Welcome to the NASCAR Cup Series Setup for Fanduel. Here we will be breaking down the best plays for Fanduel purposes. My name is Ryan Larkin and you can follow me @Larkin8 on twitter. This week the Cup Series is at Daytona International Speedway for the Duels. The VIP Member Research Station and Domination Station will be ready to go for you to help create your lineups so be sure to check that out. Also, jump in the NASCAR VIP Slack and get some great insight into this week’s race.
Two Races, One Contest
FanDuel does some funky things Sometimes. FanDuel does not split the two races up like they do on DraftKings. They actually combine both races for a single slate. It is important to remember this as you will be looking to play the top 5 scorers between both races. You may only need one driver from race #1 and four from Race #2. This will add a lot of extra variance to the slate. For this article, I will pinpoint my favorite plays from each slate separately to make it a little more organized.
Be sure to check out the preview article for some extra info on the Duels.
Duel #1
Team Penske: The three Penske cars of Logano, Keselowski, and Blaney are all participants in Duel #1 together. The Penske cars are phenomenal at Superspeedways and three can work well together. They will be a bit chalky but that probably won’t matter as they have a good shot at being the best plays on the slate. Keselowski and Blaney starting 12th and 14th respectively offer great place differential upside. Logano starting 6th doesn’t have the Place diff but he can certainly win this race and do so by leading a bunch of laps.
Daniel Suarez: Suarez has to race his way into the Daytona 500. This means he will have to be aggressive and make sure to beat out the other drivers trying to race their way in as well. I expect there will be some Toyota team orders here with Hamlin, Bell and Truex instructed to help Suarez secure his spot in the big race. It is import to Toyota to get this car into the 500. For this reason and the fact he starts 19th at a great price I believe he is a strong value play this week.
Chris Buscher: Buescher starting 10th is in his first race with Roush-Fenway Racing. This #17 is always fast at the Superspeedways and he will have tons of Ford help. Teammate Ryan Newman is in this race as well so he will have a direct drafting partner. I like him due to what should be lower ownership but with top 5 upside. All the pieces are in place for him to be able to score a good finish and be a GPP winning play.
Martin Truex: Truex starts 11th and will have teammates Hamlin and Bell to pair up with. Hamlin and Truex have been strong here at Daytona in the past and if the Toyotas get teamed up they can control the race. If they do so Truex has solid place diff upside to score well and could even win this race. Hamlin should be looked at as a potential dom in this scenario as well and is a good play himself. Another reason I like Truex is I expect the Penske Drivers to see a lot of ownership and this could a good pivot off of them.
Duel #2
Jimmie Johnson & Alex Bowman: Both are GPP only type plays reliant on leading a bunch of the race and finishing up front. However, at low ownership, if either delivers on this then they will be a GPP winning play. Johnson starts 2nd while Alex Bowman starts 1st. The duo also has teammate William Byron starting 4th. Bowman secured the 2nd starting place in the 500 and could play it safe in this race. This would leave the door open for JJ to be the dominator. Either way one of these drivers could dominate this race leading a ton of laps and taking the checkered flag.
Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain, & Kyle Larson: The three Ganassi cars all will be in Duel #2 together. Busch 11th, Chastain 14th & Larson 10th have good place diff upside and the strength in numbers to find their way to the front. I am a little nervous about Kyle Larson’s declaration to pay it safe at Superspeedways and the fact that Chastain only has one quality car for this week and is unlikely to make any risky moves. That being said there is no reason all 3 can’t finish inside the top 10 or even the top 5. Chastain also popped up a lot when needing a lower priced driver and could be of great value.
JJ Yeley: Like Suarez in Duel #1, Yeley needs to race his way into the Daytona 500. Due to this, he has to be somewhat aggressive and try for as high of a finish as possible. Starts 19th and if he can score a top 10-12 finish he will be a fantastic value play. This is a long shot GPP play but could be the right one in a lineup where you need to shed some salary.
Check out some of our other DFS Army NASCAR content for the 2020 season!!!
Cup Series: 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Season Preview
Xfinity Series: 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Preview
Truck Series: 2020 NASCAR Truck Series Season Preview
DFS Army Strategy Series – NASCAR Scoring Fanduel vs Draftkings
This will conclude this edition of The NASCAR Cup Series Setup for Fanduel. If you would like to reach out and talk NASCAR Follow me on twitter @Larkin8 and join me as well as our other DFS Army NASCAR contributors (Brady Miller, Taco, and NillyJay) in the NASCAR coaching channels.