NASCAR: 6 drivers who surprised Fantasy Live players in 2019

Ty Dillon

Ty Dillon shocked the NASCAR world by winning TWO stages in 2019 at Bristol and Talladega and by recording three top 10 finishes, two in the two Daytona races and the other in the fall Talladega race.

At the end of the season, Dillon scored 612 fantasy points (24th overall). He has seen a slow but steady rise in consistency as a fantasy underdog over the last couple seasons, especially on the superspeedways. But that’s not overly surprising; you can also put Michael McDowell and Corey Lajoie on that list.

For Dillon’s 2019 season, I think you have to give a lot of credit to crew chief Matt Borland for his experience leading crews for Ryan Newman and Paul Menard. I think it was that leadership that gave the younger Dillon the opportunity to have the career year he had.

I would also expect Germain Racing to start showing up and getting more top 20 finishes in 2020. Given how young Dillon is and how much experience he can still earn, this could be just the start of a Martin Truex Jr.-type career. You also can’t forget about their alliance with Richard Childress Racing that could yield even better results in the future. I’m talking top 15, top 10 and perhaps even top five finishes.