This weekend the Cup series heads back to the track where we started the post layoff chaos and to a race that has a lot of history to it in the Southern 500. This is always a fun race to watch as there are a lot of throwback paint schemes that coincide with the Southern 500. This race is also the first race of the playoffs. I expect to see some strategy play out during the race and we will see a few dominators. My strategy for the race will focus most of my builds around 2-3 dominators. Having been here twice this season post Covid break, I expect to see more teams come with a set up that works right of the start as opposed to some of these other tracks post layoff. I think there are a couple chalk spots Sunday but expect to see a lot of different builds for cash games and pivots in tournaments. I am looking forward to the playoffs as we head to tracks that we have seen before and have more data to play off of even without practice.
Chase Elliott (DK $10,600 FD $11,700)
Chase Elliott starts from the pole on Sunday and is a great option for a potential dominator. Brad Keselowski started from the pole in the first Darlington race this season and led 80 laps. Along with the pole, Chase gets the number 1 pit box which is a huge advantage at Darlington and expect him to make strides on pit road if he loses a spot or two on the track. I really think Chase has something to prove going into this years playoffs. I like what Elliott has shown this season here and similar tracks to Darlington. I expect the top three guys to get some ownership and Chase being the most popular of the three.
Kevin Harvick (DK $10,900 FD $14,200)
Harvick went out and crushed the first Darlington race this season. He led 159 laps and won the race. He followed that with a 3rd place finish four days later there. Harvick has been very successful at tracks like Darlington. Harvick has two wins in the last nine races here and has finished inside the top 5 in all but one of those races. He has also led laps in six of those nine races. Harvick shapes up to be a very interesting dominator option on Sunday.
Denny Hamlin (DK $11,400 FD $13,500)
Typically I wouldn’t write up the top three drivers pricewise on Draftkings, however for this race I think these are the top plays because they all have a chance to dominate at some point in this race and I would bet that one of these three will end up winning this race. Well Harvick won and dominated the first race here this year, Hamlin did the same thing in the second Darlington race. He led 137 laps and won that race. Hamlin and Harvick have been the best cars this season and have no issues playing them together in lineups on Sunday.
Erik Jones (DK $9,600 FD $10,500)
Erik Jones would have loved to have made the playoffs and start the playoffs here at Darlington. This is one of Erik’s best tracks in his Cup career. He has one win here and an average finish of 5.4 over his Cup career. Erik starts 30th and has a great floor starting in this postion. He will be a popular play and it is justified. He is auditioning for a new ride in these last 10 races and what a great way to start it off by playing spoiler in the first race of the playoffs.
Kurt Busch (DK $9,000 FD $10,800)
I think there are a lot of great tournament options right around this price range on Draftkings, Brad, Kurt, MTJ and Ricky are all great tournament pivots off of a chalk Erik Jones. He has finishes of 15th and 3rd here this season. In the last seven races here, he has finished in the top 10 in five of those races and he starts 16th on Sunday. There is some pd upside to be had by Kurt and could be a sneaky dominator in a race that typically has one.
Tyler Reddick (DK $7,000 FD $9,000)
If we are at a steep track and Reddick has starting spot that is good for dfs, you can expect to see Reddick in my write up. I’ve said this before but he won two Xfinity championships because he knows how to drive steep tracks like Homestead is. Reddick finished 13th and 7th here this season and he starts 24th on Sunday so he has great pd upside as long as he doesn’t get a bad Darlington stripe riding that wall line. I think Newman may get more ownership then Reddick starting 7 spots further back but I really think Reddick has more upside then Newman and is a great pivot off of him. Reddick is a great option over on SuperDraft with a 1.55x multiplier and will get serious consideration from me for the champions slot.
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