The scoring with DraftKings this weekend isn’t like a typical race. Sonoma Raceway is a 2.52-mile road course venue and we’re only set to run 110 laps on Sunday afternoon. That’s quite a bit fewer than the 200 we ran at Michigan a couple of weeks ago, and that means the bonus points for laps led and fastest laps are limited. Therefore, it’s more important than ever to only pick drivers up front that are going to finish there. We should see a bunch of “movers” on Sunday, which also means there should be quite a few drivers that fall through the field as well–a.k.a. the ones you need to avoid.
DraftKings Drivers to Avoid for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma
Martin Truex, Jr. ($9,300) – There’s definitely potential for Martin Truex, Jr. to have a good finish on Sunday, but we just don’t think it’s the best move strategy-wise to take the #78 Toyota–especially at the $9,300 price point. Truex does have a win here at Sonoma, but that was back when he was running the Michael Waltrip Racing Toyotas. For whatever reason, the MWR cars were a step above the rest of the Sprint Cup organizations for a couple of years. Since joining Furniture Row Racing, Truex has finished 15th and 42nd in the two races here at Sonoma. Another reason we think you should avoid him in DraftKings this week is because Martin disappoints more often than not. Yeah, he was a gold mine in the Coca-Cola 600 back at Charlotte, but that’s still been Truex’s only finish better than 9th in the last eight Sprint Cup races. The #78 Toyota is going to roll off the grid from 3rd on Sunday but it’s going to take a perfect strategy for Truex to finish there.
Denny Hamlin ($8,000) – The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas have all shown a whole lot of speed since the cars unloaded on Friday, and the $8,000 price point attached to Denny Hamlin might be luring, but let’s not forget who we’re talking about. This #11 team definitely has qualifying figured out, but in most of their races they finish worse than they start. By putting Hamlin on your DraftKings roster, you’re essentially throwing points out the door immediately. The main reason you need to avoid Hamlin this week, though, is the fact that he is terrible at Sonoma; in the last six races at this track, Denny has a best finish of 18th, and his career average finish here is 22.7.
Danica Patrick ($6,100) – Yes, these races at Sonoma are very unpredictable and anything can happen, but that doesn’t mean you should take a chance with Danica Patrick this weekend. Yes, She’s super cheap at $6,100, but she qualified a season-best 11th on Saturday and that immediately eliminated any viability that Danica had. If she is able to finish the Toyota/Save Mart 350 on Sunday, she’s a top 20 car at best, which means you’re basically getting about 15 or so points from her. And that’s it. That’s not worth a play even at $6,100.
Chase Elliott ($8,500) – It might be worth taking a shot with Chase Elliott this weekend if he was priced $1,000 or $2,000 lower. However, at $8,500, it’s just not a good choice. This is going to be a very long race for all rookies on Sunday, and it wouldn’t surprise us if the #24 team would be more than happy to come home with a top 15 finish and head on to Daytona. Elliott is going to roll off the grid from 16th on Sunday, which is actually a lot higher of a qualifying effort than we expected out of the kid. Both him and Ryan Blaney struggled quite a bit during the practice sessions on Friday. Chase Elliott has been a great choice in DraftKings for many of the races thus far in 2016, but we can almost guarantee he won’t be this weekend at Sonoma.
