Daily Fantasy Nascar Picks
Coke Zero 400

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Coke Zero 400

Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL
Track - 2.5 Mile Tri Oval Superspeedway
Banking - 31° Banking in the Turns

What a great week it was in Sonoma for the first road course race of the season. Early on the story was Carl Edwards and AJ Allmendinger who started 1st/2nd and battled for close to half the race. The race got really exciting when the battle turned to Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart who battled right up until the final stages of the final lap. The lead slipped away from Tony who somehow got it back later on the final lap and got that coveted win he will need to get into the Chase(along with a Top 30 finish in standings). Now we move from the craziness of a road course to the high speeds of Daytona and superspeedway racing.

If you missed the final lap be sure to check it out below in the video from NASCAR:

This week NASCAR heads back to Daytona Beach for the Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway. That's right another plate race and that means Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be the most mentioned and highest priced driver this week. Oh ya, he is also the defending race winner of the Coke Zero 400 after starting and dominating from the pole last July. The Daytona 500 this February was dominated by Toyota's as the Top 3 and four of the Top 5 finishing spots were occupied by Toyota drivers. Every race at a plate track seems to be different with almost every driver having a shot to contend for a win. For this reason I always label the plate tracks as great GPP opportunities, especially in a stars and scrubs type of strategy.

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).

Upper Tier Targets ($9,000+)

Kevin Harvick
DraftKings - $10,300
First Practice -
Final Practice -
Qualified -

With the projected high ownership with Dale Jr, I have decided to fade him in GPP formats and will pivot down a few hundred to Kevin Harvick. OF all drivers who have 20+ Daytona races under their belt Harvick ranks second among active drivers with a 15.37 average finish in 30 races with two wins and 14 Top 10 finishes. While none of those wins have come in the last five years(10 races), he does have four Top 5's and six Top 10 finishes. He sits atop the Sprint Cup standings with one win, seven Top 5's and 13 Top 10 finishes. He is once again the most consistent driver in NASCAR with just one finish outside of the Top 15(17th at Martinsville) and makes a terrific building block this week.

Denny Hamlin
DraftKings - $9,100
First Practice -
Final Practice -
Qualified -

After being edged out at the end of the race last weekend Denny should be back in contention this week as he is one of the best plate racers in NASCAR. Over the last 10 races at Daytona and Talladega he holds a series best 11.2 average finish with two wins(one here at Daytona) and seven Top 10 finishes. He won the Daytona 500 with the help of a strong Toyota racing team so if you are rostering Hamlin be sure to add one or two other Toyota drivers(Bush, Kenseth, Truex, Edwards) to maximize your scoring upside.

Kurt Busch
DraftKings - $9,100
First Practice -
Final Practice -
Qualified -

Much like his teammate Kevin Harvick, Busch has been extremely consistent this season. He has one upped Harvick with 14 Top 10 finishes to led the series and now has the all important win under his belt after winning back at Pocono a month ago. While Kurt has never won a restrictor plate race in his career he does rank 5th among active drivers with a 16.56 average finish. I feel the momentum that Stewart-Haas has created, that Busch and Harvick will be huge in the final laps of this race making a terrific stacking option with upside to finish 1st and 2nd.

Also Consider - Joey Logano

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

Matt Kenseth
DraftKings - $8,600
First Practice -
Final Practice -
Qualified -

The price came up $1,000 after Sonoma but it still feels like stealing at $8,600 this week. Kenseth is a pretty good plate racer as he ranks 9th among active drivers with 20+ races at Talladega and Daytona combined. In his last 10 races at Daytona he has recorded a win, three Top 5's and four Top 10 finishes and has also lead all drivers in laps led with 293. I am hoping to see a poor qualifying run so he is eligible for some place differential points but either way is close to a must play in any format with a mid $8K price tag.

Ryan Newman 
DraftKings - $7,600
First Practice -
Final Practice -
Qualified -

You are probably getting sick of reading Ryan Newman's name in the section each week. Well, until he lets me down or the price gets out of hand he is going to be a staple in my cash games each week. The price is actually at a season high which I had to go double check twice to make sure I was right. It stays in in the low to mid $7K range because he brings little to no upside to the table with just five Top 10's on the season but also only finished outside the Top 20 three times. He has one career win here(2008 Daytona 500) and in the last five years(10 races) he has two Top 5's and four Top 10 finishes.

Also Consider - Austin Dillon

Low End Targets ($6,500 and Below)

David Gilliland
DraftKings - $6,100
First Practice -
Final Practice -
Qualified -

Gilliland is back to make his second start of the season in the #35 Love's Travel Stop Ford for Front Row Motorsports. Now get your head out of the gutter as Love's is not what it sounds like. It is simply a gas and convenience store. Back to Gilliland who started 39th at the Talladega race in May and ended up with an impressive 17th place finish to pickup 22 place differential points. This pick will definitely hinge on that qualifying position once again so be sure to check out the results come Friday afternoon.

Also Consider - Trevor Bayne

Post Practice & Qualifying Update

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 Coke Zero 400? 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.