Pocono Raceway is a track that requires a strong race car and a driver that is as comfortable as possible. And because there are so many passing points at this 2.5-mile venue, that means there are that many more opportunities for drivers to fall back (or move up) on Sunday. Obviously it’s the former that you want to avoid when playing DraftKings. Overall, there best cars pretty much qualified up front this weekend, but there are still a few that you should stay away with when composing your lineups.
Also check out: DraftKings Drivers to Target at Pocono
DraftKings Drivers to Fade for the Pocono 400
EDIT: The #78 team decided to change the engine in Martin Truex, Jr.‘s car overnight and he will start from the rear of the field. In DraftKings, he will still be scored from the 2nd-place starting spot, though. I wouldn’t recommend picking Truex this week.
Joey Logano ($9,100) – It looks like this might be the weekend that the #22 teams get out of this slump they’re in, but that doesn’t make Joey Logano a good option in DraftKings. He qualified 9th for Sunday’s Pocono 400 and that’s about where he should end up as well. And while Logano’s price is decently low (for him) at $9,100, looking for 35 FPTS out of a driver at that salary isn’t a very good strategy in DraftKings. Not to mention there’s no guarantee that this #22 team has gotten the monkey off their back yet. Logano has finished 5th and 4th in the last two June races here at “The Tricky Triangle” but it just doesn’t look like the #22 Ford has that type of speed this time around. Joey was 10th-fastest in Happy Hour on Saturday but it seemed like he was still searching for something heading into race day.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ($8,500) – Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s ownership percentage should be decently high this weekend, as he qualified 28th for Sunday’s Pocono 400 and has finished inside the top 5 in six of his last seven starts here. And while those numbers are great, and there’s very little risk in putting Junior in your DraftKings lineup, this post is called Drivers to Fade for a reason. The fact of the matter is that this #88 team has had little to no luck at all this season. They also haven’t been happy with this race car this weekend, and when there’s only one practice session scheduled after qualifying, that becomes a problem. Junior tweeted that he will need “substantial gains” (view here) to be any good on Sunday, which definitely doesn’t bestow confidence. The #88 Chevrolet was just 20th-fastest on the speed chart during that practice session on Saturday. Junior will definitely be on a few of my DraftKings lineups this weekend, but for the most part I will probably be fading him.
Ryan Blaney ($8,400) – Blaney and the #21 team have definitely surprised teams in a couple races this season–like Texas where he led 148 laps–but the fact of the matter is that Ryan has really only shown to be a threat to lead laps at intermediate race tracks. And when you qualify 4th, as he did this weekend, you’re going to have to lead some laps in order to be viable in DraftKings. Blaney did finish 11th and 10th in the two races here at Pocono last season, but even a result like that won’t make him a good choice in this Fantasy NASCAR format. Additionally, Blaney hasn’t really had the best luck as of late, as he has just one finish better than 12th in the last seven Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races. I’ll pass.
Jamie McMurray ($8,100) – As far as performance goes, Pocono Raceway is in the middle of the pack for Jamie McMurray over his career, and while he’s probably going to be good for a top 10 finish here on Sunday, he’s not a good pick in DraftKings. With this race only being 160 scheduled laps, that increases the importance of place differential FPTS by a big margin compared to the last couple of weeks, and with Jamie Mac qualifying 8th this weekend, you’re basically just looking at finish points out of him. On top of that, the #1 team struggled during the practice session on Saturday, and McMurray hasn’t finished better than 15th in the last three races here at Pocono.
Darrell Wallace, Jr. ($6,200) – When it comes to Fantasy NASCAR, it’s always fun to take a shot with a relatively unknown driver. And I don’t mean that in the sense that people don’t know who Bubba Wallace is, but rather that nobody really knows what to expect out of him this weekend. He’s shown great promise in the Xfinity Series but coming in and running your first Cup Series race at a track like Pocono is incredibly difficult. With that being said, Bubba did go out and qualify 16th for Sunday’s Pocono 400, so there’s some hope there that he might have a good run. However, as far as his viability in DraftKings goes, it’s little to none. Wallace might be worth a shot on one or two of your lineups, but as far as going heavy on him, it’s not recommended. A 20th-place finish out of Bubba on Sunday would be considered a great run out of this kid, but it would only yield 20 base FPTS in DraftKings.
