The round of twelve kicks off this weekend and there are some major headlines to follow. Some major headlines that could affect your fantasy lineup as well. You have the Bowman and Wallace feud which has been the talk of week it seems like and was it necessary or was it not? Then you have Kyle Busch’s dismal start to the playoffs. Any and all of these could affect your decisions when it comes to your starting lineup this weekend. None the less here are the drivers you need to at least think about throwing in your lineup.
Dover Starting Drivers
- Martin Truex Jr,
- Kevin Harvick
- Erik Jones
- Daniel Suarez
- (Garage) Chase Elliott
The Monster Mile Conquerors?
Martin Truex Jr is one of five drivers in the past five races who has a win at Dover. He’s also got the second best average finish in those past five races showing me that he can get up front and stay in contention. Which I mean really is it surprising? Martin has pretty much won his championship by his consistency and ability to over come challenges and win. So, Martin needs to be almost a staple in your lineup for most of the playoff’s except for maybe at Talladega. He is projected to grab around 45 points this week that is second to only Chase Elliott in projections. Start him trust me.
Kevin Harvick was in the news recently with his announcement of his sponsor Busch beer putting his name on the cans and car for a weekend coming up. Which just goes on to add to the home runs that the paint schemes on the four car have had this year. Anyways none the less Kevin has led over four hundred and fifty laps in the past five races here at Dover which leads all active drivers. He also has one win and a worst finish of seventeenth. Keep an eye on Happy I think he is going to contend strongly again this weekend like we seen him do last weekend at the Roval until late.
Erik Jones unfortunately did not have the playoff run him and his fans hoped to have this year. After a very early wreck last weekend he was almost instantly eliminated from the round of sixteen. So motivation should be at a high point for Erik and his team heading into Dover looking to steal one from the remaining playoff drivers. In five career starts Erik has a low finish of eighteenth, but in the past two races he has finished sixth and fourth respectfully. While he is only predicted to score around 25 or so points this weekend I think Erik’s ceiling is a bit higher than that if his car is working like he wants all race.
The really unfortunate driver of the SHR team. Daniel Suarez is being talked about as a potential free agent once again next year with the recent news of Tyler Reddick jumping up people want to see Cole Custer jump up as well. Dover is a track that has been decent to Daniel though and he could score you a consistent 20-30 points this weekend. He has a top five average finish here in the past five races and has led twenty one laps. Daniel is still hungry for his first cup win, with some luck this could be the track he gets it but he better do it soon.
I struggled with this choice of a garage driver this weekend, but he came in clutch for me last weekend. Which he very well could do again this weekend because the next three tracks on the schedule are all tracks the nine team has visited victory lane in the last year. Chase is projected to score around 50 points this weekend that is the most projected points among the playoff drivers. So to say that people are betting on him is not a small factor. In the past five races he has one win and led a whopping 294 laps. If Chase can come out and win one if not two of these next three races he instantly puts himself into championship contender talks.
Dark Horses
So a few drivers qualify for this spot this weekend, but I am only going to go over two of those drivers. The driver of the 42 car Kyle Larson luckily for him and his fans has turned his season around shortly before the playoffs and thru the first round of the playoffs. Dover is a track Kyle has not won at in his short career but he has been solid. Thru the past five races he has led over three hundred laps and finished second. He could take the playoff’s by the neck this weekend with a break thru win. Another team Chevrolet driver Jimmie Johnson. The talk of the retirement world in NASCAR due to a win less streak. Jimmie holds the track record for wins, and he has been getting more and more consistent week in and week out.
Conclusion
Dover is a monster of a track. That’s the reason none the less that Miles stands outside the front of the track. The concrete surface provides for some of the best all around racing in the sport and with the added pressure of the playoffs drivers and tempers will rise to the occasion. With the recent feuds developing between Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and now Bubba Wallace. I think tempers something that need to taken into consideration.
One bad move is all it takes for the playoff field and your fantasy lineup to be completely flipped up side down. I think any of these drivers I have covered this week are solid up front drivers. They get up front and tend to stay up front. So if they are involved in an accident the chance that a majority of them get taken out is high. Also race fans this weekends race is the first race of October which is Breast Cancer awareness month so make sure you go and check out our Belly Up store and support the cause by buying one of the shirts. We will be donating half of our earnings while our shirt provider will be matching every penny we donate! So go check it out!
