Daily Fantasy NASCAR 2017 Season Review & 2018 Outlook - Joe Gibbs Racing & Furniture Row Racing DFSR is proud to bring you Chris Durell. He'll be bringing weekly NASCAR picks, analysis, and a FREE cheatsheet to help you cash on DraftKings. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA optimizer and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.   Welcome back to another exciting season of daily fantasy NASCAR. We are now just 36 days from the 60th running of the Daytona 500 so I wanted to put together a season preview series looking at each team and driver and their average fantasy production on each track type from 2017 and their outlook going into the 2018 season. If you are new to fantasy NASCAR, especially on DraftKings, be sure to check out my strategy article coming out soon covering some basic strategy for cash games and GPP formats.     Joe Gibbs Racing & Furniture Row Racing   Dear @FRRacingTeam, Like any step brother, u can be annoying at times: taking our toys, upstaging us, & acting like some kind of tough guy. But in the end, no matter how often we wonder why our parents got together, we’re truly happy for your success & friendship. Congrats! pic.twitter.com/TV8DCpyYtg — Joe Gibbs Racing 🚗🏁 (@JoeGibbsRacing) November 20, 2017   It was a heck of a year for the Toyota "Super Group" in 2017. Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch both made the Final Four in the Monster Energy Cup Series Playoffs with Truex taking home his first Championship with Busch coming in second. Between the two drivers, they picked up 13 wins(36% of the 36 races) and when looking at fantasy dominators, were #1 and #2 on the season as Truex led 2,253 laps and Busch with 2,023. They were two of just three drivers(Kyle Larson - 1,352) to lead over 1,00 laps last season and if you weren't using one of these drivers in lineups week in and week out, you were probably not profitable on a consistent basis. Let's now jump in and take a look at each driver on these teams and break down their success on each track type last season and their outlooks for 2018. 2018 Drivers   Kyle Busch #18 Busch led the way for JGR in 2017 with five wins(Pocono, Bristol, New Hampshire, Dover, Martinsville) and eight poles. He made it all the way to the final four in the first year of the...

Daily Fantasy NASCAR Race Preview & Picks for DraftKings - Ford EcoBoost 400 DFSR is proud to bring you Chris Durell. He'll be bringing weekly NASCAR picks, analysis and a FREE cheatsheet and video to help you cash on DraftKings. Playing other DFS sports? Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and Player Lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Want to learn some about MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Ford EcoBoost 400 Homestead-Miami Speedway Track - 1.5 Mile Oval It's finally here! The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will crown a champion this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway following the Ford EcoBoost 400. It feels like we were counting down the days to the Daytona 500 just yesterday even though 35 races and nine months have passed. Brad Keselowski punched the final ticket into the final four this weekend via points last week as Matt Kenseth ended up winning the race denying Chase Elliott his shot at his first win and championship. That makes a final four made up of Martin Truex Jr(7), Kyle Busch(5), Kevin Harvick(2), and Brad Keselowski(3) who have 17 wins between them. Busch(2015), Harvick(2014), and Keselowski(2012) also have one championship while Truex will be seeking his first and is easily the favorite after his incredible season. Also noteworthy, is that since the start of the elimination race format the eventual champion has also won the final race at Homestead despite only having to finish better than the other three drivers. Get ready for an exciting final race NASCAR fans! Let's now take a look at some of the trends and pre-qualifying picks. To get even more trends and race stats be sure to grab a copy of my DFS NASCAR Cheatsheet. Good luck everyone! Last Six Winners at Homestead 2016 - Jimmie Johnson(started 14th, led 3 laps) 2015 - Kyle Busch(started 3rd, led 41 laps) 2014 - Kevin Harvick(started 5th, led 54 laps) 2013 - Denny Hamlin(started 5th, led 72 laps) 2012 - Jeff Gordon(started 15th, led 14 laps) 2011 - Tony Stewart(started 15, led 65 laps) Top 5 Current & Career Track History at Homestead It was Jimmie Johnson coming away with the win last year to pick up his seventh career NASCAR Championship but oddly enough, it has not been his best track over his career. The 13.25 career average finish might have something to do with the fact in old formats he had some big leads with no need to push it but rather play it safe. He didn't make the...

