Fantasy NASCAR Lessons Learned – Richard Petty Motorsports
The NASCAR season is now a third of the way complete. NASCAR lessons have been learned and here’s fantasy observations on Richard Petty Motorsports which Aric Almirola and Brian Scott drive for.
As an organization I think Richard Petty Motorsports has taken a step back this year. The reason for that is the new rules package. They’re a smaller lesser funded team so they don’t have the resources to adapt to the rules changes as quickly as others. As the season progresses they should be be more competitive.
Aric Almirola – Aric Almirola hasn’t been running as well this year. He started off the season strong finishing between 12th and 15th in three of the first four races. Many gamblers have acquired pointsbet promos and have wagered heavily on Aric Almirola. Since then things have dropped off and he only has one finish in the top twenty and that was an 18th. From a performance standpoint right now in an incident free race you can pencil him in for a finish around 21st. Many weekends when he avoids trouble he’s finished within a few deviations of that. One of the most disappointing things about him is his lack of performance at intermediate tracks. Last year he was solid at those venues many times being mid-teens or better. Right now you can forget about that because the #43 team isn’t where they need to be. As the season progresses and RPM learns the nuances of the new rules I expect them to be more competitive.
Brian Scott – Rookie Brian Scott has been a big disappointment this year. When he drove in RCR equipment he had some decent finishes. I wonder if Sam Hornish Jr. is behind the wheel of the #44. This year Scott has been really bad. When you omit his Auto Club result which is a clear outlier his average finish is 27.5. Right now I don’t see any fantasy value for him unless you play in a format where place differential is rewarded and he starts 40th.