This is the second time the Sprint Cup be racing at Pocono Raceway this season, but this race should have a whole different outcome. Back in June, the cars that started up front also finished there (for the most part). The top DraftKings driver in that race was Chase Elliott, who led 51 laps and finished 4th (70.25 points), followed by race-winner Kurt Busch (65 points) and Matt Kenseth (51.75 points), who finished 7th. This time around, it’s going to be a little difficult to come up with that perfect race day roster, and for a couple of reasons: 1) there’s some great cars that start mid-pack and should get plenty of place differential points, and 2) the projected highest-scoring drivers also cost the most.
High-Dollar DraftKings Drivers to Target at Pocono 2
($9,500 or above)
Martin Truex, Jr. ($10,200) – Track position is going to be king here on Sunday (or Monday, depending on the weather) and nobody has it better than Martin Truex, Jr., who starts on the pole for this year’s Pennsylvania 400. Typically we don’t recommend putting the pole sitters on your DraftKings roster, but as we saw last weekend with Kyle Busch at Indianapolis, it occasionally works out. Now we’re not saying that Martin Truex, Jr. is going to go out and dominate the race this weekend, but it’s actually possible. He’s using the same car that he ran at Charlotte and led 392 laps with, and Truex has been to victory lane here at “The Tricky Triangle” before, winning the June 2015 race. The only thing you have to worry about when selecting the #78 Toyota this weekend is mistakes by the pit crew, but Martin should lead plenty of laps this weekend to provide a buffer there. We think you need to use Truex as a building block for all Pocono 2 DraftKings rosters.
Kevin Harvick ($10,400) – This guy hasn’t scored less than 44 points in DraftKings over the last three weeks and that shouldn’t change this weekend. Kevin Harvick had a mediocre qualifying effort on Friday and will start from 17th for this weekend’s Pennsylvania 400. The only thing we hear right now is place differential points, though. During the final practice session on Saturday, the entire garage was pointing at this #4 Chevrolet as the car to beat, as Harvick has the 3rd-fastest lap and the 3rd-best ten-lap average as well. He should end up solidly inside the top 5 before it’s all said and done this weekend, and based just on finish and place differential points, a 5th-place result would net you 51 points for your DraftKings team. Kevin has finished 9th or better in three of the last four Pocono races and that includes two 2nd-place finishes. It’s going to be hard to fit both him and Truex on your roster this weekend, but they both should score a whole bunch of points.
Mid-Dollar DraftKings Drivers to Target at Pocono 2
(between $7,000 and $9,500)
Brad Keselowski ($9,300) – Here’s a driver that is near the upper limit of what we call the mid-dollar DraftKings drivers, but if you can afford him, Brad Keselowski should reward your handsomely on Sunday. Throughout his career here at Pocono, BK has been a very hit or miss pick, and it’s shaping up to be a “hit” kind of weekend–and I’m not talking about that viscous one he took while testing earlier this week (see video here). The #2 Ford was one of the fastest in Saturday’s Happy Hour practice session, coming in 2nd-fastest on the overall speed chart and 5th in ten-lap average. Keselowski has finished 3rd and 2nd in the last two Pocono races and should be a contender in this one as well. He’ll start from 7th in this year’s Pennsylvania 400, too, so there’s a little room for place differential points. If any other driver than Martin Truex, Jr. is going to lead laps in the first third of this race, it’s going to be Brad Keselowski. And don’t forget that this #2 team constantly gets the best fuel mileage, and that could come into play on Sunday.
Kurt Busch ($8,900) – At this price, it’s hard to pass up the defending winner here at Pocono Raceway. Kurt Busch will also start this year’s Pennsylvania 400 from the 15th-place starting spot, so there’s another reason why you should target him in DraftKings. In addition to his win here back in June, Kurt has finished 7th or better in five of the last seven Pocono races, and he has only one result worse than 13th in that span. This has always been a very solid race track for him, honestly. A couple things we don’t like about Kurt Busch is that 1) he was slow off the truck, which hasn’t been a great sign in other races this season, and 2) he has just one single-digit finish in the last six Sprint Cup races overall. With that being said, this #41 team made some major gains on the car during Saturday’s practice session, and we all know what Kurt Busch is capable of. All it takes is one good race to break out of this little “slump” he’s in.
