The races at Pocono are pretty fun to watch for NASCAR fans but they can be tricky for Fantasy NASCAR players. As soon as the green flag waves on Sunday, teams will be working backwards (like a road course race) to try and gamble on fuel mileage. Strategy can be a big part of the races here at Pocono, simply because you can pit at this 2.5-mile race track and still not go a lap down. As far as who should lead the most laps, that should honestly go to the fastest car in the field. There are many places to pass at Pocono so it won’t be a “follow the leader” type situation like we had at Dover last weekend.
With just 160 laps scheduled, that means there will probably be close to 70 FPTS for fastest laps and 40 FPTS for laps led up for grabs on Sunday afternoon, the first number obviously depending on the number of caution laps. Keep this in mind as you construct your rosters, as this places a bigger emphasis on finish and place differential FPTS on Sunday.
Also check out: DraftKings Drivers to Fade at Pocono
High-Dollar DraftKings Drivers to Target at Pocono ($9,000 and above)
Kyle Larson ($9,900) – Kyle Larson put up a monster score at Dover last weekend and it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he wound up with the highest FPTS in DraftKings for the second week in a row. The #42 Chevrolet was fastest in the opening practice session this weekend and ended up qualifying 7th for Sunday’s Pocono 400. So while it may take him a little bit of time to get to the front, just remember that Larson is gaining an extra FPT for each position he improves. In Happy Hour on Saturday, the #42 Chevrolet was 3rd on the speed chart, and even though Larson did spin out in that session, that’s nothing to be worried about. Pocono has been a very good track for Kyle, and he has never finished worse than 12th in his six career starts here. He led the 2nd-most laps here last August and probably has a better car this time around. It’s hard to pass up the pole sitter Kyle Busch ($9,700) and 2nd-place qualifier Martin Truex, Jr. ($10,300) in DraftKings this weekend, but don’t forget that recent trends show that it’s usually not the drivers that start out front that lead the most laps at Pocono.
Kevin Harvick ($9,600) – Kevin Harvick’s DraftKings ownership percentage will be interesting to see on Sunday. For Harvick, $9,600 is a very cheap price, but at the same time there’s drivers that cost just a bit more than him sitting up there than I think many players will gravitate toward first. With that being said, Harvick should put up a good score at Pocono this weekend. He qualified back in 12th for Sunday’s race, although it should be noted that the only reason for that is because he messed up turn two. Based on Practice #1 speeds, Harvick should have qualified inside the top 5. So there’s an added bonus for place differential with Harvick, and then you add in his stout practice session on Saturday and there’s not a lot to dislike. The #4 team worked on long runs the entire time and that’s noteworthy simply because teams don’t do that at Pocono unless the driver is comfortable in the car–a rarity at this track. Harvick has three top 5s in the last five Pocono races and should finish inside that mark this weekend as well.
Mid-Range DraftKings Drivers to Target at Pocono (between $7,000 and $9,000)
Kurt Busch ($8,200) – There’s a lot of risk in putting Kurt Busch in your DraftKings lineups on Sunday, but the reward potential here is huge. It’s not very often that we have a legitimate threat to win priced at $8,200, but that is the case this weekend. Kurt has been fast ever since the #41 team unloaded his Ford off the truck, and during Happy Hour on Saturday, it was noted that the team was very happy with the race car heading into Sunday’s Pocono 400. Busch is the defending winner of this race and hasn’t finished lower than 5th here at Pocono in the June race since joining Stewart-Haas Racing. Kurt was 6th-fastest in Saturday’s practice session and starts 5th. If he can get the track position early, Busch could lead quite a few laps here on Sunday. It’s a gamble here but a relatively cheap one when it comes to DraftKings.
Kasey Kahne ($7,700) – After another hopeful but disappointing result at Dover last weekend, a lot of DraftKings players will be staying away from Kasey Kahne this weekend. And while that may be the safest route to take, those aren’t the types of plays that are going to help you take down the big GPP contests. Kahne has been very solid here at Pocono as of late, with finishes of 15th or better in five of the last seven races here including a win back in the 2013 season. He’s going to start back in 26th once we get going here on Sunday, but the #5 Chevrolet ranked 9th-fastest in Happy Hour on Saturday and had the 3rd-best ten-lap average of those that made a longer run. Kahne has had plenty of speed in his race cars as of late, but he just hasn’t been able to get the finish. Will this finally be the week he does?
Low-Dollar DraftKings Drivers to Target at Pocono (under $7,000)
Ty Dillon ($6,800) – Despite officially being a rookie in the Monster Energy Cup Series this year, Ty Dillon does have experience here at Pocono Raceway. In fact, he has ran the June race here at “The Tricky Triangle” for each of the last two years, posting finishes of 21st and 18th in Circle Sport cars. That should bode well for him this weekend, then, because his #13 Chevrolet is superior in all ways to the cars he was driving in those race. Ty qualified back in 27th for Sunday’s race and was 25th-fastest on the speed chart during Saturday’s lone practice session. Momentum-wise, he has three top 15s in the last four races and has wound up 17th or better in five of the last seven. Dillon is a solid choice in DraftKings this weekend, as long as you can fit in his $6,800 salary.
Chris Buescher ($6,600) – DraftKings hiked Chris Buescher’s salary up a bit this weekend, but he’s still priced low enough that he’s worth a spot in your lineups. The #37 Chevrolet wound up finishing 23rd at Dover last weekend, which makes it five races in a row that this team has finished inside that mark. Buescher will start from back in 29th when we go green here at Pocono but should be able to get some positive place differential points before it’s all said and done. For what it’s worth, Indianapolis is considered the closest track to Pocono in terms of similarity, and Buescher started 22nd and finished 14th in last year’s Brickyard race.
