This weekend the Cup Series rides into Las Vegas Motor Speedway to roll the dice on the next race on the Cup schedule. If you can believe it, qualifying was rained out. On the Xfinity broadcast today, they said Las Vegas gets 26 days of rain a year. It would figure that one of them would be race weekend. Since this is only the second points race of the season, the field is set by 2019 owners points. Therefore, Kyle Busch will be scored from the pole. There is an edge this week with a couple of the front runners having to move to the back at the start which will hurt their upside Sunday. As for strategy, this is a completely different race then last weekend at Daytona. We are looking for 1-2 dominators in cash. For those of you who are new to Nascar dfs, a dominator is someone who leads laps and accrues fastest laps. This is especially important on Draftkings where those are rewarded more. We are also not going to leave thousands on the table like we did last week as you will find out when building your 1-2 dominator lineups.
Kevin Harvick
Over the last two seasons, Kevin Harvick has finished top 4 here 3 times including 1 win. As I had said last week, we will be looking at practice speeds starting this week. Kevin Harvick topped the charts in 10 lap average speed in final practice. Harvick will also be able to take advantage at the beginning of the race as Kyle Busch will have to move to the back of the field at the start of the race. Harvick is one of the dominators I talked about as an option for cash games.
Brad Keselowski
If you look at the recent history here at Las Vegas, there is no better driver then Brad. He hasn’t finished outside of the top 7 since 2012 at Las Vegas. This includes 3 victories over that time. He has also led laps in the majority of those races as well. Brad will be scored from the 8th position so he has a small amount of place differential available too. You won’t be able to squeeze everyone into your Draftkings lineup but Brad definitely deserves consideration in GPPS.
Martin Truex Jr
Mile and a half tracks have always been MTJ’s specialty. Last season, it took a few races for him to get back in his groove with a new team however in the fall when he came back to Vegas he scored a victory well leading over 30 laps starting in the 24th position. He also hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 in five races here. With his other Toyota teammates minus Erik Jones having to move to the back I think Martin has the ability to be the Toyota that shines in this race.
Alex Bowman
I like what I saw from Bowman in practice as it pertains to his consecutive lap average. Bowman is one of the few that ran over 20 consecutive laps and his speed really didn’t fall off from beginning to end during final practice. In a race that could see longer green flag runs thats a positvie sign. Bowman starts 12th so he is more of gpp option for his price as well. Bowman finished 11th and 6th here last season.
Austin Dillon
I debated on whether to go with Austin Dillon or Ricky Stenhouse Jr here. Both drivers cost me a lot last season but with the rain out in qualifying our value drivers will be limited. Dillon’s final practice speeds were right around where hes starting. However, over the last four races in Vegas, Austin has finishes of 13th, 11, 20th and 12th. If he can mirror one of those top 12 finishes, I would be happy with that.
Daniel Suarez
I think Daniel is going to be chalky in cash games. He is starting 35th so he has a high floor. The one thing that concerns me is speed and equipment. He is no longer with SHR and is with Gaunt Brothers which is a step down in quality equipment. Parker Kligerman was able to score a few top 30 finishes in this car. I think he has top 30 is realistic upside which could be enough on Sunday with value limited. Look for final thoughts to come out in the morning to see the other value options available.
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