Drivers, including Clint Bowyer (15) line up on pit road during a practice session for the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
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Charlotte Motor Speedway - Concord, NC
Track - 1.5 Mile Quad Oval Intermediate Track
24° Banking in the Corners
The All Star Race is now in the rear view as we are one third of the way through the season and 14 races away from the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Seven drivers are locked into the Chase with wins including four drivers with multiple wins. Kevin Harvick leads the points standings with just one win under his belt which a testament to how consistent he has been running all season. Looking at race teams as a whole it has been Joe Gibbs Racing absolutely dominating in 2016 with seven wins in the first twelve races with each driver picking up at least one win. It will be an exciting race to the finish with so many teams still looking for their first win and those with wins looking to improve in the standings.
This week will be a huge test of endurance as drivers face the longest race of the season, the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Charlotte is a mile and half Quad Oval intermediate track with 24° banking in the corners. Qualifying isn't going to be crucial this week for success as there have been four or more drivers who have started outside the Top 10 to finish inside the Top 10 in each of the last five Coca Cola 600 races. One thing to target will be the one or two drivers who will dominate the laps led. Looking at those last five years of this 600 mile race two drivers have dominated over half the laps led in each year. Stay tuned for practice speeds on Saturday.
I will again be selling a cheatsheet every week of the NASCAR season. It will include drivers salaries for DraftKings and FantasyFeud, current form(last 5 races), track history(last 5 years), 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.
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.
*New Update* This week I have added another tab called Salary Trends. It is a list of all drivers and their week by week salaries on DraftKings.
If you have any questions about the cheatsheet throw me an email(jagerbombs99@gmail.com) or hit me up on Twitter(@jager_bombs9).
Kevin Harvick
DraftKings - $10,500
Fantasy Feud - $260,000
Practice #1 - 4th
Qualified - 8th
Practice 2 - 7th
Final Practice - 24th
He is the most expensive driver and #1 in my model before final practices. Harvick has absolutely dominated Charlotte over the past five(10 races) years with three wins, five Top 5's, nine Top 10's and an incredible 5.2 average finish. He currently sits first in the Sprint Cup standing despite only having one win. He has finished all but three races in side the Top 10 this year with his worst finish being a 17th at Martinsville. Looking even closer at the Loop Data, Harvick has led a series high 688 laps with 116.2 driver rating so far in 2016. Harvick is my pick to win this race and become the 5th driver with multiple wins this season.
Joey Logano
DraftKings - $9,700
Fantasy Feud - $210,000
Practice #1 - 6th
Qualified - 2nd
Practice 2 - 12th
Final Practice - 4th
Joey comes into this race hoping his million dollar win at the Sprint Cup All Star race will help shake the bad luck he was having coming in to Charlotte. Getting caught up in other peoples wrecks is almost completely out of a drivers control and I expect his luck to turn around in the final two thirds of the season. He is one of the drivers still seeking a win this season and has had success here at Charlotte. In the past five years(10 races) he has a win, four Top 5's, five Top 10's and a 10.0 average finish. If he can avoid the big one this week he should be right there in contention in the closing laps. He is safe in all formats.
Kurt Busch
DraftKings - $9,000
Fantasy Feud - $185,000
Practice #1 - 1st
Qualified - 13th
Practice 2 - 1st
Final Practice - 2nd
Kurt is the cheapest driver in the top tier and a tremendous value for the Coca Cola 600 this weekend. It has been a very impressive start to the season for the #41 team and Kurt Busch who comes in with six straight Top 10 finishes. He has actually leads all drivers with 10 To 10 finishes in the first 12 races of the season and have added an additional four Top 5's. He has one career win here at Charlotte(May 2010) but has seen varying success since with three Top 5's and just four Top 10's. I fully expect those numbers to improve come Sunday night. His recent consistency and low $9K price tag will make him a great play in any format.
Also Consider - Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr.
Denny Hamlin
DraftKings - $8,900
Fantasy Feud - $195,000
Practice #1 - 14th
Qualified - 4th
Practice 2 - 25th
Final Practice - 13th
He is coming off a 7th place finish at Dover where he more than paid off his season low salary of $8,300 on DraftKings. The price came up but he still presents a ton of value under $9K. He comes back to Charlotte Motor Speedway where he doesn't have a points paying win but won the 2015 All Star race and has terrific track history. In the last five years(10 races) Denny has four Top 5's, nine Top 10's and an impressive 7.9 average finish. Take advantage of the value as one more decent finish and he will be back in the top tier in pricing.
Ryan Newman
DraftKings - $7,200
Fantasy Feud - $110,000
Practice #1 - 11th
Qualified - 14th
Practice 2 - 9th
Final Practice - 22nd
He comes with positive value on my cheatsheet as the 19th ranked driver in salary on DraftKings and sits 13th in my model. He hasn't picked up a win here but has consistent track history with five Top 10 finishes in his last 10 races here with a 13.2 average finish(10th best in the field). His price has been slowly dropping making him an excellent play in any format.
Also Consider - Kasey Kahne
Trevor Bayne
DraftKings - $6,300
Fantasy Feud - $80,000
Practice #1 - 13th
Qualified - 10th
Practice 2 - 14th
Final Practice - 17th
Trevor Bayne and the #6 Roush Fenway Ford have been on a nice run as of late. Bayne has finished inside the Top 10 in three of his last five races with his worst finish being a 25th place finish at Kansas. They unloaded off the truck on Thursday and came in 13th in first practice. If he qualifies outside the Top 20 he will become a near must play in all formats. Stay tuned to Qualifying and final practices on Saturday.
Also Consider - David Ragan
Qualifying Top 10
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 Coca Cola 600? 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.
Coca Cola 600
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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View Comments
I bought the Cheat Sheet this week. Very useful, I finished 21st 6.75 points out of 1st. I just needed David Ragan to move up 3 spots or so to cash big. I also could have made a few more lineups better. I noticed only 1 lineup on the cheatsheet and thought there might be 6. Thanks! I'll buy again next week!