Written by @joejets19

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This Sunday, NASCAR is making their final trip of the season to Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA. Known as “The Tricky Triangle,” Pocono is a 2.5 mile triangular shaped flat track that earns its name due to the three unique corners and three straight-aways of different length. The cars will be equipped with the full package this week (low HP and aeroducts) and they have tweaked the gear ratio so we may see some blown engines if the drivers are not careful. Weather will not be an issue on Sunday but this is an impound race so we are going to have to keep our eye on the race day inspection because the field will not be official until then.

Last race’s winning lineups:

Perfect Lineup: DiBendetto, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, McDowell, Seuss 396.50 DK pts.

$100K Chrome Horn: Bowman, Kyle Busch, Chastain, DiBendetto, Hamlin, Newman 390.25 DK pts. Min cash: 290.25 DK pts.

$222K First Gear: Kyle Busch, Chastain, DiBenedetto, Hamlin, Harvick, Tifft 392.50 DK pts. Min cash: 291.00 DK pts.

On to Pocono!

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, 160 laps will be run and 40 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 133 laps should run under the green flag for a total of 66.5 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 🏗️

***This is an impound race so the lineup will not be official until inspection is complete Sunday morning. Inspection starts at 9 am and I will try to update everyone via chat and Twitter about how things are progressing. Make sure to follow along and help each-other out. If a driver fails inspection, their qualifying time will be disallowed and they will be moved to the rear of the field for real life and DFS purposes (they will be scored from the rear of the field). This newsletter is based off of the unofficial starting lineup and the driver recommendations are subject to change as inspection progresses. As always, I will be in chat to answer any questions and provide any updates.***

All things considered, 160 laps is not a ton, so dominator points will be limited on Sunday. The driver that led the most laps has been in the perfect lineup in five of the last 6 races here, but the actual number of laps led has ranged from 50-100. One of the two drivers starting on the front row will usually lead a good chunk of laps and with this year's package, clean air is a total difference maker. We will only want to aim for one dominator this week, probably from the front row.

Passing is not the easiest at Pocono, and it was even more difficult during the June race, but place differential is going to be the primary avenue of point production. Four of the last six perfect lineups have had at least three drivers that started worse than 20th, but the last race actually had four drivers that started in the top 12 make the perfect lineup. I would imagine we will want structure our lineups in the middle of those extremes, with three drivers starting worse than 20 that we think can make big moves (10 or more spots) and two drivers that may start further forward but can pick up a few spots and finish well.

The stage breakdown is as follows: Stage 1: 50 laps, Stage 2: 50 laps, Stage 3: 60 laps

Lineup Foundation Targets

New Hampshire Review:

• Kyle Busch (94.00 DK pts): Took the lead early and led 118 laps, finished 8th and had 69 fastest laps. Not the highest scoring driver but in the perfect lineup and every winning lineup.

• Alex Bowman (53.00 DK pts): Chalkiest driver on the slate but the backup car came through, getting him all the way up to 14th. He was not in the perfect lineup but did help take down the Chrome Horn.

Pocono Picks:

Kevin Harvick ($11,700 DK, $13,500 FD)

Harvick is coming off of his first win of the season and he will be looking to make it two in a row on Sunday. He spent a ton of time working on his car during practice and it wasn't quite right but he was able to "wing it" into the pole. His practice times are not impressive but they were slightly better than Logano's (who is starting second). So as long as Harvick wins the first lap, I think the clean air will propel him to early domination. I think Harvick will be the major dominator of the fight and as long as he holds on to a top 5 he should be a lock for the perfect lineup.

Ryan Blaney ($9,100 DK, $10,700 FD)

Blaney disappointed in qualifying but that is fine with me. Starting 20th, Blaney may be a fairly popular option and I am ok with that because he is in the opposite boat as Harvick. He practiced very well but qualified poorly. He has six top 12 finishes in the last seven races here including a win, and had top 11 single lap speeds during practice on Saturday. Clint Bowyer is $200 cheaper on DK and is starting four spots further forward, so he may make a nice pivot. But give me the floor/ceiling combo of Blaney this weekend.

Tournament Targets

New Hampshire Review:

• Martin Truex Jr. (45.00 DK pts): Finished where he qualified and only added 14 fastest laps.

• Daniel Suarez (21.50 DK pts): Lost 6 spots, sort of a blah race for him.

• Ryan Newman (57.00 DK pts): Not as sneaky as I thought, maybe people thought he would be scored from the rear but either way he exceeded expectations finishing 7th.

Pocono Picks:

Chris Buescher ($7,400 DK , $7,300 FD)

Buescher is another driver who qualified poorly that I think can make a big move. This is more of a gut feeling based on his overall form and his performance here in June. He is starting 28th and posted the 22nd and 18th best single lap times on Saturday, which is right about where he was during practice last race but he was able to pull of a 14th place finish on his way to a spot on the perfect lineup. Buescher is having a career year and I expect it to continue on Sunday.

Ryan Preece ($6,600 DK , $5,000 FD)

Preece does not find himself on this newsletter often because he is a good driver getting his feet under him in average equipment. This week sets up as his breakout week, he starts 25th but turned in the 18th and 7th best single laps times on Saturday. He has picked up spots in each of his 3 career races here (2 Xfinity and 1 Cup) and I think he has top 20 potential, which will be very good for his price.

Kyle Larson ($8,500 DK , $10,500 FD)

Larson can't get out of his own way this season, but maybe we can use that to our advantage. After crashing his main car on Saturday, he will have to start in the rear of the field, and because he is going to a backup car, he will be scored from 29th as of now. He has shown speed all year but can't stop crashing into things and that's what makes him the risky play of the week. I am hoping that people will be off of him because he is starting from the rear but won't be scored from there, and that will give us some leverage. At his current price discount, he becomes almost a must play. Let's just hope he doesn't find the wall again.

Bargain Bin

New Hampshire Review

• Ross Chastain (26.50 DK Pts): I finally got one of these right, kinda. He wasn't in the perfect lineup but was in two winning lineups, picking up 7 spots and finishing 25th.

Pocono Picks

Corey Lajoie ($5,400 DK, $4,500 FD)

Lajoie does not have the fastest car in his price range but both David Ragan and Michael McDowell qualified in the top 20 and carry an incredible amount of risk. I don't expect Lajoie to make more than a 5 spot move but I target drivers in this range that will not sink my lineup more than I am looking for upside.

Other Drivers To Consider

New Hampshire Review

• Clint Bowyer(22.00 DK pts)

• Chris Buescher (39.00 DK)

• Ty Dillon (30.00 DK pts)

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

Daniel Hemric ($6,300 DK, $6,000 FD)

William Byron ($7,100 DK, $8,800 FD)

Chase Elliott ($9,500 DK, $11,000 FD)

Top Driver to Avoid

New Hampshire Review

• Matt DiBenedetto (41.00 DK pts): He felt like he had a top 10 car and he was right. DiBenedetto was in the perfect lineup and every winning lineup. He was a play that was way too risky for my liking, sometimes those work out.

Pocono Pick

Austin Dillon ($7,300 DK, $7,00 FD)

I almost feel bad fading Dillon this often but it hasn't really bitten be in the butt yet. He's starting 5th but only ran the 17th and 15th best single lap times on Saturday and hasn't scored more than 29 DK points in his last 8 races. He crashed early in June and put up a massive negative number. I don't expect that to happen on Sunday but I'm still not wasting my time with him.

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

Be sure to download the Gander RV 400 CheatSheet and find me on twitter. Good Luck!