Now that the excitement of Daytona has just about faded (although I'm sure Fox will remind us about it), it's time for the regular grind of the NASCAR season and the first of two races on the West Coast. The Daytona 500 is an oddball for Yahoo Fantasy Auto Racing because you don't have to pick your drivers before qualifying. Having to select my drivers before qualifying definitely made a difference this week. Here's how my picks shook out this weekend:
A List - Carl Edwards. My two picks -- Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon -- qualified 24th and 30th, respectively. Everything else being equal, I picked Carl as my A List driver this week. Carl has never been known for his qualifying (despite winning the poll for the Daytona 500), and maybe the fact that the race is the Subway Fresh Fit 500 will be a little motivation for him. Gotta win for the sponsor.
B List - Mark Martin. Picked up 10 bonus points by picking the pole sitter. So I'll be keeping Mark this week.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Yes, I probably would have been smarter picking him at Daytona last weekend. And yes, he did qualify 29th this weekend. And I do have other drivers that qualified better. But Dale has run well here in the past. Here's my leap of faith for the weekend.
C List - Aric Almirola. My two C List picks (Almirola and Dave Blaney) both qualified better than my A List drivers. I know I should be riding the Blaney momentum, but Almirola (14th) qualified a little better than Blaney (23rd), so Aric is my pick for Phoenix.
Last week's results: I finished with 264 points, which miraculously put me in first place in my league. It's so early, but at least I got bragging rights for one week.
