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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 Folds of Honor Quiktrip 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway
The Monster Energy Cup series rolls into Las Vegas this weekend for the Kobalt 400. Las Vegas Motor Speedway is another mile and a half intermediate track but has its differences from last week Atlanta. There is four degrees less banking the corners and Vegas has a newer surface with much more grip. The biggest challenge for the drivers and teams is the difference between the two ends of the track. Turns one and two are very bumpy and remain in the shade most of the day while turns three and four get tons of exposure to the sun making them very slick. The winner will be the team who puts together the best setup during the race to run all four corners consistently. Another thing about Vegas is the speed! In qualifying, the pole winner Brad Keselowski was coming off the front stretch and into turn one at over 205 miles per hour.
From a fantasy perspective, it will be a similar approach to what we used last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Target two or three drivers who have the best shot at dominator points by leading a ton of laps. To do this we will look at not only drivers who are starting near the front but also drivers who have shown top speed through all three practices. This week will be a bit different as there are many more potential place differential plays in the top of the salary range so a balance of Dominator and Place Differential value will be the key. Let's get into the picks!
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS Lineup Picks
Kevin Harvick ($10,700)
Stewart-Haas Racing #4
After dominating the laps led at another intermediate track last week in Atlanta, he is now the most expensive option here at Las Vegas. He had Top 10 speed in opening practice but failed to make it to the final round of qualifying and will start 19th on Sunday. This gives him an opportunity to not only pick up place differential points but also some dominator points should he get to the front fast enough. Looking at his history here at LVMS, he has led the most laps(143) over the past two years and won the race back in 2015 after starting in a similar position. He also 142 laps in that race. Lock Harvick in your lineups again this week.
Martin Truex Jr. ($9,500)
Furniture Row Racing #78
Dipping down outside the $10K range we get some terrific value with Martin Truex Jr. this week. He unloaded off the trailer bad fast ranking first overall in opening practice and turned that into a front row qualifying spot beside Brad Keselowski. He is likely going to be under-owned with no place differential upside and only three Top 10 finishes here in 11 career races but could easily be the difference maker in large field tournaments if he can lead some laps and grab a Top 5 or better.
Kasey Kayne ($8,400)
Henrick Motorsports #5
Kahne is having one of the best starts to a season of his career after back to back Top 10 finishes at Daytona and Atlanta. He has carried the speed over to Las Vegas ranking sixth in opening practice and will start seventh on Sunday. After seeing nearly 50% ownership last week due to his place differential upside, we can expect to see him back in the 20% range this week starting inside the Top 10. This makes him an excellent mid-range GPP value play.
Paul Menard ($6,800)
Richard Childress Racing #27
I wasn't excited to see him starting inside the Top 20 which limits his place differential potential but he has been so good here over the years. He doesn't have a win but has a Top 5 and three Top 10's in 10 career races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In fact, he hasn't finished worse than 17th since way back in 2009 and has the 13th best career average finish(16.5) of all active drivers.
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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