These are my final thoughts and strategies to consider for Saturday night’s race at Daytona International Speedway, as well as projected DraftKings FPTS for each driver. The chart below is explained but if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.
- Just like last week at Sonoma, we’re going to go through “leader cycles” here on Saturday night at Daytona. It’s rare for a driver to lead more than 40 or 50 laps at this track, so when we have 160 laps scheduled, we should see plenty of leaders.
- Once again, place differential is king this weekend. Fastest laps are impossible to predict at Daytona, and pretty much every car in the field will at least get a few. And since there’s only 160 laps scheduled for Saturday night, we’re looking at only 40 FPTS for laps led. Focus on finish points and place differential points!
- Watch the radar. There’s a possible storm that could affect this race. Remember, when Aric Almirola won the 2014 Coke Zero 400, that event was shortened by rain.
- Don’t be afraid to go with some outside-of-the box picks this weekend. Literally anything and everything can happen at Daytona, and we could see anyone finish up front. For example, the top 5 in this year’s Daytona 500 were: Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, A.J. Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, and Paul Menard.
- Starting position doesn’t mean a lot here, but keep in mind that the last four Coke Zero 400s that went the full distance were won by a driver that started 8th or better.
Projected Base FPTS at Daytona 2
The following chart takes into account the very basics: the starting position and the projected finish of each driver. The projected finishes are averaged from five different ranking systems, using both mathematical equations as well as personal rankings. This chart also includes the average projected base DraftKings FPTS–which doesn’t take into account fastest laps or laps led points–as well as the dollar per FPT. I don’t try to project fastest laps or laps led–that’s up to you. You can click the headers below to sort the chart by that attribute. By default it is sorted by the average projected finish of the drivers.
| Driver | DraftKings Salary | Starting Position | Avg. Projected Finish | Avg Proj Base FPTS | Dollar Per FPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denny Hamlin | $9,900 | 18 | 03.2 | 57.4 | $172 |
| Kyle Busch | $9,600 | 16 | 03.8 | 53.0 | $181 |
| Kevin Harvick | $9,500 | 5 | 03.8 | 42.0 | $226 |
| Kurt Busch | $9,100 | 15 | 06.2 | 46.6 | $195 |
| Brad Keselowski | $10,400 | 3 | 06.6 | 35.0 | $297 |
| Joey Logano | $10,000 | 7 | 06.8 | 38.0 | $263 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | $10,300 | 1 | 08.0 | 29.6 | $348 |
| Martin Truex Jr | $9,700 | 25 | 08.6 | 51.8 | $187 |
| Austin Dillon | $7,900 | 19 | 09.0 | 45.0 | $176 |
| Kyle Larson | $9,200 | 21 | 09.4 | 46.2 | $199 |
| Clint Bowyer | $8,800 | 11 | 09.6 | 35.8 | $246 |
| Ryan Blaney | $8,500 | 9 | 10.2 | 32.6 | $261 |
| Chase Elliott | $8,600 | 2 | 12.4 | 21.2 | $406 |
| Jamie McMurray | $8,100 | 8 | 13.2 | 25.6 | $316 |
| Jimmie Johnson | $9,000 | 12 | 13.8 | 28.4 | $317 |
| Trevor Bayne | $7,700 | 14 | 14.0 | 30.0 | $257 |
| Ryan Newman | $6,700 | 22 | 15.0 | 36.0 | $186 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr | $8,300 | 6 | 15.2 | 19.6 | $423 |
| Kasey Kahne | $7,800 | 4 | 16.0 | 16.0 | $488 |
| Michael McDowell | $6,200 | 23 | 16.0 | 35.0 | $177 |
| Matt Kenseth | $8,700 | 13 | 16.6 | 23.8 | $366 |
| Paul Menard | $7,300 | 24 | 17.8 | 32.4 | $225 |
| Daniel Suarez | $7,000 | 20 | 20.2 | 23.6 | $297 |
| AJ Allmendinger | $6,500 | 27 | 20.6 | 29.8 | $218 |
| Darrell Wallace Jr | $6,900 | 31 | 22.0 | 31.0 | $223 |
| Danica Patrick | $5,800 | 10 | 22.2 | 09.6 | $604 |
| Erik Jones | $7,400 | 17 | 23.6 | 13.8 | $536 |
| David Ragan | $5,200 | 30 | 24.4 | 25.2 | $206 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | $5,300 | 28 | 24.6 | 22.8 | $232 |
| Ty Dillon | $6,400 | 34 | 25.2 | 27.6 | $232 |
| Elliott Sadler | $6,300 | 33 | 25.4 | 26.2 | $240 |
| Chris Buescher | $5,900 | 29 | 25.4 | 22.2 | $266 |
| Cole Whitt | $5,100 | 35 | 25.8 | 27.4 | $186 |
| Landon Cassill | $5,400 | 26 | 27.2 | 15.6 | $346 |
| Ryan Sieg | $5,000 | 38 | 27.2 | 27.6 | $181 |
| Brendan Gaughan | $4,900 | 32 | 29.6 | 16.8 | $292 |
| Corey Lajoie | $4,800 | 36 | 30.4 | 19.2 | $250 |
| Jeffrey Earnhardt | $4,700 | 39 | 32.0 | 19.0 | $247 |
| D.J. Kennington | $4,600 | 40 | 32.2 | 19.6 | $235 |
| Reed Sorenson | $4,500 | 37 | 32.6 | 15.8 | $285 |
