Daily Fantasy Nascar Picks
Kobalt 400 from Las Vegas

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Kobalt 400

Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, Nevada
Track - 1.5 Mile D-Shaped Oval Intermediate Track with 20° Banking in the Corners

It was another fantastic finish in the Sprint Cup series at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend. Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team made a daring short pit(pitting well before the other lead lap cars) which ended up being a huge factor in the win. Jimmie tied Dale Earnhardt Sr. with his 76th career Sprint Cup victory and second straight at Atlanta. Check out the NASCAR.com recap below.

It was the first intermediate track this year and it had a feel of old school racing. The new rules package combined with the tires falling off quicker than usual led to loose cars and long green flag runs. It may have seemed boring to most but most true NASCAR fans loved it. Hopefully the momentum from Atlanta can be carried over into this week and provide another exciting and fun race to watch.

This week the NASCAR haulers head to the city that never sleeps, Las Vegas. This race will always bring back great memories for me as it was the first race I ever attended back in 2011 when Carl Edwards picked up the victory. The race wasn't even the highlight of the trip(I was actually sad as the #18 went up in flames). It was the next day when I married my best friend. I always joke around with her and tell her it is the race that reminds me of our Anniversary every year but the truth is I will never forget that day for the rest of my life. Ok enough with the sappy intro let's get into the race.

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 Mile D-Shaped Oval Intermediate track with 20 degree in the turns. The track has a little more progressive banking than Atlanta which would lead to less tire fall of this week. Traditionally there is usually one driver who dominates the laps led. In four of the last five years one driver has led over 110 laps and seen Kevin Harvick dominate last year leading 142 of the 267 laps. While the low down force package should improve the ability to pass, clean air at the front will be the key. Make sure to check back throughout the weekend to get updated practice and qualifying results and join the conversation in the comments section.

I will again be selling a cheatsheet every week of the NASCAR season. It will include drivers, salaries for DraftKings and FantasyFeud, post qualifying Vegas Odds, current form(last 5 races), track history(last 5 races), and I update the cheatsheet throughout the weekend following practice and qualifying.

Let's dig in and look at some targets for this week.

 

Upper Tier Targets ($9,500+)

 

Kevin Harvick 
DraftKings - $10,500
Fantasy Feud - $265,000
Practice #1 - 7th
Qualified - 6th
Practice #2 - 22nd
Final Practice - 22nd

When it comes to intermediate track racing, Harvick dominates for fantasy. Since the start of the 2014 season he has lead 1,730 laps, 468 more than the next closest driver(Brad Keselowski). He has also picked up the second most wins(4) to Jimmie Johnson(7) with a NASCAR best 19 Top 10 finishes. He dominated the Vegas race last year leading 142 laps and picking up the win. He will be hungry for the win this week after leading 131 laps last weekend but finishing outside the top 5.

 

Kyle Busch
DraftKings - $10,300
Fantasy Feud - $245,000
Practice #1 - 25th
Qualified - 23rd
Practice #2 - 27th
Final Practice - 14th

The Las Vegas native is back at his home track after missing last years race with a broken ankle/leg. Although he hasn't had the best results here in the past, a lot has changed since he last raced here. He has gone through months of rehab after breaking his ankle, become a father, and oh ya won a Sprint Cup series championship. In the past two years he has lead the series at intermediate tracks with a 8.62 average finish. The #18 team has carried their championship winning form over into 2016 with two straight 3rd place finishes. He is a terrific play in any format this week.

 

 

Carl Edwards
DraftKings - $9,600
Fantasy Feud - $185,000
Practice #1 - 14th
Qualified - 24th
Practice #2 - 1st
Final Practice - 2nd

Besides a crash with Kasey Kahne in last year's race, Edwards has dominated Vegas. In the four years prior he has tallied four top 5 finishes and a 4.0 average finish. He comes in at a terrific discount ranked 7th in DK salary this week and makes a great play in any format. He has started the 2016 season with back to back 5th place finishes and should be a factor at the end of the race this week.

 

Middle Tier Targets ($7,000-$9,500)

 

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
DraftKings - $9,000
Fantasy Feud - $165,000
Practice #1 - 15th
Qualified - 20th
Practice #2 - 26th
Final Practice - 7th

After a 36th place finish at Daytona he rebounded with a runner up at Atlanta and will go into Vegas with a ton of momentum. He is my favorite value play this week and has a terrific track record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the past five years he has two Top 5's and has finished every race inside the Top 10 with a series best 6.2 average finish. At this price he may be worth fading in GPP's as the ownership could be through the roof but I don't blame you if you don't as he could easily return value.

