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Infineon Raceway - Sonoma, CA
Track - 1.99 Mile Road Course
After a week away from the track, NASCAR is back for the years first road course race from Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. That's right. Drivers are going to have to deal with hills, left and right hand turns, and a tons of shifting and braking. Kyle Busch returns as the defending race winner where he picked up his first win after coming back from injury. This has been a track where underdogs have a fighting chance which is going to be key as there are several drivers looking to grab that win and lock themselves into the Chase. There has been a different winner in each of the last seven races. Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart are the only active drivers with multiple wins here at Sonoma. This will be a week where I limit my bankroll due to the added variability in road coarse racing. I will be playing almost exclusively GPP's with some added head to heads mixed in. Good luck everyone.
Are looking to get better as fantasy NASCAR but don't have the time to conduct all the research necessary? Check out my DFS NASCAR Cheatsheet which will give you the edge to cash more consistently on DraftKings. The cheatsheet includes driver salaries, current form(Last 5 races), Track History(Last 5 Years), Loop Data, weekly salary trends, and practice and qualifying ranks. I have also created a weighting system which changes weekly and takes in to account all of the things listed previously. I update the practice and qualifying as they happen which changes the overall rankings through the weekend. The cheatsheet will also be final shortly after the final practice. If you purchase the cheatsheet prior to final practice you will receive an email when the final lineup has been set.
If you have any questions about the cheatsheet throw me an email(jagerbombs99@gmail.com) or hit me up on Twitter(@jager_bombs9).
Kurt Busch
DraftKings - $10,700
First Practice - 11th
Final Practice - 12th
Qualified - 4th
He is the most expensive driver in the field and checks every box making him the top pick of the week. He won here back in 2011 and has finished four of the last five races at Sonoma inside the Top 5. Kurt comes into this race with terrific form with nine straight Top 10 finishes including his first win of the year at Pocono. He sits second in NASCAR points right behind his teammate Kevin Harvick and leads the series with 13 Top 10 finishes. Roll with Kurt and the #41 team in all formats this week.
Kyle Busch
DraftKings - $9,800
First Practice - 14th
Final Practice - 5th
Qualified - 8th
Like I mentioned in the intro, I am not playing cash games this week besides head to head games putting emphasis on GPP's. Kyle has been on a terrible streak lately with four straight finishes outside of 30th. He does have three wins but it is clearly frustrating the defending Sprint Cup champion. If there was any week he could break out it would certainly be this week. He came here last year recovering from a broken leg and won the race(first of four before the Chase) and is the only driver in the field besides Tony Stewart with multiple wins at Sonoma. Combine that with people's recency bias and Kyle's lowest salary in seven races and you have a great GPP upside play.
Carl Edwards
DraftKings - $9,100
First Practice - 5th
Final Practice - 4th
Qualified - 1st
By now you are probably asking yourself "Did he forget that AJ Allmendinger is in the top tier this week"? I am actually fading him this week for a few reasons. Everytime we go to a road coarse he is high priced and high owned as he is a road coarse specialist you could say. The high ownership will be the #1 reason for the fade but his history is a close second. He has never won here and finished each of the last two races here outside of 35th.
OK enough about the fade of the week(should have just made a section for it). Next week. This week I find myself rostering Carl Edwards a ton with a salary just above $9K on DraftKings. He has picked up a win and three Top 5's in the last five races here and has a career 16.45 average finish. He is locked in the Chase with a win and sits 4th in the points standings so you know they are solely gunning for more wins and extra bonus points. Look for another possible backflip come Sunday afternoon.
Also Consider - Martin Truex Jr.
Clint Bowyer
DraftKings - $7,700
First Practice - 20th
Final Practice - 20th
Qualified - 18th
Another risky play for GPP's this week. To say the least, it has been an awful start to the 2016 with just two Top 10 finishes and nine finishes outside the Top 20. Sonoma presents a terrific opportunity for the #15 team to punch their ticket into the Chase if Bowyer can lead them to victory lane. He leads all active drivers with a 8.60 average finish here in 10 races including a win, six Top 5's and eight Top 10 finishes. In my opinion they should be swapping the prices of Allmendinger and Bowyer.
Ryan Newman
DraftKings - $7,500
First Practice - 26th
Final Practice - 14th
Qualified - 17th
If I was playing cash games this week Newman would be my #1 value play hands down. He has been incredibly consistent for the price with five straight finishes inside the Top 16 with two Top 10's mixed in. Although he has no career wins here at Sonoma he has the fourth best average finish(12.64) of any active driver in the field. He makes a great addition to a GPP lineup as well with that consistency and track history.
Also Consider - Chase Elliott
Trevor Bayne
DraftKings - $6,300
First Practice - 32nd
Final Practice - 38th
Qualified - 28th
He has only one Sonoma race under his belt and finished 23rd here in his 2015 rookie season. He started 31st and showed an ability to be patient and move up through the field. He comes into this race with confidence and great form with three Top 10's and six Top 15's in his last nine races. I would like to see him qualify inside the Top 20 to maximize his value.
Also Consider - Casey Mears
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!
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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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View Comments
Our fellow Canadian Chris, Patrick Carpentier is a road course ringer. He needs to be in some lineups this week. With a bit of luck, he can finish very high. He's better in avg equipment than the regulars not good equipment. The guy is a wheel man
I won't be rostering any of the ringers. Even Allendinger. I am playing all GPP this week and feel AJ will be high owned and I just don't trust guys who don't drive these cars on a regular basis. Love the take though!! Good luck this week.
I purchased Chris's lineup for $5 where is the lineup posted?