With fantasy sports as popular as ever, Red Bull Global Rallycross is giving fans multiple ways to play in 2017.
In addition to a Fantasy Championship, in which fans’ picks earn them points throughout the season, GRC also is running a separate Fantasy Challenge for each of the season’s 12 rounds. These two unique formats each require players to consider different things before locking in their selections, and that can make setting your lineup tricky.
For the Fantasy Challenge, Supercar drivers are divided into three tiers based on their performance heading into a given round, with a fourth tier comprised of the whole Lites field. Players have to pick the driver from each tier they think will help earn them the most points for that event, with their Lites picks being used as tiebreakers.
To help you know what to look for when making your selections, here are the four racers we’ve put in our lineups for the Red Bull GRC Seattle Challenge:
Tier 1: Tanner Foust, Volkswagen Andretti Autosport
Although Tanner Foust’s teammate, Scott Speed, has been the class of the field this year, winning the the last three rounds, the GRC veteran is due for a victory. He heads to Seattle sitting third in the standings, three points behind Steve Arpin in the standings, so he’ll want to reclaim P2 ahead of the season finale in Los Angeles. And we have confidence that he can do so, given that he won the first GRC event at Evergreen Speedway in 2016.
Tier 2: Steve Arpin, Loenbro Motorsports
Call us unoriginal if you want, but we’ve had a hard time betting against Steve Arpin throughout the 2017 season. His consistent level of performance has landed him on the podium in seven of the first nine rounds, and on two of those occasions he was on the top step. Considering he finished P3 in both Atlantic City rounds, he looks like he’s set to have a good weekend in Washington.
Tier 3: Christ Atkinson, Subaru Rally Team USA
Subaru Rally Team USA has made steady gains this year, with both drivers having recorded podiums. Although Patrik Sandell picked up a second-place finish in Atlantic City, we’re placing our faith in Chris Atkinson for Rounds 10 and 11. Last year he finished P6 at Evergreen, and with a lot more GRC experience heading into this year’s event, we wouldn’t be surprised if he has a good weekend.
Tiebreaker: Conner Martell, DirtFish Motorsports
As we did by picking Arpin for Ottawa, we’re putting our faith in the fact that DirtFish Motorsports has a home-field advantage. Both Conner Martell and his teammate, Cyril Raymond, picked up wins in New Jersey, but we’re giving our vote to Martell. The New England native started the season strong, but now trails Raymond by 63 points in the Lites championship, so he has extra motivation to perform well in Seattle so he can have a shot at the title in Los Angeles.
All photos via Red Bull Content Pool
