I’ve been driving the Anti-Ambrose bandwagon all season and since we get asked about him every week, I put some stats together to back up my opinion:
Yahoo Fantasy Points per race: 51.75, which ranks 14th of the 16 B List drivers.
Average Finish: 20.8, which is 23rd overall and 13th among B List drivers.
I know that average finish or fantasy points may not reflect how well a driver has actually been performing due to bad luck, equipment failures, running out of fuel, etc.
Therefore, let’s look at some other stats that focus on how well a driver performs during a race and don’t rely solely on finishing position.
Percent of all laps run in the Top 15: 36%, which ranks 20th overall and 10th among B List drivers.
Ironically, Kasey Kahne, who everyone has been killing from a fantasy perspective, has run 58% of all laps inside the Top 15.
Average running position: 17.6, which ranks 19th overall and 9th among B List drivers.
Among Yahoo Fantasy Racing’s B List drivers, Ambrose doesn’t rank in the top half of any major statistical category and in some categories, ranks in the bottom three.
For the record, there are weeks where Ambrose’s value is so low that he makes sense in salary cap formats because a 20th place finish is okay from your cheapest or bottom end driver.
But why settle for 20th place finishes in Yahoo when MWR drivers are banging out Top 10′s weekly?
As we’ve learned in the past, drivers can certainly improve over the course of the season and become more reliable fantasy options, but these numbers prove that we should be in wait and see mode with Ambrose until he puts together some good runs at tracks other than road courses.
* All stats used in this article courtesy of FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com.
Ambrose finished 22nd last week at Richmond now as well. Still think he’s a Chase driver? These 20th place finishes won’t get him close to a legitimate fantasy option.
And I never said he’s not a good driver, but the argument that he’d have better finishes with a better team like Hendrick, Gibbs or Roush makes absolutely no sense at all because you can make that same argument for any driver. You mean to tell me that a driver’s performance will improve if he goes from mediocre equipment to the best? Shocking.
Remember, my article was all about fantasy racing value not whether or not he’s a talented driver.
And where did my Anti-Ambrose opinion come from? Look at his finishes and fantasy points this year. He’s been absolutely terrible and there’s no way around it.
I think you’re wrong on this one. Solely from a Fantasy perspective what you say has a little merit but not when you try to clarify it by talking about driver performance.
You mention bad luck, equipment failure etc but you have not accounted for it. If you did I think you would find that without those problems Ambrose would currently be challenging for a Chase position and your Anti-Ambrose sentiment would be out the window. No other team , Kahne included, has suffered anywhere near the same circumstances. Out of gas on the last lap running 7th… taken out early but running in top 10 and looking strong on a favored track at Bristol… blown engine running 3rd at Phoenix with 17 to go … another DNF in there somewhere as well I think… etc. That’s a heap of points snuffed out and can’t help but think he would be in the top 10 if he was driving for RFR, JGR or HMS. Hes coming and hes coming fast so i have to completely disagree with your view. Where does the Anti-Ambrose sentiment come from anyway ? Xenophobia ?