 

 

Martin Truex Jr.
DraftKings - $9,100
Fantasy Feud - $175,000
Practice #1 - 21st
Qualified - 10th
Practice #2 - 20th
Final Practice - 10th

He has carried the momentum of his final four appearance in the 2015 Chase over into this season. He finished 2nd in the Daytona 500 and picked up a 7th place finish last week in Atlanta. In the past five years here at Las Vegas he has the 3rd best average finish(9.4) with a Top 5 and three Top 10 finishes. The #78 Furniture Row Racing team is a member of the Toyota racing family and no other team has adapted better to the new rules package than Toyota cars. Barring bad luck, he should run inside the top 10 and possible contend for a win this weekend.

 

Also Consider - Ryan Newman

 

 

Low End Targets

 

Paul Menard
DraftKings - $6,500
Fantasy Feud - $110,000
Practice #1 - 4th
Qualified - 15th
Practice #2 - 25th
Final Practice - 4th

To get two or three of the top drivers in a lineup together you are going to need some low end value. A great place to start is the #27, driven by Paul Menard. He has started the 2016 season with back to back 18th place finishes and now comes to one of his best tracks. In the past five years he has a top 5 and three top 10 finishes here at Vegas and has a 8.8 average finish. A top 15 finish would be enough to hit value this week at his current salary.

 

Brian Vickers
DraftKings - $5,500
Fantasy Feud - $75,000
Practice #1 - 5th
Qualified - 19th
Practice #2 - 31st
Final Practice - 26th

Vickers will be behind the wheel of Tony Stewart's #14 Chevy this week at Las Vegas. After a year away from racing he returned at Daytona finishing 26th. At this point this is his only scheduled race so expect his best effort. He is very familiar with this track as he has an average finish of 12.7 in three races including one top 10 finish. At near minimum pricing he opens the door to almost any combination of elite drivers this week. A terrific GPP play.

 

Also Consider - Brian Scott

 

 

Post Practice & Qualifying Update

 

Qualifying Top 10:

1. #41 Kurt Busch
2. #22 Joey Logano
3. #20 Matt Kenseth
4. #2 Brad Keselowski
5. #3 Austin Dillon
6. #4 Kevin Harvick
7. #43 Aric Almirola
8. #5 Kasey Kahne
9. #11 Denny Hamlin
10. #78 Martin Truex Jr.

 

Qualifying order is set and all practices have wrapped up. Some teams found speed while others will have to wait to make in race adjustments if they want to run up front and contend for the win.

Kurt Busch won his second straight pole and will start up front for the Kobalt 400 on Sunday. The #41 team has showed speed throughout the weekend finishing inside the Top 10 at both test sessions on Thursday and all practices. He should get some early laps led like last week and have a shot at a win on his home track. His younger brother Kyle is one of the drivers who had issues finding speed to this point of the weekend. The #18 team tested well on Thursday but had an awful first practice on Friday(25th) followed by a similar result in qualifying as he will start 23rd on Sunday. They may have found something in final practice as he ranked 14th. He makes a great value play as he there is upside for place differential.

Carl Edwards will again be a driver to watch out for on Sunday. Early on it looked like the #19 would face a steep challenge as they crashed in first practice and were forced to go to a backup car. They qualified 24th for the race and quickly found speed in the final two practices as they ranked 1st and 2nd. Another drier with big place differential upside and what looks to be a very fast #19 Toyota.

There are a couple nice value plays at the bottom this week. Starting with the #13 of Casey Mears who qualified 22nd and then went on t rank 3rd in practice #2 and 8th in final practice. The other value I really like is Brian Vickers at near minimum price. He is driving the #14 for Tony Stewart and was 5th fastest in first practice and had a shot to be top 12 starting before NASCAR official s shut down his hot lap with a red flag due to debris. He will be starting 19th  and is running in equipment that is used to running up front here at Vegas. Take a shot at $5,500 on DraftKings and spend up at the top.

 

Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 Update Thread

 

Thursday took a bad turn for @dennyhamlin at @LVMotorSpeedway when the @JoeGibbsRacing driver crashed: https://t.co/6Ontam6KzM#NASCAR

— FOX SPORTS: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) March 3, 2016

Hamlin and the #11 car will be in a backup car for the rest of the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

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 Kobalt 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.