These are my final thoughts and strategies to consider for Sunday afternoon’s race at Indianapolis Motor 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.
- NEW THIS WEEK: I’ve added in my projections for laps led in the chart below. This will make the chart to have more realistic projections for the drivers that qualify up front.
- Expect Sunday’s Brickyard 400 to play out very similarly to the Pocono race last month. That means that restarts will be everything, and it’s going to be hard to pass once the field gets sprawled out. The car that ends up with the lead after a restart should continue to lead until they have to pit or there is a stoppage in action.
- Jimmie Johnson will be starting from the rear of the field on Sunday due to a rear gear change. However, this was announced after qualifying, so his official starting position will still be 4th.
Projected Base FPTS at Indy
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 + laps led DraftKings FPTS as well as the dollar per FPT. I don’t try to project fastest laps–that’s up to you. You can click the headers below to sort the chart by that attribute. By default it is sorted by average projected FPTS.
| Driver | DraftKings Salary | Starting Position | Avg. Projected Finish | Proj Laps Led | Avg Proj Base + Laps Led FPTS | Dollar Per FPT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kyle Larson | $10,200 | 25 | 04.8 | 6 | 60.9 | $172 |
| Kyle Busch | $10,500 | 1 | 01.4 | 52 | 57.6 | $235 |
| Kevin Harvick | $9,900 | 2 | 03.2 | 42 | 50.7 | $246 |
| Denny Hamlin | $9,500 | 5 | 03.0 | 25 | 49.9 | $218 |
| Matt Kenseth | $9,200 | 14 | 06.2 | 5 | 46.9 | $202 |
| Martin Truex Jr | $10,600 | 6 | 05.6 | 11 | 41.6 | $273 |
| AJ Allmendinger | $6,900 | 39 | 22.4 | 0 | 38.2 | $181 |
| Clint Bowyer | $8,600 | 18 | 12.0 | 0 | 38.0 | $226 |
| Chase Elliott | $9,600 | 16 | 11.4 | 1 | 37.5 | $258 |
| Jimmie Johnson | $10,000 | 4 | 07.0 | 5 | 35.3 | $294 |
| Brad Keselowski | $9,300 | 11 | 10.2 | 0 | 34.6 | $269 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | $8,200 | 13 | 11.2 | 0 | 34.6 | $237 |
| Ryan Blaney | $8,900 | 10 | 11.2 | 3 | 32.4 | $282 |
| Joey Logano | $9,100 | 7 | 09.4 | 0 | 32.2 | $283 |
| Kurt Busch | $8,300 | 12 | 12.2 | 0 | 31.6 | $263 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr | $7,000 | 21 | 17.0 | 0 | 31.0 | $226 |
| Erik Jones | $8,500 | 9 | 11.4 | 2 | 30.7 | $281 |
| Daniel Suarez | $7,800 | 15 | 14.2 | 0 | 30.6 | $255 |
| Paul Menard | $6,300 | 17 | 16.2 | 0 | 28.6 | $220 |
| Austin Dillon | $7,500 | 20 | 18.2 | 0 | 27.6 | $272 |
| Chris Buescher | $6,600 | 26 | 21.4 | 0 | 27.2 | $243 |
| Ty Dillon | $6,800 | 28 | 22.4 | 0 | 27.2 | $250 |
| Aric Almirola | $6,100 | 29 | 23.0 | 0 | 27.0 | $226 |
| Jamie McMurray | $8,700 | 3 | 10.6 | 4 | 26.8 | $337 |
| Ryan Newman | $7,400 | 8 | 13.4 | 4 | 26.2 | $294 |
| Kasey Kahne | $7,900 | 19 | 19.6 | 0 | 23.8 | $332 |
| Trevor Bayne | $7,100 | 22 | 22.0 | 0 | 22.0 | $323 |
| David Ragan | $5,800 | 30 | 26.0 | 0 | 22.0 | $264 |
| Danica Patrick | $6,500 | 23 | 22.8 | 0 | 21.4 | $304 |
| Michael McDowell | $5,900 | 24 | 23.6 | 0 | 20.8 | $284 |
| Cole Whitt | $5,600 | 34 | 28.6 | 0 | 20.8 | $269 |
| BJ McLeod | $4,800 | 40 | 33.4 | 0 | 17.2 | $279 |
| Gray Gaulding | $4,600 | 35 | 31.4 | 0 | 16.2 | $284 |
| Joey Gase | $4,500 | 38 | 33.4 | 0 | 15.2 | $296 |
| Corey Lajoie | $5,500 | 32 | 31.0 | 0 | 14.0 | $393 |
| Landon Cassill | $5,300 | 31 | 30.6 | 0 | 13.8 | $384 |
| Timmy Hill | $4,900 | 37 | 34.2 | 0 | 12.6 | $389 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | $5,400 | 27 | 30.0 | 0 | 11.0 | $491 |
| Jeffrey Earnhardt | $5,100 | 36 | 34.6 | 0 | 10.8 | $472 |
| JJ Yeley | $4,700 | 33 | 34.2 | 0 | 08.6 | $547 |
