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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS: Pit Stop for Sunday, July 5th’s Cup series race from Indianapolis Motor Speedway! This race is usually called the Brickyard 400, but like with everything nowadays, we have a sponsor this year so the Brickyard is no more and welcome Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 from IMS.
IMS is similar to Pocono as it’s a 2.5-mile track and it is also very hard to make passes here. Track position will once again be key and with only 160 laps and 120 dominator points available will be focusing on the drivers who can run up front all day. Since I use DraftKings pricing (that is the site I play on) I will tell you that if you want to pay $11,500 for Christopher Bell go ahead, but I will not be recommending him in this article as I do not see a path to him making value and paying off that price tag. Here is your DraftKings breakdown!
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
Kevin Harvick: $11,000
Starting Position: 11th
Kevin Harvick is the defending champion of this race and is one of the favorites to win it again, especially after his performances last weekend at Pocono. Harvick starts 11th, giving him the best place differential of all the dominators in this race and with a win and lead the majority of the laps in this race. If Harvick gets out front he will be hard to pass as he showed last weekend in Pocono.
Kyle Busch: 10,400
Starting Position: 7th
As if 2020 wasn’t already a weird enough year, Kyle Busch has yet to register a Cup series victory this season but that could change on Sunday. Kyle does have 2 wins at IMS and dominated in one of those races leading 149 laps from the pole. While he has had some bad luck both here at IMS, and last week, in recent races here (he has DNF’s in 2 of the last 3 at IMS), he still has what it takes to win and he is angry and feeling the pressure and that is the kind of Kyle Busch we want in fantasy.
Denny Hamlin: $10,100
Starting Position: 6th
Is Denny Hamlin underpriced at $10.1K this week? Maybe, but either way, he could definitely pay off that price tag with another performance like last weekend at Pocono. Denny Hamlin is my pick to win this race on Sunday and get his first win at Indy. Hamlin may not have a win here yet, but he does have 5 finishes of 6th or better in his last 6 at IMS.
Other Options: Chase Elliott ($10,700), Brad Keselowski ($9,800)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Ryan Blaney: $9,400
Starting Position: 12th
After Hamlin, Blaney is my next favorite play on this slate. Over his last 7 races, Blaney has led at least 20 laps in 5 of them and also led 19 laps here last year. Blaney had 4 straight top 5’s coming into Pocono and will look to get back into the top 5 this weekend.
Clint Bowyer: $9,000
Starting Position: 22nd
Clint Bowyer is a real value at $9K this weekend because of his immense upside. With Bowyer starting 22nd and having top 10 potential he will almost certainly destroy his value on Sunday. Last weekend in Pocono Bowyer came home 7th and 8th, and if we can get a similar finish this weekend he could be the difference to a takedown and a near miss.
Other Options: Joey Logano($9,200 – has potential to lead a ton of laps from the pole) William Byron ($8,700), Matt DiBenedetto ($8,300), Erik Jones ($8,100),.
The Mid-tier this week leaves much to be desired, and outside of the drivers mentioned I won’t’ have more than 10% of the drivers in this tier.
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier
Aric Almirola ($7,400)
Starting Position: 5th
I don’t usually recommend using Almirola when he starts this high up in the field, but coming off 4 straight top 5 finishes we have to consider him. Since he is starting 5th I expect Almirola to be low owned making him a great GPP play on Sunday.
Ty Dillon ($6,800)
Starting Position: 29th
I don’t love Dillon’s price, but with him starting 29th, he could present us with the value we need to help take down a tournament. Last week at Pocono, Ty Dillon finished 23rd and 26th, while those aren’t great finishes they give you near 30 points on DK.
Ryan Preece ($5,800)
Starting Position: 36th
Preece might be the most owned driver in this entire race starting in the 36th spot and priced as low as he is. In two races last weekend, Preece had an average finish of 22.5 which we would most definitely take on Sunday. Preece’s low price will make him a sexy pick on Sunday, but I don’t see a reason to fade him. I like pairing him up with Michael McDowell ($5,700) to load up on top tier drivers.
Other Options: Ricky Stenhouse ($7,200), Austin Dillon ($6,700), Justin Allgaier ($6,600 – MME ONLY), Chris Buescher ($6,500 – priced TOO low), JH Nemechek ($5,400)
Thanks for reading the NASCAR DFS: Pit Stop Cup Series for 7/5/20 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway! Make sure you head to the Win Daily Sports Discord for up to date info and help directly from our pros! Head over to Twitter and give the @WinDailySports account and me (@MVecchio81) a follow for all things Fantasy Sports! You can find more FREE NASCAR content over at WinDailySports.com!
