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AustYn

After a weekend full of bad weather, it looks like the Bristol Dirt Race will have no rain today or inclement weather risks. Kyle Larson came away from Richmond victorious and Josh Berry came home in 2nd place, which was quite impressive in Chase Elliott’s ride. Martin Truex Jr had the lead late, but pit strategy forced them on scuffed tires, which allowed them to be freight trained by those on sticker tires. Richmond is always an odd race in the DFS world, because your strategy has to be to pick all 6 drivers who you think can stay on the lead lap and among those 6…have some that will dominate. This week will be different with only 250 laps, but the staying on the lead lap strategy is still crucial. In other NASCAR news…Hendrick Motorsports teams, #24 and #48 were fined and penalized…again for infractions that will cost them heavily. NASCAR also upheld the penalties for Justin Haley and his #31 team, which contradicted the ruling in the Hendrick case, which was overturned. Both teams had similar infractions…in fact Chris Rice (Kaulig Racing) mentioned that they loaned these louvers to Hendrick…that is quite astonishing, but I am not going to rant…you can check out my article last week for that. I am glad though that many people in the NASCAR world see this as a joke and NASCAR should start changing the way they do penalties or get rid of it altogether, because the last thing a NASCAR fan or member wants to see, is what team has the best lawyer.

Unfortunately, we will not be getting the true Bristol Motor Speedway version today, but it is covered with dirt, and this changes the way DFS strategies will transpire. There will be 250 laps completed and teams will have 6 sets of tires. In the truck race, truck teams did have issues with flat tires, but I am not sure that’ll be a major issue today. Kyle Larson will start on the pole for this one and the qualifying was as a result of heat races of 15 laps. Basically, if you won your heat race, you have a great chance for a decent starting position, but passing cars counted for more points. For example…JJ Yeley started 9th in his heat race and finished 3rd..which gave him a great opportunity to start towards the front…which he will and he will roll-off 3rd for the race, which is great for the former USAC champion. My strategy for today’s race will be a blend of history at the track, speed in the heat races and starting position. Starting in the back is not an advantage and the likelihood that drivers will be making a lot of passes I highly unlikely. You will have some drivers in the teens and maybe even twenties’ making a run towards the front, but the front of the field looks very strong.

Top Pick: Kyle Larson Starting 1st ($10,900)

I really struggled with this selection…Larson will be starting on the pole and he is the best dirt racer in the field, but has never performed well at this “wannabe” dirt track. He did show amazing speed in the heat race he was in and won it, so I like his chances of pacing the field. All we need is him to lead 100 laps and get us a top-5.

Supporting Cast: Austin Dillon Starting 2nd (7,400) & Todd Gilliland Starting 15th ($5,300)

My supporting cast looks a little different than usual…I went with Austin Dillon and even though he is starting in 2nd and must perform really well to be worth it…I actually think Dillon wins today. Picking a member in the supporting cast to win is risky, but I think Dillon has the speed this weekend to pull it off. Todd Gilliland is starting in a pretty solid position in 15th, and I like his resume at this place. He finished 17th here last year and has a 4th place finish in the trucks…not to mention he has won at Knoxville in the trucks too. I think he can hold his own in the top-15 today.

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Yacs

Bristol has always been a landmark track for drivers and fans, but people have mixed opinions about dirt being on Bristol for the 3rd year. Personally, I think the little experiment was cool, but the coolness factor has worn off. It’s time to remove the dirt for good and go back to the concrete coliseum for 2 races. They can go to a real dirt track anywhere in the US if they want. Last week, Kyle Larson picked up his first win of the season and his Hendrick teammates were penalized, yet again, but Larson passed inspection. I normally don’t care for Richmond, but last week was a good race. There was a lot of intense action throughout. Too bad we didn’t win any money last week. My lineup looked good for about 90 percent of the race and then everything came crashing down. That’s the way it goes though.

My strategy in FanDuel this week will be pretty simple. I want to pick drivers that have experience on dirt and/or have done well in the races at Bristol dirt. It isn't easy to pass at this track, unlike concrete Bristol. So, don’t expect a driver to climb from the 30s to the Top 5. It just doesn’t happen. I’m going to pick the majority of my drivers from the Top 20 and hope they don’t get collected in an accident. We’ll see how it goes and hopefully, we finally win something.

The Winners: Joey Logano ($12,000) Starting 12th; Kyle Busch ($11,500) Starting 5th

The two winners of this event in the past have ran well in their other races here as well, so I think they are going to be solid options for today. Joey Logano not only won the inaugural Bristol dirt, but he also won the truck race last night. Look for him to have a weekend sweep. I know he’ll be picked quite a bit, but I don’t think you can really avoid chalky lineups this week. It’s just going to happen.

Kyle Busch won last year’s event but has ran well in the past. He lucked into a win last year when Chase Briscoe went into the turn a little too hot and took himself and Tyler Reddick out of the race. There was a little concern about how he would perform making the jump to Childress, but he has put together a really consistent season so far. He has only one race in which he finished off of the lead lap. That was Daytona. He has won a race already this season and I expect him to be competing in today’s race as well.

The Juniors: Martin Truex Jr. ($8,500) Starting 27th; Austin Dillon ($6,800) Starting 2nd

I know, I know. I said I didn’t want guys that were going to climb, but you have to have at least one guy that can make the climb. Truex can be that guy. He hasn’t finished well in the 2 races on the dirt, but he does have a truck series win under his belt. He also led 126 laps in the first race here, which happens to be the most among drivers in the first two races combined. If you can get a Top 15 out of Truex, I think it is worth it and I think that is very possible.

Austin Dillon is going to be my riskiest pick, but I think he will run well today. He ran well last here last year, but a crash took him out of the race. He was running in the Top 5 practically the whole race. It is encouraging that he ran well in his heat race, so I’m going to take a chance on him. Hopefully people won’t pick him too much based on his starting position.

Final Pick: Ryan Blaney ($10,500) Starting 9th

This is a good starting spot for Blaney. He has Top 10s in both dirt races here and he finished 5th last year here. I don’t think he will win today, but as long as he maintains a Top 10, that will be great. He climbed from 25th last year, so I think he will probably have a good run today. He also led Joey Logano to a truck win last night from the spotter stand, so he had a great look at the lines drivers are using on the dirt.

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