NASCAR

NASCAR Daily Fantasy Helper: Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona

If you are looking for an action-packed way to replace the NFL in the world of daily fantasy, NASCAR may be a great avenue to explore. Far from just driving in circles, some of the world's best compete nearly every weekend from February to November on tracks across America. NASCAR drivers are scored ultimately based on how they finish in the race, how many spots they advance from their starting position, and how many laps they finish and lead. Avoiding drivers that crash out of the race is a must, of course!

Here at numberFire, we've always got you covered for everything NASCAR DFS. Here's a general overview on strategy on this unique event, and our Heat Check Podcast with Jim Sannes gives you insight to how he is approaching this slate. We also have a track preview for Sunday's big race, and a lot of the info from that can be used for this event.

This slate is a lot different than a normal NASCAR DFS slate. These twin races are 60-lap sprints to set the field for the Great American Race, and there is incentive for drivers hunting for playoff spots, as stage points are on the line inside of these races. Because the field is ostensibly divided in half and the slate has two races, it is important to identify teammates who will work together in these races.

The starting lineups for Duel 1 and Duel 2 were determined by qualifying on Sunday.

Higher Priced Drivers

Brad Keselowski ($14,000): A Penske stack is a great starting place for an approach to Duel 1, as all three Penske cars are in the race together. They teamed up quite well on Sunday in the Busch Clash, as Brad Keselowski led a race-high 33 laps in that event. Keselowski starts a relatively deep 12th and has an incredibly high floor as the most expensive driver in the pool.

Ryan Blaney ($12,500): Ryan Blaney, Keselowski's teammate, is in a similar position, and compared to the third Penske member, Joey Logano ($13,000), Blaney is a less expensive stacking option who is starting much further back (14th) for Duel 1 (Logano is starting 6th). Exposure to Logano will be valuable, as well, since likely one of these three would head the trio and lead if Penske gains control of the race.

Martin Truex Jr ($12,000): Not to be forgotten amongst the Penske crowd in Duel 1 is the Toyotas. Toyota won Sunday's clash, with Erik Jones getting help from Denny Hamlin ($11,500). Martin Truex Jr. will be paired with Hamlin and Christopher Bell ($6,000) in this race, but he starts much further back -- in 11th -- for pass differential potential. Hamlin starts third, and Bell rolls of fifth. If the Toyotas gain control of the first race, they could pay off greatly in tournaments as a lower-owned pivot off of Penske.

Lower Priced Drivers

Austin Dillon ($9,000): Dillon has a tremendous record at Daytona, with seven top-10s already in his relatively short career, including a win in the 2017 Daytona 500. He starts incredibly deep in Duel 1, beginning in 15th, and while much is to be said about Penske or Gibbs controlling the race by working together, there are still nine Chevrolets in the first event. Dillon is unlikely to dominate the race, but he is a strong plate racer with a high floor.

Kyle Larson ($7,500): Duel 2 consists of a whopping 10 Chevrolets, compared to 12 other total vehicles, which makes them a high-priority stack. The issue is, the three Hendrick Motorsports cars all start in the top four. While they could dominate the race from there, if another manufacture took over, the floor could be very low for the Hendrick brigade. The Chevy team that might be worth keeping an eye on is Chip Ganassi Racing, which has the talented duo of Larson and Kurt Busch ($9,500) in the field. Larson starts a moderately deep 10th, and he makes sense at this price tag.

Ross Chastain ($5,000): There are several interesting dart throws in the $5,000 tier, which is always the case with the wild races at Daytona, but the most interesting one is Ross Chastain. Chastain has a technical alliance for this one race with the aforementioned Chip Ganassi Racing, which makes it a three-car stack in the second duel. The Florida native was the 2019 July Daytona winner in the Xfinity Series, and while this Spire Motorsports team is largely not competitive outside of alliances like this weekend, it is worth remembering they did shock the world last July, as well, winning in a rain-shortened July Daytona Cup Series race via Chastain's Xfinity teammate, Justin Haley ($4,500). Haley is an interesting play, too, in Duel 1.



Austin Swaim is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austin Swaim also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username ASwaim3. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.