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Chris Durell brings you DraftKings fantasy NASCAR advice, DFS lineups picks and sleepers analysis for the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Following the race at Dover last weekend, four drivers (Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer) have been eliminated from the playoffs. The first round kept many fans on the edge of their seats for three weeks as they witnessed some ups and downs throughout.
Jimmie Johnson unintentionally wrecked Harvick in the first race which forced the #4 team to win or go home. Kyle Busch ran into issues at New Hampshire which put the #18 team's backs against wall for the final race. Clint Bowyer and #15 team were caught in inspection after the first race and penalized 25 points, ultimately eliminating them from contention. The pressure and excitement will only ramp up going forward, as we are now down to 12 drivers with seven races to go, and we kick off round two of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Race #1 of the second round will start with a trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Bank of America 500 Saturday night. Drivers come in to this race with plenty of experience and notes on the track, as it hosts three races (two points race) each year. The All Star race is run under a different format, but the drivers still log a ton of laps on the track. The Coca Cola 600, run the very next weekend, is the longest race of the year where we usually get to witness lots of green flag racing.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile track with 24° banking in the corners. It is considered a cookie cutter track, as it is the most common track type in NASCAR. There are a group of drivers (Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth to name a few) that dominate this track type. You will want to pay close attention to practice speeds and consecutive 10 lap averages this week to find the drivers producing the most speed. The first practice and the Coors Lite Pole Qualifying will take place Thursday with the final two practices Friday afternoon. Check back for the post-qualifying and practice update Friday afternoon.
You can also join the live DFS NASCAR chat on this page Friday at 4:30 pm ET during final practice.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS Lineup Picks
Kevin Harvick - $11,400
He overcame a 42nd place finish at Chicago and a 21st place finish at New Hampshire to win the Dover elimination race and move on to the second round. Harvick has had tremendous success at mile and a half track and specifically here at Charlotte most recently. In the last five races here he has two wins, three top 5's and five top 10 finishes. This intermediate track success will bode well for the #4 team going forward, as four of the remaining seven races are at mile and a half tracks and two of the next three in the Contender Round. Look for Harvick to carry the momentum over and contend for the win this weekend.
Jimmie Johnson - $10,200
The biggest shock of the first round was the unfortunate troubles the #48 experienced in Dover which ultimately eliminated Jimmie Johnson from the Chase. This might drive his ownership down this weekend and steer most players to other Chase drivers in the same salary range. Jimmie has been one of, if not the most, dominant driver at intermediate tracks over the years and isn't going to lay down now that he is out of the Chase. In the last five races here he has a win and two top 5 finishes to go along with 294 laps lead which is 3rd in the field. He makes an excellent contrarian GPP play this week.
Joey Logano - $9,700
Besides the run Matt Kenseth has been on, Joey Logano has been arguably the most consistent driver in the series over the past 1-2 months. He comes into this race with eight consecutive top 10 finishes. He also has two wins in that time. In the last five points races here at Charlotte he has two top 5 finishes with a 10.4 average finish. Look for the #22 team to stay consistent and contend for a win.
Carl Edwards - $9,300
It took Carl 21 races at Charlotte to get his first win at the track back in May at the Coca Cola 600. He may only have the one win but he has been really good here at Charlotte lately. In the last five races here he has a win, two top 5's, four top 10's to go along with a 6.8 average finish. He started the Chase with two top 5 finishes before finishing 15th last weekend. Look for Edwards to get back up into the top 5 this week.
Ryan Newman - $7,000
He finished the first round in 10th in the standings. He went 4th, 10th, 19th in round one and will be looking to build on that here at Charlotte. He has been an excellent driver at intermediate tracks and has four top 10 finishes here at Charlotte over the past five races here. He is the lowest priced ($1,400 less than Gordon) Chase driver going into this weekend and presents an excellent option in any format.
Greg Biffle - $6,400
He has put up a very disappointing season to this point and will be looking to finish the year strong and build for next season. Since the Chase started the #16 team has been on one of their best stretches of the year. He started with a 21st at Chicago, 4th at New Hampshire, and a 13th place finish last weekend at Dover. He will most likely be low owned and makes a nice GPP play at his current salary.
Post Practice & Qualifying Update
***UPDATE COMING AFTER FINAL PRACTICE FRIDAY EVENING***
Qualifying Top 10
- #20 Matt Kenseth
- #18 Kyle Busch
- #22 Joey Logano
- #16 Greg Biffle
- #11 Denny Hamlin
- #41 Kurt Busch
- #48 Jimmie Johnson
- #19 Carl Edwards
- #43 Aric Almirola
- #Ryan Newman
Matt Kenseth won the on Thursday and teammate Kyle Busch will be starting beside him on the front row. Their other two teammates Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards will start 5th and 8th respectively. It doesn't look like much can stop Joe Gibbs Racing at this point and the challenge then becomes which driver to pick or how many to stack in a lineup. Besides Kenseth all four drivers were top 10 in both of the final practices. Team Penske teammates Joey Logano(starting 3rd) and Brad Keselowski(starting 13th) were both top 6 fastest in the final practices. When looking for low end value be sure to get some exposure to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as he has been really consistent lately(8th,13th,18th,16th) and will be starting 25th this weekend. He was 16th and 14th in final practices. Good luck this week.
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