Daily Fantasy Nascar Picks
Can-Am 500

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Can-Am 500

Phoenix International Raceway - Avondale, Arizona
Track - 1 Mile Tri Oval Short Track
9°-11° Banking in the Corners

Rainy weather in Texas that forced the race to start under the lights. It kicked off with Joey Logano dominating early, leading 178 laps which was followed up with the #78 of Martin Truex Jr. running up front for 60+ laps. On lap 258 Carl Edwards took over the lead and didn't look back as he picked up the win after NASCAR called the race on lap 293.

With the win, both Edwards and Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson have secured their spots in the final race at Homestead next weekend. That leaves six drivers who will be fighting for two spots this Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. The interesting part is three of the remaining six drivers come from the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Kyle Busch is currently tied with Joey Logano on the positive side of the cut line while Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth are just one and two points back. Expect team work to go out the window this week and for the rest of the season as we are clearly in each driver for himself portion of the season. Hats off to coach Gibbs for bringing these four drivers and teams together and getting all four this far.

Kevin Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kurt Busch are in near must win situations this week sitting 18 and 34 points back respectively. Don't think about fading them, especially Harvick who has delivered each and every time in the crunch  leading up to this race. Let's dig in and take a look at some of the top plays for this weekend.

 

The following is the initial schedule for the weekend:

• First Practice - Friday @ 1:30 p.m. ET
• Qualifying - Friday @ 6:45 p.m. ET
• Practice 2 - Saturday @ 3:00 p.m. ET
• Final Practice - Saturday @ 6:00 p.m. ET
• Race - Sunday @ 2:30 p.m. ET

 

Are you looking to streamline your research process and spend more time making lineups? Check out my DFS NASCAR Cheatsheet. 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+)

 

Kevin Harvick
DraftKings - $10,600
Practice #1 - 15th
Qualified -
Practice #2 - 
Final Practice -

He will be the ultimate chalky play this week and for very good reason. No one has dominated a track quite like Harvick has dominated in the desert. He has eight career wins here and over the last five years(10 races) he has put together six of those wins, eight Top 5's, an elite 4.2 average finish and 1,167 laps led. Combine that track history with the urgency the #4 team will be facing this week with elimination staring them in the face and you have a very high upside play.

 

Joey Logano
DraftKings - $10,200
Practice #1 - 2nd
Qualified -
Practice #2 - 
Final Practice - 

Logano sits tied with Kyle Busch on the cut line and no one is coming into Phoenix with more momentum. Logano has put together four straight Top 10's including a win in the last elimination race at Talladega. This is one track Logano has never won at but over the last 10 races has put together two Top 5's and six Top 10 finishes. They #22 Penske team unloaded with momentum as they were the 2nd fastest car in opening practice on Friday. If they continue to show speed throughout the weekend, Logano will be an elite play in all formats.

 

Denny Hamlin
DraftKings - $9,900
Practice #1 - 4th
Qualified -
Practice #2 - 
Final Practice - 

It's going to be an interesting race inside the race this week for the Joe Gobbs Racing team. Carl Edwards is already locked into the final after winning last week leaving Kenseth, Busch and Hamlin to fight it out with Harvick, Kurt Busch and Logano for the final two spots. So who will it be? Looking over the last five years of data it has been Hamlin with the most success(10.4 average finish) of the group outside of Harvick. He is the only other top tier driver to record a win in that time and also had five Top 5's and six Top 10 finishes. The entire JGR teams showed speed in practice one and Hamlin ended up with the 4th fastest speed. He is safe in all formats.

 

 

Also Consider - Kyle Busch ($10,400)

 

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

 

Kurt Busch
DraftKings - $8,400
Practice #1 - 8th
Qualified -
Practice #2 - 
Final Practice - 

Busch is an excellent high upside GPP play this week in a do or die situation sitting 8th in the standings. His price has dropped for the third straight week adding to the value as the lowest price Chase driver. Kurt has also had success here in the past with one win(2005) and has two Top 5's and six Top 10 finishes over the last 10 races here at Phoenix. While the value seems too good to fade in cash games I would recommend against it as Busch will either win or crash trying.

 

 

Ryan Blaney
DraftKings - $7,700
Practice #1 - 9th
Qualified -
Practice #2 - 
Final Practice - 

Ryan Blaney has been enjoying a very successful rookie season with 10 Top 10 finishes with a great shot to add to his totals with two races to go. In his first race here back in March he started 12th, faded back in the pack for awhile, then worked his way back up to finish 10th. He has an affordable price tag that under $8K that works in all formats.

 

 

Also Consider - Kasey Kahne ($8,000)

 

 

Low End Targets ($6,900 and Below)

 

Aric Almirola
DraftKings - $6,700
Practice #1 - 26th
Qualified -
Practice #2 - 
Final Practice - 

The bottom tier is tough to navigate this week as there are only two drivers with Top 10 finishes here over the past 10 races. This doesn't mean there won't be place differential value open up through qualifying and practice but early on it's Almirola that stands out. He has one Top 10 in nine races here with an impressive 15.2 average finish considering he is priced under $7K this week. He is finishing the year off strong finishing 22nd or better in six of his last seven races.

 

 

Also Consider - Paul Menard

 

 

 

 

 

Post Practice & Qualifying Update

Qualifying Top 10

 

 

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!

 

 

 

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.