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Chris Durell brings you DraftKings fantasy NASCAR advice, DFS lineups picks and sleepers analysis for Chris Durell brings you DraftKings fantasy NASCAR advice, DFS lineups picks and sleepers analysis for the Auto Club 400 from Auto Club Speedway
Camping World 500 Recap
Four races into the 2017 season and we have seen four different winners from four different teams and we have also seen all three car manufacturers in Victory Lane. What more could we ask for?
With all the talk surrounding the young guns making their acccension, it was Ryan Newman jumping back into the spotlight and ending a four-year winless drought. It wasn't just his drought that ended as Richard Childress Racing also entered Victory Lane as a team for the first time since 2013 as well. The win didn't come easily, however, as Joey Logano and Kyle Busch were both dominant throughout the race. Logano got a speeding penalty in stage two and then had a tire go down with just three laps to go while Busch was out front. When Busch pitted to get tires, Newman and his team decided to stay out and it paid off big time. Newman jumped out front off the restart and never looked back as he crossed the finish line ahead of the other 38 drivers.
Before getting into this week's picks let's take a look back at last weeks picks and results.
Last Weeks NASCAR DFS Picks
Kevin Harvick - For the second straight week Harvick started back in the field but unlike the week before, made it to the end of the race. He ended up finishing 6th, picking up 17 place differential points and 57 total DraftKings points(5th most).
Joey Logano - Logano came out hot leading 82 laps early on but got a speeding penalty on pit road and then had a tire go down with six laps left. This left him with a 31st place finish and just 12.5 DraftKings points.
Daniel Suarez - Very impressive race for Suarez who started 27th and worked his way up all day to pick up his first career Top 10 finish. Starting back in the field helped him pick up 20 place differential and 57 total DraftKings points.
Chris Buescher - Buescher was the punt play of the week under $6K and had a decent day. He started 33rd and picked up six place differential points, finishing 27th. He tallied 23.3 DraftKings points(20th most).
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS Lineup Picks - Auto Club 400
This week the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series stays out West and heads to Fontana, California for the Auto Club 400 on Sunday afternoon. Auto Club Speedway is a two-mile intermediate track with 14° of banking the corners. The track is very difficult as it is bumpy pretty much throughout. This is clear from watching any action on track so far this weekend. The track is also very wide and flat which induces passing and three of the last four years have seen last-lap passes for the win.
From a fantasy perspective, it appears we are going to have to build our lineups around place differential this week as there are a couple drivers starting at the back and a few other elite plays. These drivers are going to be highly owned so don't be afraid to pivot to another driver or two in the same range in larger tournaments. Let's take a look at the top picks this week.
Jimmie Johnson ($9,800) & Joey Logano ($10,300)
The place differential value starts with the #48 of Jimmie Johnson and the #22 of Joey Logano. Jimmie spun in opening practice and ended up going to a backup car(more of a 1B) that they decided to spend extra time setting up rather than qualify. This puts Jimmie back in the 37th starting position at his home track where he has won six times.
Logano also didn't qualify but for a different reason. The #22 team did not make it through pre-qualifying inspection in time to make a lap in the first round. This puts him back in the 35th starting position with elite place differential value. The other thing to not about the #48 and the #22 is that because they didn't qualify, they will start the race with fresh tires while everyone who qualified starts on the tires they qualified with. Both are going to be high owned but hard to fade with their upside.
Denny Hamlin ($8,500)
Hamlin had a rough start to the season with a 17th and 38th place finish at Daytona and Atlanta but has been trending in the right direction lately. He has put up back to back Top 10 finishes and has now seen his salary drop $700 from last week. Not only that, he qualified on the front row(2nd) after posting the second fastest speed in opening practice. There is zero upside in terms of place differential making him a projected low owned GPP play on Sunday.
Trevor Bayne ($7,200)
It seems he comes as a top value every week and it makes perfect sense. He is 26th in average salary through four races but 13th in average DraftKings points. He has acquired 30 or more DK points in every race as he has picked up positive place differential in each race. That shouldn't be a problem this week as he was one of five cars to miss qualifying. This will put him back in the 36th starting position and I see no reason why he won't be a Top 25 car barring a mechanical issue or crash.
NASCAR DFS Cheat Sheet
Don't have the time to search multiple sites looking for NASCAR stats and data? Check out my DFS NASCAR cheatsheet which includes Track History(2-Year Trend & Career), Track Type History(2-Year Trend), Current Form, Practice/Qualifying Data, and a weighted system to get an overall rank for each driver each race. Check out it now while it's still in BETA mode and FREE to everyone. Click image below to open the complete cheatsheet.
DFS & Fantasy NASCAR Chat Room
If you have any questions leading up to the race hit me up in the chat below!
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