DraftKings Atlanta Plays, Fades, Strategy Tactics, and Projections

DraftKings continued the Daytona momentum into Atlanta this weekend and put out another huge contest: a $400,000 Piston with $100,000 going to 1st. Each entry is $10 and there’s a max of 150 entries per user. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on that contest (and all of them, really) this Sunday, as there could be some hesitation from players with NASCAR’s new package getting used for the ‘first’ time this weekend. I know I’m personally going to lower my play amount this week from my normal, just to try to get a feel for how this new package is going to work.

DraftKings Strategy Tactics for Atlanta

The Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta on Sunday is a 500-mile race, which means there’s going to be quite a bit of time for drivers that didn’t qualify too well to make their way to the front. There are some big names that didn’t qualify well this weekend, and you can see the starting lineup by clicking here. Also please note that Kyle Busch will be starting from the rear, as he wrecked his primary car during Happy Hour practice on Saturday. He will still be scored from his 6th-place starting spot in DraftKings, though.

As far as dominator points go, there’s 325 schedule laps for Sunday’s race, which equals 81.25 FPTS in DraftKings. There will also be quite a few FPTS up for grabs for fastest laps, but the thing that makes Atlanta different than most 1.5-mile tracks is that fastest laps are a little more difficult to predict. You see, this track is old and worn out, and tire falloff is huge. This means that is anyone unexpectedly pits in the middle of a run (inadvertent or intentional), that driver is suddenly going to eat up the fastest laps–that’s why the projected fastest laps are quite spread out this weekend.

GPP Drivers I Love for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500

In GPPs, I love Kyle Busch ($10,500) this weekend, and for many reasons: one, he’s relatively under-priced there at $10,500, but he has an awesome car this weekend. Yeah, he tore up the primary car during the Happy Hour practice on Saturday, but let’s not forget that Rowdy was insanely fast in that car while he was on the track. In terms of ten-lap average, Busch almost a full mile-per-hour above 2nd-best Kyle Larson, and 2 mph faster than 2/3rds of the field. Remember, these backup cars aren’t much different than the primary.

Another reason I love being overweight on Kyle Busch in GPPs this weekend? Look above him on the driver sheet: Keselowski, Logano, and Harvick. All three have horrible starting spots, and all three cost significantly more than Busch. Yes, I do think Harvick is going to be a good Fantasy NASCAR pick on Sunday, but he’s also going to garner more exposure from players than a guy like Kyle Busch. I’d rather flip the script there and have more Rowdy. Plus, the cap savings with Kyle Busch allows you to better afford the potential dominators of Martin Truex, Jr. ($9,500) and Kyle Larson ($9,300). The Fantasy Racing Online algorithm loves Kyle Busch on Sunday, too.

Another driver I don’t mind being overweight on in DraftKings this Sunday is Erik Jones ($8,100). He was a master at getting good finishes at 1.5-mile tracks last season (average finish of 11th over the ten races), and in his two Atlanta starts, Jones has finished 11th and 14th. This weekend, the #20 Toyota had a power steering problem in the final practice session, so not only is that going to deter others from picking Erik, but he also wasn’t able to get a ten-lap run in, that that will deter people as well.

GPP Fade Options for Atlanta

Clint Bowyer ($9,100) has had a hot rod all weekend and starts up front, what’s not to like? Well, quite a bit actually. Yes, there’s a little uncertainty for what to expect with the new rules package this weekend, but let’s not forget how overall average Clint Bowyer was at the 1.5-mile tracks in 2018. His 3rd-place finish here at Atlanta was nice, but the #14 Ford wasn’t the best car that day. Overall, Clint had just two results better than 9th on this track type in 2018, and he didn’t compete for the win in any of them. Do you honestly think he’s suddenly going to be the guy to beat, and at a track like Atlanta? I guess it’s possible, but I wouldn’t bet on it. I also don’t like the fact that Clint never made a long run in the final practice session.

Two other drivers I like as fade options on Sunday are Matt DiBenedetto ($7,600) because what in the actual hell was DraftKings doing pricing him that high, and then Michael McDowell ($6,000) because he qualified 12th and generally stinks at both Atlanta and 1.5-mile race tracks. His average finish on them last season was an abysmal 24.3.

Atlanta Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 DraftKings Projections

You can click the headers below to sort the chart by that attribute. By default it is sorted by average projected FPTS.