I think we can all say the Daytona 500 was a great race last week. This week we move on to Atlanta and a new chapter in NASCAR with part of the new package being implemented this week. As we talked about in our season preview, NASCAR is slowing down the cars with new changes to the them in hopes to make racing tighter and the entire field more competitive. Unlike last week where we targeted drivers in the back of field in order to protect us against the big wreck(which ended up working out well for us) , this week we are looking for dominators in the race. Races like this, we want to target a driver or two who we think will lead the most laps, run the fastest and possibly win the race. There are no “big ones” that we are trying to avoid so its important to hit those drivers and fill in with value drivers to come up with the optimal lineup. Lets begin:
Kevin Harvick ( FD $14,000 DK $12,200)
This is an interesting spot this week. I can see some people going Joey Logano and I wouldn’t fault them one bit. However after today, I made the decision that Harvick is the top priced driver I want to focus in on this week. After qualifying yesterday, Harvick basically said his car was junk and if the race was that day it would be parked in the garage. However, today Harvick was singing a different tune. His car was fast in 10 lap averages and he had nothing but good things to say about it today. Take that into account, along with Harvick’s track history here in Atlanta and you can understand why he is my top guy. Not only did he win here last year but he has been the top dominator in the past few races here in Atlanta.
Chase Elliott (FD $12,200 DK $9,700)
Prior to race weekend, I like to look at drivers to see who has done well at the track we are going to. I write down a few drivers who I want to potentially target depending on how qualifying and practices go. Chase Elliott was one of those drivers. In his 3 Cup starts in Atlanta he has finished 10th, 5th, and 8th. Combine that with his qualifying position of 22nd, he has become an elite driver to target this week on both sites where place differential is important(DK) and finishing spot and laps run(FD) are important.
Ryan Blaney (FD $10,500 DK $8,900)
All of the Penske Racing fords this week underperformed in qualifying. Joey Logano is a potential cash play on both sites, but comes with a hefty price tag. Brad Keselowski has performed well here and is cheaper than Logano, but is under the weather this weekend. I will use Brad, but only in gpps because of that reason. This brings us to the third Penske driver, Ryan Blaney. If you look at last year, Ryan started 26th(like this year) and finished 12th. Well we have a different race package this year, I like Ryan this weekend because he gives us the upside starting farther back and also is the cheapest of the three Penske drivers which will allow us to grab one of the top dominators.
Clint Bowyer (FD $10,800 DK $9,100)
I haven’t made my cash lineups for either site yet and I’m not sure Clint will make it onto one of them. However he is one of those drivers that could dominate part of this race. Clint has had a fast car all weekend, finished on top of both practices, the first two rounds of qualifying and has had nothing but good things to say about his car. SHR was fast this weekend and Almirola, another potential dominator, took the pole away from Bowyer. My hope is that Bowyer can get past the front row at the start and lead the first stage and accumulate those dominator points we would want if we roster Bowyer.
Kurt Busch (FD $9,600 DK $8,500)
I like Kurt this weekend, but more for FD and for gpps. He’s another one of the drivers that i took note of earlier this week. The problem with Kurt is that his qualifying spot is too high for place differential points and I don’t think his car is one that can dominate the race. However I think he has a top 10 car. This makes him a great candidate for a lower owned option on FD where finishing position matters the most. On FD there are drivers around him that will attract attention like Almirola, Johnson, and Blaney. Since this race moved to the beginning of the season Kurt has finished 8th, 7th, 4th and 13th. Again this is a stronger FD play then DK.
Daniel Hemric (FD $5,000 DK $6,800) (Value Play)
In order to fit some of these higher priced guys we need to find some value. I’m looking at Hemric in this spot this week. He qualified in the 28th position this week and gives us a little place differential to play with. His two Xfinity starts at Atlanta, he finished 9th and 11th. He had decent speed in final practice and posted a top five 10 lap average in final practice. Other guys i will target in this region will be Matt DiBenedetto, Ryan Newman, Chris Buescher and Parker Klingerman.
