NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Pennzoil 400 March 3rd

Welcome to NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sundays Penzoil 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway! This weekend has belonged to Kyle Busch so far with the Las Vegas native winning both the Truck series race on Friday night and then followed it up with a win in the Xfinity series on Saturday afternoon. Busch qualified 3rd for today’s MENCS race and is definitely one of the favorites heading into this afternoons Penzoil 400. 

This race should be a fun one if the previous 2 races this weekend are any indication. We should have a lot of fast cars with a lot of passing, and some 3 and maybe even 4 wide racing. Looking over the practice times from Saturday’s final practice the Fords seemed to dominate with 6 cars in the top 11.

Pennzoil Oil 400 – Odds To Win @ Las Vegas Motor Speedway 

Kevin Harvick #4   +500
Kyle Busch #18   +600
Martin Truex, Jr. #19   +600
Kyle Larson #42   +650
Brad Keselowski #2   +700
Joey Logano #22   +900
Ryan Blaney #12   +1200
Aric Almirola #10   +2200
Clint Bowyer #14   +2200
Kurt Busch #1   +2200

NASCAR DFS: Leaders of the Pack

Kyle Busch ($11,900) 

Qualifying Position: 3rd

As I mentioned in the open, Kyle Busch is having himself one heck of a weekend with wins in both the Truck and Xfinity series so far and is looking to sweep the weekend. Busch has the 9th fastest lap in final practice and ran the 8th best 10 lap average. Over the last 5 years at LVMS Busch has led 49 laps and has an average finish on 8.8

Martin Truex Jr. ($10,100) 

Qualifying Position: 23rd

Truex has one of the best track records at LVMS over the past 5 races. In his previous races here Truex has an average finish of 4.2 and runs 95.6% inside the top 15. Truex also has a history of a fast car here with 255 laps led and 171 fastest laps in his last 5 races.

Others Options: Kyle Larson ($9,800)

NASCAR DFS: Middle of the Pack

Aric Almirola ($8,600)

Qualifying Position: 25th

Almirola led 36 laps last week in Atlanta leading to an 8th place finish and 45 DKFP and some how DraftKings dropped his price by $100. In final practice on Saturday Almirola ran the 4th fastest lap and the 4th best 10 lap average. Almirola has looked good all season so far, including the Clash and the Duels before Daytona, so a top 10 finish is not out of the question for the #10 Stewart-Haas Ford today.

Kurt Busch ($8,200) 

Qualifying Position: 28th

Kyle isn’t the only Busch who can run well at Vegas. Kurt Busch and the #1 Chip Ganassi Chevy ran great in practice this week and ended up with the 7th fastest lap in practice on Saturday and the 5th best 10 lap average as well. Busch has finished inside the top 5 in 3 out of 4 races this season (Daytona 500 was the only race he didn’t finish top 5). I am not ruling stacking the Busch brothers today and hoping for a 1-2 Busch family finish.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,900)

Qualifying Position: 8th

Stenhouse doesn’t have the best track record at Vegas, but he has shown to have a good car this week, so maybe he will start to improve here. In final practice Stenhouse ran the 3rd best lap, which was his 20th lap of the session out of the 47 he ran which is a good sign that his car improves over long runs which we could have a lot of on Sunday.

Other Options: Daniel Suarez ($7,700)

NASCAR DFS: Back of the Pack

Ryan Newman ($7,200)

Qualifying Position: 29th

Newman is having a great start to his season with two top-15 finishes in the first 2 points races of the season. In his last 5 races at Las Vegas, Newman has an average finish of 10.6 and runs in the top 15 72.7% of the time, and has also led 14 laps. In final practice Newman has the 6th best lap and 7th best 10 lap average. Starting 29th, with a top-15 finish in the cards, Newman is one of favorite drivers for today’s race.

Daniel Hemric ($7,100) 

Qualifying Position: 5th

Sunday could be a huge day for Hemric in Las Vegas, on the track not at the tables. Hemric had one of the fastest cars in practice Saturday after a great qualifying effort Friday night. Only Austin Dillon ($7,600) was faster in final practice and nobody ran a better 10 lap average than Hemric’s #8 RCR Chevy.

Chris Buescher ($6,500)

Qualifying Position: 27th

Chris Buescher is coming of one of his best performances of his career last week in Atlanta. After starting 30th, Buescher worked his way through field and finished with an impressive 9th place finish and 57 DKFP. Buescher has had some success in Vegas with an average finish of 19.8 in 4 races here.

Other Options: Paul Menard ($6,900) , Ryan Preece ($6,100), Ty Dillon ($6,000)

NASCAR DFS: Place Differential Driver:

Brad Keselowski ($11,400) 

Qualifying Position: 19th

Keselowski is coming a huge win in Atlanta where there was concern he may not have even been able to drive because of the flu, but he did and did ok for himself. Vegas is another track that Keselowski loves to race at.

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In his last 5 races the 2012 Cup Series champion has an average finish of 4.0, has led 197 laps, and ran 155 fastest lap. If you want to look for a possible GPP play, Keselowski could be that guy. I expect Kyle to be extremely chalky and for $500 savings I might prefer to take Keselowski as my top driver in GPP’s.

NASCAR DFS: Core Plays:

When building my cash lineup I am definitely locking in Martin Truex Jr. as my top high-priced driver, after that there are a few ways to go. I will probably go with Aric Almirola as a mid priced guy based on recent history and with how his car has looked this weekend. My last core play is going to be Ryan Newman. With how well Newman’s Roush-Fenway #6 Ford has looked this weekend and his track history make him my favorite value driver.

If you are looking to build a GPP team, like I mentioned above, Keselowski is my guy for the top-level drivers. Austin Dillon is a driver I like as well today that will probably come with low ownership as well. Dillon ran in Saturday’s Xfinity race and looked good finishing 4th. Lastly, in the value price range I like Ryan Preece. The JTG Daugherty #47 Chevy has been running towards the front late in races and could steal a top-15, or even top-10 if things break his way.

Thank you for reading my NASCAR DFS Pit Stop article this week and make sure you look for my daily NHL DFS Man Advantage piece each night of the NHL schedule. Be sure to check out Fantasy CPR daily for all your DFS needs, and remember all content is ALWAYS FREE here!