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The 2025 NASCAR season is here and on Thursday night we'll see a pair of races to help set the lineup for Sunday's Daytona 500. There are separate DFS contests for both, but in this article, we'll be looking at picks for both races on DraftKings.
This is also the last time this season that we'll be focused exclusively on DraftKings as FanDuel contests will begin Sunday with the 500. For now though, we're only on DraftKings, just like we were for the Clash.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona Duels on DraftKings this week. This slate locks on 2/13/2025 at 7:00 p.m. EST for Duel 1 and 8:45 p.m. EST for Duel 2. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on X at @juscarts.
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DFS Lineup Picks - DraftKings
Once you're done reading this article, be sure also to check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles to help you set your optimal DFS lineups. You should also make sure to check out our NASCAR DFS lineup tools for the ultimate combination of DFS resources to help you win big, including our Lineup Optimizer, DFS Cheat Sheet, Research Station, and more.
DFS Picks For Duel No. 1
Bubba Wallace - $9.6K - Starts 15th
Bubba Wallace has a reputation for being pretty good at superspeedways, so it makes sense that he's the highest-priced driver on the slate for the first Duel race.
Let the week begin. pic.twitter.com/CCEcCbxi3g
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) February 12, 2025
Wallace has five top fives at Daytona in full races with an average finish of 11.9. As far as the Duels go, Wallace has never finished worse than 11th in one, with three top-fives in his career. He should be a threat to win this one.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - $8.8K - Starts 21st
There's a little more risk to playing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. this year than other years. Several ownership shakeups surround the No. 47 car, which is now fielded by a group called HYAK Motorsports.
Will this team have the same superspeedway speed that the previously named JTG-Daugherty team had? I'd guess probably, but I'm not 100 percent sold on it. Still, there's some massive place differential upside for Stenhouse as he starts 21st after a poor qualifying run.
Justin Allgaier - $8.4K - Starts 17th
JR Motorsports might make its Cup Series debut on Sunday, assuming Justin Allgaier finds his way into the field. As one of the Open cars, the path for Allgaier to race on Sunday is a bit complicated:
Opens:
-Truex/Johnson/Castroneves: In
-Allgaier: In if top open in duel or if Truex or Johnson top open in duel.
-LaJoie: In if top open in duel or if Truex or Allgaier top open in 1st duel AND Johnson top in 2nd duel.
-CSmith Yeley Alfredo McLeod: Must finish top open in duel.— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 13, 2025
The easiest way for Allgaier to get into the 500 is just to be the top Open car on Thursday night. Because of that, we should expect this No. 40 car to be aggressive in working its way toward the front. This is essentially a Hendrick Motorsports car, so it will have a very good race pace.
Michael McDowell - $6.4K - Starts Ninth
On Sunday, I'll caution you against playing a guy like Michael McDowell because he'll start too high for my liking, but the Duel races feature half the field size as the Daytona 500 itself. That means the chance of negative place differential isn't quite as damaging.
McDowell is a very good racer at this kind of track. He isn't racing for Front Row Motorsports anymore, a team that always seems like it sends rocketships to Daytona, but this Spire car will be quick too. McDowell has a top-five in two of the last three Duels.
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DFS Picks for Duel No. 2
Ryan Blaney - $9.7K - Starts 10th
Duel 1 feels like it's primed for some major movement throughout the field. Duel 2 feels like it'll be a little more tame, as drivers mostly start right around where their caliber of car should start.
In honor of the duels tonight, let’s throw it back to the first time Ryan Blaney WON his duel on Feb, 15, 2018. pic.twitter.com/vgPY9gWqHI
— 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙮𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙩¹²🥷 (@BlaneyBest) February 13, 2025
Two of the four fastest cars in qualifying were Penske Fords, but Ryan Blaney wasn't quite able to find that same speed as he was 20th in qualifying. He'll start 10th in Duel 2 and should be able to make some moves toward the front.
When he gets up there, he'll have two teammates to work with, as Austin Cindric and Joey Logano share the front row on Thursday. The Penske cars can control the pace of this race.
Erik Jones - $8.0K - Starts 18th
Will this be the year that Legacy Motor Club finally figures something out? The Jimmie Johnson-owned team has really struggled, especially after switching to Toyota last season.
If the team does turn things around, it's likely to be Erik Jones leading the charge, not teammate John Hunter Nemechek. No offense meant to JHN, but Jones is one of the most underrated drivers in the NASCAR garage.
On Thursday, Jones starts 18th in his Duel race. During his Cup career, he has four top 10s in the Duels, including a fifth-place finish last season.
Daniel Suarez - $7.8K - Starts 12th
Trackhouse has Connor Zilisch waiting in the wings, so this could be a make-or-break year for Daniel Suarez as far as securing his long-term future in NASCAR goes.
Daniel Suarez signed a one-year contract extension with Trackhouse Racing for 2025. Will his 2026 plans hang over him this year? Does he feel his job is on the line? pic.twitter.com/5DNZtFz25I
— Kelly Crandall (@KellyCrandall) February 12, 2025
Daytona hasn't been kind to Suarez as far as full races go, with just one top 10 in 15 starts. However, he usually tends to run better in the Duels, including a sixth-place finish last season.
Riley Herbst - $6.2K - Starts 13th
Riley Herbst moving up to the Cup Series wasn't the biggest surprise of the offseason. He has family money, so latching on with a Cup team was always a possibility. What might be surprising is that his family essentially bankrolled the purchase of a charter for 23XI Racing.
Herbst is a fairly good superspeedway racer. He's run five Cup Series races on this track type, posting two top 10s in the process. In the Xfinity Series, Herbst has six top 10s in 11 Daytona races.
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