DraftKings Preview

AustYn

The NASCAR Playoffs have been flipped upside down with Kevin Harvick’s win at Michigan last week. In doing so…Harvick became the 15th winner for this season…meaning there are currently 15 drivers “locked” in the Playoffs. There are only 16 spots, and there are 2 highly ranked drivers in the points standings that have yet to win this season…Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. These 2 drivers have had flashes of dominance this season but have not been able to pull a win together. Blaney has the most points of the 2 and would get in at the moment and Truex…even though he is 4th in the standings…would be out. Personally, I think there will be at least 2 more winners…I think it’ll be them too…and a surprise at Daytona. This would really blow the Playoffs up, especially with Kurt Busch being “locked-in” …I think he gets booted and maybe Cindric, Briscoe or Suarez get booted as well. This is all speculation of course but would make for a great story this season. Chase Elliott remains the points leader heading into the weekend.

Richmond Raceway hosts the Federated Auto Parts 400 on a Sunny mid-80’s degree Fahrenheit day. The weather looks to be great, and the racing should follow suit. Kyle Larson is your Pole Sitter for today’s race and that is always the best spot at a place like Richmond. This track is notoriously known for eating tires and conservation of equipment will be key. Drivers like Martin Truex Jr and Kevin Harvick thrive at places like this. Track position is crucial here as well, as only 15-20 drivers tend to finish on the lead lap, so you need to keep your equipment going strong on long runs. Laps led and fastest laps are key things to follow today. There are many great options today on DK, so hopefully I can dodge some of the higher owned drivers and get an advantage…do not always look at starting position and think you will get great return, because passing is difficult here.

Top Pick: Ryan Blaney ($9,900) Starting 10th

I am going with a driver who needs a win…Ryan Blaney. Richmond is actually a terrible place for Blaney, but earlier this season, he led 128 laps, which were his first laps led ever there. Familiarity with performing well in this car, gives the 12 team an advantage and being that Blaney is turning the corner here in performance, I look for him to win today. Blaney showed speed in Practice, so scoop him up at a sub $10k price tag.

Supporting Cast: Aric Almirola ($6,800) Starting 32nd & Harrison Burton ($5,800) Starting 30th

I tend to go with field fillers in my lower tier at short tracks…basically because I try to pick 3 drivers who will lead and dominate the race, hope those points help my lower tier and their likely poor finishes, but the goal is to not get negative points here. Aric Almirola was the fastest…yes you are reading this right…fastest in 15,20,25 and 30 lap runs in practice. He is starting 32nd, but with a persistent approach, Almirola could easily get a top-25…but I do think he will be owned at 70% or more in most tournaments because of that speed. Harrison Burton was a driver who I wanted to pick even before I saw practice. He has always been pretty solid on short tracks in his career prior to Cup and I knew he’d be low priced. He is starting 30th and was only a tenth off on long runs against the leaders in practice. All I want is a top-25, but a top-20 could be likely for the rookie.

FanDuel Preview

Yacs

We’re one race closer to the NASCAR Playoff and it will be interesting to see what happens today. Kevin Harvick picked up his first win of the season last week and locked in his playoff spot at Michigan and that leaves only one free spot for the NASCAR Playoffs. The two biggest names that are currently left off are Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. Truex has been dominant here at Richmond, so look for him to contend, but don’t count out Blaney either to get that first season win.

Richmond is one of those tracks where drivers are either great or terrible at. There’s really no in between. It’s not a particularly exciting race and with this build, it’s even worse to watch in my opinion. Most of the tracks on the circuit have provided good racing with the new car build, but short tracks have suffered. Hopefully that won’t be the case today, but I’m not expecting a particularly fun race to watch. Laps matter here. There will be 400 laps and if you can be a guy that leads a lot of them, you will be doing well in your lineup. As far as strategy goes for FanDuel or DraftKings, I don’t think you want to stray too far away from the same lineup. You can create a good mixture of climbers, lap leaders, and great finishers. There are lot of different ways that you can approach this track, so hopefully we come up with the winning strategy for FanDuel.

Top Two Picks: Martin Truex Jr. ($14,000) Starting 6th; Kyle Busch ($13,000) Starting 29th

Kyle Busch is definitely the first driver that catches your eye when you open up the roster sheet. The valuable starting spot mixed with his incredible record at Richmond is a recipe for success. He has the best career average here at 6.9 in 33 races. He’s only finished outside of the Top 20 one time in his career here and he has only finished off of the lead lap once in his career here (separate race). He’s a no-brainer today, but he will be picked a lot. As for Truex, he’s racing for that last playoff spot and this is the perfect track for him to get that win and he knows it. In the last 7 races here, Truex has finished in the Top 5 at all of them. Yes, you read that right. His average finish is 2.4 in that span. I don’t think he’ll be picked as much as Busch, but expect him to have a higher than normal ownership rating for the most expensive driver.

Cheaper Options: Aric Almirola ($7,200) Starting 32nd; Corey LaJoie ($3,000) Starting 31st

These picks will be total wild cards. I know they are capable of putting together some good finishes, but they will definitely be risky. Almirola’s history here is not bad at all. He doesn’t have a win here but does run well and he was fast in practice. He has a lot of value today especially considering he’s just above 7,000 today, but with that being said, expect high ownership for the Number 10. LaJoie will be a very risky pick, but I think he can do well. He had the 14th fastest practice time, which was on par with Joey Logano and was 3 spots ahead of the pole sitter Kyle Larson, It going to be a long race, but as long as he can stay out of trouble, I think he can rack up a Top 20.

Final Pick: Ross Chastain ($12,000) Starting 2nd

Chastain has certainly become an enemy of a lot of drivers this season, but he has been a phenomenal driver. He has been good here in Ganassi and Trackhouse equipment, but not great. I need him to be great today to be worth it. I think he can be. He already has a great starting spot and he was the fastest car in practice, so I think he can hold that spot towards the top today.

NASCAR Federated Auto Parts 400 DFS Preview