Carl Edwards started the season with alacrity. Seven of his first nine attempts ended in results of seventh or better. He won back-to-back short track races at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond International Raceway in April—and revealed one of the drawbacks of the win-and-in format for fantasy racers.
With a guaranteed ticket to the Chase, Edwards’ incentive to challenge for victories was minimized. Winning would be a boon to Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and the sponsors, but a bigger consideration needed to be given to preparing for how they would run during the Chase.
Edwards crashed in two of the three races following his consecutive wins. He finished 11th and 18th in two more of those four, and then rattled off four top-10s in the space of five events from Pocono Raceway in June through Kentucky Speedway in July.
Edwards’ momentum was beginning to stall, however. His mini-surge was followed by a streak of nine races in which he scored only three top-10s and no top-fives. This carried him all the way into the playoffs, where he was anemic at the start with one top-10 in the first four races. A second at Kansas in October gave him enough points to advance from round two. An accident at Martinsville Speedway contributed to a 36th-place finish and without any foundation to make him a favorite, it appeared he would miss the finale. He won the AAA Texas 500, and then limped through Phoenix International Raceway a week later.
Once he got into the Big Show, he was surprising at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the finale. For most of the Ford 400, he appeared to be the driver to beat until he made an ill-timed block on Joey Logano in the closing laps and was sent into the inside wall.
How does that impact his handicap going forward? Fantasy players need to wait and see how he runs in the opening races—and even then there will the niggling doubt about how he will perform overall because of his 2016 experience.
JGR established themselves as one of the primary teams this year by placing all of their drivers in the Chase. Odds are good they will do so again, but Edwards has not shown the raw power to suggest he is going to be their lead driver. Kyle Busch with his all or nothing attitude or slow-and-steady Matt Kenseth will provide the most wins and top-fives, but the No. 19 will carve out a niche in 2017.
Look for Edwards to do well in the first few races that use a low down force package or when the tires are slick and hard. He is a driver who likes adverse conditions and rightly thinks he performs better than most of the competition when that is the case.
Victories: Bristol (spring), Richmond (spring), Texas (fall)
Top-fives: 9 (.250)
Top-10s: 18 (.500)
Top-15s: 23 (.639)
With a guaranteed ticket to the Chase, Edwards’ incentive to challenge for victories was minimized. Winning would be a boon to Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) and the sponsors, but a bigger consideration needed to be given to preparing for how they would run during the Chase.
Edwards crashed in two of the three races following his consecutive wins. He finished 11th and 18th in two more of those four, and then rattled off four top-10s in the space of five events from Pocono Raceway in June through Kentucky Speedway in July.
Edwards’ momentum was beginning to stall, however. His mini-surge was followed by a streak of nine races in which he scored only three top-10s and no top-fives. This carried him all the way into the playoffs, where he was anemic at the start with one top-10 in the first four races. A second at Kansas in October gave him enough points to advance from round two. An accident at Martinsville Speedway contributed to a 36th-place finish and without any foundation to make him a favorite, it appeared he would miss the finale. He won the AAA Texas 500, and then limped through Phoenix International Raceway a week later.
Once he got into the Big Show, he was surprising at Homestead-Miami Speedway in the finale. For most of the Ford 400, he appeared to be the driver to beat until he made an ill-timed block on Joey Logano in the closing laps and was sent into the inside wall.
How does that impact his handicap going forward? Fantasy players need to wait and see how he runs in the opening races—and even then there will the niggling doubt about how he will perform overall because of his 2016 experience.
JGR established themselves as one of the primary teams this year by placing all of their drivers in the Chase. Odds are good they will do so again, but Edwards has not shown the raw power to suggest he is going to be their lead driver. Kyle Busch with his all or nothing attitude or slow-and-steady Matt Kenseth will provide the most wins and top-fives, but the No. 19 will carve out a niche in 2017.
Look for Edwards to do well in the first few races that use a low down force package or when the tires are slick and hard. He is a driver who likes adverse conditions and rightly thinks he performs better than most of the competition when that is the case.
Victories: Bristol (spring), Richmond (spring), Texas (fall)
Top-fives: 9 (.250)
Top-10s: 18 (.500)
Top-15s: 23 (.639)
Track
|
3-Yr
Avg. Fin |
Career
Avg. Fin |
Best
Fin |
Career
Attempts |
Career
Top-10s |
Race 1
|
Race 2
|
Kentucky Speedway
|
7.67
|
11.50
|
2
|
6
|
3
|
2
| |
Atlanta Motor Speedway
|
7.33
|
14.00
|
1
|
19
|
12
|
5
| |
Texas Motor Speedway
|
7.67
|
13.63
|
1
|
24
|
13
|
7
|
1
|
Bristol Motor Speedway
|
7.67
|
13.92
|
1
|
25
|
12
|
1
|
6
|
Charlotte Motor Speedway
|
8.17
|
11.96
|
1
|
25
|
15
|
18
|
12
|
Kansas Speedway
|
8.67
|
10.16
|
2
|
19
|
13
|
11
|
2
|
Watkins Glen International
|
9.33
|
8.92
|
3
|
12
|
8
|
15
| |
Auto Club Speedway
|
10.00
|
8.68
|
1
|
19
|
15
|
7
| |
Darlington Raceway
|
11.00
|
12.15
|
1
|
13
|
8
|
19
| |
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
|
11.33
|
13.24
|
2
|
25
|
8
|
20
|
6
|
Chicagoland Speedway
|
12.33
|
15.08
|
2
|
12
|
4
|
15
| |
Michigan International Speedway
|
12.83
|
9.40
|
1
|
25
|
18
|
6
|
7
|
Phoenix International Raceway
|
12.86
|
12.12
|
1
|
25
|
13
|
2
|
19
|
Sonoma Raceway
|
15.00
|
15.42
|
1
|
12
|
6
|
4
| |
Richmond International Raceway
|
15.67
|
14.20
|
1
|
25
|
12
|
1
|
32
|
Dover Downs International
|
16.83
|
11.64
|
1
|
25
|
12
|
28
|
14
|
Martinsville Speedway
|
17.67
|
16.28
|
3
|
25
|
6
|
6
|
36
|
Pocono Raceway
|
18.50
|
14.63
|
1
|
24
|
11
|
8
|
8
|
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
|
21.00
|
15.17
|
2
|
12
|
3
|
35
| |
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
|
21.67
|
12.67
|
1
|
12
|
6
|
18
| |
Homestead - Miami Speedway
|
22.75
|
11.15
|
1
|
13
|
7
|
34
| |
Daytona International Speedway
|
24.67
|
19.79
|
2
|
24
|
9
|
5
|
25
|
Talladega SuperSpeedway
|
25.33
|
21.72
|
3
|
25
|
6
|
35
|
29
|
++ Swept Victory Lane
+ Top-five sweeps
* Top-10 sweeps
+ Top-five sweeps
* Top-10 sweeps
No comments:
Post a Comment