February 17, 2025
Austin Cindric probably had the best run in Sunday's Daytona 500, leading 59 laps, spending 145 laps in the top five, and posting an average running position of 5.72, each of which led the field. Although it looked like his teammate Joey Logano had the measure of him in Stage 1, Cindric took charge in Stage 2 and took the lead from Denny Hamlin at the end of regulation on the first lap of the overtime restart, which ended the race. However, he lost his chance to win when Chase Briscoe bumped Cole Custer into Hamlin. Although Cindric barely crashed at all, the slight contact he did make significantly broke his momentum and he was relegated to an eighth-place finish. Nonetheless, Cindric continues to be one of the best drafters in the NASCAR Cup Series and he is currently tied with Tyler Reddick for fourth in points.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 17, 2025
Even though Justin Allgaier caused three crashes in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race, he managed to keep it clean and evaded all the wrecks in the Daytona 500 to earn an unexpected ninth-place finish -- his best in a NASCAR Cup Series race since finishing eighth at Bristol in 2015 and only his second top-10 finish in his career. It was a solid debut for JR Motorsports as an organization in the Cup Series, although admittedly Allgaier wasn't much of a contender in the race as he had an average running position of only 22nd and his driver rating was 18th, but his pass differential of 52 was the highest in the field. Nonetheless, at Daytona avoiding wrecks is more important than being competitive, and his vast experience reaped great dividends for him on Sunday.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 17, 2025
Martin Truex Jr.'s bad luck from 2024 continued into 2025 as he was taken out in the Daytona 500 through no fault of his own when he was involed in a crash at the start of Stage 2 when Joey Logano could not get up to speed. This caused the entire outside lane to check up, which triggered a multi-car crash when John Hunter Nemechek turned Ross Chastain into his teammate Hélio Castroneves. After Chastain bounced off Castroneves's car and began to slide down the track, he collected Truex and all three drivers were eliminated. Given his struggles on drafting tracks over the years, Truex probably wouldn't have significantly contended for the win, even though he was reunited with his old crew chief Cole Pearn for the race. Unlike Castroneves, Truex stated in his interview after the crash that he doesn't intend for this to be his final race.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 17, 2025
Four-time Indy 500 winner Hélio Castroneves was eliminated from his first Daytona 500 start after leader Joey Logano could not get back up to speed at the start of Stage 2 due to a paper bag in his grille, which stacked up the outside line and resulted in a multi-car pileup when John Hunter Nemechek spun Castroneves's teammate Ross Chastain into Castroneves. The incident also took out Martin Truex, Jr. Castroneves finished 39th after only completing 70 laps, but he ran a little better than expected before that as he was inside the top 20 for a while despite his lack of stock car experience. It remains to be seen whether he will ever start any NASCAR races in the future.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February
16,
2025
Team
Penske's
Joey
Logano
will
start
this
year's
Daytona
500
from
the
10th
position.
Logano
obtained
the
starting
position
while
placing
fifth
in
the
second
of
two
Daytona
Duel
races
without
leading
any
laps.
In
32
starts
at
Daytona,
Logano
has
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February 16, 2025
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, will start this week's Daytona 500 from the eighth position. Hamlin earned the starting spot through the second of the two Daytona Duel races, where he led 14 laps and finished fourth. After 38 starts completed at Daytona, Hamlin has three wins (most of active drivers), 12 top-10 finishes, 676 laps led (most of active drivers), and an average finish of 17.6. In first practice, Hamlin ranked first in single lap times and second in 10 consecutive lap averages, while in second practice, Hamlin ranked 24th in single lap times of all drivers. Considering his low upside based on his starting position and high salary on DraftKings ($10,000) and FanDuel ($11,500), Hamlin is not a top recommendation for DFS lineups. The No. 11 Toyota driver should only be utilized in tournament lineups because of his high-risk factor overall.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
February 16, 2025
Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports will start 17th for Sunday's Daytona 500. Elliott was awarded the starting spot for placing eighth and leading 15 laps during the first of two Daytona Duel races. In 18 races at Daytona in his Cup career, Elliott has five top-10 finishes, including two out of the six races with the Next-Gen car since its introduction in 2022. In first practice, Elliott ranked 29th in single lap times, while in second practice, the No. 9 Chevrolet driver ranked second in single lap times and 10th of all drivers in 10 consecutive lap averages. Although Elliott's Duel performance inspires confidence, he is still one of the more expensive drivers to consider rostering for this week's race ($9,500 on DraftKings and $11,000 on FanDuel). Elliott is a decent and playable option for DFS but should be mainly utilized as a pivot play for tournaments since his rostership may be below average due to his mixed Daytona history and how he has some upside at the same time.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
February 16, 2025
Team Penske's Ryan Blaney will be starting 16th for the Daytona 500 after placing eighth in the second Daytona Duel race, where he also led five laps and picked up some slight place differential as he started 10th in the event. In 19 races at Daytona in his Cup career, Blaney has one win, seven top-10 finishes, and an average finish of 19.7. In first practice, Blaney ranked 38th in single lap times, while ranking 10th in single-lap times and second in 10 consecutive lap averages. In final practice, Blaney ranked 11th in single lap times while ranking 12th in overall lap averages. Overall, Blaney is not a bad choice for DFS lineups as he does have a small amount of upside and generally has great equipment and solid Daytona history. Although the No. 12 Ford driver is the most expensive on FanDuel ($13,500), making him best suited for DraftKings ($9,700) tournament lineups, where he is worth taking a shot for success.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
