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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 at Auto Club Speedway
It was another big week for Kevin Harvick in Phoenix as he picked up his third straight win joining some elite company as just the 15th driver to do so in NASCAR history. Kyle Busch finished runner-up for the second straight week and he also led the way when looking at fantasy points as he led 128 laps. Looking at the results, it was another struggle for the Chevy camp as there were four Ford's, five Toyota's, and Chase Elliott ended up the only Chevy inside the Top 10.
This week the Monster Energy Cup Series travels to Fontana, California for the Auto Club 400 as the #NASCARGoesWest stretch will come to an end. Auto Club Speedway is a two-mile track with 14 degrees of banking the corners and the biggest thing is that the surface is aging and like Atlanta, leads to some quick fall-off when looking at tire wear. This takes away some strategy when it comes to pit stops almost all teams will be taking four tires every time down. The track is, however, very wide which makes multiple lanes and opportunity for a ton of passing and good racing.
From a fantasy standpoint, place differential is going to be big this week as qualifying was a bit of a disaster. There were 13 teams who failed tech inspection and did not make a qualifying lap and will be starting from the rear of the field. NASCAR did make a change, however, as all drivers will now start on fresh tires taking away the advantage from the teams who didn't qualify. The fact that there are so many good place differential values should help spread out the ownership a little bit and it will also help you if you use a contrarian approach in GPP formats. Let's dig in and take a look at some of the top plays for this week.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS Lineup Picks - Auto Club 400
Kevin Harvick($11,500)
It will be really hard to avoid the hottest driver and team in NASCAR again this week. He has averaged the most DraftKings points per race over the last two years here at Auto Club Speedway and has potential to hit on place differential and dominator points this week. He will start 10th on Sunday, was fastest in second practice, fourth fastest in final practice and posted the fastest 10-lap average in both of those practices. All the place differential plays at the top this week will also help with his ownership. Fire up Happy Harvick in all formats.
Kyle Larson($10,000)
My favorite dominator target this week is Kyle Larson who will start third on Sunday. He won this race last year leading 110 laps(92.5 DraftKings points) and overall has won four straight two-mile races. I also like the discount he provides in the top tier this week as the fifth most expensive driver and he has shown top speed all weekend ranking sixth or better in all practices and 10-lap averages.
Jimmie Johnson($9,000)
It has been an absolutely terrible start to the 2018 season for the #48 team but he offers a ton of place differential value this week. Jimmie was one of the 13 cars to not make a lap in qualifying and he will start 33rd this week at his home track. He won the race here two years ago which was his seventh of his career and while I don't think he wins this week, his first Top 10 of the season is a real possibility. He was 18th in second practice with the 14th best 10-lap average but improved big time in the final practice ranking third in the one-lap speeds and 11th in 10-lap averages.
A.J. Allmendinger($6,000)
If we are to play two of the three above drivers in a lineup we will have to dig into the sub $7K range this week and my favorite play down there is the Dinger. They were one of the teams that failed to qualify on Friday afternoon and will start 32nd on Sunday. He showed excellent speed in the first practice on Saturday ranking seventh but fell back a bit in final practice ranking 29th. Somewhere in between is where I expect the #47 team this week. Allmendinger has a nice track record here at Auto Club Speedway with a Top 20 finish in seven straight races and that would be perfect at a price of $6,000 this week.
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. Also, be sure to check out the Race by Race Trends Sheet.
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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