If recent races here at Pocono Raceway are any indication, we aren’t going to see many “movers” on Sunday–meaning drivers that qualified mid-pack or worse who will make their way up through the field on race day. And with the possibility of place differential points limited this weekend, that means DraftKings players need to really focus on having drivers that will lead some laps and put down fastest laps on Sunday (as well as finish up front, of course). On average–at least over the last five races–eight of the top 10 finishers at Pocono will have started inside the top 15. With that being said, some drivers have qualified better than they will race this weekend, and those are the ones you need to avoid.
DraftKings Drivers to Avoid for the Pocono Pennsylvania 400
Kasey Kahne ($8,100) – To be honest, Kasey Kahne lucked into his 18th-place finish (and 34 points in DraftKings) at Indianapolis last weekend. We’re not complaining because he helped us win a lot of money, but that still needs to be stated. The thing with Kasey Kahne is that he rarely finishes well unless he qualifies well. So, yeah, his 23rd-place starting spot this weekend is pretty attractive from a place differential point perspective, but you have to look at the whole picture. Last week at Indianapolis, Kahne pretty much rode around in the mid-20s all day before all of those wrecks happened at the end and he could slide up to 18th. Chances are we aren’t going to see that type of carnage here at Pocono this weekend which means Kahne is going to have to actually race his way through the field. The good news is that he has finished 13th or better in four of the last six races here at Pocono, but it’s pretty risky putting him on any of your DraftKings teams this weekend. He’s a high-risk mid-range option this weekend and typically those don’t work out here at Pocono.
Carl Edwards ($9,700) – For the second week in a row, Carl Edwards is starting on the front row, and for the second week in a row he finds himself on our avoid list for DraftKings. Honestly, it was looking like we were going to miss the boat completely with that designation last weekend, but in the end Edwards wrecked and gave his owners -14 points–and the end result is really all that matters, right? This weekend at Pocono, Edwards definitely has top 10 potential, but he’s nowhere near a lock for a top 5 finish. And yeah the Gibbs cars are a step above all other organizations in the Sprint Cup garage, but you can’t look past the fact that Chevrolet has won seven of the last eight races at this track. Carl hasn’t posted a top 5 finish here since the 2010 season and because of that we’re going to stay away from him in DraftKings this weekend. If he finishes 8th on Sunday like he did here back in June, that’s only 30 points–and $9,700 is a pretty high price to pay for that mediocre score.
Paul Menard ($7,100) – The driver of the #27 Chevrolet has actually been a pretty solid play in DraftKings over the last few races, with at least 32 points scored in each of the last three events. He ended up with 47 points at Indianapolis last weekend after starting 23rd and finishing 10th. This weekend, however, you shouldn’t expect to gain many DraftKings points from Paul Menard. He has a new crew chief this weekend, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, they really hit on something on Friday and ended up qualifying 3rd. This is good news for Menard owners in other Fantasy NASCAR leagues, but you shouldn’t take him in DraftKings. Chances are, he’s not going to lead any laps on Sunday and he’s probably going to fall back quite a bit; Menard hasn’t finished better than 11th here since the 2012 season. All of the Richard Childress Racing cars have shown good speed this weekend but it’s going to take a lot for Menard to finish better than 12th on Sunday.
A.J. Allmendinger ($7,000) – Allmendinger is a nice Fantasy NASCAR sleeper option this weekend at Pocono, but if we’re being totally honest, sleepers rarely come away with a surprisingly good finish at this track. There’s a big difference between laying down one fast lap here at “The Tricky Triangle” and being good over the long run. With that being said, Allmendinger’s career-best finish here at Pocono came in this race one year ago, where he finished 7th after starting 22nd. He backed that up with a solid 16th-place finish here back in June of this season after starting 32nd. Unfortunately, A.J. qualified 13th for this weekend’s race and that eliminates any viability in DraftKings–at least in our eyes. Keep in mind he hasn’t scored more than 12 points in this game in the last three Sprint Cup races.
Jeff Gordon ($8,800) – That’s a high price to pay for someone making their second Sprint Cup start in the last nine months. There’s going to be a lot of DraftKings rosters with Jeff Gordon on them this weekend, but after his struggles getting acclimated to the car at Indianapolis last weekend, we view this as the perfect opportunity to fade the four-time champion. Also, when you can jump up and grab a guy like Kurt Busch for just $100 more, that seems to be the better route, in our eyes at least. With that being said, if Jeff Gordon is the puzzle piece that completes your roster this weekend, it’s not like there’s no potential there: he starts 24th (of course) for the 2016 Pennsylvania 400 and even a 15th-place finish is going to net you 38 points in DraftKings. This #88 Chevrolet has been awesome here at Pocono, too, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wheeling it to six top 5s in the last seven races here. Also, you can’t discount Jeff Gordon’s six victories at this race track.
