"Gentlemen, Start your Engines"

Who isn't ready to hear these iconic words tonight? In what is one of sports shortest off-seasons, it has felt like forever since Jimmie Johnson was crowned Champion back in November at Homestead, Miami. There has been a lot going on in the three months leading up to tonight's Clash. It starts with the loss of four drivers to the series. It was announced last season that Tony Stewart was stepping away and we also knew about Brian Scott's leaving the sport. We also recently learned that Greg Biffle was stepping away this season to join the NBC team but hasn't put a lid on his career just yet.The most shocking off-season news was the sudden retirement of elite driver Carl Edwards. He was completely satisfied how his career unfolded despite missing out on two championships by the smallest of margins but felt health and family were just too important right now in his life. In honor of Carl and his giant smile and one of a kind victory celebrations, let's take a look at the best Carl Edwards backflips throughout his career.

Today, February 18th, is also a day of remembrance as it was 16 years ago that the sport lost Dale Earnhardt in a tragic accident at the Daytona 500. It was a very odd final lap as Richard Childress teammate Michael Waltrip had the lead with Dale Earnhardt Jr. behind him and Sr. sitting in third place. Almost anyone that knew Dale said after the fact that it was the first time they ever remember him looking comfortable not in first place. Darryl Waltrip explained it as "aggressively blocking". It was like he wanted Michael or Dale Jr. to win that race. Unfortunately, the win for Waltrip came at a terrible expense after Dale crashed into the outer wall and later died. The memory of "The Intimidator" will always live on. Let's take a look at his Daytona 500 win from the 1998 season, his only Daytona 500 win in his career.

The biggest news of the entire off-season came with the announcement of new series sponsor, Monster Energy. With the switch from Sprint to Monster Energy also comes big changes. It starts with the "Chase" being tossed out the window and replaced with "Playoffs". I guess they decided to use the KISS(keep it simple stupid) approach. The biggest change is not the name, but how drivers will be awarded points throughout the season. Every race of the 2017 season, starting at the Daytona 500 next week, will be broken into three stages. Stages one and two, for the most part, will be each 25% of the races total laps. After each of the first two stages, the Top 10 drivers are awarded points, 10 for first down to one for 10th place. The winner of each stage will also receive a "Playoff Bonus Point" which carries over through first three rounds of the playoffs for those drivers who qualify. The Final Stage will make up around 50% of the total laps and all drivers receive points at the conclusion of the race. First place gets 40 points, second gets 35 points, third gets 34 points and it continues down until we reach 36th-40th where those drivers all receive one point. The race winner will also receive and additional five "Playoff Bonus Points".

This new structure puts a huge emphasis on racing hard in each stage to get as many points as possible. While some believe that the new structure might bring some less competitive cars into the mix each week, I think it will still be the best drivers and cars at the front. Throughout the course of a race, there is so much more on the line now which will no doubt bring out the best racing for not only drivers and teams but most importantly the fans! The new "Playoff Bonus Point" gives the most consistent drivers a chance to stockpile those points for the playoffs which is going to be a nice buffer should they get into a wreck early on in a round.

The season gets under way tonight with the Advanced Auto Parts Clash, a name that NASCAR has brought back this season. The race is a non points paying race made up of just 17 drivers who qualified in one of three ways:

• 2016 Season Coors Lite Pole Winners
• Former Clash Winners
• Former Daytona 500 Pole Winners

The race is a 75 lap, two-segment event with a competition caution coming at lap 25. The field is set and Practice is over. Let's dig in and take a look at my three favorite drivers for this week.

Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS  Lineup Picks

Favorite to win:  Joey Logano ($9,400)

He was oh so close to winning the championship at Homestead a few months back. A Carl Edwards block on a restart with 10 laps to go took Logano out of the lead for good and opened the door more Jimmie Johnson to pick up his seventh championship. That should only provide more motivation to come out on fire in 2017. The fact it is a non-points race means nothing to Logano as he has finished 3rd, 4th, 6th and 2nd to Denny Hamlin last season. Build your lineups around #22 tonight.

Top Value Play: Denny Hamlin ($8,600)

Hamlin hasn't been near as consistent in the Clash as Logano but has won this race twice in the last three years. He also comes with a terrific mid $8K price tag making it very easy to stack him and Logano together. Another stack I like is combining Hamlin with his JGR teammates(Kenseth, Busch, Suarez) as they will be running together all race.

Mid-Tier Value: Kyle Larson ($7,000)

Larson will be in the majority of my lineups at $7K tonight. He has raced in the Clash(formerly Sprint Unlimited) twice finishing 5th in 2015 and 4th last season. Larson took a huge step forward last season with his first series win and eight more Top five finishes than his rookie season. He comes with some place differential upside starting outside the Top 10 tonight.

DFS & Fantasy NASCAR Chat Room

If you have any questions leading up to the race hit me up in the chat below!

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