Saturday’s Cup race at Pocono was entertaining in a different way then Talladega was last week. We saw a lot of different pit strategies play out and Kevin Harvick came out victorious. We should see the same type of differing strategies play out as well on Sunday. The one thing these teams have though is some data with how their car handles and performed at Pocono. Saturday for some teams became a 325 mile test session and I believe some teams will benefit greatly from this data. With the invert of the top 20 from Saturdays race we have some interesting plays starting up front and others starting mid pack. We also will have some chalk options starting farther back. I think we will see some chalkier builds in cash games so understand and play knowing that. Could see you pivoting one way or the other in single entry gpps just to give yourself an advantage over chalk.
Kyle Busch (DK $11,000 FD $13,500)
Kyle Busch has talked about how much not having practice prior to a race has affected his team this season. Well like I said Saturday was a 325 mile practice session for Kyle and his team. I fully expect Kyle Busch to be a contender up front all day and have a car that competes from the drop of the green flag. Kyle has three wins here and no finish outside of the top 10 in the last nine races here. He also boasts the best recent driver rating here as well. I don’t think you need Kyle Busch in case games as the place differential options will give you the floor and upside you need, but find ways to get Kyle in gpps.
Denny Hamlin (DK $10,200 FD $13,000)
We saw in Saturday’s race that Denny had one of the better cars throughout the race. He was chasing down Harvick well dealing with a vibration near the end of the race. He has been one of the better drivers in recent history here and because of the invert he now starts 19th. I think we will see Denny right up near the front again through the race and is one of the better all around options on Sunday.
Joey Logano (DK $9,400 FD $12,000)
Joey had one of the better cars during the race on Saturday and even led some laps. However near the end of the race he had a tire go down and had to pit. He ended up finishing 36th and because of the starting order rules will start in that spot as well. He will be one of the chalky cash and gpp plays on Sunday even with his so-so track history here. However being a strategy race, you can never count out the driver who has Paul Wolfe on the box.
Erik Jones (DK $7,400 FD $10,000)
Chalk Erik Jones is always a fun experiment. He always seems to bite you in the butt more then pay off his value. The ownership for him was over 65% and similar to that in gpps and even higher in higher money gpps. If you think thats high, just wait till you see his ownership in cash games starting 38th and still so cheap. Erik has great track history and this is one of his better tracks. The accident he was in Saturday was not his fault and was actually running well. He stays clean he will pay off his price.
Tyler Reddick (DK $7,600 FD $8,400)
Tyler was involved in the wreck that took out Erik Jones on Saturday and even tho his car wasn’t destroyed he still only managed a 30th place finish which is where he will start. Reddick was running top 15 all race and has shown speed and the ability to compete near the front all season. He will be another chalk driver that you will need some exposure to in all formats.
Aric Almirola (DK $7,200 FD $9,000)
Aric took great advantage of the clean air and led over 60 laps on Saturday. His pit strategy kept him on pit road a little longer then Kevin Harvick and that cost him the race. Now Aric starts 18th. There won’t be clean air for Aric to take advantage of but he showed that he was one of more consistantly faster cars on Saturday and that car is back on Sunday. Since joining SHR he has three top 10s and a 12th place finish in 5 races here. He is a good place differential option at a cheaper price then some of the others around him.
Any questions, message me on twitter @davidjr831 and to get access to final thoughts, props and core plays subscribe to the NASCAR package below
https://dfskarma.com/shop/all/nascar/
