The field is set for Sunday’s race at Dover with Chris Buescher and Denny Hamlin on the front row. Let’s delve into this week’s top NASCAR DFS cash and value selections on DraftKings and FanDuel for the DuraMAX Drydene 400.
DraftKings Fantasy NASCAR Picks:Â DuraMAX Drydene 400
Kyle Larson, Third ($11,800 DraftKings, $14,000 FanDuel)
Chase Elliott, Fourth ($11,300 DraftKings, $13,500 FanDuel)
Picking a singular lap leader from the drivers starting in the top 10 is tough with multiple past winners and no one really running away in practice. With the unlikely pairing of Buescher and Hamlin starting first and second, it makes the decision even tougher. Passing projects to be tough tomorrow so either one of the drivers on the front row could easily gobble up a bunch of the laps led points early on. However, based on the practice speeds of both Buescher and Hamlin, it seems plausible that either Larson or Elliott, who were both fast in the short and long practice runs, move past them. Siding with one over the other is probably going to boil down to personal preference, thus stacking the duo together is probably the route cash players should go hoping to grab as many laps led points as possible.
However, playing Larson and Elliott together makes it nearly impossible to stack them with a third Hendrick driver who will be mentioned later. Cash players who do want access to that driver’s potential place differential will have to pick one. In that scenario, Larson’s recent numbers are much more eye-popping than Elliott’s, especially in regard to stats that pertain to DFS.
Aric Almirola, 27th ($6,600 DraftKings, $5,000 FanDuel)
Besides Kevin Harvick, no one else from Stewart Haas Racing showed any speed. The kicker on Almirola is his respectable track history at Dover, which had included four straight top-20 finishes before cutting down a tire last year and finishing 37th. Chances are that Almirola will get lapped but as long as he pushes for another finish in the teens, he will be well on his way to finishing with a day worth of playing in cash games. Almirola is arbitrage Chase Briscoe but with more place differential and a $1,700 discount on DraftKings.
Cole Custer, 30th ($6,100 DraftKings, $4,500 FanDuel)
Oddly enough, last week had three block plays in Ryan Blaney, Elliott and Alex Bowman that cash players had to roster regardless of how they actually felt. Custer may very well be this week’s block play. Expect Custer to carry some of this week’s highest ownership in tournaments that should carry over into cash games based on that 30th place starting position. However, what is really going to keep pushing his ownership up is when DFS players spot three-straight top 11 finishes for Custer at Dover. Projecting Custer for another top 11 finish feels like a fool’s errand, however, in cash games he does not need such a high finish to be worthy of rostering. As long as he has a productive day and potentially finishes in the teens, it will be tough for him not to be an optimal play in double-ups or head-to-head contests. For those looking for leverage against Custer in cash, Ty Dillon, starting one spot further back, is the swap on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
William Byron, 33rd ($11,000 DraftKings, $13,000 FanDuel)
After wrecking during practice, Byron never made a qualifying attempt and now rolls off the grid in 33rd on Sunday. For the driver with the third-highest odds to win this race, via BetMGM, and back-to-back fourth-place finishes at Dover (not to mention a recent victory at Martinsville), Byron is practically an auto-play in cash games this week, as long as DFS players do not try to stack him with two fellow Hendrick drivers. He has the most realistic access to place differential and with 400 laps, could be a legitimate threat to lead come to the end of the race. If he does not grab dominator points in the process of his top five or top 10 finish, he will still score enough points to be worthy of locking in for cash games, even at this elevated salary.
Harrison Burton, 35th ($5,000 DraftKings, $4,000 FanDuel)
With a plethora of expensive options, DFS players need a cheap option to round out rosters. Thankfully, Burton starts one spot short of dead last at a respectable price tag on both sites. Simply put, Burton is a means to an end this weekend. He is in the punt range and gives DFS players much more safety and upside than the likes of Josh Bilicki, Cody Ware, or BJ McLeod. As far as history, this will be his first time in a Cup car at Dover, but he does have finishes of sixth, 11th and fifth in his past three Xfinity races here.
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