Phoenix International Raceway is a 1-mile flat track where track position and pit strategy come into play more than they should. We don’t see a whole lot of tire fall off here at Phoenix, and when you add that to the fact that this is a relatively short race (only 312 miles), it’s going to be more important than ever for drivers to have a mistake-free race. Also, teams must have a solid setup in place heading into Sunday because the shorter event limits the amount of time they have to work on the car in-race. Teams that struggled during Saturday’s practice sessions should, generally, be avoided in DraftKings this week.
Also check out: DraftKings Drivers to Targt at Phoenix
DraftKings Drivers to Avoid for the Phoenix Camping World 500(k)
Austin Dillon ($7,900) – Typically when a team goes out at the start of Happy Hour, runs a few laps, and then goes back into the garage, it’s either a very good or very bad sign for fantasy owners. That’s what happened with Austin Dillon on Saturday afternoon, and it wasn’t a good sign. This #3 team unloaded on Friday with middle-of-the-road speed but it seems like they have only gotten slower since then. Austin was just 31st-fastest in Practice #2 on Saturday and then followed that up with the 22nd-best lap in Happy Hour as well. As far as ten-lap average goes, the #3 Chevrolet ranked 27th in that final session out of 32 total cars. Austin’s record here at Phoenix is less than stellar, although he did finish 9th in this race last year. However, it’s going to take a whole lot of overnight changes–as well as quite a bit of luck–for the #3 Chevrolet to be that good this Sunday. Austin might be worth a shot in DraftKings if he qualified back in 30th but unfortunately he’s going to start from 17th when this thing goes green.
Kurt Busch ($8,700) – Let’s take a look at Kurt Busch’s recent finishes here at Phoenix International Raceway: 5th, 6th, 7th, 5th, 7th. Seems pretty good, right? And with his 11th-place starting spot this weekend, that means he’d be a really good choice in DraftKings if he’s able to move up and finish within that 5th-to-7th-place range. Unfortunately, you can’t just look a previous finishes when it comes to Fantasy NASCAR. This #41 team, as well as Stewart-Haas Racing as a whole, struggled quite a bit during the practice sessions on Saturday, and the last driver you want with a bad race car and 300+ miles to go is Kurt Busch. With each passing lap, he’s going to care less, and before long he’ll just start screaming at his team. It happens on a regular basis. Going into Sunday, the #41 Ford is probably a top 20 car, but that’s it. And to make Kurt a viable option in DraftKings, he needs to finish inside the top 10. Stay away, stay far away.
A.J. Allmendinger ($7,000) – A.J. Allmendinger and the #47 team finished 17th in both Phoenix races last season, which would usually put him towards the top of the list as a sleeper option this time around. However, in case you haven’t been paying attention this season, the JTG Daugherty organization is actually having a pretty hard time adjusting to having two cars in the field, and that’s hurting A.J. Allmendinger. Last year he was a solid top 20 choice on intermediate tracks, but in the last two races of this season he has wound up 24th and 26th. Speed-wise this weekend, Allmendinger has steadily gotten worse as the weekend went on, and in Happy Hour he wound up 28th-fastest with the 23rd-best ten-lap average. He loves the slipping and sliding around driving style that Phoenix provides, but it’s going to be even harder for A.J. to enjoy that on Sunday with the terrible race car he has.
Ty Dillon ($6,700) – Ty Dillon has been a staple of winning lineups over the last couple of weeks, and because of that his DraftKings price has jumped quite a bit. And while Ty is still on the lower end of the salary spectrum, it’s time to look at whether or not he’s really worth it. This weekend it’s pointing to “probably not.” Dillon qualified 15th for Sunday’s Camping World 500(k), which is right around where he should end up finishing as well. With that being said, the #13 Chevrolet was outside of the top 20 entirely in both practice sessions on Saturday, so it’s going to be difficult for the younger Dillon brother to stay up there. Honestly, a 20th-place finish is more likely out of Ty this weekend, which turns into 19 base FPTS for DraftKings owners because of the negative points for place differential. This is the week to stay away from Ty Dillon in DraftKings.
Ryan Blaney ($8,000) – Everybody knows the rules: if you start up front, you better lead some laps or else you aren’t worth the risk in DraftKings. And at an $8,000 price point, Ryan Blaney is going to need to lead quite a few laps for the gamble to pay off on Sunday. Unfortunately he’s simply not one of those drivers that will go out there and lead a race, so while Blaney will be a solid Fantasy NASCAR pick in many other leagues this weekend–as he should finish top 10–DraftKings is not one of them. Even if the #21 team is able to pull off a top 5 finish on Sunday, DraftKings owners are only looking at 36 base FPTS from Blaney because of the negative points for place differential. The #21 Ford was 14th-fastest in Happy Hour on Saturday and had the 11th-best ten-lap average, neither of which are good enough to vault Blaney into the “take a chance” category.
