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Bojangles Southern 500
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Bojangles Southern 500
Darlington Raceway - Darlington, SC
Track Type/Length - 1.366 Mile oval Intermediate Track
NASCAR is back after a week off from competition and will visit Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles Southern 500. The track has also been named "The Track Too Tough To Tame" and "The Lady in Black". These alternate names are referencing the frequency that the cars rub up against the wall coming out of the turns. This is due to the track being more egg shaped than oval. Kevin Harvick dominated last years race starting from the pole, leading 238 laps, and picking up the checkered flag at the end. There has't been a winner who started outside 7th since Regan Smith won in 2011 after starting in the 23rd position.
There will be extra excitement surrounding the race on Sunday night as some of the teams will be using throw back paint schemes this week. You can check them out by clicking HERE. Also, with only two races left until the Chase for the Sprint Playoffs begin, there are a few drivers(McMurray - 12th, Newman - 13th, Menard - 13th, Gordon - 15th, Bowyer - 16th, Almirola - 17th, Kahne - 18th, Biffle - 19th) still fighting for position inside the Chase Grid to get into the post season. This should create a great atmosphere and fun race to watch this week.
For Daily Fantasy purposes you will be looking to create a core from drivers who are starting inside the top 10 and have at least two of them starting inside the top 5. Look for drivers who are fast in multiple practices and look closely at 10 lap averages during practice. All of this information from practices will be updated to the cheatsheet and can be re downloaded on Saturday afternoon following Final Practice. I will also update my article with my final thoughts following practice and qualifying. On to my picks.
Upper Tier Targets
Kevin Harvick
DraftKings - $10,600
Fantasy Feud - $275,000
Vegas Odds - 5.5/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 29th
Practice #1 - 4th
Practice #2 - 21st
Qualified - 3rd
My top pick came down to Harvick & Kyle Busch this week. To my wife's joy(she became a Harvick fan only due to me being a Busch fan) I chose Harvick. Kyle is sittig in 29th in the standings and needs to stay inside the top 30 to use his wins for the Chase Playoffs. For this reason, he may lay back and take the points and play it safe at the end if he is inside the top 10. Harvick has nothing to lose and has been close to getting another win recently with four top 3 finishes in his last five races. Look for the throwback Budweiser car to qualify up front and dominate again this year.
Matt Kenseth
DraftKings - $10,200
Fantasy Feud - $235,000
Vegas Odds - 8.5/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 7th
Practice #1 - 25th
Practice #2 - 16th
Qualified - 14th
He is coming off a 42nd place finish at Bristol after an engine failure took him out early in the race. Look beyond that and he, like his JGR teammates, are running extremely hot. Before Bristol he had six straight races finishing 7th or better with two wins in that time as well. In his previous five races at Darlington, Kenseth has a win, two top 5's and three top 10's with a 9.8 average finish. Look for him to shake off Bristol(easier with a week off) and contend again this weekend at the "Lady in Black".
Brad Keselowski
DraftKings - $10,000
Fantasy Feud - $235,000
Vegas Odds - 8.5/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 7th
Practice #1 - 10th
Practice #2 - 1st
Qualified - 1st
If you are looking to build cash game lineups and pivot off the top 5 in salary on DK Keselowski makes a great choice. He is coming into this race with seven straight top 10 finishes. He will be looking for his second win of the season and first since March when he takes to the track Sunday night. His track history here has not been
the greatest with only one top 5 in the last five years but Brad is an elite driver and can find a way to win anywhere.
Middle Tier Targets
Carl Edwards
DraftKings - $9,700
Fantasy Feud - $225,000
Vegas Odds - 10/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 14th
Practice #1 - 5th
Practice #2 - 7th
Qualified - 13th
He topped my Middle Tier Targets for the Irwin Tools Night Race and ended up finishing in 7th place. He has recorded four straight top 10 finishes and is a part of the JGR team that has been extremely consistent and poised for a big run come Chase time. Carl has recorded a top 5 and three top 10 finishes here in the previous 5 years. He makes a nice cash game play for the price and also has the upside to take finish at the front of the field.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
DraftKings - $8,300
Fantasy Feud - $165,000
Vegas Odds - 15/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 3rd
Practice #1 - 12th
Practice #2 - 15th
Qualified - 26th
Sitting way down the salary ranking this week, Dale Jr. is my favorite value play. Vegas says he has a 15/1 shot to win yet right below him in the same salary range is Bowyer(76/1) and right above him is Gordon(19/1). He has a top 5 and two top 10 finishes here in the last 5 races at Darlington and has been fairly consistent overall the last few months. He has three top 10 finishes in his previous five races. He should be a safe pick for cash games and fits nicely in GPP lineups as well.
Greg Biffle
DraftKings - $7,400
Fantasy Feud - $125,000
Vegas Odds - 101/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 18th
Practice #1 - 1st
Practice #2 - 2nd
Qualified - 24th
He lost a spot in the standings after his 25th place finish at Bristol two weeks ago. He is fighting for a spot in the Chase Grid and will be motivated again this weekend. He has a top 5 and two top 10 finishes with a 12.0 average finish at Darlington in the previous five races here. At a reduced salary he makes a nice play in any format this week.
Low End Target
Justin Allgaier
DraftKings - $6,400
Fantasy Feud - $75,000
Vegas Odds - 501/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 30th
Practice #1 - 40th
Practice #2 - 23rd
Qualified - 27th
If you are looking for a bottom dollar driver to help fill out stars & scrubs lineups Allgaier makes a nice pick. He is coming off a 12th place finish at Bristol and has two top 10's in his previous five races. He only has one race under his belt here at Darlington but finishes 23rd after starting 24th. His value goes up this week if he somehow qualifies outside the top 30.
***Post Practice & Qualifying Update***
Qualifying Top 10
1. #2 Brad Keselowski
2. #41 Kurt Busch
3. #4 Kevin Harvick
4. #22 Joey Logano
5. #24 Jeff Gordon
6. #11 Deny Hamlin
7. #78 Martin Truex Jr.
8. #17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9. #21 Ryan Blaney
10. #18 Kyle Busch
Brad Keselowski was fastest in final practice on Friday and put down the fastest lap in the final round of qualifying to capture the Coors Lite Pole Award. Look for him to lead a bunch of laps contend for the win tomorrow night. Kevin Harvick qualified 3rd and should be up front for most of the race. Matt Kenseth didn't show a lot of speed in practice and qualified 14th. If they can make the right adjustments early in the race he should be able to get inside the top 10 and potentially the top 5. I really like Carl Edwards who qualified 13th but was 5th and 7th in practice. Dale Jr. will be one of the top value plays for the race starting in the 26th position. He 12th and 15th in practice and the team should be able to make the right adjustments for the race. Look for Jr. to finish with a top 10 this week. I will be avoiding Ricky Stenhouse Jr. who is starting 8th and will probably finish outside the top 10 creating a negative place differential. Sam Hornish Jr. presents some low end salary value for GPP lineups. He is starting 33rd and was mid 20's in practice. Good luck this week!
Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the Bojangles Southern 500? 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.
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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.
image sources
- 2048px-NASCAR_practice: By U.S. Air Force photo by Larry McTighe [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
