The Good Sam 500 is this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway. For your daily fantasy NASCAR ease, we’ve put together a short analysis on the top five NASCAR picks for the weekend. Taking into account things like past performances on the season, salary, driver reputation, and average fantasy point scores, we’ll let you know which drivers you should draft, and which you should stay away from.
Kevin Harvick: Harvick is the top ranked driver this weekend according to DraftKings, with a salary of $10,800. Of his five races on the season, he’s finished in the top ten on four occasions. That’s a pretty good record, especially for this early in the season. However, when it comes to the average fantasy points scored per race, Harvick is not the top ranked driver. He has been averaging 53.0 points per race, but this is pretty low based upon his most recent performances. His worst race of the season was a 25th place finish in his first race, back at the beginning of February. Since then, he hasn’t finished worse than 7th. Harvick is racing hot right now, and that makes him worth the salary he’s priced at.
Jimmie Johnson: Johnson is the second ranked driver for this weekend with a salary of $10,300. And while his fantasy point average isn’t as impressive as it could be at 47.8, his ceiling is pretty high right now. The obvious drawback of Johnson is that he hasn’t been very consistent yet this season. He’s won a race this year, but he’s still averaging a finishing position of 11.0 thanks to only finishing in the top ten one other time in his five races for the season. The good news with Johnson is that he finished third last week, indicating that he’s on the groove. Still, a conservative approach will avoid him this weekend, especially with Harvick not being that much more expensive, and looking like a much safer choice.
Kyle Busch: Busch is a better statistical choice for this race than either of the two racers ranked ahead of him. His salary of $10,000 also makes it a lot easier to choose him over the others. He’s finished in the top ten four out of five races, and his average finish spot is 5.6. He’s also averaging 56.8 fantasy points each race. If you need any further evidence he’s a great pick this weekend, he has finished 4th, 3rd, 3rd, and 1st in his last four races. This last bit speaks for itself, especially because he’s not the most expensive driver in the field.
Joey Logano: There is only one racer with better stats on the year than Busch: Joey Logano. His average finishing position of 4.8 and his fantasy point average of 57.3, Logano has been crushing it this season. His salary of $9,900 makes him even more of an attractive choice than Busch, but if you are forced between choosing one or the other, Logano is probably the weaker choice. Logano has not had a win yet this season, and his three 2nd place finishes seem to indicate that his end of race tactics are not yet ready to compete at the top level. If you can, you should choose Logano in addition to Busch, but Busch is still the better selection.
Matt Kenseth: Kenseth is the number five ranked driver, but he shouldn’t even be on your radar as a roster choice. He’s averaging 20.8 fantasy points per weekend, and has not made the top ten yet this season. With a salary of $9,800, he’s far too expensive to draft, regardless of how much he’s improved in the last week. Kenseth’s average finishing position is 19.6, and there’s really no reason to draft him other than the fact that he has a high salary. He might post a surprise this weekend, but there’s not much of a chance of this happening based upon his past performances this season.
