Daily Fantasy NASCAR Race Preview & Picks for DraftKings - Iowa 250

Chris Durell will be bringing you weekly NASCAR Xfinity picks, analysis, a FREE cheatsheet to help you cash on DraftKings.

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Iowa 250

Iowa Speedway - Newton, IA
Track - .875 Mile Short Track

Hello race fans and welcome back for another week of daily fantasy NASCAR. The Monster Energy Cup Series takes a week off this week before heading to Sonoma Raceway next weekend but don't worry as we have some exciting Xfinity series racing to keep us going. Adding to the excitement is the fact there will be no Cup drivers in this week's race which keeps the salaries tighter together at the top and creates a much better lineup construction process.

This week the Xfinity Series heads to Iowa Speedway for the Iowa 250 which will take place on Sunday evening starting at 5:00 p.m. ET. The track is a .875-mile short track and the series visits here twice a year which is nice when looking for statistics as we have a nice sample size of data to go through on the sheet. Looking at that data, the first thing that stood out to me is that each of the last six winners have come from a starting position of 6th or better and three times from the front row. Dominator points will be key as there has been at least one(two in the last race) driver to lead 100 or more laps and four times it was the winner of the race. Place differential is largely dependant on qualifying but for the most part, it has been irrelevant here as only once there has been more than five drivers to pick up double-digit place differential and only twice have more than three done it.

The other thing to keep in mind is that in the Xfinity Series they run same day qualifying and this week we will get a window of about an hour and a half following qualifying before lineup lock. Before getting into the pre-qualifying picks for this week let's take a look at the weekend schedule.

• Practice #1 - Saturday, June 16 @3:05 p.m. ET
• Practice #2 - Saturday, June 16 @5:40 p.m. ET
• Qualifying - Sunday, June 17 @2:35 p.m. ET
• Race - Sunday, June 17 @5:00 p.m. ET

Last Six Winners at Iowa Speedway

• Ryan Preece(started 1st, led 141 laps)
• William Byron(started 6th, led 78 laps)
• Erik Jones(started 2nd, led 154 laps)
• Sam Hornish Jr.(started 3rd, led 183 laps)
• Ryan Blaney(started 2nd, led 252 laps)
• Chris Buescher(started 4th, led 94 laps)

 

Track History Targets

Justin Allgaier($10,700)

No driver in this race has won here at Iowa over the last three years but Allgaier stands out as one of the most consistent. Over his last four races, he has three Top 10's and also led 106 laps in the second race here last year before a late race gamble resulted in a 20th place finish. He is in top equipment with JR Motorsports and already has one win on the season and should be in contention for #2 this Sunday.

Ryan Sieg($7,200)

For value, I will be paying close attention through practice and qualifying to Ryan Sieg in the #39 car for the family-owned RSS Racing team. He isn't going to contend for a win but has been consistent considering the price and equipment he runs as he has finished 21 st or better in each of his last six races here with a runner-up in the first race at Iowa last year. He is a near lock if he starts out the Top 20 this week.

Current Form Targets

Christopher Bell($10,400)

It's been somewhat of a roller coaster ride for Bell this season who sits 5th in the points standings with a win and seven Top 5 finishes in 13 races but also has the second-most DNF's(3) of any driver inside the Top 20 in points. He has been good lately as he has a win and three Top 5's in his last six races and comes back to Iowa after starting from the pole and leading 152 laps here in this race last year before finishing 16th. Look for him to be in contention again this week.

Shane Lee($7,900)

His price has reached a season-high on DraftKings but many believe he has a bright future in NASCAR. He is running a partial schedule this season in the #3 for Richard Childress Racing and has been consistent in his three races recording a Top 15 finish in each one and one of those races included three Cup drivers. There are other talented drivers in his price range(Cindric, Truex, Grala) who could pick up some ownership making Lee a nice GPP play who could get overlooked this week.

Below you will find a copy of my DFS NASCAR cheathsheet which includes Track History, Current Form, DraftKings points averages, Track Type History, Practice/Qualifying Ranks and much more.

If you have any questions scroll down to the comment section and join the conversation.Good Luck everyone!
Chris Durell has been playing Daily Fantasy Sports for four years and fantasy in general for more than a decade. He is active player in NFL, MLB, NHL, 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.