Believe it or not, Dover International Speedway has been a gold mine for place differential points over the last few years, and it looks like that is going to be the case with the AAA 400 Drive for Autism as well. In this race last year, six of the top 10 finishers started 11th or worse, and in the race before that, all but two failed to qualify in the top 10. This weekend, there are some very good cars starting up front, but at the same time there are quite a few solid drivers didn’t have a great qualifying effort on Friday. Targeting mainly place differential points this weekend in the FOX Fantasy Auto game is going to be the best strategy.
My team points last week (Charlotte): 132
Overall team standings: 490th
Total team points for the season: 2,115
Top FOX Fantasy Auto Drivers for the 2017 Dover Race
Jimmie Johnson ($11,300) – For whatever reason, the FOX Fantasy Auto game doesn’t have Jimmie Johnson as the highest-priced driver for Dover, despite the fact that he’s a ten-time winner here and has posted fifteen top 5 finishes in his thirty career starts at “The Monster Mile (50%). He’s still pretty high priced, but $11,300 isn’t terrible in this game. Anyway, Johnson’s history at this track speaks for itself, and his 14th-place qualifying effort this weekend makes him a great option in this game. The only bad thing about Johnson in FOX Fantasy Auto is that he’s going to be incredibly high-owned (on Saturday afternoon he was at 60% ownership). This does create a fade opportunity, and with the higher-than-average number of potential ‘movers’ on Sunday, it wouldn’t be a terrible move strategy-wise. Then again, it’s never very smart to go against Jimmie Johnson at Dover.
Kevin Harvick ($10,800) – Kevin Harvick didn’t have as good of a race as expected at Charlotte last weekend, but he still ended up finishing 8th and has now ended up inside that mark in five of the last six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races overall (the only exception being Talladega). As far as Dover goes, Harvick is a previous winner here (the 2015 fall race) and has led the most laps (563) over the last four races at the Monster Mile. This weekend, he qualified back in 18th, and when you combine that with the fact that he’s incredibly under-priced in this FOX Fantasy Auto game, that makes Harvick a great option for your team–especially as a replacement for Jimmie Johnson if you’re taking the fade #48 route. The #4 Ford should be at least top 10 good on Sunday. Harvick was 12th-fastest in Practice #2 on Saturday morning and then wound up 6th on the Happy Hour speed chart with the 7th-best ten-lap average.
Chase Elliott ($10,100) – It’s hard to trust this kid right now–considering Chase has finished 24th or worse in the last four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races–but with a pair of 3rd-place finishes to his credit here at Dover already, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see the #24 Chevrolet break out of its little slump at “The Monster Mile” weekend. Elliott qualified back in 16th for Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism, but that really wasn’t all that surprising considering the #24 team focused mainly on race runs during the practice session that day. During Saturday’s practices, Chase was 11th-fastest in Practice #2 with the 9th-best ten-lap average, and then during Happy Hour he ranked 10th and 5th on those two charts, respectively. The cream rises to the top here at Dover, and this car, driver, and team are more than capable of coming away with a solid finish on Sunday.
Clint Bowyer ($9,900) – It’s always a good idea to compare the first practice session of the weekend with the results of qualifying and identify any glaring differences. One that stuck out this weekend was Clint Bowyer, who wound up 13th-fastest in the practice session but will start from back in 22nd when the AAA 400 Drive for Autism goes green on Sunday. And while that’s not a great start for the weekend for the #14 team, it’s good for fantasy players in this FOX Fantasy Auto game. Bowyer has been a solid top 10 threat pretty much every time we have stopped here at “The Monster Mile” over the last six years, and there’s no reason to think he won’t be good enough to run up front this weekend, either. Clint had the 2nd-fastest ten-lap average in Practice #2 on Saturday morning and wound up 13th on that chart in Happy Hour.
Other viable options: Martin Truex, Jr., Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher
Stay away from…
Joey Logano ($10,700) – There’s just something going on with this #22 team right now, and being in that position at Dover definitely isn’t ideal. Logano qualified 26th for Sunday’s AAA 400 Drive for Autism, and while this–coupled with the fact that he is pretty cheap at $10,700–would typically make him a great fantasy option in this FOX Fantasy Auto game. However, Logano showed minimal improvement during the practice sessions on Saturday and could very easily find himself a lap down early here on Sunday. Joey was the 7th-highest-owned driver in the FOX game as of Saturday afternoon, but chances are his owners are going to be disappointed when it’s all said and done on Sunday.
Regan Smith ($5,000) – It’s easy to throw Regan Smith on your FOX Fantasy Auto roster this weekend for a couple reasons: one, he’s really cheap at $5,000, and two, he has great place differential upside because he qualified 30th. With that being said, Dover is a track where the top drivers always find their way to the front. Very rarely do drivers luck into a good finish here, so banking on something crazy like that happening isn’t a very good strategy. Despite having 12 Cup starts under his belt at “The Monster Mile,” Regan Smith has never finished better than 17th and more often than not he has ended up outside of the top 25 completely. The #43 Ford was 27th-fastest in both practice sessions on Saturday, and that’s probably around where Smith will end up on Sunday, too. If you want a cheap option with decent place differential potential, go with Chris Buescher ($6,500) this week.
