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Fantasy Auto Racing: STP 500

Jamie McMurray has been getting better each race, can he win the STP 500?

By Mark Abell
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Fantasy Auto Racing:

What: STP 500
When: April 2nd
Where: Martinsville Speedway
2016 Winner: Kyle Busch

I will follow Yahoo's Fantasy Auto Racing where you pick 2 A Racers, 4 B Racers and 2 C Racers. As such I will pick one from A, 2 from B and 1 from C (as if they were your starters) along with one Dark Horse pick.

Track: Martinsville Speedway. Located in Ridgeway, VA, this half mile track is the shortest track on the NASCAR Cup Series. It was built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles and stands as one of the first oval tracks in NASCAR. It uses Concrete for the turns but sticks with Asphalt on the straightaways. The constant braking is tricky here so it's best to have someone who knows what they are doing and has a record of success.

A.
Joey Logano. Only one finish this year not inside the top 6 (Phoenix). He has a solid record of top 5 finishes here over the last 3 years (11thlast year, 3rd in 2015 and 4th in 2014). The combination of his familiarity here and his recent strong play makes me wonder if this could be his first win of the year?

B:
Kyle Larson. I see no reason to stop picking him. 3 consecutive 2nd places followed up by a win. Keep riding this train. (In case you needed any more reasons, he finished 3rd here last year).

Jamie McMurray. The announcers were bringing him up a fair amount in California for good reason. He is flying under the radar with a solid season. After Daytona he's finished in the top 15 in the last 4 races and has been in the mix down the final few laps in two of them. He generally does better in the second Martinsville race during the playoffs but I think he can land a top 10 finish on Sunday.

C.
Danny Suarez. As I bounce back and forth with Erik Jones and Danny I feel like Danny has been the better racer over the last 2 and could finish a few spots higher on Sunday.  Erik seems to prefer the open road while Danny has shown adeptness at maneuvering through the tight spots.

Dark Horse.
Austin Dillon. It's been a rough start to him with only one top 15 finish so far this year but it was last week and he's progressing in the right direction. He finished 4th here last year and has the capability to repeat a top 5 finish.