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Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the The Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard? Chris is selling a cheatsheet and lineups for DraftKings & FantasyFeud for $5. Just scroll to the bottom of the picks. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, IN
Track Type/Length - 2.5 Mile Oval Superspeedway
Kyle Busch picked up his third win is four races at New Hampshire this past weekend to climb even closer to a Chase birth. He is now sitting in 33rd in the standings and only 58 points behind the 30th position. He has been on an amazing streak of late and looks more motivated than I have ever seen him. The key to the victory was the late race pass between Keselowski and Harvick to get back on the lead lap and eventually take the lead when the caution flew minutes later. Keselowski and Harvick had the fastest cars all day but the #18 team made the right move at the right time and had it work out.
This week NASCAR heads to Indianapolis for the Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard. One of the most famous racing venues in all of racing. The track is a unique flat surface Superspeedway with long straightaways much like Pocono. This week NASCAR is implementing changes to the package for Indianapolis. They are again looking to create more down-force to create closer fields and produce more drafting and slingshot passing. Some of the drivers, however, don't feel the package is going to produce the results they are looking for. We will have to wait and see on Sunday. All drivers not running in a Chevrolet will be hoping the package makes a dramatic change as a Chevrolet has won each of the previous 12 races at Indianapolis. You can also look at rostering some past champions this week as 17 of the 21 races here at the Brickyard were won by past champions.
Kevin Harvick
DraftKings - $13,900
Fantasy Feud - $285,000
Vegas Odds - 4/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 1st
Qualified - 6th
Coming in as the favorite this week and for good reason. He has only finished outside the top 10 twice on the season. That is amazing when you think about it. He is driving a Chevy and yes he has won a championship. Harvick was also fast at the Pocono Superspeedway and came in 2nd there. In his previous five races here at the Brickyard he holds a 10.6 average finish. He is 1 of only 2 drivers on DraftKings to average over 50 fantasy points per race.
Kyle Busch
DraftKings - $11,800
Fantasy Feud - $270,000
Vegas Odds - 10/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 33rd
Qualified - 9th
"He is on quite the run lately after returning to the series after an 11 race layoff to recover from an accident at Daytona in February. He has two wins in his last three races with three top 10's and four top 20's in his previous five races." Quote from last weeks picks. Make it 3 wins in 4 races now. He is the hottest driver in NASCAR at the moment and comes to a track he has experienced a good run. In his previous 5 races here at the Brickyard Kyle has finished inside the top 10 in all 5 races and the top 5 in 2 races. He owns a 6.4 average finish as well in those 5 races. Fighting for his Chase playoff life, I can't stay away from the #18 car this week.
Jeff Gordon
DraftKings - $11,000
Fantasy Feud - $180,000
Vegas Odds - 12/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 10th
Qualified - 19th
For the salary, Gordon is my favorite GPP play of the week. He won the inaugural race here way back in 1994 and has 5 wins here all time. In his previous five races here he has finished inside the top 10 in four of those races and is the defending champ. It would be quite a final race here in Indy if he made it to Victory this Sunday. He comes in as the 10th most expensive driver on DraftKings.
Ryan Newman
DraftKings - $9,300
Fantasy Feud - $140,000
Vegas Odds - 50/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 13th
Qualified - 43rd
He has been a consistent pick for cash games recently finishing each of the previous five races in the top 20 with two top 10's as well. In his previous five races at the Brickyard he has a win, and two top 10's and a 9.6 average finish. He will fit nicely in a balanced cash game lineup this week.
Clint Bowyer
DraftKings - $8,500
Fantasy Feud - $120,000
Vegas Odds - 100/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 16th
Qualified - 7th
Bowyer owns a 13.6 average finish at the Brickyard in his previous five races with one top 5 finish in that time. He hasn't been having his best season so far but will be fighting to stay in position to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs. He has finished inside the top 20 in four of his last five races so there is some confidence building. He is due for a breakout performance and at his price a top 10 finish would do just fine.
Chase Elliot
DraftKings - $8,300
Fantasy Feud - $95,000
Vegas Odds - 100/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 55th
Qualified - 28th
He is making his first start in the Sprint Cup Series since the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte where he finished in 18th place. He has finished inside the top 20 in two of his three races this year. He is a long shot to win but should be low owned and a good play for GPP tournaments.
Aric Almirola
DraftKings - $7,800
Fantasy Feud - $85,000
Vegas Odds - 300/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 15th
Qualified - 22nd
In his three career races here he has a 19.0 average finish. He has been fairly consistent recently with three top 15 finishes in his previous five races. For the season he holds a 218 pass differential so look for Almirola to be a nice addition for style of game this weekend.
***Post Practice & Qualifying Update***
Qualifying is over and there is definitely some value in the field. Ryan Newman's lap didn't count as he was missing a mandatory window. He will start 43rd and will definitely get some bonus pass and place differential points. Jeff Gordon is also starting back a bit in 19th and provides some value. The value priced plays will also start further back which is a good sign. Aric Almirola will start 22nd and Chase Elliot will start in the 28th position. If you have any questions going into the race tomorrow send me a tweet.
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the The Jeff Kyle 400 at the Brickyard? Chris is selling a cheatsheet and lineups for DraftKings and FantasyFeud for $5. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership. Head over to our PayPal payment page, if that's more your bag.
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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curious on why the photo chosen is over 10 years old.