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NASCAR Digital Ally 400 🏁

Last week's race in Dover got postponed until Monday so NASCAR is working on a super short week with a Saturday night race this weekend. The Digital Ally 400 will take place in Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, KS. The speedway is a 1.5 mile asphalt tri-oval with variable banking. The drivers will be running the full rules package on Saturday night with aeroducts and all. Remember, this is a Saturday night race, not our standard Sunday afternoon race and lineup lock will be at 7:30 pm eastern.

Last race’s winning lineups:

Perfect Lineup: Bowman, Truex Jr, Larson, Byron, Elliott, Suarez 435.75 DK pts.

$100K Slingshot: Bowman, Truex Jr, Larson, Byron, Elliott, Suarez 435.75 DK pts. .Min cash: 305.25 DK pts.

$25K Happy Hour: Bowman, Truex Jr, Larson, Byron, Elliott, Suarez 435.75 DK pts. Min cash: 297.50 DK pts.

$250K Piston: Bowman, Truex Jr, Larson, Byron, Elliott, Suarez 435.75 DK pts. Min cash: 305.5 DK pts.

On to Kansas!

Scoring Breakdown

At this point, we know how the DK scoring system works, so let's see how many points are available this week:

Laps Led Points = 0.25 points per lap led. This week, 267 laps will be run and 66.75 points will be awarded (plus any overtime laps).

Place Differential Points = 1 point per position gained or -1 point per position lost.

Fastest Lap Points = 0.5 points per lap not run under caution (roughly 230 laps should run under the green flag for a total of 115 possible points).

Finishing Position Points: The 40th place driver receives 4 points, and for each position gained, another point is awarded (39th=5, 38th=6…) and the winner gets 46 points.

Lineup Construction 🏗️

****As of the writing of this newsletter the starting lineup is UNOFFICIAL. The cars were impounded after qualifying Friday night and will have to go through inspection at 2:30 pm ET before the field is officially set. If any driver fails, their qualifying time will be disallowed and they will be scored from the back of the field for DFS purposes. DK and FanDuel take a little time to update their starting lineups but they will be updated.***

Kansas is an interesting track because we will need dominators and big movers to make our lineups climb up the leaderboard. Each of the last 6 races here have had a least 1 driver lead more than 100 laps and a second driver that leads anywhere between 70-90 laps. The pole sitter has a huge advantage at Kansas and has been either the major or the minor dominator in each of the last 6 races here and also has been in each of the last 6 perfect lineups. With the exception of one race, both dominators usually start in the top 10, so we will definitely want to roster the pole sitter as well as another top 10 driver.

I mentioned earlier about there being an inspection Saturday afternoon because it will be incredibly important for lineup construction and we really shouldn't build any lineups until we get the official starting lineup. Value is bound to open up and we are going to need at least one, and maybe two drivers that start 30th or worse that we think can make a big move. If a fast car fails inspection, that will make our choice easy for us. But if not, we will want at least one driver starting near the rear that will be good enough to pull off a top 20.

The stage breakdown is as follows: Stage 1: 80 laps, Stage 2: 80 laps, Stage 3: 107 laps

Lineup Foundation Targets

Dover Review:

• Chase Elliott (94.75 DK pts): Elliott completely dominated the early portions of the race, leading 145 laps and racking up 47 fastest laps. He was not the highest scoring driver but he easily made the perfect/winning lineup.

• Ricky Stenhouse Jr (0 DK pts): Stenhouse crushed our dreams early with a downed tire.

Kansas Picks: 

Kevin Harvick ($10,600 DK, $14,000 FD)

Harvick is not having a very Harvick-like year and if he can't turn it around this weekend I may have to give up on him. As mentioned previously, the pole sitter at Kansas has a major advantage on the field and that is exactly where he is starting on Saturday. His track history is phenomenal, with two wins and four perfect lineup appearances in the 1st 6 races here. His single lap practice times were not great on Friday but he had the best 10 lap average time in each session and I love his chances to be the main dominator.

Austin Dillon ($7,500 DK, $9,000 FD)

Dillon is starting 22nd but I love his chances to pull off a top 15 and he has top 10 upside. Dillon has finished 21st or better at each 1.5 mile tracks this season and has six straight top 17's at Kansas. Dillon had top 15 single lap times in both practices and the third best ten lap average in the first practice, but his ten lap was pitiful in the second practice, which may help depress ownership.

