The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series hits Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend, and unlike the craziness of Daytona and Kavin Harvick domination at Atlanta, the Pennzoil 400 should be a race where things settle down just a tad. That doesn’t mean the race itself will necessarily be boring, just that it should be a tad more predictable, though that means picking your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineup could be a bit trickier.
In what we hope will be a weekly feature, we’re going to use a combination of stats, trends and gut feeling to shine a light on drivers who seem like the best bets for your lineups on Sunday. For ease of organization, we’re going to separate the drivers by salary into premium (above $9,000), average (between $8,000 and $9,000) and bargain categories (below $8,000), giving you several options from which to choose in each tier.
Important note: Taking the lead from other FanSided.com DFS writers, we’re not going to give you a copy/paste lineup, though we will give you a sample lineup with two picks from each tier that we feel good about that fits under the price cap. Let’s get to it!
Premium drivers (salary above $9,000)
Kyle Larson ($9,800) – Looked like a man on a mission during the XFINITY Series race, though his team looks like it still is having issues dialing in the new Camaro. Still, he finished second in this race last year, was the highest qualifying Chevy and has confidence after he passed people pretty much wherever he wanted on Saturday.
Kevin Harvick ($10,300) – Think he’s going to fade a bit with Atlanta behind him? Think again, as he put his Stewart-Haas Racing Ford on the front row for Vegas. If you’re a believer in riding the hot hand, which is appropriate in Sin City, he deserves a spot in your lineups.
Brad Keselowski ($9,400) – Despite what he felt would happen, Fords have been the class of the Cup Series garage so far, and Brad K is enjoying that fact at the moment. He’s won two of the last four Vegas races and figures to be a factor again.
Martin Truex Jr. ($10,500) – A bit of a tough play at his salary until he figures it out, but he might do that at Las Vegas. Truex was fast almost everywhere in 2017, but he was especially formidable at 1.5-mile tracks. And oh yeah, he’s the defending race winner. Worth a look even if he let you down the first two weeks.