Daily Fantasy NASCAR Race Preview & Picks for DraftKings - Can-Am 500 DFSR is proud to bring you Chris Durell. He'll be bringing weekly NASCAR picks, analysis and a FREE cheatsheet and video to help you cash on DraftKings. Playing other DFS sports? Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and Player Lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Want to learn some about MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Can-Am 500 Phoenix International Raceway - Avondale, AZ Track - 1 Mile Tri-Oval Welcome back race fans. This week the Monster Energy Cup Series travels back to Phoenix International Raceway for the third elimination race of the 2017 Playoffs. With his win last weekend at Texas, Kevin Harvick joins Kyle Busch, who won at Martinsville, in the championship race at Homestead and also joining them is Martin Truex Jr. who has earned enough playoff points to also advance no matter what happens this weekend. That leaves five drivers who will be fighting for the final spot and a shot a series championship. Here is how those drivers sit when looking at the points standings: Brad Keselowski(4111 points) Denny Hamlin(19 points behind) Ryan Blaney(22 points behind) Chase Elliott(49 points behind) Jimmie Johnson(51 points behind) While it is not completely a  must win for Brad Keselowski, you can bet he won't be just out there points racing on Sunday as his lead is just 19 points which are not that hard to make up with the new stage racing and points structure. Seven-time series champion, Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott have the most ground to make up this weekend and will surely need a win to move on to the finale at Homestead. For fantasy, I will be weighing dominator points(laps led/fast laps) much higher than place differential for a couple reasons. Looking at the last six races here, there has not been more than five drivers to pick up double-digit place differential in five straight races. On the flip side, there have been three drivers to lead 50 or more laps in three straight races and at least seven drivers to pick up double-digit fast laps in four straight races. Having said that, qualifying can definitely change things so it will be, as always, important to pay close attention to qualifying and the final two practice sessions. Let's now take a look at some of the trends going into this weeks race. Last Six Winners at Phoenix Ryan Newman(started 22nd, led 6 laps) Joey Logano(started 4th, led 58...

Daily Fantasy NASCAR Race Preview & Picks for DraftKings - AAA Texas 500 DFSR is proud to bring you Chris Durell. He'll be bringing weekly NASCAR picks, analysis and a FREE cheatsheet and video to help you cash on DraftKings. Playing other DFS sports? Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and Player Lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Want to learn some about MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. AAA Texas 500 Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX Track - 1.5 Mile Quad-Oval Intermediate Laps - 334 Welcome back NASCAR fans. This week the Mosnter Energy Cup Series travels back to Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500 this Sunday. It's the second race of the Round of 8 and tempers and emotions have almost hit a boiling point with just two races until Homestead. Last week ended with some heated words between multiple drivers including Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott as Hamlin got into the back of Elliott who had the lead in closing laps of the race. Elliott's #24 car ended up in the wall and Chase finished 27th and is now in a tough position and will almost need a win to move on in the Playoffs. Before getting into the race trends and pre-qualifying picks this week, let's look back at the Top 10 fantasy drivers from the Texas race back in April: Let's now take a look at some of the trends going into this weeks race. Last Six Winners at Texas Jimmie Johnson(started 24th, led 18 laps) Carl Edwards(started 9th, led 36 laps) Kyle Busch(started 15th, led 34 laps) Jimmie Johnson(started 8th, led 6 laps) Jimmie Johnson(started 5th, led 128 laps) Jimmie Johnson(started 3rd, led 191 laps) Top 5 Current & Career Track History at Texas The only thing keeping Jimmie Johnson under the radar this week at Texas Motor Speedway is the Elliot/Hamlin feud after last weeks race in Martinsville. TMS is just another track on the #48's list that he has dominated over the years as he has won three times since the start of the 2015 season and four times in the last six races here. He will need that Texas magic once again if he wants to move on to the next round as he is currently outside the bubble with two races remaining in this round. Speaking of Chase Elliott, he has been money here at Texas as well with Top 5 finishes in two of his three career races and finished...

