This week NASCAR heads to the Bristol Motor Speedway for the Irwin Tools Night Race. It will be the second trip to the World's Fastest Half Mile this season and the first race saw Matt Kenseth win from the pole in a rain filled race that went into the night. It is definitely one of the most exciting, dramatic races of the year.
First of all, the nature of this short track creates a ton of bumping and banging while drivers fight for position. It can be difficult to pass and drivers will need execute the passes carefully as any little mistake can trigger contact with another driver or the wall. Add in that we are three races away from the Chase with several drivers fighting for their spot and the tension will be at an all time high in the closing laps of this race.
When narrowing down your list of drivers to pick for your DraftKings lineups this week make sure to pay extra attention to qualifying as it also determines pit selection order. Pit selection here, more than any other track, is key to having a shot at the end of the race. It is the only track in NASCAR with pit roads on both the front and back stretch. Track position as a whole is really important this week due to the difficulty of passing so try and put together lineups of guys starting inside the top 15 preferably. If you are going to roster a driver outside the top 15 be sure that he was fast in practice and has a good track history here.
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Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS Lineup Picks
Kyle Busch- $10,300
He has five career victories here at Bristol and is one of the best short track racers in NASCAR. He sits in 29th in the Sprint Cup standings with three races to go and cannot afford a disaster this weekend. He has been on a tear lately with a 7.2 average finish in his previous five races and will look to keep it going at one of his favorite tracks. He was 3rd in first practice and 1st in final practice so with a strong qualifying run you can look for Kyle to lead some laps and contend for the win this weekend.
Matt Kenseth - $10,400
He, like teammate Kyle Busch, have been red hot lately. He has notched two wins in the last three races and hasn't finished worse than 7th his previous five races. He won from the pole in the spring race here which was his 4th victory in his career at Thunder Valley. He was 2nd fastest in the 1st practice but fell to 34th in final practice. He should end up with a strong qualifying run but will present some place differential value if he happens to qualify outside the top 10.
Joey Logano - $10,000
He and the Penske team as a whole have been a bit under the radar with Joe Gibbs Racing doing so well and Hendrick Motorsports doing so poorly. Joey has only finished outside the the top 10 twice in his previous ten races and has a win and seven top top 5's in that time. He picked up his first career win at Bristol in the night race last August and at this point has nothing to lose going into the Chase. Look for Joey to fight for another win on Saturday night.
Kyle Larson - $8,600
In his previous three races here at Bristol, Larson has two top 10 finishes and a 9.7 average finish. That is a pretty good start to his Bristol career give the difficulty of the track. He has had a less than stellar second season in the Sprint Cup series but can possibly see the light at the end of the tunnel. He now has four straight finishes of 12th of better and is building momentum. He was 1st in the first practice and 3rd in the final practice. The #42 team will need a win to get into the Chase so look for them to push it all the way and take some risks in tomorrow nights race.
Clint Bowyer - $8,100
With the recent new of the Micheal Waltrip Racing team not fielding a full time car next year, this leaves Bowyer without a team in 2016. This could affect a driver in many ways moving forward for the remainder for the 2015 season. With Bowyer sitting on the bubble to make the Chase look for him to be even more motivated to finish the season strong and give MWR something to remember. In his previous five races here he has one top 10 and a 12.6 average finish. Look for a strong qualifying effort from the #15 as they were 4th fastest in the first practice.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - $6,500
It is hard to ignore him at that price. He has a great track record at Bristol with two top 5's and three top 10 finishes in his previous five trips here. He has been up and down all season but clearly is comfortable here at Thunder Valley. He started out 22nd fastest in first practice but came in 8th in final practice. If he qualifies inside the top 20 this week look for a nice fantasy point day for a discounted price.
Post Practice & Qualifying Update
Denny Hamlin broke the track record at Bristol Motor Speedway this afternoon en route to winning the Coors Lite Pole award. Starting beside him on teh front row will be teammate Kyle Busch and starting 3rd Carl Edwards, another teammate. Joe Gibbs Racing looks to stay on fire again as only Kenseth(13th) will start outside the top 5. David Ragan(starting 4th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.(Starting 8th) look to be nice values with early track position. Both had fast cars in practice as well. Avoid Paul Menard and Tony Stewart as both will be starting outside the top 30 at this difficult track.
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