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Get Inside My Head: A Scary Look at a Fantasy Racing Draft

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by Charlie Turner

Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. The best NASCAR and IndyCar news and opinion, exclusive pictures and video. I'm Charlie Turner. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

February 19, 2010 10:49 pm CST No Comments

NASCAR fantasy racing isn’t as big as fantasy football or fantasy baseball, but it’s growing. There are more fantasy racing games being offered than ever. Some NASCAR fantasy games are free, like the One and Done NASCAR game here at OnPitRow.com. Other games charge to play and offer opportunities for money prizes.

RTSports.com offer a menu of pay to play games and RTS is hosting a NASCAR experts game for the fantasy sports site KFFL.com.

Cory Bonini of KFFL invited me to join five other guys from around the NASCAR fantasy world to participate in a NASCAR fantasy draft and play out the season in the game. Cory wrote a post recapping the draft that you can read here. Below are the participants in that draft and the draft order.

This was the first NASCAR fantasy draft for me and I thought some of you might be interested in what went into my choices. So here goes, along with some of Cory’s comments concerning my picks. The draft was five rounds, serpentine format (draft order reverses each round)

Round 1, my pick no. 2 - I knew for a couple days that I would have the 2nd overall pick. I was pretty sure that Adam would take Jimmie Johnson with the first pick. I am still sold on the quality of the Hendrick Motorsports teams. So one thing that went into my overall thinking about the draft was that I wanted at least one - but preferably two - of Hendrick cars on my team. Jeff Gordon, in my opinion, is just a tick behind Johnson at the top. I liked Carl Edwards too. But since this was a serpentine draft, and I wouldn’t pick again until pick no. 11, I wanted Gordon. Plenty of experts are picking Denny Hamlin to win it all. I think the knee takes enough of an edge off during a 36-plus race season to knock him out. Cory took Kyle Busch over Hamlin and I think he got the best Toyota. And yes, I would have taken Johnson if Adam hadn’t.

Round 2, my pick - no.11 -  Off the board, Johnson, J. Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Hamlin,  Mark Martin in round 1 and Ryan Newman, Edwards, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch were the first four in the second round. I would be picking again at pick no. 14. I rated the four best drivers left at this point to be Matt Kenseth (best remaining Ford), Juan Pablo Montoya (I think best Earnhardt-Ganasi Chevy), Clint Bowyer (again, I think the best of the RCR teams) and Earnhardt. I rated Kenseth and Bowyer above the others. I made my choice based on Chevy over Ford. I am not yet sold on the Ford’s ability to beat the Chevy’s consistently.

Adam followed up taking Kenseth. Cory commented that “Bowyer and Kenseth may prove to be reaches.”

Round 3, my pick no.14 -  Adam started off the round taking Montoya, and Cory liked that pick. Now I’m up and my board has Dale Earnhardt Jr as the man. I took him. Here are the three reasons why. 1. Last of the Hendrick Motorsport drivers available. As I said, they are the best. 2. Chevy team - already explained. 3. I had spoken with Boris Said On Pit Row the previous Tuesday. Boris is convinced that Junior is primed for a very good season. Said sold me on Earnhardt’s talent and the team’s ability to win races.

Not everyone agrees. Cory said Junior was “the biggest reach of this round” and “in my opinion, he’s the most overrated driver in all of the NASCAR”. Given the choice though, I’m going with Boris opinion.

The rest of the round went Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, Jeff Burton and Joey Logano.

Round 4, my pick no. 22 - The next off the board were Marcos Ambrose, David Reautiman, Kevin Harvick and Elliott Sadler. I selected David Ragan. My first non-Chevy and I had him rated higher than all of the above except for Harvick. I considered Martin Truex Jr here. I chose the stability of Ragan’s Roush-Fenway team. Plus I did want a Roush car (best Ford team). Truex Jr was taken next by Adam.

Round 5, my pick no.24 - Adam’s final pick was Brad Keselowski - a choice I like. I grabbed Jamie McMurray, who Cory called “a solid but unspectacular racer” which I agree with. Jamies’s Chevy power trumped a possible A J Allmendinger or Sam Hornish Jr pick for me. The draft finished up with Hornish, Allmendiger, Paul Menard and Bobby Labonte.

Here are the teams as drafted:

Adam Ansell

  • Jimmie Johnson
  • Matt Kenseth
  • Brad Keselowski
  • Juan Pablo Montoya
  • Martin Truex Jr.

Alan Boodman

  • Marcos Ambrose
  • Bobby Labonte
  • Joey Logano
  • Mark Martin
  • Ryan Newman

Chris Thompson

  • Kurt Busch
  • Sam Hornish Jr.
  • Kasey Kahne
  • Elliott Sadler
  • Tony Stewart

Cory J. Bonini

  • A.J. Allmendinger
  • Greg Biffle
  • Kyle Busch
  • Kevin Harvick
  • Brian Vickers

Darren Fauth

  • Jeff Burton
  • Carl Edwards
  • Denny Hamlin
  • Paul Menard
  • David Reutimann

Charlie Turner

  • Clint Bowyer
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  • Jeff Gordon
  • Jamie McMurray
  • David Ragan

The way the league is played, each player starts four of his five drivers and starters need to be selected before qualifying.

The Daytona 500 worked out well for me. I started all of my Chevy drivers, sitting Ragan in the lone Ford. The decision for me was between Ragan and McMurray for starter number four. Jamie’s past win at Daytona saved me from embarrassment. My top three finishers finished 1st, 2nd and 4th. Jeff Gordon, my top pick, finished outside the top 20.

That decision on starters will be tough all year. For California, the NASCAR statistics told me to sit Junior.

Damn this is hard.

Filed Under Fantasy NASCAR, Fantasy Racing, Fantasy racing leagues, NASCAR, On Pit Row 

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