It was another historical finish at the Good Sam 500 last weekend as Kevin Harvick held off Carl Edwards on the final lap for a photo finish win. That is now two of the eight closest finishes in NASCAR history all in the first four races of the 2016 season. What more could a fan ask for?

This weekend's race could prove to be the best of them all and we could very well see another close finish. The haulers have arrived at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California for the 2016 running of the Auto Club 400. The track is a 2 mile D-shaped Oval that falls between a Superspeedway and Intermediate track. With 14° banking in the corners and a wide track there is three or four lanes available for drivers to find their preferred lane which creates terrific racing. This will be the first race at this track for the new rules package and should only add to the excitement.

It will be very important this week to monitor practice and qualifying closely throughout the weekend. With this being the first race at the track with the new rules package and their only being one race per year at Fontana, we are limited with information to base picks on. We tend to disregard first practice  as most teams are working on a qualifying setup to get a good pit box and starting position. Most important are the final two practices and the 10 lap averages.

If you have any questions leading up to the race be sure to join the conversation in the chat below.

Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS  Lineup Picks

Kyle Busch - $10,300  

The #18 Joe Gibbs Racing team has dominated Auto Club Speedway in recent years. Kyle missed last years race due to an injury but in the four previous races has two wins, four Top 5's and a 1.8 average finish. He has also lead the most laps and it hasn't been close. In four races he has lead 361 laps with Jimmie Johnson coming in second with 109 laps led in one additional race. Kyle is starting 6th on Sunday and came out Saturday morning and ranked 4th fastest in the second practice.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - $9,600

The #88 will be one of the top value plays this weekend before even looking at qualifying and practice. In five previous races he has two Top 5's, three Top 10's and 7.0 average finish here at Auto Club Speedway. He comes in as the 6th most expensive driver and has been very consistent(2nd, 8th, 5th) since crashing at the Daytona 500. He had issues qualifying on Friday and will start 27th on Sunday, providing huge place differential upside. He came on Saturday morning for Practice #2 and ranked 10th making him a driver to watch as he moves through the field once the green flag drops.

Martin Truex Jr. - $8,800

He hasn't had an awful track history here but it isn't that pretty either. He has no career wins or Top 5's here but that could all change this weekend. Even if he doesn't win he presents terrific value for daily fantasy as he will be starting 17th and showed Top 5 speed in Practice #2 on Saturday. The #78 team is coming off a huge final four appearance in the Chase last year and have started 2016 with some momentum. Look for Truex Jr. to get a Top 10 and possibly his first career Top 5 here at Fontana.

Aric Almirola - $6,800

He proved to be a terrific value last week at Phoenix and looks to provide value again this week. While this is not one of his best tracks(zero top 10's in eight career races) it is hard to ignore his daily fantasy value after qualifying 25th for the race Sunday. He admitted in an interview following the first round it was himself that left speed on the track during his qualifying run that lead to the 25th starting position and promised the car had a lot more speed. He proved that in Practice #2 on Saturday morning as he ranked 19th in speed. look for the #43 team to get even more speed out of the car and easily finish inside the Top 20 on Sunday.

Brian Vickers - $5,400

It seems that whoever is behind the wheel of the #14 while Tony Stewart is out is going to be a terrific value play week in and week out. For the third straight week the #14 will be minimum price and will be driven by Brian Vickers once again. He has raced here twice in the last five years(2014 & 2011) and finished inside the Top 10 both times. He will be starting 24 on Sunday and showed much better speed in practice #2 as he ranked 16th.

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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