via RotoWorld/Dan Beaver.
Last fall, no one was particularly concerned that Kevin Harvick had dug a deep hole for himself in the third round of the Chase. That was because everyone expected him to win the Can-Am 500 like he had won six of the previous nine races at Phoenix International Raceway. On two other occasions, he finished second in those five years, leaving only one time when he truly stumbled—if one could call a 13th-place result stumbling. Drivers and fantasy players do not have the same priorities, however, and even though Harvick failed to win and advance to the finale in Chase contention, his fourth-place finish in that race was the ninth time since 2012 that he scored a top-five. Guess who will be anchoring one’s roster at Phoenix in 2017?
Even with his dominance at Phoenix, Harvick is not the driver with the best record on minimally-banked courses one mile or less in length. Harvick struggled in both Martinsville Speedway events, but Kyle Busch swept the top 10 in all races on this course type. Busch’s wort two efforts came at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in their first race and Richmond International Raceway’s fall event when he crossed under the checkers eighth and ninth respectively, but those were easily offset by a victory at Martinsville in the spring, a runner-up finish in Richmond’s first race, and another second at Phoenix in the fall. Altogether, Busch had an average finish of 4.25 in eight races that easily eclipsed the competition.
Joey Logano had the third best average finish on short, flat tracks with a 8.88. As one might expect with that average, he was much less predictable than the competition and the No. 22 finished outside the top 10 three times in eight races on minimally-banked courses. Two of these were barely outside that mark with 11ths is Martinsville’s spring and Richmond’s fall events. He offset that with only two top-fives, but one of these was a victory in the Can-Am 500 that made him a favorite to win the championship.
Kyle Larson had his share of success on this course type as well with three top-fives, a worst result of 17th, and the fourth-best average finish in the Cup series. All of the top-ranked drivers finished in the top five at Phoenix to close out the season; Larson was third in that event and had top-three results at Martinsville and Richmond. He is currently best known for his ability on multi-groove tracks that allow him to move to the top, so these events are a good place to differentiate one’s lineup from the competition.
The driver with the best record in 2016, but who struggled the most on short, flat tracks was Carl Edwards. He got his season off to a bang with a near-win at Phoenix, a sixth at Martinsville, and victory at Richmond. His Good Sam 500 effort was probably the most dramatic as he banged fenders with the winner Harvick, but chose not to wreck him before the checkers. As soon as the summer came along, he faded on many courses and earned just one more top-15 in the final five races on this track type.
Even with his dominance at Phoenix, Harvick is not the driver with the best record on minimally-banked courses one mile or less in length. Harvick struggled in both Martinsville Speedway events, but Kyle Busch swept the top 10 in all races on this course type. Busch’s wort two efforts came at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in their first race and Richmond International Raceway’s fall event when he crossed under the checkers eighth and ninth respectively, but those were easily offset by a victory at Martinsville in the spring, a runner-up finish in Richmond’s first race, and another second at Phoenix in the fall. Altogether, Busch had an average finish of 4.25 in eight races that easily eclipsed the competition.
Joey Logano had the third best average finish on short, flat tracks with a 8.88. As one might expect with that average, he was much less predictable than the competition and the No. 22 finished outside the top 10 three times in eight races on minimally-banked courses. Two of these were barely outside that mark with 11ths is Martinsville’s spring and Richmond’s fall events. He offset that with only two top-fives, but one of these was a victory in the Can-Am 500 that made him a favorite to win the championship.
Kyle Larson had his share of success on this course type as well with three top-fives, a worst result of 17th, and the fourth-best average finish in the Cup series. All of the top-ranked drivers finished in the top five at Phoenix to close out the season; Larson was third in that event and had top-three results at Martinsville and Richmond. He is currently best known for his ability on multi-groove tracks that allow him to move to the top, so these events are a good place to differentiate one’s lineup from the competition.
The driver with the best record in 2016, but who struggled the most on short, flat tracks was Carl Edwards. He got his season off to a bang with a near-win at Phoenix, a sixth at Martinsville, and victory at Richmond. His Good Sam 500 effort was probably the most dramatic as he banged fenders with the winner Harvick, but chose not to wreck him before the checkers. As soon as the summer came along, he faded on many courses and earned just one more top-15 in the final five races on this track type.
