Austin Dillon, Jimmie Johnson, William Byron, Michael McDowell, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Corey LaJoie, Ross Chastain have failed tech so far. Will be scored from the back now
This weekend we head to Pocono for their second race of the season at this track. This weekend brings on another tech on Sunday race so we won’t have an official starting lineup until around 11:30 am est or so. It will be important to watch for updates in the article and check Final Thoughts which will be posted after tech is complete. Strategy for this race looks like a 1-2 dominator race depending on the results from tech.
Kyle Busch (DK $12,300 FD $15,000)
Kyle Busch has been a force to be reckoned with here at Pocono. In June, he dominated a good portion of this race and won it. He has won 3 of the last four races here, was near the top of the charts in consecutive speeds in practice and starts 7th giving him a little place differential upside. The pd upside, along with the ability to dominate this race could make Kyle a top option for this week.
Kevin Harvick (DK $11,700 FD $13,500)
Harvick becomes a top dominator just from winning the pole here at Pocono. One thing we learned from the race in June is that passing was an issue, especially trying to pass the leader. I see Harvick dominating a portion, if not all of the first stage here. Harvick has five top five finishes in the last six races here including 2 second place finishes. He was also near the top of the charts in speed. On dk, I could see plugging Harvick in to lock in those dominator points and build from there.
Denny Hamlin (DK $10,200 FD $12,000)
Denny Hamlin was a great play last week for us in cash games. This week he starts 12th so the place differential upside isn’t as great as last week but his track history including June’s race indicate that Denny is still a solid play. He finished 6th in June and has finished 12th or better in 5 of the last 6 races here. He also was near the top of the charts in practice in consecutive speed. Denny has the chance to redeem himself for not completely pushing Harvick out of the way last week and get the win this Sunday instead.
Ryan Blaney (DK $9,100 FD $10,700)
This price range on DK presents many options this weekend at this moment. If you are looking for a pivot off Ryan Blaney, I think Clint Bowyer is another good option. Blaney took this spot in the article for a few reasons. First, Ryan has better history here with an average career finish of 11.71 including 1 win. Second, he was just a tick faster then Clint in consecutive lap speed. Lastly, he starts 20th and the place differential upside is too good to pass up.
Kyle Larson (DK $8,500 FD $10,500)
Depending on how tech plays out on Sunday, Larson should/could be the highest owned driver in cash games. Larson wrecked his primary car in practice and was forced to a back up car. He ended up qualifying 29th. We really can’t look at any of his practice data and even though he has finished 23rd or worse in 3 of his last four starts here, he has 8 finishes inside the top 15 besides those three starts. Eat the Larson chalk and keep your fingers crossed that he keeps his nose clean.
Chris Buescher (DK $7,400 FD $7,300)
I really would love to put a different guy at the end of my article in the “value” area but Chris just keeps performing great and they refuse to increase his price. Buescher offers place differential upside this weekend at the moment starting 28th. In June he started 24th and finished 14th. Check back after tech or look at final thoughts to see if any other value plays have opened up.
