Daily Fantasy Nascar Picks
STP 500

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STP 500

Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, Virginia
Track - .526 Mile Short Track
12° Banking in the Corners

After the Easter break and a week off from NASCAR we are back for more exciting action in the Sprint Cup Series. This week the haulers head to Martinsville, Virgina for the STP 500. Martinsville Speedway is half mile short track that is nicknamed the "Paper Clip" due to its shape. It has very little banking(12°) and the only way to pass is to use your car as a weapon. You will see more bumping and banging here than almost any other track. Denny Hamlin won the spring race here last year holding off Brad Keselowski on the final laps then performed a great burnout. Check out the final laps below:

You might remember the fall race at Martinsville a tad bit more, especially if you are a Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano or Matt Kenseth fan. Joey Logano was well on his way to a victory in the Round 0f 8 during last years Chase for the Sprint Cup. That was until Matt Kenseth decided to extract his revenge for being taken out two weeks prior at Kansas. It was that wreck that allowed Jeff Gordon to pick up the win(the last of his amazing career) and punch his ticket in the Final Four of the Chase in his final season in NASCAR.

For fantasy purposes, it is again another great GPP week. Almost no driver is safe from contact even the lead drivers who will catch lap traffic fairly quickly on a green flag run. It is very tough to pass making it very hard to find value in drivers who qualify near the back. If you are going to take a risk on a guy starting back make sure he is experienced in Matrinsville. The pole winner has led the most or second most laps in each of the last three race.

I will again be selling a cheatsheet every week of the NASCAR season. It will include drivers, salaries for DraftKings and FantasyFeud, post qualifying Vegas Odds, current form(last 5 races), track history(last 5 races), and I update the cheatsheet throughout the weekend following practice and qualifying. With the purchase of the cheatsheet you also get a few sample lineups. These lineups will almost always change following qualifying and practice so be sure to check lineup page before lineups lock on Sunday.

**Update to Cheatsheet**

I have added weighted rankings for Track History, Current Form, Season Loop Data and Practice/Qualifying. This will help better identify the best values each week and can be full customized by the user. Just download the View Only version from the lineups page and create copy which will then allow you to change any weights or sort any column you wish.

Let's dig in and look at some targets for this week. Be sure to check back following Final Practice on Saturday as I will have a recap of the weekend leading up to the race and go through some values that pop up from qualifying/practice.

Upper Tier Targets ($9,000+)

Jimmie Johnson
DraftKings - $10,400
Fantasy Feud - $265,000
Practice #1 - 31st
Qualified - 24th
Practice #2 - 13th
Final Practice - 6th

Anytime you come to Martinsville you better have the #48 at the top of your list. My dad is going to frame that last sentence and hang it on his wall. I just know it. Even if you're not a fan, you have to respect how Jimmie excels at almost every track, especially here at Martinsville. He leads all active drivers with 8 career wins here and a 7.5 average finish. He is the first driver in the 2016 season to record multiple wins and you can be sure they are looking to dominate the series en route to a 7th Championship. There isn't much separation in salary on DraftKings between him and Joey Logano making it an easy choice for me this week.

Denny Hamlin
DraftKings - $10,100
Fantasy Feud - $230,000
Practice #1 - 2nd
Qualified - 8th
Practice #2 - 9th
Final Practice - 7th

The defending champ of this race(March 2015) sits right behind Jimmie for best active driver here at Martinsville. He has a 8.1 average finish in 20 career races and has added 5 wins(also 2nd behind Jimmie's 8 wins). He is coming off two straight 3rd place finishes and is already locked into the Chase with a win at the season opening Daytona 500. Look for the #11 team to be very aggressive and contend for another win here at Martinsville.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 
DraftKings - $9,000
Fantasy Feud - $200,000
Practice #1 - 23rd
Qualified - 21st
Practice #2 - 6th
Final Practice - 19th

Week after week it seems Dale Earnhardt Jr. is under priced. He is the 8th ranked driver on both sites and comes back to Martinsville with tremendous track history. In the past five years he has a win, five Top 5's(tied with Jimmie for most), seven Top 10's(tied with Bowyer for most) and an impressive 10.9 average finish. Outside of a wreck at the Daytona 500, the #88 team has been on the brink of win with four straight Top 11 finishes including two Top 5's. He is ranked 5th in my model(pre qualifying) and should be a factor in the closing laps on Sunday.

Also Consider - Kyle Busch(GPP)

Middle Tier Targets ($6,500-$9,000)

Clint Bowyer
DraftKings - $7,200
Fantasy Feud - $125,000
Practice #1 - 19th
Qualified - 30th
Practice #2 - 10th
Final Practice -  23rd

I am warning anyone who hasn't been watching that this is a multi entry GPP play only. The start to the 2016 season has been a disaster for Clint Bowyer who is trying to make the most of it while he waits to take over the #14 for Tony Stewart in 2017. In the first four races he had three finishes outside the Top 30 and zero Top 20's. The team may have found some speed and momentum in Fonatana as they finally picked up their first Top 20 finish. Now Bowyer comes back to a track where he has excellent track history despite no wins. In the past five years(10 races) he has three Top 5's, seven Top 10's(leads all drivers in field) and a 12.0 average finish. Take a flyer on Bowyer this week as he should record back to back Top 20's with Top 10 upside.

AJ Allmendinger
DraftKings - $6,400
Fantasy Feud - $85,000
Practice #1 - 13th
Qualified - 6th
Practice #2 - 17th
Final Practice - 11th

If there was ever a weekend to use Allmendinger in fantasy, outside of road courses, this would be the race. He is ranked 15th in my model(pre qualifying) and is the 24th and 25th ranked in salary on DraftKings and Fantasy Feud. In eight races over the past five years he has a Top 5, two Top 10's, and a 16.1 average finish which ranks 12th among the field. It has been a very positive start for the #47 team with a Top 10, Two Top 20's and has finished all five races inside the Top 27. Great value at a mid $6K price tag and depending on qualifying could even be considered for cash games.

Also Consider - Martin Truex Jr.

Low End Targets ($6,500 and Below)

Brian Vickers
DraftKings - $5,500
Fantasy Feud - $75,000
Practice #1 - 1st
Qualified - 3rd
Practice #2 - 4th
Final Practice - 3rd

The #14 team is at the top of the low end targets again. Vickers will again be replacing Tony Stewart, making his fourth start of the season. It didn't start off great with a 26th and 36th place finish but bounced back at Fontana with a 13th place finish. Vickers has raced here seven times in the last five years with a Top 10 and impressive 18.1 average finish.  As long as the #14 car sits at minimum price I will have heavy exposure each week.

Also Consider - David Ragan

Post Practice & Qualifying Update

Qualifying Top 10

STP 500 Update Thread

If you have any questions on lineups or drivers prior to lineup lock scroll down to the comment section and join the conversation.

Good Luck everyone!

Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the STP 500? Chris is selling lineups only $5. He covers DraftKings and FantasyFeud Cash Games & Tournaments. Fill out the form below or click here to purchase using PayPal. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership.

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.