Daytona Coke Zero 400 Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Ranking Picks

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a driver who you confidently make your fantasy NASCAR pick for the Daytona Coke Zero 400. He’ll also be an extremely popular option and depending on your situation that can provide a level of safety against the ever looming “big one”. In February at Daytona Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a great car and won his third race here. He earned the best driver, had the best PROS Ranking, and led the most laps. His primary strength in the race was his innate drafting ability. When he was out front he made his car extremely wide and nobody was going to get around him easily. That’s one of the reason’s they call him the “Pied Piper”. His win in the Daytona 500 was his third consecutive top ten at this wild card track. In July 2013 he finished 8th and earned the 4th best driver rating. In the 2013 Daytona 500 he finished runner-up. Over an extended period of time he’s arguably been the safest Daytona pick. Over the last nine races he’s had a result in the top 4 five times. Also in this nine race stretch he has a single digit average finish (8.6), the most top fives, most top tens and has the best average running position. Another attribute that makes him an even more attractive fantasy option is his momentum. Over the last four races he’s scored the most points, has 3 top fives and four top tens. I personally view momentum as a good luck charm at high attrition races. At Talladega this spring Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a fast car but after he lost track position he choose to no longer race competitively. I wouldn’t expect a repeat of that because he’s ashamed now when he looks back. On Saturday night he’ll be racing that very chassis again and will be looking to right his wrong. In the Daytona Coke Zero 400 Earnhardt Jr. has a race best 10-1 odds to win. If 7 is your lucky number take note he’s starting in 7th.

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2. Jimmie Johnson – Jimmie Johnson has been one of the strongest restrictor plate drivers recently. Part of the reason why he’s been so good is that he’s had great handling cars. The 48 car has been able to hug the bottom of the track better than anyone. That particular strength is the primary reason why he was able to sweep Daytona last year despite the “wild card” nature of the event. Over the last three races at Daytona Johnson’s been an elite performer. In this stretch of races he has a 2.3 average finish, 7.7 average running position, led 126 laps and has the best driver rating. In this year’s Daytona 500 he had a good performance and over the final 120 laps he was a driver who consistently ran in the top 5. When the checkered flag waved he finished 5th, earned the 6th best driver rating and led 15 laps. In 2013 there’s not much debate Johnson was the driver to beat. Last July he dominated the event and led 94 laps, had the best driver rating and earned the best PROS Ranking. In the 2013 Daytona 500 he was very impressive. He earned the best driver rating, led 17 laps and had a 5th place average running position. Late in the race Johnson led a line of cars around the bottom groove of the track up to the front. When he got a few inches ahead of Keselowski (leader at the time) a caution came out and it got him in the preferred groove which essentially sealed the victory for him. In 2013 on this track type Johnson scored the most points in the series.

Recommended Reading : Daytona Post Practice Predictions (shows you different Daytona strategies you can use), Daytona Starting Lineup, Daytona Practice Speeds, Daytona Practice Notes, Daytona Scouting Report (What happened at Daytona in February), Daytona PROS Rankings, Who will win at Daytona? , Daytona Chassis Selections, Daytona Odds To Win

3. Brad Keselowski – I’ve really liked the speed Brad Keselowski has shown on restrictor plate tracks this year. Even when he hasn’t finished well he’s been good. At Daytona in February he was one of the standout performers. In the Sprint Unlimited he finished second and led 8 laps. In his Duel 150 under the lights he clearly looked like the driver to beat but he had a flat tire. In the race he led 34 of the first 35 laps. In the Daytona 500 his car was clearly one of the best. He started in the back but that didn’t prove to be a problem. By lap 40 he raced his way up to 6th. In the closing laps he was Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s main competitor. When the checkered flag waved he finished 3rd, earned the second best driver rating and led 13 laps. One strength of his car in the race was that he was able to get great runs on the leader. At Talladega this year his car also looked strong but he took himself out while trying to pass Danica Patrick for the lead. In 2013 Keselowski performed well at Daytona. In that year’s Daytona 500 he was in the mix for the win. He led 13 laps but lost the lead when a debris caution waved and Johnson was just inches ahead of him. That allowed Johnson to get the favorable line that Keselowski occupied. When the checkered flag waved he finished 4th and earned the 8th best driver rating. What made his result impressive is that early in the race he got damage to both his left and right front bumper while dodging a wreck. In the summer race last season he was a top ten contender and ran a lot of laps within that mark. In the last ten laps he went from 11th to his eventual 21st place finish. In summer 2012 at Daytona he finished 8th.