Jeff Gordon picked up his 93rd career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Sunday in Martinsville. It was his first win of his final season, and what a time for it, as it now locks him into the Final Four at Homestead. What a fairy tale it would be if he could win the championship to finish his going away party. We will have to wait for two more races, as the field will narrow down and three more drivers will join Gordon in the Final Four.
This week NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500 and Race #2 in the Eliminator Round. The track is a 1.5 mile quad oval intermediate track. This week we will be wanting to target drivers who are not only fast in the final two practices but also rank high in consecutive 10 lap averages. There will also be some opportunity to find some value in drivers who don't qualify well this week. There is usually about half of the top 10 finishers who start outside the top 10 and a few outside the top 20. Be sure to check back for the update following final practice on Saturday.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR: DraftKings DFS Lineup Picks
Kevin Harvick - $11,000
He tears up 1.5 mile tracks but Texas is one of the few he has never won at in his career. That could very well change this weekend. He is coming off an 8th place finish at Martinsville and sits in 4th in the standings. With all the attention on Kenseth wrecking Logano last weekend, no one is more happier than Harvick who was in the spotlight for the wrong reasons the week before.
Jimmie Johnson - $10,500
If you are looking for a so called "horse for the course," Jimmie is your driver. He has five career wins here with three of those coming in the last five races here. In those last five years he also has a 6.8 average finish and a field leading 574 laps led. With no pressure of the Chase, look for the #48 team to pull out all the stops in pursuit of another win in the 2015 season.
Carl Edwards - $9,400
He has been extremely consistent throughout the Chase with five top 10's and two top 15 finishes. He comes back to Texas where he has recorded three career wins. In the last five races here he has also been consistent with one top 5, three top 10's, and a 15.0 average finish.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. - $8,600
After finishing 2nd at Talladega and being eliminated from the Chase, he followed that up with a 4th place finish at Martinsville last weekend. He has been consistent here in his last five trips with two top 5's and three top 10 finishes. Look for Dale Jr. to carry the momentum over to Texas where he makes a great cash game play.
Ryan Newman - $7,200
Makes a great cash game play this week as he has been only one of five drivers to finish each of the last five races inside the top 20. He is no longer in the Chase and will be looking to finish the year off strong. He has picked up two top 10's and a 12.0 average finish over his last five trips to Texas Motor Speedway.
Sam Hornish Jr. - $5,600
He finished 26th here in his only start at Texas and will look to equal or better that this week. He has been fairly consistent for his salary recently with four top 20 finishes in his last six races. He comes in very cheap and makes a great GPP play this week in stars & scrubs lineups.
Post Practice & Qualifying Update
Qualifying Top 10:
- #2 Brad Keselowski
- #4 Kevin Harvick
- #18 Kyle Busch
- #22 Joey Logano
- #42 Kyle Larson
- #20 Erik Jones
- #41 Kurt Busch
- #48 Jimmie Johnson
- #11 Denny Hamlin
- #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Brad Keselowski picked up the Coors Lite Pole award on Friday afternoon and will start up front for the AAA Texas 500. Starting alongside him will be Kevin Harvick. These two drivers also finished the first practice first and second and look to be very competitive cars going into the race. Get exposure to both and you should get a nice chunk of laps led.
The final two practices were rained out on Saturday leaving us very little information to use to predict the outcomes of the race. We will want to use current form, track history, and a little gut feeling when making our lineups Sunday. There are a few guys who are starting outside the top 15 who present some possible place differential bonus point opportunities. They are:
- Martin Truex Jr. - Starting 23rd
- Jamie McMurray - Starting 27th
- Ryan Blaney - Starting 25th
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