For many, the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season started with a chuckle thanks to Corey LaJoie and his paint scheme (see above) in the Daytona 500. Others have another reason to be thankful for Corey LaJoie: he’s a big part of their wallets being a little fatter.
The fourth and final superspeedway race ended at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday, and while it was Ryan Blaney celebrating in victory lane, many DFS NASCAR Fantasy players were celebrating another great performance out of LaJoie and that #32 Ford.
Superspeedway races often provide the lower tier teams like LaJoie and his #32 crew, the opportunity to be competitive, and this year, they definitely took advantage of that. Call it luck or skill–maybe a combination of both–LaJoie was able to post the most DraftKings points per race on superspeedway tracks this season (56.9) of any driver in the series, narrowly beating out the 2nd-place finisher on Monday, Ryan Newman, who finished with 52.7 per race. Those two guys were the only two to break the 50-point barrier per race this year.
Newman gets the crown for the best average finish on the superspeedways this year (7.0), but LaJoie succeeded where it matters the most in DraftKings on these big tracks: place differential. Over the four superspeedway races, the #32 Ford had an average starting position of 32.8, giving LaJoie an average place differential of +22.3 spots per race.
So from this fantasy player: thank you, Corey LaJoie, for avoiding the wrecks at Daytona and Talladega in 2019. You definitely were a #ValuePick.
2019 Superspeedway Statistics
| Driver | Avg. DK Pts | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start | Avg. Place Diff | Avg. Run Pos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corey LaJoie | 56.88 | 10.50 | 32.75 | 22.25 | 27.50 |
| Ryan Newman | 52.69 | 07.00 | 18.50 | 11.50 | 20.75 |
| Ty Dillon | 48.69 | 09.25 | 19.75 | 10.50 | 17.50 |
| Kyle Busch | 47.44 | 11.25 | 20.25 | 09.00 | 09.25 |
| Ryan Preece | 42.31 | 15.25 | 26.75 | 11.50 | 22.75 |
| Ross Chastain | 42.19 | 19.50 | 35.50 | 16.00 | 31.75 |
| Michael McDowell | 38.50 | 15.75 | 24.00 | 08.25 | 23.50 |
| Joey Logano | 36.25 | 11.00 | 05.75 | -05.25 | 08.50 |
| Denny Hamlin | 34.94 | 16.50 | 19.75 | 03.25 | 19.25 |
| Parker Kligerman | 33.75 | 22.00 | 32.00 | 10.00 | 25.75 |
| Landon Cassill | 33.44 | 20.75 | 29.25 | 08.50 | 29.75 |
| Brendan Gaughan | 31.67 | 23.00 | 32.33 | 09.33 | 28.33 |
| Chase Elliott | 29.63 | 15.25 | 09.25 | -06.00 | 10.50 |
| Austin Dillon | 29.44 | 17.25 | 15.50 | -01.75 | 15.00 |
| Daniel Hemric | 28.75 | 19.50 | 21.75 | 02.25 | 19.25 |
| Erik Jones | 28.31 | 19.75 | 20.75 | 01.00 | 17.00 |
| Kurt Busch | 27.88 | 17.25 | 14.50 | -02.75 | 17.50 |
| Aric Almirola | 27.50 | 13.00 | 06.50 | -06.50 | 14.25 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | 25.25 | 24.25 | 22.75 | -01.50 | 15.25 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 23.63 | 17.75 | 09.25 | -08.50 | 10.75 |
| Matt Tifft | 22.00 | 23.75 | 24.50 | 00.75 | 27.50 |
| Paul Menard | 21.94 | 19.25 | 14.50 | -04.75 | 19.00 |
| William Byron | 20.94 | 19.25 | 10.25 | -09.00 | 12.00 |
| Joey Gase | 20.00 | 31.50 | 38.00 | 06.50 | 35.00 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 18.50 | 20.75 | 14.00 | -06.75 | 20.75 |
| Ryan Blaney | 18.31 | 20.75 | 10.00 | -10.75 | 10.50 |
| Chris Buescher | 15.75 | 26.00 | 22.75 | -03.25 | 21.50 |
| Alex Bowman | 15.75 | 17.75 | 05.50 | -12.25 | 13.75 |
| Kyle Larson | 15.69 | 22.50 | 15.25 | -07.25 | 17.75 |
| Brad Keselowski | 15.00 | 22.25 | 12.00 | -10.25 | 13.75 |
| Bubba Wallace | 13.19 | 29.00 | 24.25 | -04.75 | 30.25 |
| Martin Truex Jr | 08.19 | 25.75 | 13.50 | -12.25 | 19.75 |
| David Ragan | 07.13 | 30.00 | 20.75 | -09.25 | 19.50 |
| Daniel Suarez | 05.75 | 29.25 | 18.25 | -11.00 | 16.75 |
| Clint Bowyer | 02.13 | 26.50 | 08.25 | -18.25 | 18.25 |
| Kevin Harvick | 01.25 | 27.50 | 10.25 | -17.25 | 18.75 |
