NASCAR DFS DraftKings Lineup Advice: Texas Speedway Picks 4/8/2018

Two weeks ago, in the snow-delayed race at Martinsville, Stewart-Haas driver Clint Bowyer breaks a 190 race winless streak by decisively winning the STP 500. Bowyer dominated leading 215 out of the 500 laps, joining teammate Kevin Harvick in qualifying in the playoffs.  Thus far, the Stewart-Haas Ford team has won four(Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Martinsville) out of the first six races to begin the season.

After having Easter Sunday off, the Monster Energy Cup series heads to Fort Worth, Texas to race in another 1.5 mile intermediate track at Texas Motor Speedway. Last year, the track was not only resurfaced and repaved, but was reconfigured with higher banking. So, you can argue that last year’s races in April and November should be weighted heavier than previous races at this track.

As for Daily Fantasy Sports(DFS) NASCAR purposes, this will be a “Jam ’em in Race”, meaning that you will need to try to get as many top drivers in your lineup as possible, and go with some “scrubs” to fill out the rest of the lineup(as opposed to a balanced lineup with all decent drivers).

My Top 4 Drivers for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas

Ryan Blaney($8,900):  At last year’s race in April, Blaney had an outstanding performance overall, leading 148 laps and winning the first two stages of the race.  He could not work his way into the top 10 by the end of the race, but still finished a respectable 12th place.  In the November playoff race, Blaney finished 6th. This week, his Team Penske car has done well in practice and qualifying, finishing 5th and 4th respectively.  He is an affordable top option.

Jimmie Johnson($8,700):   Jimmie Johnson won last April’s race by tracking down Joey Logano in the final laps of the race while also holding off a faster and hard charging Kyle Larson at the finish.  Johnson owns this track with seven overall wins, and five 2nd place finishes in his career. Like Blaney, his price is affordable for a top driver.

Joey Logano($9,100):  Logano races well at Texas, placing in the Top 10 in five out of the last six races. He is no stranger to victory lane, as he won this race in April of 2014.  Last April, he was leading at the end of the race, but eventually faster cars passed him.  However, he was able to hold onto a 3rd overall finish.  Since February 2016, he has the highest average finish with 3.75 among all drivers at Texas, with Martin Truex Jr. being the next active driver with an average finish of 4.75.

Brad Keselowsk($10,200):  Keselowski will be hungry to get a win this week at a track where he can dominate.  He finished very well last year, placing 6th in April and 5th in November.  Keselowski has eight Top 10’s in his last eleven races at Texas.

Others to Consider

Martin Truex Jr.($10,600):  Truex Jr. has been the most dominant driver at these 1.5 mile intermediate tracks the past few years. In last November, Truex Jr. had an excellent race leading 107 laps, but was passed with nine laps to go by Kevin Harvick, but still finished 2nd.  You can’t go wrong building lineups around Truex Jr.

Kurt Busch($8,500):  The Stewart-Haas garage has setup Kurt Busch with an excellent car this week as he was the fastest car in the first practice and won the pole in qualifying.  Expect him to finish in the top 10, and will also get you some laps lead points from the pole. Busch won at Texas in November of 2009, and has three Top 5’s, and 17 Top 10 finishes.

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