Daytona 500 Fantasy NASCAR Front Runner Rankings
Martin Truex Jr. – Martin Truex Jr. will be a driver to watch at Daytona. Last year he came within inches of winning the Great American Race. Over his last three incident free Daytona races he has an 8.3 average finish. Last summer at Daytona he had a strong car but finished 29th after being collected in the “Big One.” Prior to wrecking it’s clear he had top ten potential. On lap 50 he was running in 3rd. On lap 89, one lap prior to his wreck he was running in 14th. In the 2016 Daytona 500 he started in the rear of the field but was able to drive his way up through the field with ease. Once he got up to the front he stayed there and was a consistent front runner. In addition to his runner-up result he earned the 3rd best driver rating and had a 5th place average running position. What made him so strong is that his car handled well. In summer 2015 he ran well and while he was running around 10th on lap 106 he was caught up in the “Big One” which led to his 38th place finish. In the 2015 Daytona 500 he finished 8th and earned the 8th best driver rating. (Yahoo A Driver / DraftKings $9,000)
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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is a quality fantasy NASCAR option at restrictor plate tracks. He’s a good plate racer and from an allocation perspective I view this as his best track type. Last year at these venues he scored the 6th most points and had a 12.0 average finish. Daytona has historically been one of Stenhouse Jr.’s better tracks, but keep in mind the bar is rather low. In 4 of his 9 starts he’s finished in the top 12. Last summer at Daytona he had a great race, he started 4th and finished 5th. His race also wasn’t incident free, at one point he was blocked in his pit stall which dropped him from 2nd to 22nd. In last year’s Daytona 500 he was a low-twenties driver. He finished 22nd, had a 21st place average running position and earned the 23rd best driver rating. In summer 2015 he finished 19th, but it should be noted he performed better than his result. Over the closing laps he fell back a number of positions. With about 20 laps to go he was running in 8th. In the 2015 Daytona 500 he finished a misleading 29th. Over the final 50 laps I would estimate his average running position was around 13th. On the final lap he was on pace to finish around 12th but was caught in the carnage which relegated him to his poor result (29th). Last year at Talladega Stenhouse Jr. had results of 6th and 16th. (Yahoo B Driver / DraftKings $7,000)
Further Recommended Reading – Top Tier Elite Picks, Mid Pack Predictions, Scouting Report, DraftKings Points Archive
Kyle Larson – Kyle Larson’s 26.7 Daytona average finish should do a good job keeping him below the radar. Last year at plate tracks he was one of the most successful drivers in the series. For the season he scored the 7th most points and finished between 6th and 7th in 3 of the 4 races. The one race he finished outside of that range he led 9 laps but wrecked. Last year at Daytona he ranked as one of the best drivers. He scored the 4th most points and had a 6.5 average finish. Last summer at Daytona he had his best result to date. In the race he finished 6th and earned the 6th best driver rating. In the 2016 Daytona 500 he earned the 6th best driver rating, finished 7th and had a 12th place average running position. In 78.5% percent of the laps he ran in the top fifteen. In the four Daytona races prior to that he was really bad and finished between 34th and 39th every race. (Yahoo B Driver / DraftKings $8,500)
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Top Tier Elite Picks > Front Runners Rankings > Mid Pack Predictions > The Low Tier
