NASCAR is finally moving on from racing in Florida as they take on Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the desert this weekend for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. Kevin Harvick will lead the field into turn one this week along side recent winner, William Byron. With that being said, let’s dive into this slate and discuss how we should approach this from a DraftKings and FanDuel perspective. Let’s get into some NASCAR DFS picks for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Pennzoil 400 NASCAR DFS Picks | DraftKings & FanDuel
The strategy at these mile-and-a-half tracks isn’t anything out of the normal. We are typically looking at two to three dominator builds (potential lap leaders) mixed in with potential place-differential plays and drivers that have high-finishing position upside. Unlike last weekend’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (another mile-and-a-half track), Las Vegas isn’t a high tire wear track, so even though it’s a similar track in terms of length, it will play out a bit different and is more comparable to the lower tire wear tracks in the series.
Upper-Tier Driver Picks
Kevin Harvick $9,700 DraftKings – $14,000 FanDuel (1st)
Harvick is much more appealing on DraftKings where he is only the seventh-most expensive driver compared to being the most expensive driver over on FanDuel, but he is certainly going to be hard to pass up this weekend. The pole-sitter hasn’t had the best of luck since last year, but Harvick is going to be a tough fade in cash games with his potential to pick up dominator points on Sunday as he is in the best position to do so with his starting position. Harvick had a very strong car last year in the Spring race, but it did fall off a bit in the longer green-flag runs. So while it is something to watch out for, he was overall dominate at these track types during the 2020 season and his numbers at Vegas are tops on the board.
Ryan Blaney $10,800 DraftKings – $10,700 FanDuel (26th)
It has not been a great start to the season for Ryan Blaney, but he’s too good of a driver and in too good of equipment to keep picking up bad finishes like this. Blaney was the king at the mile-and-a-half tracks last year and was first in average green-flag speed by a decent margin at the low-tire wear ovals in 2020. In last year’s Spring race at Vegas, Blaney was on his way to a win before a late caution came out and he came down for tires, which ultimately ended up being the wrong decision. But he had one of the strongest cars in the field and assuming the speed comes back to him, he’s an elite place-differential play with dominator potential in the later portion of the race. He’s best paired with a dominator starting closer to the front who can pick up the early dominator points.
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Mid-Tier Driver Picks
Matt DiBenedetto $9,000 DraftKings – $7,800 FanDuel (30th)
Speaking of drivers having a rough start to the season, Matt DiBenedetto may be the poster boy for that title so far this season. He’s had bad luck after bad luck and didn’t finish last week’s race strong, but I’m willing to go back to the well for the fourth time in as many races this Sunday. When all goes well for DiBenedetto, he typically is a top-15 contending car with top-10 upside and he actually finished in second place in both of the races at Las Vegas last year. He’s also pretty much the fourth Penske car on the track and they tend to be very strong at this track.
Aric Almirola $8,600 DraftKings – $7,500 FanDuel (28th)
Almirola is one of the safer options on the board for NASCAR DFS players this weekend as he’s starting deep in the back, but isn’t overly expensive. This should lead to some decently high ownership so I do think he’s a strong target in cash game contests. He typically is a top-15 contender at the mile-and-a-half tracks and his history at Las Vegas has been pretty strong. His average finish of 12.3 over the past few years would net us roughly 45 fantasy points on Sunday at a fair price point.
Value Driver Picks
Erik Jones $7,100 DraftKings – $4,700 FanDuel (29th)
The price is more appealing on FanDuel, but he is certainly viable on both sites this weekend as he isn’t overly expensive on DraftKings either. The downgrade in equipment is a real concern and we saw that last where Jones did not have a strong run in the slightest, but I’m will to give him another shot here in the desert on Sunday. Bubba Wallace’s number in the No. 43 car were not impressive at Vegas, but I think Erik Jones can put up slightly better numbers and even a finish around 20th place can net us around 30 fantasy points. The ceiling isn’t insanely high here, but the floor is there for him.
Cole Custer $6,500 DraftKings – $7,300 FanDuel (20th)
Custer is a better fit on DraftKings due to the pricing on their site, but should come in at somewhat lower ownership making him an intriguing tournament play down low. He has the best equipment of any driver in his price range and I know his finish last week doesn’t look great, but he had an issue with a couple of laps left that turned a top-10 day into a 23rd-place finish. At the low-tire wear ovals last season, Custer was a top-15 contender, which isn’t a ton of place-differential points for where he’s starting, but it’s more than enough at his low price point.
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