🔥Written by 2020 FBWC and 2021 KoS qualifier @joejets19

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Verizon 200 at the Brickyard🏁

A double DQ was the big story of last week's race which is a shame because the race was one of the more entertaining races at Pocono I can remember. This week, NASCAR travels to the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, IN, for the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. The road course is a 14-turn, 2.439-mile asphalt and brick track that is very flat. The race last year was ruined by a failed curb that destroyed nearly half the field. I am not anticipating a repeat of last year, road courses have been notoriously hard to pass on this season so I am expecting a relatively calm affair. While rain tires and windshield wipers are part of the road course package, the sun should shine on Sunday.

On to Indy!

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, 82 laps will be run, and 20.5 DK 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 = 0.45 points per lap not run under caution (roughly 70 laps should run under the green flag for a total of 31.5 possible DK 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 I mentioned, last year's results are slightly skewed because of a major track malfunction. I see this race playing out more like the road races this season, very difficult to pass once you get into the top 10. Each of the three road races this year had between two and three racers that started in the top 10 in the perfect lineup. While the eventual winner ended up being the major dominator in two of those three races, there is no actionable pattern to determine who will end up being the dominator. Road courses are a great place to front load lineups because finishing position is the most important thing we need to consider. There are very few dominator points available so we should prioritize drivers that can finish in the top 10. The easiest way to attack this week's build is to roster 2-3 drivers starting in the top 10 that can pick up a few spots and/or win. Up to 1 driver starting 11-20 that can finish in the top 10 or win and 2-3 drivers starting 20+ that can pick up 10 spots or finish in the top 10.

Stage 1: 15 laps, Stage 2: 20 laps, Stage 3: 47 laps

Lineup Foundation Targets

Ross Chastain ($10,400 DK, $13,000 FD)

Trackhouse Racing has been a force to be reckoned with this season on road courses, winning two of the three races. Chastain won his first career race at COTA this Spring from his 16th place starting position and is looking to repeat that success from 20th this weekend. Ross has an average finish of 4th this season at road courses and ran the 8th best single lap speed in practice on Saturday. Chastain is a fairly expensive option this weekend, but I think he is a shoe-in for a top 10 with race-winning upside.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr ($6,100 DK, $5,200 FD)

Stenhouse Jr. is an obvious choice for cash games considering his price and 38th place starting position. Stenhouse was in a similar position at Road America where he only had to finish 19th to land in the perfect lineup. Ricky's practice times and qualifying were atrocious, but I will take all of that with a grain of salt, he is a first or last type of driver, and as long as he survives the race, he should be able to pick up at least 10 spots.

Tournament Targets

Christopher Bell ($8,600 DK, $8,000 FD)

This is not the typical tournament pick but this isn't your typical track type so let's get a bit crazy. Bell starts 4th on Sunday and only has one top 5 finish at a road course this season when he finish 3rd at COTA. Bell impressed in practice on Saturday however, posting the 5th best single lap time and the best 5 and 10 lap averages. Bell is an accomplished road racer with a win at the Daytona Road Course, which is more of an roval but he will be overlooked for some bigger names starting behind him even though Bell may be the best long run car in the field.

Brad Keselowski ($6,800 DK, $6,800 FD)

Keselowski starts 12th on Sunday, just outside the coveted top 10 I was looking for, but he certainly has top 10 aspirations this weekend. Brad was fast in practice running the 6th best single lap speed and the second best 5 lap average. He has one top 10 finish at road courses this season but picked up 12 spots in two of the three similar races. He has struggled this year at ovals but road races are great equalizers and I expect Kes to use every trick in his book to turn in a good performance on Sunday.

Bargain Basement

Joey Hand ($5,700 DK, $5,000 FD)

Pricing and lineup construction may lead us to avoid this range entirely but Hand is about as good as is gets. He has a finish of 21st and 20th in his two road races this year and starts 27th on Sunday. His upside is considerably limited so I would try to find the money to pick a driver in the $6000-$7,000 range but I think Hand has the ability to be the highest scoring driver in the basement.

Other Drivers To Consider

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

Austin Dillon ($6,700 DK, $6,200 FD)

Kevin Harvick ($8,500 DK, $7,500 FD)

Alex Bowman ($7,800 DK, $8,800 FD)

Top Driver to Avoid

Joey Logano ($10,100 DK, $13,00 FD)

Logano is starting 5th on Sunday and has only 1 top 20 finish this season at a road course. He also lost spots in every road race this year, which is not great. Joey couldn't crack the top 16 in single lap speeds or the 5-lap average on Sunday and I don't expect him to do anything but freefall through the field.

Pitstop Picks

13-31 (-13.1 u)

I love a nice plus money H2H. Blaney has the better average finish over the three road races this season but Reddick is actually 2-1 H2H this season. Blaney is the model of consistency at almost every track, and I will be happy to put my money on him against any driver that is as boom or bust as Reddick, especially when Blaney is an underdog.

I am continuing to take some big swings to get back into the green for the season. I like Bowman and Dillon for a top 10, but I prefer Dillon's odds. They both need to make a big move to make their way through the field, but they have done it once this season. If you want to be slightly crazy, throw a quarter unit on a Burton top 10.

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

Be sure to download the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard cheatsheet and find me on Twitter Good Luck!