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The NASCAR haulers have left Daytona and arrived in Kentucky for the Quaker State 400 to be held Saturday night. This will be the fifth Sprint Cup series race to be held at Kentucky Speedway. In the inaugural race held in 2011, Kyle Busch led 125 laps on his way to winning from the pole. The track is very bumpy and rough in the corners, making it very challenging to pass. That has a lot to do with the fact one driver tends to lead a large majority of the laps during the race. It is the drivers who navigate the bumps and corners consistently who have dominated here in the past. This might change come Saturday as NASCAR has implemented the 2016 rules package for this race. The idea is to create more down-force on the cars and make it easier to pass, thus creating a more entertaining race.
As it is a Saturday night race, practice sessions were supposed to start Thursday. Unfortunately, NASCAR has ran into more rain which caused them to cancel the first practice. Provided the rain moves on, practice will resume on Friday with two sessions before Coors Lite Pole Qualifying. As drivers and teams have had minimal time testing the new package, this race could end up coming down to the smartest most efficient team, both on track and in the pits. Track history is definitely sign of the drivers who love Kentucky and those who hate it.
When making lineups this week for you cash games look for the drivers who have had some success at Kentucky, good current form, and race well on the 1.5 mile tracks. There will be a few things to pay close attention to when analyzing practice Friday. First of all, look for the drivers who are not only running fast laps but fast 10-lap averages. Listen to the team interviews during the practices to see what teams are changing and adjusting to gain more speed. Finally, in qualifying, if you can find a driver who is fast in practice but qualified outside the top 10 or top 20 you will want to get him in your lineups to gain those place differential and pass differential points.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings Picks
Jimmie Johnson - $13,100
He is one of only four drivers in the series to finish in the top 10 in all four races at Kentucky. He has an average finish of 7.0 in the four races. When looking for a team that can make adjustments to changing conditions in a hurry look no further than the #48 team. Chad Knauss is probably one of the smartest crew chiefs of all time, and Jimmie is one of the greatest drivers of all time. That's a combination that has been tough to beat over the past eight years. Jimmie has only finished outside the top 10 twice in the 10 races. He has already posted four wins on the season locking him into the playoffs. Look for the team to be very aggressive in getting the #48 in the winners circle at Kentucky this week.
Kyle Busch - $10,800
He won the inaugural race here in 2011, has finished inside the top 10 all four times and the top 5 on three occasions. His average finish of 4.5 is tied for first with teammate Matt Kenseth. After missing the first half of the season, Busch is fighting to get inside the top 30 in the standings so he can use his win to get him into the playoffs. No better place to keep up the momentum than a track where he has had much success at in the past.
Joey Logano - $11,400
In the four races run here at Kentucky, he has two top 10's and one top 5 to go with a 12.3 average finish. Intermediate tracks are where Logano excels, so look for him to get back inside the top 10 this week after a 22nd place finish at Daytona.
Kasey Kahne - $10,500
Kahne hasn't won a race yet this year and sits in 11th in the standings going into this week. He will be looking to lock up that spot in the Chase for the Sprint playoffs with a win this week at a track where he has had success. In the four races run here, he has two top 10 finishes and one top 5 finish with a 7.5 average finish. He should be one of the lowest owned drivers above $10,000 this week making him an excellent GPP play.
Ryan Newman - $9,300
He is trending in the right direction lately with top 10 finishes in both of his last two races. He has recorded two top 5 finishes here at Kentucky as well with a 13.8 average finish. Newman makes a fantastic play this week and won't break the bank.
David Ragan - $8,100
He started the season off with the #18 team while Kyle Busch was injured. He is now in the #55 Aarons Dream Machine and picking up momentum. Coming off a 12th place finish at Daytona, he will be looking to score another top 15 finish at Kentucky. In four races here he has a 23.5 average finish.
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