February 16, 2025
Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman will start 38th for this week's Daytona 500 at Daytona International Raceway after being involved in a multi-car incident during the second Daytona Duel and finishing last of 22 drivers. In 17 starts at Daytona, Bowman has six top-10 finishes and an average finish of 15.2, which is fourth-best of all active drivers in the field. In first practice, Bowman ranked 20th in single lap times and then ranked 18th of all drivers in single lap times during second practice. In final practice, Bowman ranked second of all drivers in single lap times, had the best five and 10 consecutive lap averages, and ranked 16th in overall lap averages. The No. 48 Chevrolet driver offers the fourth-most maximum upside of all drivers in the field this week due to his starting position. Combine that with his incredible track history, and Bowman is a must-start for cash games and is one of the best plays to consider this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
February 16, 2025
RFK Racing driver Brad Keselowski will start 34th in this year's Daytona 500 after placing 20th in Daytona Duel race No. 2 due to being involved in a multi-car wreck. In 31 starts at Daytona, Keselowski has one win, eight top-10 finishes, and an average finish of 22.2. The No. 6 Ford driver also led in each of the last four Cup events at Daytona and gained positive place differential in two of the last three. In first practice, Keselowski ranked 15th in single lap times, having the fastest single lap and 25 consecutive lap average of all drivers in final practice. Considering his enormous upside, overall stronger history at superspeedways as the active wins leader at the track type, and his equipment, Keselowski is one of the top drivers of the week to lock into lineups of any contest type for DFS.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
February 16, 2025
Ross Chastain came oh so close to winning last year's Daytona 500 as he attempted a pass on leader William Byron and was alongside coming to the white flag just as Corey LaJoie bumped Austin Cindric into Chastain, spinning out both drivers and helping cost Chastain a playoff bid. Nonetheless, the Trackhouse Racing cars definitely had the speed to win on drafting tracks last year, as also evidenced by Daniel Suarez's win at Atlanta. Chastain's probability of winning is probably better than his 25-1 odds imply so he's worth a bet there, but like William Byron and Chris Buescher, his 9th-place starting position indicates he is likely to lose too many positions to be worthy of DFS play, particularly for an inconsistent driver who has a history of crashing from top positions in overtime restarts, which are likely at Daytona.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 16, 2025
Chris Buescher starts sixth in Sunday's Daytona 500 after finishing third in the second Duel race. He significantly contented to win that event, as Austin Cindric made his final pass for the win with two laps remaining. Considering the fact that Buescher won here in 2023 in addition to the speed he showed in the Duel and considering the Fords' speed in general, he is probably likelier to win than his 25-1 odds on DraftKings imply, so that is likely a worthy bet. However, as with William Byron, the fact that he is starting sixth and is one of the more expensive drivers at $8,900 indicates that he is not tremendously valuable for DFS lineups since he is likely to finish worse than he starts. DFS players should look at his teammate Brad Keselowski instead, since he is likely to run as well but is starting far worse.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 16, 2025
William Byron's odds of winning are placed at only 17-1 at DraftKings, surprisingly ranking ninth in odds despite winning last year's Daytona 500, along with three other drafting-track races, and starting fifth in Sunday's race. His odds are probably lower than you'd expect because the Chevies in general did not seem to be as fast as the Fords or Toyotas in the Duel races, but he still seems likelier to win than those odds imply, so he is probably worth betting on at those odds. However, he should probably be avoided in DFS lineups, as he is the eighth-most expensive driver at $9,000 and is very likely to lose position from his fifth-place starting slot, considering the odds of any driver crashing are so high. If he finishes, he can definitely win, but the odds of anyone finishing are too low to pick a driver who starts that well.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 16, 2025
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. may have won the 2023 Daytona 500, the last drafting-track race at Talladega, and both Talladega races in 2017, but he sure has not done a whole lot else in recent years. Nonetheless, his knack for winning these sorts of races, including literally the last race on this track type, suggests he has a lot of value both in sportsbook betting (he's is listed 45-1 on DraftKings) and also in DraftKings' DFS fantasy lineups because he is starting 31st when he has a strong chance to finish much better than that. Even better, his $7,500 salary is a lot less than that of many of the race's other most valuable options, so he is a worthwhile option to bet on in nearly all categories for the 500, but don't count on him doing much on any other track type this season.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 16, 2025
Austin Dillon has had a knack for pulling off inexplicable wins at times, particularly on plate tracks after wrecking the leader, but don't count on history repeating itself in Sunday's Daytona 500. For one thing, it seems like lately he only runs well when Justin Alexander is his crew chief, and he has been replaced by Richard Boswell for this season. Secondly, the Chevies did not seem to have the speed of either the Toyotas or the Fords in the Duel races, as Dillon faded from fourth to seventh in his Duel race, although he did outperform his pre-race-favorite teammate Kyle Busch. That relegated Dillon to a 15th-place starting position. He might be worth a small bet on the win at 40-1, but he is probably starting too highly to have much DFS value, and at $6,900, he is probably overvalued based on his recent performance.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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