An Interview with Fantasy NASCAR Expert Stephen Young
If you’re a fan of DFS NASCAR, you’re likely already quite familiar with Stephen Young (AKA: Stevietpfl).
Stevie was kind enough to share a bit about his background, his Fantasy NASCAR experience, and life on and off the track.
How/when did you get into racing (NASCAR specifically)? Did you ever do any kind of racing yourself?
I’ve lived right outside of Daytona my whole life, and have been going to Daytona races since I was a little kid (5ish). My family has always been big NASCAR fans, and have been into racing in general. My Dad and Grandfather both raced on short tracks and now dirt tracks, so I grew up around racing as well. My brothers are racing now, and I try to go out and support them as much as I can. I’ve been in the car one time, and as much as I liked it, I just don’t have time to commit to racing with everything else going on. I do love being at the dirt track, and go as much as I can when I’m not traveling to NASCAR events.
We’ve seen you be successful in DFS NASCAR, but is it your favorite DFS sport to play? If not, which DFS sport do you like the best (and why)?
As much as I love baseball, nothing compares to the sweat of DFS NASCAR. You’re always worried about your driver having an issue, or worried about something happening on the track where they wreck. You can be in the black the entire race, and something could happen with five laps to go to completely change the slate. I still think there is an edge in roster construction, which makes me like it even more.
When analyzing practice runs and pre-races, aside from pure speed, is there something in particular that you’re looking for when ranking/selecting your drivers?
I think too many people look at just the speed, and this usually creates an edge. One-lap times can create some ownership buzz that is super helpful for tournaments. I like to look at 10-lap averages, plus listen to what the drivers are saying about the car. Unlike other sports, the driver is 100% telling the crew chief what is right and wrong with the car. There is no sugar coating it, and if you put in the time, you can know a lot about the race cars before the race.
How much do the different NASCAR packages affect which drivers you’ll ultimately target in a race?
I would say up until this year it didn’t make a huge difference, but this year has been completely different. You have to know what the package is every week, and how the package will affect the cars on the track. We see packages where you can’t pass the leader, which can create a lot of fantasy points for drivers out front.
You can often be found at the track on race day. Does this ever affect your ability to make your NASCAR lineups?
I’d say no as an easy answer, but I have a lot less time to get things done at the track. When you’re at the track you’re trying to get as much information for people as possible, which hurts how you build your own lineups. Mark has done a great job helping me at the track, and I love being able to provide as much news as possible when at the track. You don’t have a lot of cell service at the track, so it’s hard to really track fastest laps when watching.
We often hear how weather (rain, heat, sunshine, etc) can affect a race. Is this something you incorporate heavily in your research?
Not really just because it’s hard to predict when we’re going to get clouds and how long we will have them. The weeks we have rain, I do think it’s important to pay attention to how much of the race is going to get in. This could change the entire strategy of a race.
It’s May 2019, who is your favorite active NASCAR driver and why? Who is your favorite of all-time?
My favorite active drivers are Kyle Busch and Ty Dillon. I couldn’t really choose just one of them. I really love how Kyle wants to win every week, and he’s pissed when he doesn’t win. I feel like this is how I was when playing baseball, and I’m sorry, but I can’t be happy about finishing 2nd. I have a ton of respect for how good Kyle Busch is at driving a race car. Ty Dillon is a fighter and I respect how much time and effort he puts into getting better and making this single-car team better. I’ve watched him race on dirt and the other series growing up, I think he’s making this team better every week. He’s just a really good person and I’ve watched him and a lot of the drivers do so much for kids. My favorite all-time would be Mark Martin. I’ve met him multiple times and he’s always been such a nice guy, and getting to do a pace car ride with him at Darlington was a bucket list thing for me. My Dad was always a big Martin fan, and I just always liked watching him in a race car.
DFS NASCAR scoring is highly volatile given mid-race wrecks, pit stops, etc. How do you handle these huge swings? Do you follow your NASCAR scores closely throughout each race, or just check them as the race nears an end?
I get this question all the time, and I always answer it the same way… I check my teams with about 30-35 laps to go to see if I have anything going on, and when I’m at the track I don’t usually check until the end. When I’m at the track I will write down my ownership percentages on guys with their actual ownership to see where I stand when something happens or where I’m at on someone dominating a race. I love the sweat of it, but I think it’s smart to check later than earlier in a race.
Daytona aside, which NASCAR track ranks as your favorite (and why)? Do you have a least favorite track/race?
Bristol is by far my favorite outside of Daytona. There is nothing like Bristol, and it’s been my favorite race track ever since I started watching NASCAR. I don’t have a least favorite track, but I will say it’s hard to follow the race at some tracks from inside the track.
On a typical weekend, what is your estimated investment mix (by percentage, not dollars) between GPP’s and cash games?
When NASCAR first came out I would say I played about 90% cash games, but I play about 70% tournaments now. On FanDuel I’d say my play is around 50/50 between cash and tournaments. I’ve built a really strong process for tournaments on DraftKings, and try to take advantage of that as much as possible.
Do you remember your first big NASCAR win? What race and which driver(s) led you to victory lane? Do you have a favorite win?
It was the spring Michigan race in 2015. I needed Kurt to stay out front and the rain came. He ended up winning the race and I had a 30k+ day. It was one of the biggest wins for me, and it felt really good with NASCAR being so new. My favorite win would have to be last year at Texas. I was having a rough start to the season for GPPs, and I ended up sweeping the weekend. I won the big XFINITY tournament the Cup tournament which started a massive run for me.
DFS NASCAR has grown at a remarkable rate. Is there anything about its current format that you’d like to see changed/removed/added?
I’d really like to see laps led valued more than fastest laps. With the new rules package, fastest laps are coming throughout the field more, which makes them a little more unpredictable. I’d like to be rewarded more for predicting who is going to lead the race. I’d also like to see them do something with stage points, just to add a little more scoring to the format.
If you haven’t tried daily fantasy NASCAR, you’re missing out on a ton of fun. Get fully prepared for the next race with Stevie’s Fantasy NASCAR Package!