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Daytona Duel Race No. 2 DraftKings NASCAR Lineup Picks and Projections

Chris Buescher - NASCAR DFS Picks, Betting Picks, Daily Fantasy NASCAR

All other NASCAR Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard.

The NASCAR Cup Series will hold two races on Thursday night at Daytona International Speedway to further determine the starting order for Sunday's Great American Race, the Daytona 500.

These races are called the Duels and are short, 150-mile sprints. These two "preview" races give us a good glimpse into what we may see on Sunday while also tiding us racing fans over for a few more days before the season officially starts.

DraftKings is giving us twin $60K GPPs for the two Duel races on Thursday night, with the top prize for each set at $10K. You can also join the private RotoBaller DraftKings contest for this race by clicking here! Limited spots are available.

 

Free Preview Weekend for NASCAR Premium Content

This DraftKings Projections and Picks article, my industry-leading Betting Picks, as well as my exclusive Algorithm Predicted Finishing Order posts are typically reserved for Premium RotoBaller subscribers. Still, we have decided to make these FREE for the Duel races at Daytona this week.

Be sure to take advantage of 35% off premium NASCAR subscriptions before the Daytona 500 by using code JORDAN25 when signing up! You can click here to join in on the winning!

 

Lineup Building Strategy and Race Theories to Consider for Duel No. 2

It's a good idea to analyze each Duel race and see if any strategy or correlation could help shape your DraftKings lineup-building strategy. Below are a few of the things that I have noticed for the first Duel race:

  • The two Duel races are both short events with a small field. With only 150 miles scheduled on a 2.5-mile track, we're looking at a total of 60 laps for each Duel on Thursday night. This means that place differential and finishing position are the targets when it comes to building DraftKings lineups, and while dominator FPTS for laps led and fastest laps could come into play, you shouldn't focus on them.
  • This race has some true heavy hitters. Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, and Ryan Blaney are all top-tier superspeedway racers, and Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, and Chris Buescher are no slouches either. All of those drivers start 10th or better, so I think we could definitely see some of the higher-starting drivers make the optimal lineup in this race.
  • The Open drivers fighting to lock their spot in this year's Daytona 500 in Duel #2 are Corey LaJoie, Anthony Alfredo, and BJ McLeod. In my opinion, all of these guys are pretty close on speed, and it'll be fun watching them compete for a spot in The Great American Race.

 

Core Driver Picks for Duel No. 2

Ryan Blaney ($9.7K) - The Penske Fords are going to be tough on Thursday night, especially if they work with the Roush-Fenway Keselowski Racing Fords, too. Blaney has the most Place Differential upside of those five drivers, and he can win this race. He has also finished third or sixth in three of his last four Duel races at Daytona.

Erik Jones ($8.0K) - I really like the LEGACY Motor Club Toyotas in this race. Erik Jones is no slouch when it comes to superspeedway racing, and he has finished sixth or better in three of his last five Duel races. He starts back in 18th on Thursday night, so there's a ton of Place Differential upside there.

 

Tournament Driver Picks for Duel No. 2

Chris Buescher ($8.7K) - As I said before, there are a lot of heavy hitters in this race. With that being said, let's not forget that Chris Buescher is a previous Daytona winner (2023) and also won the Duel race here in 2022. With so much focus on some of the "bigger name" superspeedway drivers in this race, I expect Buescher to go relatively overlooked compared to his DFS upside in this race.

Riley Herbst ($6.2K) - Herbst has a very strong group of Toyotas to work with in this Duel, and with him starting 13th, he's likely to go relatively low-owned on DraftKings Thursday night. Riley did finish 10th in the Daytona 500 back in 2023 with Rick Ware Racing, for what that's worth.

 

Optimal Lineup According to Jordan's Projections

The optimal DraftKings lineup for Duel No. 2 on Thursday night, according to my projections, is:

  • Ryan Blaney
  • Brad Keselowski
  • Chris Buescher
  • Joey Logano
  • Alex Bowman
  • Noah Gragson

 

Stacking Dennys Podcast with Jordan & RotoDoc

 

DraftKings Driver Projections for Duel No. 2

You can click here to download the .csv file of these projectionsRemember: the projections automatically loaded into the optimizer are NOT my projections. 

Driver DK Salary Proj DK Pts Proj Own Start Pos Avg Proj Finish $ Per FPT
Brad Keselowski $9,300 42.20 43.43% 8 06.8 $220
Ryan Blaney $9,700 41.05 45.49% 10 08.2 $236
Joey Logano $8,400 39.65 38.43% 2 05.8 $212
Chris Buescher $8,700 39.50 29.87% 9 07.6 $220
Noah Gragson $6,400 38.80 26.10% 11 09.2 $165
Kyle Larson $9,500 37.55 38.55% 5 06.8 $253
Alex Bowman $6,800 36.85 18.66% 6 07.2 $185
Denny Hamlin $9,000 35.50 33.37% 3 07.2 $254
John H. Nemechek $7,400 35.35 33.71% 19 14.0 $209
Anthony Alfredo $5,700 33.85 24.50% 20 14.8 $168
Cole Custer $7,600 33.30 21.40% 16 13.4 $228
BJ McLeod $5,200 33.20 24.72% 21 16.2 $157
Erik Jones $8,000 33.05 35.78% 18 14.2 $242
Christopher Bell $8,200 32.70 25.11% 4 08.6 $251
Daniel Suarez $7,800 32.25 18.58% 12 11.8 $242
Riley Herbst $6,200 31.35 13.21% 13 13.2 $198
Corey LaJoie $7,200 30.50 29.34% 17 15.2 $236
Cody Ware $5,500 30.05 25.78% 22 17.6 $183
Shane Van Gisbergen $7,000 28.80 21.52% 15 15.6 $243
Austin Cindric $6,000 26.45 18.12% 1 10.2 $227
Jimmie Johnson $5,000 26.10 17.82% 14 16.0 $192
Todd Gilliland $6,600 21.30 16.51% 7 14.8 $310

NASCAR DFS News and Driver Outlooks


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The Keys to Weekly NASCAR Success

NASCAR is back, and it's time for you to win more with RotoBaller!
Our NASCAR Premium Package for DFS and betting features several heavy hitters and proven winners.

Jordan McAbee anchors the team with his exclusive NASCAR DFS and betting picks, DFS projections and algorithm-predicted finishing order! Jordan had a 60+ unit betting profit in 2024 NASCAR, and a 25% average annual profit since 2018. He won the FSWA Racing Writer Of The Year award in 2023, and has been nominated for DFS Writer Of The Year in 2024.

Five-time NASCAR Racing Writer of the Year finalist and fantasy industry legend Scott "The King" Engel is also in the crew, bringing you his weekly strategies and lineup picks. Set your winning DFS lineups with our award-winning team. He has been nominated once again in 2024 for this award.

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