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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 TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway
Welcome back to another week of daily fantasy NASCAR. This week the Monster Energy Cup Series travels to Avondale, Arizona and ISM Raceway for the TicketGuardian 500 this Sunday. The track is a one-mile short track that is very flat with 10° to 11° of banking in turns one and two and 8° to 9° of banking in turns three and four. This presents a challenge for the teams to get the cars set up to work well at both ends of the track and makes for some excellent racing.
From a fantasy strategy standpoint, dominator points will once again be key to building our core. There has been at least one driver lead 130 or more laps and at least two drivers to lead 50 or more laps in five of the last six races here at ISM Raceway(formerly Phoenix Raceway). Place differential, as always, will be a factor as well as at least four drivers have finished with double-digit place differential in five of the last six race. Let's now jump into the picks for this week.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS Lineup Picks - TicketGuardian 500
Kevin Harvick($11,400)
Harvick has won back to back races and now comes back to a track where he has finished sixth or better in nine straight and 11 of his last 12 races including six wins. Making the pick even better is the fact he qualified 10th giving him some place differential upside and he also has a shot to lead a ton of laps. He posted the top speed in both practices on Saturday and was also had the fastest 10-lap average in final practice. All things considered, he is the top play and safe in all formats.
Brad Keselowski($9,900)
This isn't Keselowski's best track as he has yet to pick up a win here but considering he is starting back in the 25th position on Sunday, he makes an elite place differential value. He has been consistent with eight Top 10 finishes in his last 12 races here at ISM Raceway and has finished outside of 16th just once in that time so with a price under $10K this week, he is a near lock in all formats. He will likely be very chalky(high owned) so in GPP formats if you are looking to be contrarian, he is definitely worth a fade in a few lineups.
Aric Almirola($8,100)
It has been a hot start to the season for Almirola who moved into the #10 car for Stewart-Haas Racing. He finished 11th at Daytona after almost winning on the final turn, 13th at Atlanta, and 10th at Las Vegas last week. Phoenix has not been his best track in his career but he is coming off a ninth-place finish last fall and provides us place differential value this week starting 22nd. More good news as he was 12th in second practice and fourth in final practice and also posted the third-fastest 10-lap average in final practice.
Michael McDowell($5,200)
If you are planning on running some stars an scrubs this week, either in cash or GPP, consider Michael McDowell. He will be starting back in 31st place this week and got better through the weekend ranking 29th in second practice then 21st in final practice along with a 21st rank in the 10-lap averages in final practice. He hasn' t been great here in his career but finished 24th and 22nd in the two races at Phoenix last year.
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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