Welcome everyone to the NASCAR Cup Series DFS Preview. For this edition, we will take a quick look at the upcoming Duels at Daytona. This article is brought to you by DFSArmy.com and written by Ryan Larkin. You can catch up with Ryan on Twitter or in the DFSA VIP slack @Larkin8
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Duels at Daytona
The Duel races at Daytona are used to set the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. The races are broken up into equal events with Duel #1 being raced by drivers who qualified in odd positions and Duel #2 raced by drivers who qualified in even positions. Race one will set the starting positions for the inside line of the Daytona 500 and Duel two will set the outside. The drivers who qualified 1st and 2nd in single-car qualifying will start first and second for the Daytona 500 no matter where they finish in the Duels. This means there is a risk with playing them in these events. There will be a race within the races for 8 non-chartered teams needing to race their way into the Daytona 500. These will be the most interesting drivers to watch.
Feb 13, 2020; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Michael McDowell (34) and driver Cole Custer (41) and driver Erik Jones (20) race three wide during the Bluegreen Vacations Duels At DAYTONA at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports
Quick Race Facts
Date: February 11th
Duel #1: 7:00 pm ET.
Duel #2: 8:45 pm ET
Laps: 60 laps each
Drivers: Duel #1 22 – Duel #2 – 22
Defending Champion: William Byron and Joey Logano
AVG. # of Cautions: 1.5 excluding stage breaks
DFS Outlook
These Duel races are usually tame and have very little in the way of carnage. Most of the drivers in the field have one job and that is to keep their car in one piece for the Daytona 500. We tend to get one dominator who leads 2/3rds of the laps in each of these races. It is a very follow the leader until the end and go for the win if things play out well. Nobody really pushes too hard. The only drivers who have much to race for are the non-chartered teams who must race their way into the 500 via these Duel races. We will look to pair the main dominator with a couple of top finishers and will try to luck into the 2-3 top place differential plays. There really isn’t a lot of reasoning behind the finishing order to a Duel race though and you are doing a lot of educated guessing.
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Top Plays
For these races, I really focus on a tight core of place differential plays. I then work on who I think could be the main dominator of the race and make pairings according to my favorite potential dominators. These are drivers who if they offer tons of place differential upside will be top plays but are also drivers I believe will push to lead as much as possible and to win. Picking plays without a starting lineup is hard but with the way these races play out these are drivers I believe can be viable no matter what.
Team Penske
All of Team Penske has the ability to lead and dominate. They have been the winningest team on Superspeedways over the last decade and nearly every race have had the purest speed of any team in the field. This means they have the ability to lead and win like Logano did last two years or score well if they qualify mid-pack. They are the type of team to push hard for a top starting spot and a win no matter what race they are competing in.
Ricky Stenhouse
Stenhouse is always going to push on the Superspeedways to score the best finish possible. He is super aggressive and wants to win anything he can. He is one of the few who will risk a car in this race to go for a win. I like that aggressiveness. He is fun to watch which makes him even more exciting of a play. Situationally he could be a bad play depending on where he starts but as of now he is someone to pay attention to.
David Ragan
Ragan is driving one of those non-chartered cars trying to race their way into the Daytona 500. He is a smart driver who can pick his way up the field for a solid finish. He will be cheap and if he qualifies poorly can offer good place differential ability. He has two Cup Series wins. One at Daytona and the other at Talladega. He also finished 4th here in the 2020 Daytona 500. Ragan is a very good Superspeedway racer.
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Check out some of our other DFS Army NASCAR content for the 2021 season!!!
NASCAR Cup Series Season Preview
NASCAR Truck Series Season Preview
2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Preview
DFS Army Strategy Series – NASCAR Scoring Fanduel vs Draftkings
This will conclude this edition of NASCAR Cup Series Preview. If you would like to reach out and talk NASCAR Follow me on twitter @Larkin8 or of course Become a VIP member and join me as well as our other DFS Army NASCAR contributors (Brady Miller and Taco) in the NASCAR coaching channels.