Daytona Fantasy NASCAR Confidence Rankings / Post Qualifying Predictions

On Saturday night under the lights, NASCAR will be racing at Daytona for the Coke Zero Sugar 400! The Daytona summer race is always one of the wildest races of the season, and with it being the regular season finale, the “Wild factor” will get dialed up two notches. This will be drivers last chance to make the Playoffs by “Winning and getting in” with one Playoff berth on the line.

This weekend, no practice sessions were held for Daytona. Here’s a look at the Daytona Starting Lineup/ Qualifying Results.

Daytona Summer 2023 Fantasy NASCAR Full Field Rankings

1) Brad Keselowski 
Start 12th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Daytona Outlook – Brad Keselowski is a 7-time superspeedway winner and at Daytona under the lights, look for him to get aggressive and go all out for the win. RFK cars were standouts in this year’s Daytona 500, and I thought Keselowski was subjectively the strongest despite his race not being incident free. Over the last three races held at superspeedways this year, Keselowski’s average finish is a series best 4.3.
Daytona Track Record Breakdown – Brad Keselowski is a former Daytona winner (summer 2016) but times have been lean since that “W”. In this year’s Daytona 500, Keselowski was a standout performer. In the race, Keselowski won Stage #1, led a race high 42 laps, earned the 2nd best driver rating, had the 2nd best average running position (8.6), was the leader as late as lap 196 but then late in the race he got shuffled out of the lead by a group of Chevy’s and then crashed in overtime which led to his 22nd. Last summer, you really can’t read into Keselowski’s afternoon since he completed just 31 laps and crashed (35th). On lap 28 shortly before his demise he was running in 14th. In February 2022, Keselowski was one of the best. In that Daytona 500, Keselowski finished 2nd in Stage #1, 4th in Stage #2, led a race high 67 laps, had a race best 4.8 average running position, earned the 2nd best driver rating and then finished 9th when the checkered flag waved. At the start of overtime, Keselowski was running in 4th. In his Duel 150 leading up to the 2022 “Great American Race”, Keselowski raced his way to victory lane.
DraftKings $9,300 / FanDuel $11,000 / DK Odds To Win +1100 (Friday Evening)

2) Joey Logano
Start 14th / Projected Finish Range 1-6/ Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Daytona Outlook – Joey Logano is one of the premiere superspeedway racers in NASCAR and on Saturday night, look for Logano to be a factor. The results column overall hasn’t been the prettiest for Logano in recent races here, but he certainly hasn’t lacked when it comes to performance and he always knows how to race his way to the front, and once he gets there, the #22 gets real wide. This year at superspeedways over the combined races, Logano ranks #1 for average running position and #1 for average laps led per race (41.5).
Daytona Track Record Breakdown – At Daytona, Joey Logano ranks as one of the premiere performers. The results column hasn’t been friendly to him overall recently, but he hasn’t lacked when it comes to performance. In February, I would argue nobody was more impressive than Logano. In the Daytona 500, Logano finished 4th in Stage #2, led 12 laps and then finished 2nd when the checkered flag waved. In the Duel 150 leading up to the 500, Logano led 29 laps, had a 2.8 average running position and raced his way to victory lane. Last year at Daytona, every time the #22 seen the track, Logano was strong, but he literally had problems while running in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Last summer, Logano won Stage #1, finished 4th in Stage #2, led 14 laps, had a race best 7.9 average running position, earned the best driver rating but finished 12th. In the last Stage, Logano was caught up in a wreck while running in 3rd. Last February in the Daytona 500, Logano was fast, but finished 21st. In the race, Logano started in the rear of the field in a backup car, finished 5th in Stage #1 and 2nd in Stage #2. Then in the final Stage, things went south. During the Stage #2 caution he had to pit twice and then on lap 150 while he was back in traffic, Logano crashed. In his Duel 150 leading up to that Sunday, Logano nearly raced his way to victory lane but crashed while leading on the last lap.
DraftKings $9,800 / FanDuel $13,500 / DK Odds To Win +1200

3) Ryan Blaney
Start 8th / Projected Finish Range 1-6 / Dominator Potential – Medium-High
Daytona Outlook – Ryan Blaney is an elite superspeedway performer who’ll be a favorite on Saturday night under the lights. Blaney won this race in 2021, and on numerous other occasions, he’s come close to victory lane. Since 2020 minus last summer and the 2021 Daytona 500 (caught up in a “Big One” both races), Blaney’s average finish is 4.2 and he’s had a result in the top 8 every race. In the Next Gen at big superspeedways, Blaney has a series best 7.0 average finish. At Talladega, Blaney currently has back-to-back 2nd’s.
Daytona Track Record Breakdown – Ryan Blaney is one of the premiere performers at Daytona and over his last four incident free races, Blaney’s average finish is 3.25. In this year’s Daytona 500, Blaney’s race was far from incident free but courtesy of extreme carnage he snuck in an 8th. In the race, Blaney was running in 2nd on lap 116, but then on lap 118 he was collected in a “Big One” that did a ton of damage to the #12. Last summer when his Playoff hopes were on the line, Blaney crashed early but thanks to the extreme attrition rate he walked away with a 15th, despite finishing 6 laps down. On lap 28 Blaney was running in 3rd, but then two laps later while running near the front of the pack he was involved in a “Big One.” In last year’s Daytona 500, Blaney finished 4th. In the race, Blaney led the 2nd most laps (36) and had the 4th best average running position (8.3). In summer 2021, Blaney had a great performance and raced his way to victory lane. On lap 155 shortly before the final “big one”, Blaney was running in 4th. In the 2021 Daytona 500, Blaney looked to have a great car but was involved in the lap 13 “Big One” which led to his 30th. In 2020, Blaney had Daytona results of 2nd and 6th.
DraftKings $9,900 / FanDuel $14,000 / DK Odds To Win +1200