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Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the Coke Zero 400? Chris is selling three DraftKings lineup plus a cheatsheet for $5. Just scroll to the bottom of the picks. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL
Track Length - 2.5 Mile Trioval Superspeedway
On a very long path to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs, Kyle Busch took care of the win portion on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. On a late race pit strategy that saw Kyle with fresh tires take the lead and not look back finishing ahead of brother Kurt. Kyle now needs to average around a 14th place finish in the remaining regular season races to end up in the top 30 in points in order to use his win. It turned out to be a disappointing day for pole sitter AJ Allmendinger who, at lap 61 of the race, had to go into the garage to diagnose an issue that turned out to be a fuel system problem. He got back out onto the track to finish the race but was too many laps back to catch the field. There was a lot of contact at Sonoma putting a few drivers behind the wall early(Truex, Edwards) and getting them on the road to Daytona just a little earlier. Onto next week.
The NASCAR haulers head out from California on a cross country road trip to Daytona Beach, Florida this week for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. The summer edition at Daytona presents 160 laps around this 2.5 mile Superspeedway. You may think the Daytona 500 in February would be a barometer of what to expect for the Coke Zero 400 but it's not. The track is much more slick in the summer and there is much more on the line with only 10 races left in the regular season. Aric Almirola took home last years rain shortened Coke Zero 400 putting the famous #43 in victory lane for the first time since 1999. The year before it was Jimmie Johnson becoming the first driver in 31 years to sweep both Daytona races in a season.
It will be interesting to see how drivers and team go about strategy this week. The drivers who have wins won't have to push hard and could probably settle for a top 10 or 15 finish but laying back isn't always an option for some drivers. Other drivers will be looking to get that all important win and lock their place in the Chase playoffs. If the weather holds up this year it should prove to be yet another great Daytona finish.
Jimmie Johnson - $11,800
Vegas Odds - 12/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 4th
Qualified -
When talking Daytona you have to mention the #48 team. In his last five races overall at Daytona, he is the only driver to have four top 5 finishes. He won both races in 2013 here and will be looking for his sixth win of 2015 this week. With Daytona being a bit of a crap shoot I will take Jimmie at a $500 discount from Dale Jr.
Kasey Kahne - $11,300
Vegas Odds - 15/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 8th
Qualified -
Kahne is one of the drivers currently sitting inside the top 16 in points who will be looking to secure his place in the Chase playoffs with a win. He has five straight top 15 finishes with two top 10's in there as well. He hasn't had the best success here at Daytona but anyone can win at any time here. With his current form Kahne proves to be a nice Cash Game play with the upside for a win for GPP's.
Denny Hamlin - $11,100
Vegas Odds - 15/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 13th
Qualified -
In his last five races at Daytona International Speedway Hamlin has recorded three top 10 finishes with two being top 5's. He always seems to be there at the end of these long races. He has been inside the top 21 in his last five races wit two top 10's and will be looking to gain a bit of momentum this week.
Austin Dillon - $9,600
Vegas Odds - 34/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 22nd
Qualified -
So far in his Sprint Cup career Dillon has raced at Daytona four times and has recorded two top 10's and a top 5 finish. On the surface he presents some value for both Cash Games and GPP formats. His success here added by his consistency lately make a case for a strong cash play while his rising price should have people overlook him and he could become a nice lower ownership GPP play.
Paul Menard - $9,500
Vegas Odds - 34/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 12th
Qualified -
Another driver sitting inside the top 16 in points without a win. He finished 16th last summer at Daytona and will be looking to build on that this week. He has been on a nice run as of late finishing inside the top 20 eight out of his last nine races with three top 10's in there as well. When looking at the Vegas Odds he is more of a favorite than other guys in his DraftKings salary range. I will be using Menard in both Cash and Gpp formats this week.
Casey Mears - $8,700
Vegas Odds - 76/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 21st
Qualified -
Everything is pointing to Mears being the value of the week in Daytona. He finished in the top 10 in both of the last summer races here and four of his last five races at Daytona overall. He is one of the few drivers who shows consistency here. He makes a great cash game play and a nice salary relief in a GPP format.
Bobby Labonte - $7,000
Vegas Odds - 101/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 41st
Qualified -
When looking for a long shot this week I am going to ride with Labonte. He has only raced twice this year but both on Superspeedways and finished inside the top 30 both times. He finished higher than he started in both races and would have had a nice DraftKings score because of it. Being the 5th lowest priced driver this week he only needs to avoid the big one or mechanical issues to hit his value.
NASCAR Practice Update
Practice #1 Top 10
1. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
2. #3 Austin Dillon
3. #15 Clint Bowyer
4. #27 Paul Menard
5. #6 Trevor Bayne
6. #38 David Gilliland
7. #47 AJ Allmendinger
8. #55 David Ragan
9. #1 Jamie McMurray
10. #5 Kasey Kahne
Practice #2 Top 10
1. #10 Danica Patrick
2. #41 Kurt Busch
3. #4 Kevin Harvick
4. #14 Tony Stewart
5. #5 Kasey Kahne
6. #24 Jeff Gordon
7. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
8. #48 Jimmie Johnson
9. #21 Ryan Blaney
10. #19 Carl Edwards
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the Coke Zero 400? Chris is selling three DraftKings lineup plus a cheatsheet for $5. Just purchase below. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
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Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for three years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in college football, NFL, NBA, PGA, and of course NASCAR. He lives in Saskatchewan, Canada with his wife and two daughters. You can follow him on Twitter at @jager_bombs9 for advice, strategy, answers to any NASCAR questions or how he copes with the winters up north.
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