NASCAR DFS Cheat Sheet: DraftKings Picks for Pocono 400
Each week, we’ll have an early week cheat sheet for the DFS NASCAR contests at DraftKings. This week, we look at the Pocono 400 at Pocono.
NASCAR DFS CONTESTS
Piston: $10 entry, $250k guaranteed – $50,000 to 1st!
Slingshot: $3 entry, $75k guaranteed
TOP 5 FAVORITES TO WIN
1. Kyle Busch – Last Sunday was the biggest auto racing day of the year. Every year F1, IndyCar, and NASCAR roll out their biggest races. Unfortunately, every race was a snooze. Science has ruined racing. It is nearly impossible to catch the leader; let alone pass the leader. Kyle Busch started on the pole in the Coca-Cola 600, and that’s where he stayed all night. The exact same thing happened in both of the Pocono races last year.
2. Kevin Harvick – Forget about last week. Harvick has won daily fantasy NASCAR players more money than he has lost them. Pocono is not a racy track. The best car will win, and Harvick has the best car. His team did not have the best car last season, and he still finished second in both Pocono races.
3. Martin Truex, Jr. – The next step below Harvick and Busch belongs to Truex. He is alone in this tier. The last two months of racing have proven that Truex is not the force that he was in 2017. He’s fast, and that might be good enough this week. If Truex can win the pole, he’ll be hard to pass. Truex earned two top 10s at Pocono in 2017. He won at Pocono in a Chevy in 2015.
4. Brad Keselowski – Pocono is a strategy race. It’s nearly impossible to pass the leader at this long flat track. Unconventional strategies has proven to work in the past. Keselowski and his team are the most unconventional team around. Clean air is king. If a driver gets out front, then he’ll be hard to pass. One way to get there is via pit road strategy. Another trick in Keselowski’s bag is fuel mileage. The 2015 and 2016 Pocono winners got to victory lane by saving fuel.
5. Denny Hamlin – Similar to Keselowski, Hamlin’s only chance at a win is to gamble. This season, Hamlin has stayed out late on green flag runs several times. It hasn’t worked yet, but one time it will. When it does, Hamlin will win and score the most fantasy points. Of course the times that it hasn’t worked, Hamlin turned top 5s into top 15 finishes. Hamlin finished 4th in the last Pocono race.
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LONG SHOTS TO SCORE BIG
1. Erik Jones – Last year, Jones earned two top 10s at Pocono. He had a fast car last week at Charlotte, but he couldn’t put a good race together. Having a rocket ship at Pocono is more than half of the battle.
2. Ryan Blaney – The #12 car has been snake bitten of late. Presumably, a lot his bad luck is due to “Blaney Cat.” A Ryan Blaney fan on Reddit unintentionally jinxes Ryan Blaney every week with a photo of his cat. What do you expect, it’s a BLACK CAT. Blaney won the Pocono race last spring and he can win again, if the Reddit super fan cuts it out.
3. Ryan Newman – One of the most worn-out phrases in fantasy NASCAR is that Ryan Newman is the toughest driver to pass. Pocono is a tough-to-pass track. Newman has finished on the lead lap in 25 of the last 27 Pocono races.
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RECENT SUCCESS
Kurt Busch – Everyone knows who is winning every week, but we often overlook consistent top 10 finishers. Kurt has a top 10 finish in each of the last four races.
Denny Hamlin – Like Busch, he’s winless this season. Like Busch, he’s finishing inside the top 10 every week. Hamlin has four top 10s in his last five races.
Martin Truex, Jr. – A top 10 every week is good, but a top 5 is great. Truex hasn’t won since Fontana, but he has a top 5 finish in three consecutive races.
TRACK HISTORY
Kyle Busch (Fall 2017)
Ryan Blaney (Spring 2017)
Chris Buescher (Fall 2016)
Kurt Busch (Spring 2016)
Matt Kenseth (Fall 2015)
PICK TO WIN
Kyle Busch – As mentioned in previous daily fantasy NASCAR cheat sheets, Kyle Busch is a streaky driver. He won three in a row earlier this season. Here comes a new streak. Busch had the best car at Pocono last year.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above.
