NASCAR Draftkings Daytona 500 2/17/19
NASCAR is back!, and like every beginning, to a NASCAR season, the series starts with the “Great American Race”, the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 is one of the toughest races of the year for DFS players as so much can happen during the race as you watch anxiously waiting for the “big one”. Let’s look and try to find the values in each pricing group to make an optimal NASCAR DFS lineup.
$10,000 and up
Denny Hamlin – $10,000
Denny Hamlin is the best value in the $10,000 group as he has four top-five finishes in the last five races at the Daytona 500 including a win in 2016. Hamlin finished fourth in the duel races earlier this week after being second for most of the race but showed the speed that was right there with the leaders throughout the race. After a winless 2018 season expect Hamlin to be more aggressive looking to end his winless drought and punch his ticket into the NASCAR playoffs in the season opener.
$9000-$9999
Kyle Busch – $9,600
This will be one of Busch’s lowest price points of the NASCAR season due to his lack of success at Super Speedways, however, he has shown speed throughout the week being one of the fastest cars in the third timed practice and starting in the 31st spot he is bound to make up positions in the race and can be a points machine if he can avoid trouble.
Aric Almirola – $9,200
Aric Almirola is one of the better Super Speedway racers in the field and has had 4 straight top 15 finishes in the Daytona 500 and really caught fire at the end of last season as one of the fastest drivers in the field. The move to Stewart-Haas Racing last year is the biggest part of that newly found success, he has had a fast car all weekend and needs to be considered a real contender for the win this Sunday.
Ryan Blaney – $9,000
The last two races at the Daytona 500 have brought finishes of seventh and second for Ryan Blaney and leading 120 of 407 total laps in those two races. Team Penske is known for having fast cars at Super Speedways and Blaney has the best price out of the Penske teammates making him one of the better high priced value drivers.
$8,000-$8,999
Martin Truex Jr – $8,800
In his first race with Joe Gibbs Racing Martin Truex is a very affordable $8,800. He is not known for being a real dominant Super Speedway racer but in his last race at Daytona he finished in the second position and finished fourth in the duel earlier this week. If those improvements at Daytona hold up we should expect a good finish out of the 2017 NASCAR champion.
Others I like – Erik Jones 8,200
$7,000-$7,999
Paul Menard -$7,400
This could very well be the best value in the slate, Menard is a stud at Daytona and has three of his last four finishes at Daytona in the top six. He should outdo his price tag of $7,400 if he can avoid the troubles of Daytona and should have another solid Daytona finish.
Others I like – Kyle Larson $7,800 Ryan Newman $7,000
$6,999 and below
Chris Buescher – $6,300
Chris Buescher is another great value as in both races at Daytona last season he brought home the fifth position both times and in the last three Daytona races, he has an average finish of 6.33. If Buescher can keep up his impressive Daytona finishes he should easily produce good numbers for a driver under $6,999.
Michael McDowell – $5,900
My personal favorite value on the slate is Michael McDowell. He was fastest in Happy Hour practice and should easily crush his low price tag. In his first race in the 34 car at the Daytona 500, he finished in ninth place and led 30 laps in the second Daytona race last year before being involved in an accident. McDowell is the perfect low priced plugin for this slate
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