On Sunday, April 17th, NASCAR action returns. This weekend, it’s the Food City 500, from Bristol Motor Speedway. Now that there are several NASCAR races out of the way this season, the statistics are becoming more and more reliable, meaning that the top racers are more likely to keep being top racers. It also means that your competition will have goo information, too, so it’s important that you be looking for any edge that you can get when drafting your daily fantasy NASCAR team. Here, we will be looking at a few of the top drivers, and give you our insight on them.
Kyle Busch: Busch has finally moved up into the number one slot on DraftKings, with a salary of $10,700. He has had 9 races, and has made the top ten 7 times. His average finishing position is 6.6, the best in the field for this race. This is mostly due to his 3 wins, his most recent being last weekend at the Duck Commander 500. His average fantasy score is 69.7 points per race, which is actually only the second best in the field. Busch is an easy choice for this race, but he’s a bit more expensive than he has been. He’s still underpriced in our book, though, so we will be drafting him.
Kevin Harvick: Harvick is the only racer in the field with a better average fantasy score per race than Busch. His 70.7 is a bit better, and his smaller salary of $10,500 reflects this. He’s been in 9 races, has made the top ten 7 times, and has an average finishing position of 8.4. Busch is the better racer here, though, and when it comes down to it, you’re likely to be able to only draft one of the two of them. We’ll be going with Busch instead, but we can’t blame you if you go for the cheaper alternative.
Joey Logano: Logano is ranked number three here, with a salary of $10,300. We’re inclined to think he’s better than this, though. He has an average finishing position of 6.7, has made the top ten 6 out of 9 times, but thanks to the fact that he hasn’t won a race yet this year, his average fantasy point total is much lower than those around him at 47.6. This low score is because Logano has been performing well in pre-race events, securing himself great starting positions. For example, last week, he started in 2nd, yet finished 3rd. It’s made it so he is not getting good point value out of the differential category, and it’s hurting his fantasy worth. As a result of this, Logano has found himself in a weird spot where he is one of the best racers in all of NASCAR, yet not contributing a lot of fantasy points. This should change as the season progresses and things even out. For now, we’ll be using him as our number two choice, and hopefully not falling victim to a tiny or negative differential.
Carl Edwards: Edwards holds the number six slot, according to DraftKings, with a salary of $9,900. He has an average finishing position of 7.8, and has made the top ten 7 out of 9 times. We like those odds, and his fantasy point average of 52.7 makes him one of the better choices in the field. If you need a top level driver at a mid-tier price, he’s one of the best picks in the field, perhaps even the best value pick you’ll find near the top of the rankings.
Chase Elliot: Elliot is severely underrated this season. He has made the top ten 5 out of 8 times, has a tiny price tag at $8,500, but he’s still lacking in fantasy points and finishing slots. His averages here are 25.9 and 16.0, respectively. However, with a 5th place finish last weekend, he’s shown that the slow start to his season is behind him. At this price, he’s impossible for us to pass on.
