Clan-Members » last six 1.5-mile track r

The Denver Nuggets promising start has quickly gone south just 10 games into the season.Denver beat New Orleans and Boston on the road on its way to a 3-3 start, but nothing has gone right for the team since. Four straight losses have the Nuggets in the basement of the Northwest Division heading into Wednesdays game against the Phoenix Suns.Now the Nuggets (3-7) will play the next four weeks without starting shooting guard Gary Harris. Harris, who didnt play Sunday in a loss at Portland, is out with a foot injury suffered Saturday in a loss to Detroit. Harris started the season on the injured list with a groin injury, but this one is a big blow to a team struggling on both ends of the floor.Harris provides offense and strong perimeter defense, but what the Nuggets need right now is to find cohesion. That missing element is a little surprising because the team bonded during training camp in Omaha, Neb., and during a ton of time on the road during the preseason.It is surprising because you would think wed have a better start because of how we got closer in training camp, point guard Emmanuel Mudiay told The Denver Post. Were closer as a team this year than we were last year off the court. But, on the court, we have to keep working. We have to stay together.Harris absence at the start of the season was mitigated by Will Barton moving into the starting lineup. Barton, however, is nursing a severely sprained right ankle and coach Michael Malone said he could miss 4-6 weeks, which would put his return nearly at the end of November.Denver also made a roster move Tuesday, waiving little-used guard/forward Jarnell Stokes.The injuries could give rookie Jamal Murray a chance to shine. He is shooting 44 percent from 3-point range over the last five games and seems to have settled down after a rough start offensively.If he does start, Murray will face a strong Phoenix backcourt led by Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker. The young guards have played well despite Phoenixs 3-8 record.The Suns are one of the more exciting young offensive teams in the league. Theyve lost four of their last five but got center Tyson Chandler back in the loss to Golden State on Sunday after he was away from the team following his mothers death.Tyson brings a lot of fire, Suns guard Devin Booker told The Arizona Republic. Hes a vocal leader for us. We need that. Hes been there. In those tough games, he knows what to expect.The Suns poor record aside, they have the talent to be good in the future. At least thats what current Golden State coach and former Suns general manager Steve Kerr thinks.If you look four or five years ago with the Warriors, when Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) were really young, they hadnt quite turned the corner, Kerr told sfgate.com. Eventually they did with (coach) Mark (Jackson), and getting (Andrew) Bogut, becoming a great defensive team. I like what the Suns are doing. Its a team thats going to be interesting to watch over the next couple years.The Nuggets are concerned about the current Phoenix team, as well as their own. Malone changed his starting lineup two games ago, inserting Kenneth Faried at power forward and bringing Nikola Jokic off the bench. It hasnt produced a win, but the hope is it will soon.I think I need to have more fun out there, Jokic told The Denver Post. I think I just need to relax more. And then everything will be a little better. Kenley Jansen Dodgers Jersey . With the short-handed Warriors needing help from someone -- anyone -- to stop a three-game skid, ONeal returned from right knee and groin injuries that had sidelined him for four games and put up season highs with 18 points and eight rebounds. It was just enough to help lift Golden State to a 102-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Clayton Kershaw Dodgers Jersey . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. http://www.dodgerssale.com/dodgers-ross-stripling-jersey/ . "I was fortunate to play many years at this level with a great organization and unbelievable teammates," said Hejduk in a statement. Corey Seager Dodgers Jersey . Fellow centre Pavel Datsyuk remains out because of a concussion. Zetterberg has 11 goals and 19 assists for a team-high 30 points, and Datsyuk has a team-high 12 goals and 11 assists. Fernando Valenzuela Dodgers Jersey . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. As the NASCAR season nears its end, we have to put some of the lessons weve learned in mothballs (do people still do that?) for the season. One of those is the short-track methodology of chasing laps led.If you picked Matt Kenseth and Martin Truex Jr., both driving Toyotas, you werent disappointed, as both went over the 140-laps led mark for the day. Even though they finished seventh and fourth, respectively, they still gave you the biggest points days.What I was more interested in out of Martinsville was the make-up of the perfect roster. Kenseth and Truex Jr. were joined by race-winner Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell and Landon Cassill.Thats four drivers costing more than $9,000, and then two costing less than $6,000 in the DraftKings world, for a grand total of $49,900. Its a new format for the roster, ignoring the middle tier, and instead loading up on high-tier drivers with a pair of low-cost drivers starting 30th or worse to pick up some start/finish differential points.Now this week, we got to a totally different style of racing at Texas. Its a fast 1.5-mile track. This will be the 10th race on this type of track, with another one coming in the season finale.Not all the 1.5-mile tracks are clones of each other, but they do share some common traits. It takes a fast car (lots of horsepower) and a strong aerodynamic package to succeed at these tracks. You do see a lot of the same drivers running up front in these races.Looking specifically at Texas, you do see a trend towards the drivers starting up front. Speed in qualifying often turns into in-race speed as well.In 23 races at the track since 2005, four starting positions have averaged at least 40 DraftKings points per race: third (54.8), first (50.3), fifth (40.5) and second (40.4).Lets just go back to 2010, to realize that the eight-highest single-race fantasy scores are all from drivers starting in the top five. In fact, each of the top 12 scores (everyone to put up 100 DraftKings points) came from top-10 starting positions.The lesson, the points here dont come as much from start/finish differential as just straight up dominating days from top starting positions.Keeping that in mind, here are my picks to get you started constructing your fantasy lineup this week. Check back after qualifying for my finall picks and fades.ddddddddddddIm starting my team with...When youre rolling, youre rolling, which is why Im starting with Jimmie Johnson. In the last three 1.5-mile track races, Johnson has gone over the 100 laps led mark twice despite starting 11th and eighth in those two races. In the other race, he started 21st and finished fourth.Johnson finished fourth at Texas earlier this season, but won the three Texas races before that. In the nine Texas races dating back to the start of the 2012 season, Johnson has averaged a 4.7 average finish with 90.7 DraftKings points per race.Keep an eye on these four...Martin Truex Jr.: Throughout the season, Truex Jr. has been the most successful driver on 1.5-mile track races, averaging nearly 80 fantasy points per race. Only Johnson (65.3) is within sight of him. The spring Texas race was one of the ones he dominated, leading 141 laps, but finishing sixth. But he hasnt led in the last two 1.5-mile track races, which knocks him out of the top spot.Matt Kenseth: Kenseth comes into this race with finishes of ninth or better in the last six 1.5-mile track races. The most recent one, at Kansas, was his best of the bunch, as he led 116 laps with 36 fastest laps. In each of the last two 1.5-mile track races, he was a top-three fantasy finisher.Kasey Kahne: The Kasey Kahne rejuvenation tour hits Texas. With the exception of a plate race at Talladega (which is such a totally different style of racing that we really should set it aside), Kahne is on a 10-race stretch of finishing 14th or better. Historically, 1.5-mile tracks are where Kahne has the most success, and hes on a three-race stretch of top 10s on them, being sixth or better in fantasy points in each.Clint Bowyer: You need more than just the expensive drivers, and Bowyer could allow you to fill in the gap at the bottom of your roster. His key is start/finish differential. This season in the nine 1.5-mile track races, Bowyer has a combined start/finish differential of +48, tied for the third-best in the series. One of the two ahead of him (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) wont race Sunday.Thats all I have for you this week, get yourself some Texas beef brisket and enjoy the race! ' ' '