Tony Stewart 2010 Fantasy NASCAR Preview

[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=tony+stewart&iid=7811436″ src=”a/d/d/6/Daytona_500_Practice_0f57.jpg?adImageId=9955036&imageId=7811436″ width=”234″ height=”156″ /]Tony Stewart

2009 Stats: Points Position 6th, 4 Wins, 15 Top Fives, 23 Top Tens, Average Finish 10.1, Average Position 11.5, Laps Led 371, Driver Rating 99.7

Tony Stewart risked a lot when he left Joe Gibbs Racing. The team he left behind was the most recent team to win the championship that doesn’t have a 48 sticker on top of the car.

The newly formed 14 team started off the season strong. They were at their best in the early to mid summer. In August they started to struggle and make bad decisions. He was the points leader for the majority of the year but when the points were reallocated at the start of the Chase Stewart appeared to have nothing for Jimmie Johnson.

Strengths- Stewart is strong across the board at many tracks. There is no real meaningful weakness in his resume.

Tony Stewart tied Ryan Newman for completing the most laps in 2009 which speaks volumes for the consistency he had last season.

Weaknesses- Although he isn’t really weak at any particular track he simply isn’t on par with the elite intermediate track drivers. He’s also slightly overrated at times on the short tracks.

Intermediate Track Grade- A-, Stewart scored the second most points on this style of track last year. I know you read my comment about this being a weakness a second ago so let me explain this more. Stewart scored the second most points by being consistent on these tracks. Stewart didn’t score the second most points by being dominant. He scored the second most points by being on the track. Last season Stewart completed more laps than anyone on intermediate tracks. Stewart only led 115 laps at these venues, 11 drivers led more laps than him at these tracks.

Flat Track Grade-A, Stewart is capable of winning at any flat track on the circuit. He’s strong at both the shorter ones (New Hampshire and Phoenix) and the longer ones (Indianapolis and Pocono). In 2009 he won the first Pocono race starting at the back of the pack.

Restrictor Plate Track Grade- A, It’s hard to be a sure bet at these tracks but Stewart comes almost as close as possible to being that. His best traditional restrictor plate race of the year is the Daytona night race which he has won multiple times including the 2009 race.

Short Track Grade- B+,  Last year Stewart scored the 10th most points in the series on the short tracks. He had 2 good races at Martinsville, 1 good race at Richmond, and he never cracked the top 15 at Bristol.

Road Course Track Grade- A, The worst Stewart finished on a road course in 2009 was second (Infineon). He won at Watkins Glen in 2009 and in his career he has a staggering 5 career wins and a 5.3 career average finish.

How to use Tony Stewart from a fantasy prospective in 2010?

Tony Stewart is good at what he does. He’s strong across the board at almost every type of track. When it comes to using Tony Stewart fantasy wise in 2010 the main thing I would do is avoid using him at the intermediate tracks. He scored the 2nd most points at this style of track in 2009, but it was based on consistency, not out racing people. There will be better options available for these tracks in 2010, and this way you can also use your Tony Stewart allocations more wisely.

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