Fantasy Football Vs. Fantasy NASCAR
Who doesn’t love fantasy sports? Fantasy sports give people the pleasure of beating their friends, knowing otherwise useless information, and a short-term emotional attachment to players/ drivers who they otherwise might not like.
Two fantasy sports that I like are Fantasy NASCAR and Fantasy Football. Here’s a comparison between the two.
Season Length
In Fantasy Football the season is relatively short. In many fantasy football leagues the regular season can be as short as 14 weeks, with two extra weeks for playoffs.
In Fantasy NASCAR we do things big. Our season is more than twice as long. There are pros and cons to this. The pro is that you have time to overcome a bad start to the season. The con side of this is that you have time to get lapped and really stink it up. If you check out ifantasyrace.com on a regular basis than you shouldn’t worry about embarrassing yourself.
The Draft
In Fantasy Football you draft a ton of players. The number can very greatly but unless you’re an expert you most likely are drafting players who you could care less about, or have never even heard of.
In Fantasy NASCAR you know the names of the drivers who you draft. If you don’t than you’re not paying attention. In my Fantasy NASCAR league our draft is six rounds deep. There’s about thirty playable drivers so in no circumstance are you going find yourself in a situation where you’re drafting Dave Marcis, Shawna Robinson or Hideo Fukuyama.
Injuries/ Suspensions
I don’t know about you but the one thing I hate about Fantasy Football is injuries and suspensions. Have you ever noticed they always seem to happen at the worst times? When Percy Harvin has a headache and he’s on my team I have a headache. When Larry Johnson has legal troubles, I have trouble.
In NASCAR suspensions and injuries are rare. The only way drivers get suspended in NASCAR is if their in lame duck season with their car owner (Kurt Busch), NASCAR doesn’t like them (Robby Gordon), or they want to teach a young driver a lesson (Kevin Harvick).
Injuries in NASCAR have been on the rise lately but in no way are they related to what happens on the track. Carl Edwards broke his foot in 2009 playing frisbee golf, Jimmie Johnson broke his wrist at a celebrity golf tournament, Denny Hamlin tore his ACL playing basketball, and Brian Vickers had blood clots.
NASCAR drivers often drive through their injuries which is a big plus. Carl Edwards raced for months with a broken foot, Denny Hamlin drove with a torn ACL, and then drove immediately following surgery.
Off Weeks
In Fantasy Football the players don’t play every week. This can makes things tough because you have to plan ahead of time to make sure you don’t have two players in similar positions who have the same off week.
In NASCAR the drivers race every week so there’s nothing to worry about here.
Fantasy Study Work
During the course of the week Fantasy Football players pour over stats, injury reports and defensive match ups. If someone’s really into fantasy football the sky’s the limit over what you can study, especially with so many players on your team.
The week for Fantasy Racers is a bit more simplistic, but it doesn’t have to be. Serious Fantasy Racers look at expert picks, loop data, stats, chassis selections and other key fantasy stats leading up to the race. Then during the weekend it’s important for them to watch and analyze Happy Hour practice.
