Daily Fantasy NASCAR Picks for DraftKings & FantasyFeud – Windows 10 400

Daily Fantasy Nascar Picks
Windows 10 400


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Windows 10 400

Pocono Raceway - Long Pond, PA
Track Type/Length - 2.5 Tri Oval Superspeedway

I am really enjoying kicking off these most recent articles with a recap of Kyle Busch winning....again! He made it 3 in a row on Sunday and inched even closer to that Chase birth. He became the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to record 3 straight wins. At this point Kyle only needs about an average finish of 20th to sneak inside the top 30 in the standings but don't, for one second, think he is going to play the points game. It isn't in him to play it safe. He has always been an aggressive driver and if he sees a window of opportunity he is going to take it and go for the win every time! Ok, Ok enough Kyle Busch love for one article. Lets take a look at this week.

It seems like just yesterday Martin Truex Jr. captured the Checkered Flag for his first win of the season at Pocono. Well, we are back for round 2 this weekend for the Windows 10 400. The track is a 2.5 mile superspeedway with a twist. They call it the tricky triangle as it has three unique turns banked between 6 and 14 degrees. As I mentioned last race at Pocono it has been a dominating track for Hendrick Motorsports and even though they didn't continue the streak of wins last time here it was the #78 team who took home the win, who happens to be a satellite team of HMS. Look for the HMS drivers and satellite team drivers to again finish at the top.

DraftKings has made a few changes to the scoring and lineup makeup this week. With the high number of overlapping lineups in all formats each week, DraftKings has decided to add an extra driver to the lineup construction to avoid this. With this change, the salaries for the drivers has dropped and bunched them closer together. They have also removed the Pass Differential Bonus Points from the scoring system as well. With these changes it will be crucial to identify the best drivers with in a salary grouping. Here are my picks for this week.

Upper Tier Targets

Kevin Harvick
DraftKings - $11,700
Fantasy Feud - $265,000
Vegas Odds - 5.5/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 1st
Qualified - 2nd
He was the only driver in the June race here to run inside the top 15 the entire race. He led the 2nd most laps(39) to the winner Truex Jr(97). No matter the track, no matter the package on the car, Kevin Harvick has dominated this year even though he hasn't won in awhile. He has only finished outside the top 10 twice and has finished inside the top 8 in each of his previous five races.

Kurt Busch
DraftKings - $10,100
Fantasy Feud - $250,000
Vegas Odds - 11/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 8th
Qualified - 6th
Yes, I am leaving brother Kyle off the list this week. His price has risen to crazy levels and the value has washed up. I will be cheering my ass off for him again this week but will pivot off in fantasy to Kurt. He finished 5th in the June race which was his 3rd top 5 in his previous five starts at Pocono and holds a 6.2 average finish in that time. He has a top 10 or better finish in seven straight races now and comes in as the 5th highest priced driver on DraftKings. While others will chase June race winner Truex Jr., Kurt Busch should provide nice value at a $200 savings.

Joey Logano
DraftKings - $9,400
Fantasy Feud - $225,000
Vegas Odds - 10/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 2nd
Qualified - 3rd
He comes in as the 7th most expensive driver on DraftKings and Fantasy Feud and has had a good run here at Pocono in his last five races. He has recorded two top 5's and four top 10 finishes with a 12.8 average finish. When looking at recent form, Logano has recorded a top 5 in six of his last seven races. If he qualifies outside the top 10 he will present great value in all formats.

Middle Tier Targets

Carl Edwards
DraftKings - $8,500
Fantasy Feud - $190,000
Vegas Odds - 13/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 16th
Qualified - 8th
As the 13th most expensive driver on DraftKings, Edwards comes in as a 13/1 favorite in Vegas. The Gibbs team has shown speed lately and Edwards has been trending lately and can pop up anywhere and grab a win. I will be using him in GPP only this week as he hasn't had a great run at Pocono recently with a 22.8 average finish.

Ryan Newman
DraftKings - $7,600
Fantasy Feud - $140,000
Vegas Odds - 76/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 12th
Qualified - 14th
Newman provided value last week starting in the back and getting those bonus points. This week he comes in at $7,600 on DraftKings and has a pretty nice record at Pocono minus the June race where he had a late race altercation with AJ Almendinger. In his previous five race here he still has a 12.6 average finish with two top 5's and four top 10 finishes.