Ryan Blaney ($7,400) – The other star rookie (Chase Elliott, $8,700) is probably going to be a nice DraftKings pick this weekend, but dollar-for-dollar Ryan Blaney is probably the better choice. One of the main reasons you should consider the #21 Ford for your DraftKings roster this weekend is Blaney’s qualifying effort of 18th for this weekend’s Pennsylvania 400. There’s some definite room for place differential points, as the #21 Ford was one of the fastest on the long runs during Happy Hour on Saturday (4th-best ten-lap average). Back in June here at Pocono, Ryan ended up finishing 10th after starting 14th, and it wouldn’t surprise us to see him have a similar result this weekend. Blaney’s also been alternating good and bad finishes over the last month and a half and he’s coming off of that 36th-place effort at Indianapolis.
Austin Dillon ($7,900) – All of the Richard Childress Racing Chevrolets have some speed in them this weekend, and Austin Dillon has been very vocal with how much he likes his race car here at Pocono. We typically don’t hear that kind of positivity out of him so that’s definitely something to consider this weekend. He said that using similar stuff to what they had at Indianapolis last weekend, and if you remember back he finished 9th in that race. Here at Pocono, Austin has made five career starts in a Sprint Cup car and has finished between 13th and 19th in four of them. Don’t expect a lot of points from Dillon this weekend (we’re putting the ceiling right around 30) but at this price, he could be the perfect piece to complete your roster. He starts 12th on Sunday.
Low-Dollar DraftKings Drivers to Target at Pocono 2
(under $7,000)
David Ragan ($5,800) – For whatever reason, David Ragan just has a knack for finishing better than expected here at Pocono Raceway, and if he can keep it off the wall on Sunday–something he wasn’t able to do at Indianapolis–he might be the low-dollar score you need to really push your roster score to the next level. Ragan will roll off the grid from 33rd when this year’s Pennsylvania 400 goes green, which means there’s plenty of room for place differential points. He finished 23rd here back in June after starting 34th, and that’s actually Ragan’s worst finish here at Pocono in his last six starts here. The #23 Toyota didn’t look that fast in practice this week, but if David Ragan can run around making consistent laps and some of his competitors crash out, he could very easily find himself in the mid-20s once again.
Regan Smith ($5,500) – Regan Smith knows how to run well at Pocono, as he finished between 9th and 21st in the six races here from 2010 to 2012. However, you have to remember that he was running in Furniture Row Racing equipment back then. His #7 Chevrolet is nowhere near as good as that #78 Chevrolet was back then. Still, Smith is a pretty good low-dollar option this weekend simply because of his ability to finish races. He starts 30th for this weekend’s Pennsylvania 400 but if a few cars ahead of him have some issues he might be able to crack the top 25. Last week at Indianapolis, Smith finished 26th after starting 37th (29 points), and in the June race here at Pocono this season he scored 35 points after starting 35th and finishing 22nd. We wish he would have qualified a little worse this weekend but Regan Smith is still a nice low-dollar option at $5,500.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ($6,800) – There’s a little risk in putting Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. on your DraftKings roster this weekend but the potential for him to earn you some nice finish points is definitely there. Typically Stenhouse finishes within a few positions of where he starts, and he’s going to roll off the grid from 14th in this year’s Pennsylvania 400. In the race here back in June, Ricky ended up finishing 15th after starting 25th, matching his career-best result at this track. If he finishes 15th this week, he’s going to score 28 points for your DraftKings team, which is pretty decent for his lower salary. What’s really to like about Stenhouse this weekend, however, is how the #17 Ford has performed as of late; with his 12th-place finish at Indianapolis last weekend, Ricky now has three finishes inside that mark over the last four Sprint Cup races.
