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One unique feature of the Daytona 500 is that it features a pair of qualifying races on Thursday night to help set the lineup.
It's a nice tune-up for the action we'll see on Sunday, and because no one wants to crash out and have to go to a backup car for the 500. If you're looking to play some superspeedway DFS without as much risk as there will be on Sunday (but with some, because it is a superspeedway and there could still be a huge wreck), play some Bluegreen Vacations Duel DFS.
In this article, we'll look at DFS picks for Duel 2. Click here to see our picks for Duel 1.
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DFS Lineup Picks - DraftKings, FanDuel
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Brad Keselowski
(DraftKings $10,200 | FanDuel $12,500)
Keselowski starts back in 13th for this one, which offers some nice place differential upside. He's also been just absolutely terrible at Daytona International Speedway, with five top 10s in 23 starts. Before his 10th place in the second race here last year, he hadn't had a top 10 since a 2016 win. But the Duels are slightly different, as he's had top-fives in two of his last four qualifying races.
Ryan Blaney
(DraftKings $10,000 | FanDuel $13,300)
Maybe the safer Penske car in this one is Blaney, who starts ninth and had top 10s in both Daytona races in 2020. He's also crashed a lot here, but only once in a qualifying race. We know Penske has superspeedway speed, so Blaney seems like a solid high-priced play.
Martin Truex Jr.
(DraftKings $9,200 | FanDuel $9,300)
Another really good car that's starting further back, Truex rolls off 14th for this one. He has top 10s in his past two Duels, but people will knock him for his overall Daytona performance, with just five top 10s at the track. He has two top fives in his last five Daytona races though, so maybe things are looking up for Truex? I'll be hesitant to play him in the 500 itself, but I have no qualms about using him in the qualifying race.
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Ross Chastain
(DraftKings $8,300 | FanDuel $7,500)
Chastain is finally in a good, full-time Cup Series ride! Taking over the Ganassi 42 that Matt Kenseth struggled in for much of last year, we should see pretty fast if that struggle was more on Kenseth or more on the car. My money's on it being Kenseth. Chastain's Daytona numbers should be taken with a grain of salt as he drove for Jay Robinson or Spire in his first five races here, but he did finish 10th in the 2019 500. And in Xfinity, he has a win at this track. He starts 12th.
Kaz Grala
(DraftKings $6,400 | FanDuel $4,500)
Grala needs to have the best finish among non-charter drivers in this race to guarantee he makes the 500, so expect to see this Kaulig machine run up towards the front. This race team has been the best superspeedway team in Xfinity lately, so we'll see how well that translates to the much-tougher Cup Series. Grala only has one start in Cup, but it was a top 10 last year at the Daytona road course, and two of his four Xfinity top-five runs have come at Daytona.
Anthony Alfredo
(DraftKings $6,000 | FanDuel $4,500)
One of the surprising moves this offseason was Anthony Alfredo getting the nod to drive the Front Row 38 car this year despite not having any Cup starts. But FRM has been a really solid superspeedway team and Alfredo put together some solid runs last year in Xfinity for Richard Childress Racing. This is a bit of a left-field pick, but he starts back in 16th and only one car starting below him feels like a team with top-10 upside.
Noah Gragson
(DraftKings $5,500 | FanDuel $2,000)
That team with top-10 upside? The Beard Motorsports 62 car, which rolls of 22nd (last) with Noah Gragson driving. Gragson has to be the top finishing open car to make this race, so expect to see plenty of his patented aggressive driving. That could come back to bite him, but we're talking about last year's Xfinity winner here driving a car that finished in the top 10 in both races at Daytona last season. And he's only $2,000 on FanDuel??? And only $5,500 on DraftKings??? I know it's risky and Gragson could end up wrecking the whole back of the field on the second lap, but I almost feel like we need him in some lineups just to see what kind of wild stuff happens.
More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis
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