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This week, we go return to the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, PA for the Gander Outdoors 400. If you remember from the very first issue, Pocono Raceway is unique because it is a 2.5 mile track that resembles a triangle and is affectionately known as the “Tricky Triangle.” There really aren't any comparable tracks on the NASCAR circuit so we will focus heavily on track history.

Last week’s winning lineups:

Perfect Lineup: Harvick, Kahne, Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Almirola, Elliot 382.75 DK pts

$100K Chrome Horn: Almirola, Buescher, Kurt Busch, Chastain, Harvick, Truex Jr. 372.25 DK pts. Min cash: 269.75 DK pts.

$20K Happy Hour: Almirola, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Johnson, Kahne, Kenseth 372.00 DK pts. Min cash: 274.00 DK pts.

$250K Piston: Almirola, Buescher, Kurt Busch, Chastain, Harvick, Truex Jr. 372.25 DK pts. Min cash: 274.00 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 (unless overtime).

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 140 laps are run under the green flag for a total of 70 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 🏗️

Post-qualifying inspection turned this entire slate (and the field) on its head. 13 cars failed qualifying and had their times disallowed sending them to the rear of the field and moving a ton of slow cars much further forward than they are used to. The strategy for Pocono usually revolves around one dominator and 5 place differential plays and to an extent this amplifies that sentiment. Many players may equate this race to a restrictor plate race, when you should load your team up with drivers from the back and wait until all hell breaks loose and they will make their way up front. That may not be the case, however, because there are not that many cautions (about 5 per race) and there are also not too many drivers that finish out of contention (about 7 cars per race finish more than 5 laps down). This means we want to play drivers with fast cars that happened to fail qualifying, not just any car starting 25th and back. There is also a chance that you will still need a dominator in your lineup because many of these drivers will make their way up but may not have the chance to dominate. Finally, I believe a balanced lineup will be the way to go this weekend because many drivers in the sub $6000 range start too far forward to be playable.

One other note: Ross Chastain will start from the rear of the field but will be scored from the 22nd starting position because his car passed inspection but Gray Gaulding qualified for him, causing a driver change.

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

Lineup Foundation Targets

New Hampshire Review:

• Martin Truex Jr. (74.25 DK pts): Not the highest scoring driver but was able to lead 83 laps with 31 fastest laps. Our projection for him was right about spot on and even though he wasn't in the perfect lineup he was in 2 winning lineups.

• Kyle Busch (66 DK pts): Managed to lead 36 laps and finished second but was not able to pay off his salary when compared to Truex Jr, Harvick and even his own brother.

Pocono Picks:

Kevin Harvick ($11,200 DK, $12,500 FD)

Harvick had the best car of the day and won the pole but failed inspection. He has never won at Pocono and in the beginning of the week that was a very big talking point. Starting 29th, a top 5 gets him 63 point not counting any fasted laps. I like Harvick for 70 points on Sunday.

Aric Almirola ($8,200 DK, $9,700 FD)

Almirola is having a career year and had a career race here in June. He found himself in the perfect lineup last race and I want to ride the hot hand. He started 34th last time out with very similar practice times and was able to finish 7th, even if that is his ceiling a top 15 scores 48 points.

Tournament Targets

New Hampshire Review:

• Aric Almirola (81.50 DK pts): The risk payed off at low ownership! All I asked of this guy was a top 8 and instead he led 42 laps, had 40 fastest laps and finished 3rd. Almirola was in every winning lineup and the perfect lineup.

• Matt Kenseth (45.5 DK pts): Kenseth did as well as we could have hoped for and finished 15th. That was enough to get him in the perfect lineup and 1 winning lineup.

• Daniel Suarez (9.5 DK pts): The riskiest pick of this section flamed out, falling all the way back to 22nd. He lost a ton of spots quickly and was never able to get it back.

Pocono Picks:

William Byron ($6,600 DK , $7,400 FD)

Byron will be one source of salary relief this week at just $6,600 and starting 38th . He arguably has the fastest car of all the drivers starting 35-40 and is a great pivot off of Kasey Kahne because he is both slightly more expensive and starting slightly further forward. He started 16th and finished 18th last time here and I like his for a top 20 on Sunday.

Brad Keselowski ($9,400 DK , $11,000 FD)

We could pick only drivers in the back but I think we need a dominator if we want to take down a GPP and I see Keselowski being the most likely dominator. He has not finished worst than 5th in the last 6 races here and has led at least 1 lap in each of the last 4. His first practice times are worrisome but I still believe he has the best car in the top 5.

Ryan Blaney ($8,500 DK , $10,700 FD)

Blaney is another one of those cars that is really fast but failed inspection. He offers a price discount to drivers like Logano/Larson but has a very similar ceiling. A finish of 10th scores 57 points and I will take that any day.

Bargain Bin

New Hampshire Review:

• Michael McDowell (21 DK points): McDowell did not have a terrible race and was able to move forward to 26th, the pivot to Ross Chastain we discussed worked much better though.

• BJ McLeod (12 DK points): Another race where the Sub-$5000 pick wasn't the best, 12 points is servicable for the price but it turned out the fade was the right call again if you were aiming for the top.

Pocono Picks

This entire price range is a dumpster fire. Every driver priced $5,500 and below is starting between 15th and 27th but they all had practice times in the 30s. I am willing to take a stand and fade the entire range and if it burns me then there is always next week.

Other Drivers To Consider

New Hampshire Review

• Paul Menard (22 DK pts): Lost 5 spots and didn't pay off his salary

• Clint Bowyer (-9.5 DK pts): Easily the worst race of the year for Bowyer, starting 15th and finishing 35th.

• Austin Dillon (24 DK pts): Started 17th and finished 21st, not much to like about his day.

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

Martin Truex Jr. ($11,500 DK, $12,500 FD)

Joey Logano ($9,700 DK, $10,500 FD)

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,600 DK, $8,200 FD)

Top Driver to Avoid

New Hampshire Review:

• Ryan Blaney (41 DK pts): Qualifying 5th and finishing 7th, Blaney was not able to pay of his salary and was not in any winning lineups but if you played him he didn't kill your lineup either.

Pocono Pick

Daniel Suarez ($7,800 DK, $8,500 FD)

Suarez starting on the pole is a feel good story of sorts but not practical for DFS purposes. He would have to completely and utterly dominate to make the perfect lineup and I hope one day he is able to do it, but not this Sunday.

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

Be sure to download the  Gander Outdoors 400 Cheatsheet!  It does not have comments section this week so if you want my thoughts on individual drivers reach out to me in the chat or on Twitter

Follow me on Twitter @joejets19 and Good Luck!