FanDuel Fantasy NASCAR Projections: Daytona Coke Zero Sugar 400

Rain has been in the Daytona, Florida area for the last few days, but the forecast for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 is looking great. The forecast for your Fantasy NASCAR teams, though? Up in the air. These restrictor plate races are the hardest to predict what’s going to happen. You pretty much know which cars are going to be the strongest, but anyone–and I mean anyone–in this field could possibly win this race. Austin Dillon took home the trophy in this year’s Daytona 500 and then Joey Logano won at Talladega. Will we see another “dark horse” take the checkered flag this weekend, or will the one of the favorites take home the win yet again? Only time will tell.

As far as FanDuel goes, you’re simply looking to have the best lineup of finishers. I wouldn’t worry about laps led points this weekend, although it’s probably going to be a Ford that does it. Also, don’t feel like you have to use the entire $50,000 salary cap for your lineup! These are just a couple of my strategy considerations for this weekend’s race, and you can see my other strategy tips over in my DraftKings article. Good luck and enjoy the race!

FanDuel Driver Targets at Daytona 2

Denny Hamlin ($11,500) – Denny Hamlin is one of the strongest restrictor plate racers in the garage, and he should have a very strong showing here on Saturday night. Daytona has been a great track for this #11 team over the years, as they have came away with finishes of 6th or better in six of the last nine points-paying races here (which includes Hamlin’s 2016 Daytona 500 win). This year on the restrictor plate tracks, Hamlin has an average finish of 8.5 (3rd-best), an average running position of 13.5 (7th-best), and is averaging 7.5 fastest laps per race (4th-best). He’s going to start from back in 17th for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 but should cross the finish line within the top 5 unless something goes wrong.

Ryan Blaney ($11,200) – Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano have been the two best drivers on the restrictor plate tracks this season. As far as average running position goes between this year’s Daytona 500 and first Talladega race, Blaney leads the series with an 8th-place APR, and his average finish between the two races is 12.5–which is 8th-best. Looking specifically at Daytona, though, Blaney actually has the best average driver rating over the last five races here (101.8), and let’s not forget that he led a race-high 118 laps here in February. He’s got Penske/Roush power underneath the hoow and he’ll roll off the grid from 12th when the Coke Zero Sugar 400 goes green on Saturday night. I’d be surprised if Blaney doesn’t challenge for a top 5 finish, and maybe even a win.

Aric Almirola ($10,100) – Aric Almirola jumped up big time in salary this week, above the $10,000 mark, and I’m hoping that that helps keep his ownership percentage relatively tame. With that being said, the #10 Ford qualified back in 26th, so a lot of people are going to be gravitating toward Almirola in FanDuel. So this is kind of a chalk pick, but at the same time, I’m expecting a great race out of Aric on Saturday night. Remember, he should’ve won the Daytona 500 earlier this year. At Talladega, Almirola started back in 40th but quickly made his way through the field, had an average running position of 14th, and finished 7th. Here at Daytona, Almirola won this event back in 2014 and has finished 15th or better in six of the last seven races. He’s got a great, strong car to work with now that he’s with Stewart-Haas, and, honestly, I think he’s a great longshot pick to get the victory this weekend.

Chris Buescher ($6,500) – My favorite low-dollar FanDuel option on Saturday night is Chris Buescher. He’s just got a knack for avoiding trouble at this restrictor plate race tracks, and he qualified 25th for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, so he’s got room to get some place differential fantasy points as well. Buescher has an average finish of 8th on the plate tracks in 2018 thus far (2nd-best in the series) and that includes a career-best 5th-place finish in this year’s Great American race. Also, for what it’s worth, Chris finished 10th in this race last year.

FanDuel Projections for the Daytona Coke Zero Sugar 400

The following chart takes into account the very basics: the starting position and the projected finish of each driver. The projected finishes are averaged from five different ranking systems, using both mathematical equations as well as personal rankings. This chart also includes the average projected base points + laps led as well as the dollar per FPT. It assumes that all drivers projected to finish 11th or better will complete all laps, those projected 11th-16th will finish 2 laps down, those projected 17th-24th will finish 4 laps down, those projected 25th-30th will finish 6 laps down, and those projected 31st or worse will finish 8 laps down. You can click the headers below to sort the chart by that attribute. By default it is sorted by average projected FPTS.