After taking a well-deserved weekend off, the time has come to put your team manager’s hat back on for the 10th round of the #INDYCAR Fantasy Challenge driven by Firestone.
Since the calendar turned to May, Scott Dixon – who is the priciest driver this week at $34 – has been the hottest driver in the Verizon IndyCar Series. The Kiwi has scored 250 points over the last five races, 10 more than Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power and 55 more than the next closest pilot.
The third-winningest driver in Indy car history has a hot hand, winning two of the last three races, but he also has the results in the KOHLER Grand Prix to back that up. Dixon won the 2017 event with a masterful drive from fifth on the grid, and he started the 2016 race on the outside of the front row before suffering an engine failure on the first lap.
Will Power ($27) is the second member of my four-driver squad for the Road America race weekend, based on the strength of Team Penske. Combine two wins on the first two natural terrain road courses of 2018 (Barber Motorsports Park and Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course) with the fact that Team Penske drivers have collected six of the possible 10 top-five finishes since the Verizon IndyCar Series returned to the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course two years ago, and it’s a no-brainer to choose one of Roger Penske’s trio.
It was at Road America last year that Robert Wickens ($25) got his first taste of the Verizon IndyCar Series while filling in at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports for a delayed Mikhail Aleshin on practice day. Wickens had an encouraging team test at Road America last week and recorded third- and fourth-place finishes in the first two permanent road course races of 2018, so the Canadian is an obvious choice.
Although Andretti Autosport teammates Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay are two of the top four drivers in the chase for the Astor Cup, they may not be good picks at Road America this week. The two natural terrain road courses so far have yielded some of the team’s most unsatisfactory results. No Andretti driver has reached the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying. Hunter-Reay did secure a podium finish in the mixed-up wet/dry race at Barber, while Rossi had a solid fifth-place drive in the INDYCAR Grand Prix.
My value choice this week is Dale Coyne Racing rookie Zachary Claman DeMelo ($12). The Canadian had the quickest lap of the race at Barber Motorsports Park and finished a solid 12th on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Make your picks prior to Sunday’s green flag at fantasy.indycar.com. It's easy to do. You choose four drivers with a maximum salary cap of $100. There are still great weekly prizes available, even if you haven’t fared well overall this season or are just signing up.