Welcome back NASCAR junkies. Daytona Speedweeks will come to an end this week with the sports biggest race, the Daytona 500. Before getting into the race itself, let's take a look at some of the news and storylines from the past week.

After all the build up for last Saturday night's Advanced Auto Parts Clash, rain forced NASCAR to postpone until Sunday afternoon which turned out to be a beauty day. We saw a little bit of everything in the 75 lap Clash including several drivers entering the garage early. Jimmie Johnson got into Kurt Busch taking him out of the race early, with Johnson later spinning and exiting to the garage as well. Then the #42 team of Kyle Larson had too many men over the wall, which falls under the new "Damage Vehicle Policy", a penalty that ended their day. The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers(Busch, Hamlin, Kenseth, Suarez), as expected, formed a four-car train and ended up leading most of the second segment of the race. The proved that teamwork at the Daytona 500 is going to be crucial as they dominated the lower line on the track. It wasn't until the closing laps that teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano made their way up the JGR cars and broke up their draft. Keselowski was on his way to passing Denny Hamlin for the lead when Hamlin threw the block which hurt both of them and allowed Joey Logano to sneak around and take the checkered flag.

The race was followed up by single-car qualifying later on Sunday afternoon. It was Chase Elliott winning back to back Daytona 500 poles, becoming only the fifth driver in Daytona 500 history(59 years) to accomplish that feat. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the #88 team looked fast and finished second and will start beside Elliott on the front row. Those were the only two spots locked in from the qualifying session with the remaining times determining the starting order the Can-Am Duels on Thursday. Daytona Speedweeks is confusing, I know!

The two Duels on Thursday night determined the remaining spots for the Daytona 500 and were very entertaining race themselves. After winning his second consecutive pole for the Daytona 500, Chase Elliott proved he will be a car to beat on Sunday after leading 24 laps and winning the first Duel. The second Duel was all about the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who answered all questions about his health. He dominated, leading 53 laps but was passed late by Denny Hamlin who eventually took home the checkered flag. With the field now set, we move on to the Daytona 500 on Sunday afternoon.

Froma DFS strategy perspective, I will be trying to combine and stack teammates as much as possible do to the team drafting that we see at plate tracks. I will be looking to build a core of three of four drivers and interchanging the pieces around them to construct multiple lineups for the 50 max entry tournaments. With that, let's dive in and take a look at my core drivers for this week.

Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS  Lineup Picks

Joey Logano ($9,900)
Team Penske
Stack with: Brad Keselowski

I picked Logano to win the Clash and the Daytona 500 on RotoBaller Radio last Saturday night and I am sticking with it. He will be starting 15th on Sunday which gives him a 14 point place differential upside if he should win the race and ranks Top 5 in Daytona track history(two year and career numbers) and also two-year plate track history. With Stewart-Haas Racing joining Team FORD this season, Logano and teammate Brad Keselowski will have a ton of drafting partners throughout the race. The best part about Logano is that he is under $10K as the fourth-ranked driver in salary.

Denny Hamlin ($9,600)
Joe Gibbs Racing
Stack with: Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Daniel Suarez

Before factoring in the post-qualifying practices it is Denny Hamlin sitting in the #2 position on my initial model. he will start in the second row on the outside line for the Daytona 500 after winning the second Can-Am Duel last night. He now knows how to get around Dale Jr. and could most definitely get the lead early in the race. This gives him upside in the form of laps led which he ranks third here at Daytona over the past four races. He is the defending champion after edging out Martin Truex Jr. last year in what was the closest Daytona 500 finish in history. Hamlin also leads all drivers in average finish(5.2) over the lat two years here at Daytona so lock him in with tons of value as the sixth-ranked driver in salary.

Ryan Blaney ($7,300)
Wood Brothers Racing
Stack with: Trevor Bayne

The Wood Brothers have been around NASCAR for 66 years now and while most DFS players won't recognize the name, they will be competing for their sixth career Daytona 500 win. Driving the #21 for the Wood Brothers is Ryan Blaney who had impressed in his first full season in the Cup series last year with three Top 5's and nine Top 10 finishes. He qualified seventh for the Daytona 500 last year which downplayed his 19th place finish from a DFS perspective. That won't be the case this year as he came out fast, finishing fifth in the first practice but had trouble in qualifying and will start 36th. Can you say place differential value? Lock him in with a mid $7K price tag and for tournaments, you could stack him with Trevor Bayne who was the last driver to win the Daytona 500 in the #21 Wood Brothers car.

David Ragan ($6,000)
Front Row Motorsports
Stack with: Landon Cassill

Down near the very bottom of the salary is a driver who you can use in a stars and scrubs lineup. He ranks Top 15 in my initial model due to his Daytona track history. He won the Coke Zero 400(July) back in 2011 and more recently has one Top 10 and four Top 20 finishes over the last two years. It is a very risky place differential play as he didn't show Top 30 speed in opening practice and then came out and qualified 20th. Make sure to watch the final practices to get a better feel for the #38's overall speed. If you want to stack two elite drivers this week I would suggest pairing Ragan with his Front Row Motorsports teammate, Landon Cassill who is just $5,500.

 
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 complete 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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