We have finally made it to the Daytona 500 weekend, and boy does it feel good to be back! For those that have followed this site for very long, you know that FanDuel projections and write-ups are quite new to the site, but with the success that my DraftKings projections and picks have brought, I have no doubt that we will find similar results with FanDuel.
Speaking of which, make sure you check out my DraftKings article for the Daytona 500 (click here). There’s a lot of crossover in which drivers I really like on both sites, and I did a full video breakdown explaining strategy in that post as well. Now let’s get to the picks and projections!
Makre Sure To Also Check Out My Algorithm Predicted Finishing Order For The Great American Race (click here)
FanDuel DFS Picks for Daytona
Ryan Blaney ($13,300) – I like the strategy play of Ryan Blaney on both DFS sites, mainly because of how the the pricing structure worked out with the drivers. Here on FanDuel, Blaney is stuck right in the middle of the favorite Denny Hamlin ($14,000) and fan favorite Chase Elliott ($13,500) above, with his teammates, Joey Logano ($13,000) and Brad Keselowski ($12,500), below. The reason I’m pointing this out is because Blaney’s ownership could dip a bit just because of the drivers priced around him. As far as why I like Blaney, well, my algorithm really does (has him projected to win), plus he’s really solid on superspeedways, including a win at a Talladega last year and a 2nd in the 2020 Daytona 500. Also, Blaney’s average running position on superspeedways last year was second only to Joey Logano. Blaney can win this race, and should be strong all day.
Matt DiBenedetto ($8,200) – Fords. Love the Fords. They are the best at racing at these types of tracks, and have been so for a while now. When it comes to Matt DiBenedetto, he has always ran well at the superspeedway race tracks but kind of goes under the radar because he runs in to trouble sometimes. Still, Matty D has five finishes of 13th or better in the last eight Daytona races and ranked 4th in average running position on this type of track in 2020. With FanDuel, DiBenedetto is a strong top 10 contender at a very reasonable price.
Chris Buescher ($7,300) – Again, Fords. And my favorite pick of the week. If Chris Buescher wrecks early, you’ll have to come find me in a hole somewhere because that’s how hard I’m leaning on this guy this weekend. He’s starting 22nd but has full top 10 potential. Only Denny Hamlin had a better average finish on superspeedways last year than Buescher, and really nobody was in Denny’s world as he wound up 1st, 4th, 3rd, and 1st in the four races. Buscher came home 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 6th. Here at Daytona, Buescher has five top 10s in the last seven points-paying races and has had positive place differential in six of the seven.
Daytona 500 FanDuel Driver Projections
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 six different ranking systems. Also factored in are projected laps led for each driver. You can click the headers below to sort the chart by that attribute. By default it is sorted by average projected FPTS.
| Driver | FanDuel Salary | Avg Proj Pts | Starting Position | Avg. Projected Finish | Dollar Per Pt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denny Hamlin | $14,000 | 68.4 | 25 | 05.8 | $205 |
| Ryan Blaney | $13,300 | 62.0 | 14 | 05.7 | $215 |
| Brad Keselowski | $12,500 | 59.2 | 24 | 10.2 | $211 |
| Joey Logano | $13,000 | 58.2 | 9 | 07.0 | $223 |
| Chase Elliott | $13,500 | 57.9 | 12 | 06.8 | $233 |
| Chris Buescher | $7,300 | 55.3 | 22 | 11.3 | $132 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | $9,300 | 53.3 | 26 | 14.0 | $174 |
| Alex Bowman | $10,000 | 53.0 | 1 | 08.7 | $189 |
| Kyle Busch | $11,000 | 51.7 | 10 | 10.0 | $213 |
| William Byron | $10,200 | 51.0 | 2 | 08.3 | $200 |
| Kurt Busch | $9,000 | 50.3 | 20 | 13.8 | $179 |
| Kevin Harvick | $12,000 | 50.0 | 8 | 10.3 | $240 |
| Kyle Larson | $11,500 | 49.9 | 13 | 12.2 | $231 |
| Ross Chastain | $7,500 | 49.3 | 34 | 19.2 | $152 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | $8,200 | 49.0 | 23 | 15.7 | $167 |
| Erik Jones | $6,000 | 48.8 | 31 | 18.5 | $123 |
| Aric Almirola | $9,500 | 47.2 | 3 | 11.5 | $201 |
| Austin Cindric | $6,200 | 47.0 | 39 | 22.3 | $132 |
| Bubba Wallace | $8,500 | 45.3 | 6 | 13.2 | $188 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | $8,500 | 45.0 | 21 | 17.7 | $189 |
| Ryan Newman | $6,000 | 44.7 | 7 | 13.3 | $134 |
| Chase Briscoe | $6,500 | 44.3 | 30 | 21.2 | $147 |
| Tyler Reddick | $7,000 | 44.2 | 29 | 21.0 | $158 |
| Michael McDowell | $5,500 | 43.8 | 17 | 17.2 | $126 |
| Christopher Bell | $8,000 | 42.6 | 5 | 15.2 | $188 |
| Cole Custer | $7,000 | 42.5 | 27 | 21.3 | $165 |
| Jamie McMurray | $4,200 | 40.3 | 19 | 20.2 | $104 |
| Anthony Alfredo | $4,500 | 40.0 | 36 | 26.0 | $113 |
| Corey LaJoie | $3,700 | 39.5 | 16 | 19.7 | $94 |
| Kaz Grala | $4,500 | 39.3 | 40 | 27.8 | $115 |
| Austin Dillon | $7,500 | 39.2 | 4 | 16.2 | $192 |
| David Ragan | $4,000 | 33.5 | 18 | 24.3 | $119 |
| B.J. McLeod | $3,000 | 33.5 | 38 | 31.0 | $90 |
| Cody Ware | $3,000 | 33.3 | 35 | 30.2 | $90 |
| Ryan Preece | $4,200 | 32.5 | 11 | 22.7 | $129 |
| Quin Houff | $2,500 | 31.0 | 33 | 31.0 | $81 |
| Josh Bilicki | $2,000 | 30.8 | 37 | 32.5 | $65 |
| Joey Gase | $2,500 | 30.0 | 28 | 30.0 | $83 |
| Derrike Cope | $2,000 | 29.8 | 32 | 31.5 | $67 |
| Daniel Suarez | $5,000 | 25.0 | 15 | 29.0 | $200 |
