March 17th: NASCAR DraftKings Auto Club 400 Cup Race Rankings

Welcome readers of FantasyCPR! We bring you a new piece that should help you make your NASCAR DraftKing lineups for the Auto Club 400 NASCAR race. This is how I will be constructing my lineups this weekend, also provide a little tidbit on each of the tiers. Enjoy the content.

March 17th: NASCAR DraftKings Auto Club 400 Cup Race Rankings

$10,000- Plus:

1.) Brad Keselowski ($11,500) – Starting 13th

2.) Martin Truex Jr. ($10,000) – Starting 27th

3.) Kyle Busch ($12,600) – Starting 4th

4.) Joey Logano ($10,400) – Starting 5th

5.) Kyle Larson ($10,800) – Starting 15th

6.) Kevin Harvick ($12,100) – Starting 2nd

Keselowski is at the top of my rankings this week, when the week opened I really thought that this spot would belong to Kyle Busch. However, after qualifying, Keselowski is the number one driver in my model. Following Keselowski, Truex is the second best option this week. Truex is has a great floor, is an absolute lock in cash games starting at 27th. Truex really can’t bust with his starting position. Kyle Busch is a great play if you can afford to squeeze him in this week, as he is the favorite to dominate the race early. Joey Logano is simply way too cheap. Logano is going to challenge Kyle Busch to dominate laps this week. Plus, we get a $2,000 discount, probably my favorite tournament piece this weekend. Seen a lot of love for Larson this week, don’t hate him, just not getting a ton of him. Have to make decisions and he didn’t make the cut for me. Kevin Harvick is an absolute fade this week.

$9,900-$8,000

1.) Ryan Blaney ($8,400) – Starting 10th

2.) Erik Jones Jr. ($8,200) – Starting 18th

3.) Kurt Busch ($9,100) – Starting 21st

4.) Daniel Suarez ($8,000) – Starting 20th 5.)Clint Bowyer ($8,600) – Starting 9th

6.) Aric Almirola ($9,700) – Starting 3rd

7.) Chase Elliott ($8,800) – Starting 8th

8.) Denny Hamlin ($9,400) – Starting 6th

To be honest, not a ton in this range made my player pool. Blaney is my favorite driver in the range. Blaney ranks 4th overall in my model, as he showed great speed in his practice games. Blaney nearly won last week. Erik Jones Jr. had a horrible race last week but this is a bounce back spot for him starting 18th. Kurt Busch, has simply been way too good. People just simply fail to play him because the price is a little steeper but in his last three races he’s posted top-10 finishes every week. Is the win coming? The rest of the bunch are not in my player pool but are rated as the following.

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$7,900 – $6,000

1.) Paul Menard ($6,700) – Starting 25th

2.) William Byron ($6,900) – Starting 22nd

3.) Alex Bowman ($7,000) – Starting 23rd

4.) Austin Dillion ($7,400) – Starting 1st

5.) Jimmie Johnson ($7,800) – Starting 11th

6.) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,600) – Starting 12th

7.) Ryan Newman ($7,300) – Starting 7th

8.) Chris Buescher ($7,100) – Starting 14th

9.) Daniel Hemric ($6,300) – Starting 17th

10.) Matt DiBenedetto ($6,500) – Starting 24th

11.) Ryan Preece ($6,200) – Starting 26th

12.) Ty Dillon ($6,100) – Starting 16th

Menard is the best driver in the range due to his starting position and his history on this track. 9 of his 16 career races on this track he has posted a top-20 finish. I do not expect Menard to win this race, but he should fight for a top-15 finish. Byron is second on this list, only worry is this is Bryon’s second career race here. However, he’s been very consistent. Alex Bowman is sneaky this week, Bowman has shown some solid speed during practices despite a poor qualifying showing. Bowman is a strong points differential play. Austin Dillion is starting on the pole this week, he has zero upside as I cannot envision him winning this race. Although he’s cheap enough to not hurt you with a top-10 finish.

$5,900-Below

1.) Michael McDowell ($5,800) – Starting 29th

2.) Matt Tifft ($5,400) – Starting 32nd

3.) Bubba Wallace ($5,700) – Starting 28th

4.) Garrett Smithley ($4,700) -Starting 37th

5.) Corey LaJoie ($5,200) – Starting 30th

6.) Ross Chastain ($5,600) – Starting 31st

7.) Landon Cassill ($5,300) – Starting 33rd

8.) Joey Gase ($4,900) – Starting 38th

9.) B.J. McLeod ($5,100) – Starting 36th

10.) Cody Ware ($4,800) – Starting 34th

11.) Reed Sorenson ($5,000) – Starting 35th

12.) David Ragan ($5,900 – Starting 19th

Michael McDowell headlines the value range, despite his poor finish last week. We should expect McDowell to go massively overlooked after dropping -1 fantasy point last week. He’s starting 29th, could easily sneak into the top-20. Tiff and Bubba Wallace are the last two drivers I could see doing any sorts of damage in this range. Garrett Smithley, has zero chance to sneak into the top-20, however, he cannot burn you either and the price is cheap enough that he could help you fit some studs into the lineup fairly easily.

Best of Luck today Race Fans! Follow our coverage at FantasyCPR!