Daily Fantasy Nascar Picks
Cheez-It 350 at The Glen

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Cheez-It 350 at The Glen

Watkings Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY
Track - 2.428 Mile Road Course with 7 turns

This week NASCAR travels to Watkins Glen International for the Cheez-It 350 at The Glen. It is the final road course race of the season and it will be a big one with just five races remaining in the regular season.  With Chris Buescher's win last week, the standings tightened up even more. He will have to finish inside the Top 30 in points but expect Front Row Motorsports to exhaust all  resources to get their rookie driver in to the Chase. He currently sits in 31st just 6 point behind David Ragan. Let's assume he and Tony Stewart get into the Top 30 and into the Chase. That leaves four remaining spot available for non winners to either pick up a win or get in on points. Austin Dillon(549 pts) leads the way with Ryan Newman(537 pts), Chase Elliot(533 pts), and Jamie McMurray(517) inside the cut line. Just outside the points cutline and breathing down their necks is Kyle Larson(508 pts), Kasey Kahne(488 pts), Trevor Bayne(480 pts) and Ryan Blaney(480). It is going to be an exciting six week stretch run to the Chase for the Sprint Cup playoffs.

The Cheez-It 350 from The Glen is one of the shortest races on the circuit putting a ton of emphasis on track position this week so expect a few teams to go against the grain from a strategy perspective throughout the race. These strategies can really help a driver who starts back in the pack work his way through the field and have a shot at a top finish. For this reason Place Differential will be key this week. Last years race saw six of Top 10 finishers start outside the Top 10 and four of them including the winner start outside of 15th. As always be sure to check back for practice and qualifying updates. The weekend schedule is posted below:

• Practice 1 - Friday @ 12:30 pm et
• Final Practice - Friday @ 3:00 pm et
• Qualifying - Saturday @ 12:15 pm et
• Race - Sunday @ 2:30 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 - $10,100
First Practice - 5th
Qualified - 5th
Final Practice -4th

I will continue to ride the hot streak of the #18 Joe Gibbs Toyota. He has a win and five Top 10 finishes in his last six races and is looking for nothing but bonus points for the Chase from here on out. Over the last five years he has picked up a win, three Top 5's, four Top 10's and has a series high 124 laps led in that time. With the price drop he is at his lowest salary since Daytona and is an elite play in all formats.

 

 

Carl Edwards
DraftKings - $9,700
First Practice - 4th
Qualified - 1st
Final Practice - 10th

Looking at career road course racing stats it appears Carl Edwards is a big value this week under $10K. Although he has only recorded one road course win(Sonoma), only Tony Stewart has a better average finish than Carl on both Road Courses combined. In 11 career races here at Watkins Glen he has managed five Top 5's and eight Top 10 finishes with a 8.36 average finish. Over the last five years he hasn't qualified well here with an average 14.6 starting position. If he should start outside the Top 10 once again it would only increase his place differential value.

 

Brad Keselowski
DraftKings - $9,300
First Practice - 7th
Qualified - 12th
Final Practice - 6th

Bad Brad's price continues to stick around the $9K mark despite the terrific form. Over the last five weeks he ranks second in average finish(7.2) behind only Kyle Busch and has some nice track history as well. In the last five years he has three Top 5's, four Top 10's and a 9.6 average finish. Brad has also lead the second most amount of laps(66) behind Kyle Busch. Practice and qualifying will decide a lot but right now Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski sit #1 & #2 in my overall model.

 

Also Consider - Kevin Harvick

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

 

Jimmie Johnson
DraftKings - $8,800
First Practice - 16th
Qualified - 13th
Final Practice - 22nd

This is my #1 value play of the week despite where he qualifies. Jimmie is an elite driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series and he has hit his lowest salary of season. This marks the first time he has fallen into the second tier making him an easy choice to roster this week. You would think his salary dropped due to track history but that is not the case. While Jimmie has never won here at Watkins Glen he has a Top 5 and four Top 10 finishes in the last five years with a 11.8 average finish. At this price Jimmie is safe in all formats.

 

 

Kyle Larson
DraftKings - $8,200
First Practice - 10th
Qualified - 2nd
Final Practice - 12th

Larson has only raced here twice but has already proven he can succeed here at Watkins Glen. He finished 4th in his first attempt in 2014 and 12th last year. He is coming into this race with a 6th at Pocono and 5th at Indianapolis and hasn't finished outside the Top 20 since Kansas back in May. If Chris Buescher should get inside the Top 30 this week it would push Kyle Larson just outside the cutline for the playoffs. Expect a giant effort form the #42 tam this week.

 

Also Consider - Matt Kenseth ($8,100)

 

 

Low End Targets ($6,900 and Below)

 

Casey Mears
DraftKings - $6,600
First Practice - 3rd
Qualified - 20th
Final Practice - 18th

Looking for a low end driver for stars and scrubs lineups is a little tougher this week. The driver in this range with the most success over the last five years has been Casey Mears. He has no Top 5's or Top 10's but a very impressive 16.2 average finish. Inthat time he has not qualified well at all with a 27.4 average finish and that is what I am hoping for this week. If he should start outside the Top 30 it will increase his value and he comes into this week with six straight Top 30 finishes. Depending on the qualifying results he could be safe in all formats.

 

Also Consider - Regan Smith ($5,300)

 

Post Practice & Qualifying Update

 

Qualifying Top 10

 

#CarlEdwards has this road-course #CoorsLightPole thing down.

He'll start P1 tomorrow: https://t.co/deoUJLFiqJ pic.twitter.com/MxXJpFyKQc

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) August 6, 2016

 

 

 

 

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 Cheez-It 350 at The Glen? 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.