NASCAR Daily Fantasy Helper: Buschy McBusch Race 400
If you are looking for an action-packed way to get your sports fix, 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 who crash out of the race is a must, of course!
numberFire is always your home for fantasy NASCAR advice. In addition to this helper, Jim Sannes has you covered with his current form and odds breakdown as well as his track preview to spotlight this week's venue. For driver picks and a full preview of the event, Jim also discussed the Daytona 500 on the latest NASCAR episode of The Heat Check Daily Fantasy Podcast.
As wild as expected, Talladega was not short on surprises and action. In an overtime finish, Brad Keselowski took home the checkered flag for his sixth career win at Talladega, and more importantly, his first win of 2021 to join a playoff field that is growing fast. A repeat 2021 winner may be in store at Kansas Speedway this weekend, however, as this 1.5-mile track is incredibly similar to Las Vegas, which the series stopped at in March. With 267 laps on the docket, finding the right balance of place differential (as the field was turned upside down at Talladega) and laps led in the front will be key.
The starting lineup for this event was set through NASCAR's general qualifying format, which is a weighted average of the prior race's finishing position, prior race's fastest lap, and driver points. That formula put the Talladega winner Keselowski on the pole this weekend, and William Byron is on the outside of the front row. Pit stalls for the event were selected in the same order. There will be no PJ1 traction compound applied to the surface this weekend.
With that in mind, let's preview the Buschy McBusch Race 400 in Kansas on FanDuel.
High-Salaried Drivers
Denny Hamlin ($14,000): There are no shortage of high-upside drivers starting deeper in the field, and Hamlin -- who is starting in 20th -- is one of them. Hamlin's recent form sets him apart from the rest. Hamlin has led the most laps in each of the past three races, but issues speeding twice left him laps down and finishing 32nd at Talladega. Hamlin now carries that momentum into a Kansas track where he has won two of the past three races and led at least 55 laps in all of the events. That has him as the highest-salaried driver in the FanDuel pool, and even without the place differential upside of others, he may have the strongest package in the field.
Kyle Larson ($13,500): Larson is starting 32nd on the basis of two terrible weeks in a row. A 1.5-mile configuration, though, is just what the doctor ordered for Larson to turn his season back into the form that had him the early championship favorite. Larson has finished no worse than fourth at any of the three 1.5-mile tracks in 2021, and he has led a dominant 377 laps across the three races, including 269 at Atlanta in the most recent one. He has had success at Kansas, where Larson posted four top-10 finishes in his last six starts with Chip Ganassi Racing. Larson is the rightful +480 favorite to claim another checkered flag on Sunday.
Mid-Salaried Drivers
William Byron ($9,500): As all of these favorites start at the back, someone will have to lead laps early. An affordable, under-the-radar option may be Byron, who matched is teammates with Larson and matched Larson's strength in Miami on a similar configuration. In that race, Byron led 102 laps in a stellar win, and it started a streak that still stands for him of eight consecutive top-10 finishes. Byron starts 2nd with positive track history at Kansas, as he has three straight top-10 finishes here with a total of 30 laps led in that span.
Alex Bowman ($9,200): The third straight Hendrick Motorsports driver in the helper is intentional, as the team has dominated this configuration in 2021. Bowman joined teammates Larson and Byron with a 2021 win two weeks ago at Richmond, and that lone positive outcome in April has Bowman starting 25th in the lineup formula, which provides for immense place-differential upside at a track that Bowman has run well at historically. He has finished 11th or better in six of the past seven Kansas events, and that was without the recent speed and form his team has had in 2021. Bowman finds himself in the same position he was two weeks ago at Richmond -- a solid lineup plug with a hint of race-winning upside.
Low-Salaried Drivers
Aric Almirola ($7,500): Almirola's season started with four finishes outside the top 30 in six races, so his recent back-to-back top-15 finishes is a positive start to a comeback. On Sunday we have a lot of drivers starting inside the top-20 spots who normally would not be there, so that means Almirola -- starting 18th -- is about as solid as it gets in the short-of-punting value tier. He still has upside from that position given how well he has run at Kansas, as Almirola has posted a top-15 finish in six of his last seven appearances at the track.
Austin Cindric ($6,200): Cindric offers a combination of place differential and great equipment -- just as he has in his previous three starts in 2021. But this time, his popularity may be reduced as he has yet to cash in with a really good finish. Kansas, however, can be different, as this is the first of the four starts at places where Cindric has had bonafide success in the Xfinity Series, which he runs in full-time. Cindric led 131 of 175 laps here last July before succumbing late to the fresh tires of Brandon Jones to finish second, and while his fall 28th-place finish seems unimpressive at a glance, he was involved in an early incident and made up multiple laps and positions. With quality experience in toe, Cindric may run much better at Kansas than his other previous starts this season, and he makes for a quality value play from his starting spot of 38th.
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.