Greg Biffle
DraftKings - $7,100
Fantasy Feud - $115,000
Vegas Odds - 76/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 55th
Qualified - 25th
He has been quiet this season but at this price($7,100) and his track history(9.0 avg. finish last 5) I can't get away from the value. He has two top 5's and three top 10 finishes in his previous five races here and makes a nice low priced GPP option this week.

Low End Target

Justin Allgaier
DraftKings - $6,200
Fantasy Feud - $85,000
Vegas Odds - 501/1
Sprint Cup Standings – 30th
Qualified - 31st
I will be looking toward Allgaier for stars & scrubs lineups this week. He comes back to Pocono with a 21.0 average finish in his previous five races here and finished 20th in the June race.

Also consider Cole Whitt($5,800) o the low end for GPP only

***Qualifying Top 10 and Initial Thoughts***
1. #18 Kyle Busch
2. #4 Kevin Harvick
3. #22 Joey Logano
4. #3 Austin Dillon
5. #14 Tony Stewart
6. #41 Kurt Busch
7. #20 Matt Kenseth
8. #19 Carl Edwards
9. #2 Brad Keselowski
10. #24 Jeff Gordon

Kyle Busch picked up the Coors Lite Pole this afternoon and will lead the field to the green flag Sunday. Starting on the front row with Kyle this week is Kevin Harvick. Look for these two drivers to dominate the laps led and for one of them to pick up the win.

Some guys to watch throughout the final two practices this week are Dale Jr.(Starting 15th), Jimmie Johnson(Starting 12th), Martin Truex Jr.(Starting 13th) and Kyle Larson(Starting 27th).

Check back tomorrow following Final Practice for my final update and thoughts before the race Sunday.

***Post qualifying and Final Practice Update***
Final Practice Top 10
1. #18 Kyle Busch
2. #41 Kurt Busch
3. #19 Carl Edwards
4. #4 Kevin Harvick
5. #48 Jimmie Johnson
6. #2 Brad Keselowski
7. #11 Denny Hamlin
8. #20 Matt Kenseth
9. #78 Martin Truex Jr.
10. #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kyle Busch got into the wall during the first couple laps of Final Practice and had to make some repairs. He returned to the track to make a final which was the fastest of any driver during Final Practice. Nothing can stop the #18 at this point. Momentum is a beautiful thing in sports. I pivoted off Kyle in my write up earlier but will have some shares of Kyle for sure. Throughout all three practices he continually got faster. This is a sign of not only a great driver, but a great team. Watch out for Kevin Harvick as well. He was top 5 fastest in Practice #1 and Practice #3 and qualifies on the front row. He also had the second fastest consecutive 10 lap average in Final Practice.

The guys I mentioned yesterday to watch out for in todays final practices were:

Jimmie Johnson
Practice #2 - 10th
Final Practice - 5th

Starting 12th tomorrow, look for the #48 to move up into the top 5 early and eventually contend for a win

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Practice #2 - 23rd
Final Practice - 10th

Got way faster from 2nd practice to final practice and will be starting 15th. He felt he had a car to win last time here so look for him to work his way forward and contend providing he doesn't have any issues.

Martin Truex Jr.
Practice #2 - 11th
Final Practice - 9th

Consistent top 10 car in the final two practices. Repeating at Pocono is a tough task, especially vs. some of these fast cars but a top 10 shouldn't be a problem.

Kyle Larson
Practice #2 - 13th
Final Practice - 12th

He was 13th and 12th in the final two practices and had the 4th best consecutive 10 lap average in final practice. It is tough to pass here but with a top 13 car he should at least be able to make it forward and score a top 15.

Good luck this week.

Want to see how these picks and more fit into lineups for the Windows 10 400 ? Chris is selling a cheatsheet and lineups for DraftKings and FantasyFeud for $5. This is a separate service than our traditional monthly membership. Head over to our PayPal payment page, if that's more your bag.


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.

 

image sources

  • 2048px-NASCAR_practice: By U.S. Air Force photo by Larry McTighe [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Chris Durell