Daily Fantasy Nascar Picks
The Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard

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The Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard

Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Speedway, Indiana
Track - 2.5 Mile Oval Superspeedway
Banking - 9° Banking in the Turns

With just seven races until the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins the action is really starting to heat up. Eleven drivers enter this weekend with a win under their belt with just 10 of them locked in to the Chase. Tony Stewart's win will only get him in if he finishes inside the Top 30 in points. he is currently sitting 28th with a 13 point cushion on David Ragan in the 30th position. Assuming Tony gets in, that leaves five open positions left for the field to fight over. Chase Elliot, Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. currently hold down those final five spots in that order and that brings us to this week. Dale Jr. will miss a second race in a row with concussion symptoms which isn't a good sign for his Chase hopes but opens a huge door for Trevor Bayne, Ryan Blaney, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson who sit on the outside looking in. The biggest news of the week is the return of Jeff Gordon who will be behind the wheel of the #88 this weekend and next weekend at Pocono. It is going to be an exciting sprint to the finish as summer comes to a close.

This week NASCAR travels to the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the "Crown Royal presents The Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard". Long name but a terrific cause. For short I will refer to it as the Brickyard 400 for the rest of the article. Indianapolis is a 2.5 mile oval superspeedway that is unique from Talladega and Daytona in that is much flatter with just 9° of banking in the corners. Track position will be extremely important is it can be very difficult to move through the field on a track that is tough to pass on. Stay tuned for Practice results and qualifying. The schedule is as follows:

• Practice 1 - Friday @ 1:30 PM et
• Final Practice - Friday @ 4:00 PM et
• Qualifying - Saturday @ 1:45 PM et
• Race - Sunday @ 3:00 PM et

 

 

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+)

 

Kyle Busch
DraftKings - $10,400
First Practice - 12th
Final Practice - 1st
Qualified - 1st

He dominated the first third of the race last week and ended up leading 133 of the 301 laps. He had a much better long run car and couldn't find the right setup in the second half of the race with so many caution flags. I am sticking with my guns again this week at Indianapolis. Over the last five years Kyle leads all drivers with a 5.0 average finish which includes a win(2015), three Top 5's and five Top 10 finishes. I like him to finish inside the Top 5 and contend for the win and will be a tremendous play if he can qualify near the front and get some dominator points.

 

 

Jimmie Johnson
DraftKings - $9,700
First Practice - 1st
Final Practice - 7th
Qualified - 13th

The #48 car has been struggling in the summer months but is just hard to avoid this week under $10K. He comes back to Indianapolis with four career wins here(most of active drivers) and has also lead the most laps(173) over the last five years with his impressive 6.8 average starting position. Can you say dominator points? I can also see a scenario where he could be low owned due to his current form which will result in me being very overweight in my exposure to the #48 this week.

 

 

Kevin Harvick
DraftKings - $10,500
First Practice - 4th
Final Practice - 2nd
Qualified - 7th

This pick all depends on what narrative you wanna take from last weeks post race comments. Harvick finished 4th but went off on his crew for the mistakes on pit road that most likely cost him a win. Although he only has one win on the season he leads the points standings as he has been extremely consistent with eight Top 5's and 15 Top 10 finishes. I think the crew rebounds after being called out and we see a very strong #4 car this weekend.

 

Also Consider - Matt Kenseth

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

 

Kyle Larson
DraftKings - $8,600
First Practice - 17th
Final Practice - 3rd
Qualified - 10th

I think the return of Jeff Gordon will throw the #88 ownership through the roof this week, especially considering Gordons track history. For this reason I am pivoting to Kyle Larson who doesn't have bad history himself. He has only raced here twice but has finished inside the Top 10 both times with a 8.0 average finish and has also qualified well with a 10.0 starting position. He comes in ranked 13th in salary making him a great mid tier value in any format this week.

 

 

Kasey Kahne
DraftKings - $7,700
First Practice - 11th
Final Practice - 20th
Qualified - 26th

He has reached a season low salary making him a terrific value for GPP's this week. He sits just 22 poitns back of Dale Jr. for the final points position for the Chase so you know they will be coming out swinging this week as it is one of Kahnes best tracks. Over the past five years he has a Top 5, two Top 10's, a 12.6 average finish and has led the second most laps(118) in that time.

 

Also Consider - Trevor Bayne

 

 

Low End Targets ($6,500 and Below)

 

Regan Smith
DraftKings - $5,400
First Practice - 33rd
Final Practice - 34th
Qualified - 37th

If you ar constructing some stars and scrubs lineups this week I suggest dipping below $6K and using Smith. He hasn't raced at the Brickyard since 2012 where he finished 18th and the year before in 2011 finished 3rd. He has had success here and is looking for his first Top 20 since Daytona at the start of the season.

 

Also Consider - David Ragan

 

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 Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard? 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.