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Welcome back races fans. The first race of the Round of 8 brings the Monster Energy Cup Series to Martinsville Speedway for the First Data 500 on Sunday afternoon. It is the second trip to Martinsville and the final short track race of the season and this time around there is much more on the line as a win would put a driver into the final four at Homestead.
When looking at the race from a fantasy perspective, dominator points are king this week with 500 laps in the race. Looking at the last six races, there have been two or more drivers that have led 100 or more laps in five of the last six with three to do so in each of the last two races here. Before jumping into the picks, it is important to remember that this week is an impound race meaning that after qualifying the cars are impounded and not inspected until Sunday morning. For us in the fantasy world, this means the final starting lineup will not be official until two to three hours before the race so stay tuned for updates to the cheatsheet and my final targets for the race.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings and FanDuel DFS Lineup Picks - First Data 500
Kyle Busch(DK-$11,900 FD-$14,000)
Busch has been absolutely dominant here at Martinville in the last couple of years with two wins and is the only driver to finish each of the last five races inside the Top 5. He will have an excellent opportunity to add to those numbers this week as he will start first, was third in both practice sessions, and posted the fastest 10-lap average in final practice. He is the top driver to build around in all formats.
Brad Keselowski(DK-$10,200 FD-$13,500)
The other driver I will be building around in the top tier of pricing is Brad Keselowski. He is a close second to Busch in track history here at Martinsville over the last couple of years as he has a win and four Top 5's in the last five races here and is the only other driver to finish Top 10 in all five of those races. He has also shown a ton of speed this weekend ranking 1st and 4th in the two practice sessions and was 2nd in 10-lap averages in the final practice. He will also provide a bit of place differential starting 8th on Sunday.
Erik Jones(DK-$8,700 FD-$9,700)
Jones doesn't have the track history here at Martinsville with no Top 10's in his first three races here(12th, 26th, 17th) but is an excellent PTS/$ play this week. He was fast in the two practice sessions ranking 9th and 7th but stumbled a bit in qualifying and will start 24th giving us place differential upside at a mid-tier price. He also comes in with momentum having posted a Top 10 in each of the last three races. He is safe in all formats.
A.J. Allmendinger(DK-$6,200 FD-$7,700)
Allmendinger is easily my top value play in this race as he returns to Martinsville with nice track history as the only other driver outside of Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski who has four or more Top 10's in the last five races. On top of that, he provides some place differential value starting 17th this week after posting the 10th and 5th fastest laps in the two practice sessions. At his price, he is in play 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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