plenty of drafting help, which could very well put him in position for a top 5 when the checkered flag waves on Sunday afternoon.
Casey Mears – #13 Chevrolet
If we dive in a little deeper then just his top 5 and two top 10 finishes in his last three races at Daytona, then you will see why I consider Casey Mears a serious sleeper for the Daytona 500. His car is owned by Germain Racing, which connected a partnership with Richard Childress Racing last year. RCR has always been known for building fast cars at the plate tracks. Their continued partnership and resources this season should only help strengthen Mears’ restrictor plate results. Another reason for the #13 Chevrolet’s success could be the mechanical mastermind crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker. Barker has been known to field cars that are capable to win on these track types. Watch out for Casey Mears to make some noise in the Daytona 500 this coming Sunday.
Bust Fantasy Picks for the 2015 Daytona 500
Danica Patrick – #10 Chevrolet
A lot of columns would put Danica Patrick in the last group I wrote about, as a sleeper. After all, this is one of the few track types where she could be recommended to use–unless you are counting allocations in the “C” group of Yahoo! Auto Racing. Yes, she did sit on the pole for the 2013 Daytona 500, finishing 8th–similar to what Austin Dillon accomplished last year. However, I have concerns with her repeating that success, partially because of the new “group” qualifying format that will be in place for the first time in Daytona. It was supposed to take effect for last July’s Pepsi 400 but it got rained out after one round. Danica and boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse have voiced concern recently about this format. In 2014, when the same format was used at Talladega, Stenhouse failed to qualify, and Patrick started 27th . You could say that qualifying at this track type doesn’t matter as much–which is partially true–but if she does start at the back, I’m not sure she will have the drafting partners to make it up to the front on a consistent basis. Even tough Danica will have a fast Stewart-Haas Chevrolet, I don’t believe she has gained the respect of her fellow competitors. Tony Stewart would probably be one of the few exceptions because he is the partial owner. You have got to have friends to be a factor at the end, and this is the main reason why I do not consider Danica Patrick a contender here.
Jamie McMurray – #1 Chevolet
I see Jamie McMurray as a very overrated restrictor plate racer. He has won at Daytona twice, including the 2010 Daytona 500. Since then, however, he has finished 18th , 31st , 32nd , and 14th in The Great American Race. Actually, his career average finish at Daytona is a mediocre 22.4. As I stated in my 3 NASCAR Sleepers to Keep an Eye on in 2015, McMurray will have new crew chief in 2015. Matt McCall will replace Keith Rodden, who is back with Kasey Kahne this season. McCall has never been a crew chief before, so I think the communication may be an issue in their first race.
When looking at the handicap points for the 2015 Showcase fantasy game located on this website, Jamie McMurray has a 6 handicap points for the first race of the season. I could name five drivers that I would rather have an equal or higher value on my team, which are: Jeff Gordon (6), Clint Bowyer (8), Jimmie Johnson (8), Carl Edwards (8), and even Tony Stewart (9). There’s no doubt that Jamie McMurray will be up at the front at some point during the Daytona 500. He may even lead some laps, but I give him a very slim chance top be at the front at the end of the race–when it actually matters for fantasy racers.
There you have it, my likes/dislikes for our first race of the season, the Daytona 500. Feel free to comment or ask any questions. Just remember: if you decide to take my advise on any of these picks and it works out well for you, you’re welcome. Otherwise, if they don’t, you are the one who hits the submit button when selecting your team, not me. Good Luck to everyone and LET’S GET IT!!
Scott Boyle is a guest blogger at Fantasy Racing Online and an avid player in the fantasy NASCAR community.
Fantasy Racing Online offers two unique fantasy NASCAR games for the 2015 season. The Showcase allows you to pick different drivers every week while you have the same roster all year for the Salary Cap Challenge. There are thousands of dollars in prizes that are up for grabs this year, so get in on the action now!
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After a 16th-place finish in last week’s Daytona 500, Stewart-Haas Racing has decided that Regan Smith will once again be in the #41 Chevrolet this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch, who is the main driver for this race car, has been indefinitely suspended by NASCAR amid allegations of domestic abuse against ex-girlfriend Patricia Driscoll. There’s no timeline for when–if ever–Busch will be back in the #41 race car.
