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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 STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway
Welcome back races fans. This week the Monster Energy Cup Series travels to Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500 and the first short track race of the year. Martinsville is a .526 mile track and is unique when comparing to other short tracks as it is shaped like a paperclip with little to no banking(12 degrees of banking). You will hear a lot from driver interviews talking about rhythm as there are 800-foot straightaways followed by heavy breaking, tight corners. You will also see a ton of bumping and banging and if there is a car that makes it through an entire race without dings and dents, they just weren't trying hard enough.
From a fantasy perspective, we are back to a dominator point strategy as there are 500 laps this week. Looking back at some race trends, there has been at least two drivers to lead 100 or more laps in five of the last six races and three times there has been a driver to lead 200 or more laps. There will still be some opportunity for place differential as there have been at least six drivers to gain double-digit place differential in each of the last six races. The only issue this week is the weather as Saturday's qualifying session looks like it will be rained/snowed out. If this is the case, the field will be set by owners points. This will limit the amount of place differential value as most of the top cars will be starting near the front. Stay tuned for updates throughout the day.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS Lineup Picks - STP 500
Martin Truex Jr.($10,700)
Coming off a dominating performance last week in Fontana where he picked up win #1 on the season, Truex appears to be the early favorite here at Martinsville. He was fastest in both practices including 10-lap averages and if qualifying is rained out, he will start at the front of the field. This has not been his best track throughout his career but he is coming off a career-best second place finish in the fall and has finished seventh or better in four of his last six races. He is one of my top dominator picks and safe in all formats.
Kyle Busch($11,000)
Busch has seen the biggest salary jump this week(+$700) and for good reason, as he has been absolutely dominant here at Martinsville lately. He has finished Top 5 in five straight races including two wins and with a whopping total of 813 laps led, leads all drivers with an average of 135.2 DraftKings points per race. He is also one of the best short track racers in the field and led all drivers in 2017 with an average of 116.8 DraftKings points per race across all six races with wins at Martinsville and Bristol.
A.J. Allmendinger($6,400)
Martinsville can be closely correlated to road course racing with the amount of shifting and braking involved and A.J. Allmendinger is one of the best out there. He finished 40th last fall here after Danica Patrick got into him but before that, he had finished Top 10 in three straight Martinsville races including a runner-up in the Spring race in 2016. He was 13th fastest in opening practice and improved on that ranking sixth in final practice. With a price in the mid $6K range, he is safe in all formats this week.
Landon Cassill($4,500)
It will be hard to ignore Cassill this week at minimum price. He takes over the #00 car for Starcom Racing after they parted ways with Jeffrey Earnhardt earlier in the week. Cassill will be making his first start of the season and comes back to a track where he has been pretty good considering the equipment he has raced. He has finished inside the Top 30 in nine straight and 11 of his last 12 races here at Martinsville and will likely be starting near the back giving him some nice place differential upside. At these prices, I would consider him in all formats.
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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