Daytona 500 Post Practice Fantasy NASCAR Predictions
Final Top 25 Rankings for the 2019 Daytona 500
1. Ryan Blaney – Starts 14th – DraftKings Price: $9,000 – FanDuel Price: $10,700 – Slingshot Price: $10,200
Look for Ryan Blaney to have yet another strong run at Daytona in this year’s Great American Race. Remember, the #12 Ford was up front for a race-high 118 laps in last year’s Daytona 500 before crossing the finish line 7th, and Blaney came home 2nd in the 2017 race while driving for Wood Brothers Racing. Additionally, over the last five Daytona races, Blaney is #1 in terms of average running position at 13.4–at least when comparing drivers that ran all five races. Otherwise, Blaney is second only to Alex Bowman and his 8.0 average running position. Penske has some great handling race cars this weekend, and Ford is elite when it comes to horsepower and speed. The only way Ryan Blaney won’t be a contender on Sunday is if he wrecks. 2. Joey Logano – Starts 4th – DraftKings Price: $10,400 – FanDuel Price: $12,500 – Slingshot Price: $11,400 Last year’s Monster Energy Cup Series Champion is an elite restrictor plate racer and constant threat whenever the series stops at Daytona. Looking at the last eight points-paying races at this track, Logano has finished 6th or better in five of them, including a win in the 2015 Daytona 500. He also has quite a streak going in The Great American Race, with finishes of 4th, 6th, 6th, and 1st in the last four years. Additionally, Logano is a hell of a racer at Talladega, the other restrictor plate track, as he’s currently on a three-race streak of top 5s there, including a win in last season’s spring race. There’s no reason to go against Joey in Fantasy NASCAR this weekend: he has a great car, and he’s elite at this track type, too. 3. Kevin Harvick – Starts 3rd – DraftKings Price: $10,200 – FanDuel Price: $11,500 – Slingshot Price: $10,700 If you remember back to the second Talladega race last season, the Stewart-Haas Fords were the absolute class of the field. Kevin Harvick finished 28th in that race, but don’t forget that the SHR cars had fuel issues at the end of the day. The #4 Ford led 46 laps in that race, for what it’s worth. The point is that the Fords were extremely strong, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be the best in this weekend’s Daytona 500, either. Looking at Daytona for Harvick, though, he is extremely hit or miss. In the last 18 races here, “Happy” has finished 7th or better in 8 of them, while posting finishes outside of the top 20 entirely the same amount of times. Take that for what it’s worth. I’m not going to sit here and say that Harvick is a bad Fantasy NASCAR pick on Sunday, but with how popular he is going to be in most leagues, there’s an opportunity there to purposely not pick him and hope his bad luck at Daytona continues. He has finished 19th or worse in the last five points-paying races at this track.Portions of this content are hidden. To view this ifantasyrace advantage content log in or join the site