Rank
|
Driver
|
Avg. Fin
|
Phx 2
|
M’ville 2
|
NH 2
|
Rich 2
|
NH 1
|
Rich 1
|
M’ville 1
|
Phx 1
|
1.
|
4.25
|
2
|
5
|
3
|
9
|
8
|
2
|
1
|
4
| |
2.
|
7.13
|
4
|
20
|
1
|
5
|
4
|
5
|
17
|
1
| |
3.
|
8.88
|
1
|
9
|
11
|
10
|
3
|
8
|
11
|
18
| |
4.
|
9.50
|
3
|
14
|
10
|
2
|
17
|
15
|
3
|
12
| |
5.
|
10.38
|
7
|
3
|
15
|
1
|
9
|
6
|
39
|
3
| |
6.
|
10.50
|
14
|
2
|
4
|
4
|
15
|
11
|
5
|
29
| |
7.
|
11.38
|
5
|
22
|
5
|
8
|
22
|
10
|
13
|
6
| |
8.
|
11.63
|
38
|
1
|
8
|
11
|
12
|
3
|
9
|
11
| |
9.
|
11.88
|
21
|
4
|
2
|
38
|
1
|
7
|
15
|
7
| |
10.
|
13.25
|
11
|
8
|
19
|
7
|
6
|
16
|
23
|
16
| |
11.
|
14.00
|
13
|
11
|
9
|
6
|
25
|
4
|
22
|
22
| |
12.
|
14.25
|
40
|
7
|
7
|
3
|
16
|
9
|
18
|
14
| |
13.
|
15.00
|
15
| ||||||||
14.
|
15.25
|
19
|
36
|
6
|
32
|
20
|
1
|
6
|
2
| |
15.
|
15.33
|
6
|
14
|
26
| ||||||
16.
|
15.88
|
9
|
12
|
13
|
19
|
34
|
12
|
20
|
8
| |
17.
|
16.38
|
39
|
17
|
16
|
13
|
13
|
20
|
4
|
9
| |
18.
|
16.63
|
17
|
10
|
21
|
20
|
21
|
25
|
2
|
17
| |
19.
|
17.13
|
16
|
13
|
33
|
23
|
5
|
14
|
12
|
21
| |
20.
|
18.25
|
8
|
19
|
12
|
39
|
11
|
28
|
19
|
10
| |
21.
|
18.75
|
12
|
16
|
20
|
28
|
7
|
18
|
10
|
39
| |
22.
|
19.67
|
15
|
26
|
23
|
33
|
2
|
19
| |||
23.
|
19.88
|
29
|
24
|
18
|
15
|
14
|
24
|
16
|
19
| |
24.
|
20.50
|
22
|
15
|
17
|
17
|
19
|
21
|
40
|
13
| |
25.
|
23.25
|
10
|
25
|
25
|
40
|
18
|
22
|
8
|
38
| |
26.
|
24.13
|
28
|
23
|
38
|
14
|
23
|
17
|
27
|
23
| |
27.
|
26.13
|
24
|
28
|
22
|
22
|
24
|
33
|
25
|
31
| |
27.
|
26.13
|
18
|
21
|
27
|
21
|
27
|
29
|
31
|
35
| |
29.
|
26.25
|
23
|
40
|
24
|
18
|
10
|
26
|
32
|
37
| |
29.
|
26.25
|
34
|
18
|
26
|
12
|
39
|
31
|
24
|
26
| |
31.
|
27.75
|
20
|
29
|
29
|
36
|
28
|
27
|
28
|
25
| |
32.
|
28.00
|
31
|
25
| |||||||
33.
|
29.00
|
31
|
37
|
32
|
34
|
30
|
23
|
21
|
24
| |
33.
|
29.00
|
25
|
32
|
28
|
37
|
31
|
30
|
29
|
20
| |
35.
|
29.88
|
32
|
27
|
30
|
24
|
29
|
34
|
33
|
30
| |
36.
|
30.75
|
27
|
30
|
34
|
29
|
32
|
32
|
34
|
28
| |
37.
|
32.00
|
30
|
34
|
31
|
35
|
38
|
35
|
26
|
27
| |
38.
|
33.60
|
33
|
33
|
37
|
27
|
38
| ||||
39.
|
33.63
|
26
|
35
|
40
|
31
|
33
|
36
|
35
|
33
| |
40.
|
34.00
|
36
|
32
| |||||||
41.
|
DJ Kennington
|
35.00
|
35
| |||||||
42.
|
35.43
|
36
|
38
|
36
|
26
|
35
|
40
|
37
| ||
43.
|
35.50
|
35
|
41
|
30
|
36
| |||||
44.
|
36.00
|
36
| ||||||||
45.
|
36.67
|
39
|
30
|
40
|
39
|
38
|
34
| |||
46.
|
38.00
|
37
|
39
|
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