Tournament Targets

Dover Review:

• Kyle Larson (54.00 DK pts): Incredibly chalky and he didn't dominate at all but was able to fit himself in the perfect lineup because of his depressed price.

• Daniel Suarez (54.25 DK pts): Suarez only picked up 3 places but used fuel strategy to lead 21 laps and added 26 fastest laps.

• Kurt Busch (41.00 DK pts): Busch picked up 6 spots but didn't do enough to pay off his salary or make the perfect lineup.

Kansas Picks:

Martin Truex Jr ($11,400 DK , $13,500 FD)

The second driver most likely to dominate is Martin Truex Jr. He has led more than 90 laps in three of the last six races here along with two wins. He performs best when starting on the pole and had some bad single laps times but he is one of the best drivers at 1.5 mile tracks and will give Harvick everything he can handle.

Tyler Reddick ($6,300 DK , $3,000 FD)

Reddick is an Xfinity stand out who has not raced in the Cup series since Daytona. He owns a second and fifth place finish at Kansas in Xfinity but he seemed to have his car dialed in on Friday. Reddick had impressive single lap times (23rd and 17th fastest) and even had long run speed (12th and 14th best 10 lap averages). Reddick should fly under the radar, especially with casual fans, and will provide significant upside considering his current 30th place starting position.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,300 DK , $8,400 FD)

Can Ricky ruin my weekend again? After two straight races with blown tires, Ricky has to turn it around right? Well ,I'm making him my risky pick of the week because he actually doesn't have a terrible history here if you examine it closely, and will probably go low owned because he is almost radioactive. He is starting 21st on Saturday and actually has posted negative place differential in five of the last six races here, but also has five top-20 finishes. I believe his inability to move forward is due to his good qualifying and think he can make some noise starting a littler further back in the field. Or you can fade him entirely and save yourself the heartache.

Bargain Bin

Dover Review

• Michael McDowell (22.25 DK pts): Only picked up 2 spots but hey, he led a lap.

• Matt Tifft (12.00 DK pts): Somehow managed to not gain or lose any spots when it was all said and done.

Kansas Picks

Reed Sorensen ($5,100 DK, $3,000 FD)

Call me crazy, but I actually like Sorensen this weekend. I am a sucker for drivers who can't lose me points in cash but he has shown a bit of a ceiling with a career best finish of 25th here. If more than 5 drivers fail inspection then I would probably avoid him. But for now, he will garner some of my attention.

David Ragan ($5,500 DK, $6,000 FD)

Ragan is a driver that doesn't really kill a lineup but still hasn't found a way to avoid disappointing. This is by far one of his best tracks, posting four straight top 19 finishes and he will have his work cut out for him to make it five. If he can get anywhere near the top 20, he has a chance to be in the perfect lineup.

Other Drivers To Consider

Dover Review

• Kevin Harvick (60.25 DK pts)

• Ryan Preece (17.50 DK)

• Clint Bowyer (39.50 DK pts)

Here are 3 more drivers I like at Kanas that have a chance to make some noise, in no particular order:

Denny Hamlin ($9,100 DK, $12,400 FD)

Ryan Blaney ($9,300 DK, $12,200 FD)

Matt DiBenedetto ($6,800 DK, $6,300 FD)

Top Driver to Avoid

Dover Review

• Kyle Busch (56.75 DK pts): Busch didn't blow up like I had hoped and even put up a solid score but didn't come close to matching Harvick, Truex or Elliot...all of which he was more expensive than.

Kansas Pick

Daniel Suarez ($8,000 DK, $9,400)

Poor Suarez, I either love him or I hate him. He is in a very similar position to Kyle Larson last week but has a terrible history and almost no chance of dominating. Ok, maybe it is not as similar as it may have seemed at first but I was referencing the possibility that he can wind up in the perfect lineup without having to lead laps. I will take my chances and fade the entire top 5 except for Harvick and maybe a little Elliott.

Thanks for reading and good luck this weekend! Be sure to join me in the LineStar NASCAR chat! 

Be sure to download the Digital Ally 400 CheatSheet and find me in the chat or twitter. Good Luck!