Another Daytona 500 is in the books and Denny Hamlin picked up the win in the closest margin of victory in Daytona history. Hamlin and the #11 team were strong all speedweeks as was the entire Joe Gibbs Racing team. Hamlin dominated the race throughout leading 95 laps while his teammates Matt Kenseth(40) and Kyle Busch(19) finished second and third in that category. With Jeff Gordon retiring could we be witnessing the beginning of a new dynasty in NASCAR? It will be a situation worth monitoring going forward.

This week NASCAR heads 400 miles North to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. After the chaos of plate racing last weekend we get our first mile and half track of the year. Intermediate tracks make up close to 50% of all the tracks run in the 36 Sprint Cup races. There are a group of about 6 drivers who seem to be the so called "1/2 Mile Experts" and if you don't have one or two of them in your lineups you will be at a disadvantage. We will discuss these drivers below.

On DraftKings this week we are going to be looking for a few drivers who will have a good shot at leading a majority of the laps. Last year three drivers(Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano) dominated that category leading 90% of the laps. The year before it was Kevin Harvick leading 195 laps(60%) with four other drivers leading more than 20 laps. You will need at least two of these drivers to finish at the top this week. One other big factor this week will be place differential. In each of the last five years there has been at least five drivers starting outside the Top 10 who have finished inside the Top 10 and last year Jimmie Johnson won from the 37th starting position.

Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS  Lineup Picks

The picks below are initial picks only. Lineup construction in daily fantasy NASCAR is very dependent on Qualifying and Practice results so be sure to check back on Saturday shortly after Final Practice for the final update prior to the race on Sunday.

Kevin Harvick - $10,100  

In the last five years here at Atlanta Harvick has done everything but win a race. He has two Top 5's, four Top 10's and a 8.4 average finish. He has also dominated the laps led with 412, with the next closest being Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin with 162. He is one of the half mile experts and in the last two years he has recorded a 9.54 average finish in 24 intermediate track races. In 2016 we will see a new rules package on the intermediate tracks which was tested last season at Kentucky and Darlington. Harvick finished 8th and 5th respectively in those two races. He has a fantastic shot to be the highest scoring driver this week.

Carl Edwards - $9,600

It's no secret Joe Gibbs Racing is one of the teams to beat yet again in 2016. They were the one team that really seemed to get a handle on the new rules package the best. All four of them finished inside the Top 5 at Kentucky with Edwards finishing 4th. It was Carl winning the race in Darlington with Kyle and Denny also finishing inside the Top 7. In his last five races here at Atlanta he has tallied two Top 5 finishes and a 15.2 average finish.

Denny Hamlin - $9,700

Another JGR driver who looks poised to have a terrific season with the new rules package. He finished third at both Kentucky and Darlington last year and has a good track record here at Atlanta. In his last five races here he has a win, two Top 5's, Three Top 10's and a 17.6 average finish. He had back luck last year getting loose and spinning and eventually finishing 38th. He is coming into this race with a ton of momentum as he dominated speedweeks in Daytona capping it off with the Daytona 500 trophy. Look for him to carry the success over to Atlanta this week.

Aric Almirola - $6,600

He makes a terrific value play this week at a mid $6k price tag. In four races here at Atlanta he has one Top 10 finish and a 18.0 average finish. While that doesn't make you warm and fuzzy his adjustment to the new rules package at Kentucky and Darlington does. He finished 12th and 11th respectively and ran over 55% of those races inside the Top 15 running order. Pay close attention to qualifying this week as his value will sky rocket if he were to start outside the Top 20 this week.

Ty Dillon - $5,600

He will drive the #14 this week at Atlanta while Tony Stewart is out with injury. He made his Sprint Cup Series debut here back in 2014 for car owner Joe Falk who runs a satellite team for Richard Childress Racing. He started 29th in that race and ended up finishing 25th. Dillon will see an upgrade in equipment this time around in the #14 Stewart Haas Chevrolet. You don't need much from him at his extremely low salary and he allows plenty of room to roster two or three top drivers.

Post Practice & Qualifying Update

Interesting start to the weekend. Kyle Busch beat out his brother for the pole until he failed post qualifying inspection forcing the #18 to start 39th tomorrow. This makes him a must play as he his pas differential upside is greater than any other driver. He could easily finish Top 10 giving him at least 25 bonus points. He was 6th in final practice. His teammate Denny Hamlin was fastest in the final practice and will start in 12th for tomorrow's race.

Jimmie Johnson is another terrific high end pick as he is starting back in 19th and was the 3rd fastest car in final practice. His teammate, rookie Chase Elliott, is a value play this week starting back in 24th. He was 16th in Practice #1 and 5th in final practice. Some people might be off him last after crashing last week.

One team that presents some risk going into the race is the Penske Racing team. Both Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano struggled to find speed in practice. They both still make great GPP plays this week as they are starting 17th and 26th.

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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