Daily Fantasy NASCAR Race Preview & Picks for DraftKings - First Data 500 DFSR is proud to bring you Chris Durell. He'll be bringing weekly NASCAR picks, analysis and a FREE cheatsheet and video to help you cash on DraftKings. Playing other DFS sports? Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and Player Lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Want to learn some about MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. First Data 500 Martinsville Speedway - Ridgeway, VA Track - .526 Mile Oval Laps - 500 Welcome back for another exciting week of daily fantasy NASCAR. If you thought the race at Talladega and Kansas were crazy, buckle up as the Round of 8 begins this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Not only is the track know for a ton of contact and heated tempers, we will also have to deal with same day qualifying which is scheduled to take place just three hours before the start of the race. Due to this scheduling, pit stall assignments have already been set from the Kansas qualifying last week. The other wrinkle that will be tossed into play this week is Mother Nature herself. It will be something to monitor closely as Sunday approaches. Forecast remains the same for @MartinsvilleSwy increasing threat of rain SAT PM, most at night, rain ending by SUN midday @RaceWeather pic.twitter.com/N6CsBalbCM — Brian Neudorff (@NASCAR_WXMAN) October 27, 2017   From a fantasy perspective, laps led and fast laps(dominator points) are king at Martinsville as there will be 500 total laps in the race. Looking at the trends over the last six races here, there have been multiple drivers with 100+ laps led in four of the last five and at least four drivers with 20+ laps led in each of the last six races. Like last week, we cannot discount place differential either as there have been at least six drivers to pick up double-digit place differential points in all six of those races. The biggest key for this race is avoiding the wrecks. From NASCAR.com's stat guide, there were 11 accidents in the Spring race and 17% of laps have been run under caution in seven of the last nine races here. With all that said, let's now take a look at some of the stats, trends, and pre-qualifying picks going into this weeks race. Last Six Winners at Martinsville Brad Keselowski(started 4th, led 116 laps) Jimmie Johnson(started 3rd, led 92 laps) Kyle Busch(started 7th, led 352 laps) Jeff Gordon(started 5th, led 35 laps)...

Daily Fantasy NASCAR Race Preview & Picks for DraftKings - Hollywood Casino 400 DFSR is proud to bring you Chris Durell. He'll be bringing weekly NASCAR picks, analysis and a FREE cheatsheet and video to help you cash on DraftKings. Playing other DFS sports? Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our MLB optimizer and Player Lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Want to learn some about MLB? Be sure to read our free MLB Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Hollywood Casino 400 Kansas Speedway - Kansas City, KS Track - 1.5 Mile D-Shaped Oval Intermediate Welcome back to the second elimination race of the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series Playoffs. Last week's Talladega race shook up the points standings in a big way as eight of the 12 remaining drivers(McMurray, Stenhouse, Johnson, Busch, Harvick, Truex, Blaney, Elliot) ended up in a wreck which left just 12 drivers on the final restart. It was Brad Keselowski who ended up crossing the finish line first and locking his way into the Round of 8 with Martin Truex Jr. who won the opening race of this round. That leaves 10 drivers fighting for the remaining six transfer spots and the standings look like this: Kyle Larson(3096) Kevin Harvick(3089) Denny Hamlin(3088) Chase Elliott(3087) Ryan Blaney(3076) Jimmie Johnson(3074) CUTLINE Kyle Busch(3067) Matt Kenseth(3066) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(3052) Jamie McMurray(3045) As you can see that leaves Jimmie Johnson just seven points to the good over Kyle Busch and eight points over Matt Kenseth. If you watched the post-race interviews last week, Kyle Busch did not look worried at all as he knows that the #18 team has an excellent mile and a half package this season. In year's past drivers with multiple bad races in the playoffs would be practically done for the season barring a win but with the new stage points this season, a solid Top 5 with points in both stages should easily get Kyle or others into the next round. For fantasy, we will be getting back to common strategy and targeting dominators, especially with the importance of running up front in all stages to get those points. Over the last six races here at Kansas, there has been one driver to lead at least 100 laps in five of those races and at least three drivers to lead 50+ laps in back to back races here. Qualifying will be the determining factor on the importance of place differential and this was the case in the Spring race here as 11 drivers picked up double-digit PD points. With all that...