DraftKings’ daily fantasy NASCAR heads to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend for the Tales of the Turtles 400. This race marks the start of the Monster Energy Series playoffs. The green flag flies Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
The DraftKings strategy for intermediate tracks is all about finding dominators for your roster. A dominator is a driver who will run up front, lead laps and generate fast laps for extra bonuses.
Alternatively, for the middle to back end of lineups, it’s crucial to find a someone that performed poorly in qualifying and could work their way up the field for those coveted position differential points.
Here are two must-start drivers on DraftKings for Sunday’s race.
Kyle Busch ($10,600)
Starting Position: First/Pole
Kyle was fastest in opening practice Friday morning, posting a time of 29.325 seconds. His best speed of 184.143 mph was 0.725 mph faster than second place Daniel Suarez. Busch took that speed with him to qualifying Friday night and secured the pole, the first official Chicagoland pole of his career.
Busch did start from first in 2008, but no qualifying sessions were run due to rain. Kyle is still the first and only driver to win in Chicago from the first starting position. He will have that opportunity again on Sunday.
He has an active streak of five straight top-10 finishes at the track. He has also led laps in four straight Chicago races. In 2015, he led the most laps with 121.
With how fast he has been so far this weekend, he is the number one choice to be the DraftKings dominator.
Kurt Busch ($8,100)
Starting Position: 17th
Kurt has momentum on his side heading into round one of the playoffs. He has rattled off three top fives in a row, and hasn’t finished outside the top 15 in seven races. Kurt has turned his luck around since the three DNFs in four races in the middle of the season.
Busch was 11th fastest in opening practice, but qualified 17th. This opens the door for him to become a mover on Sunday. Kurts worst finish in the past four races at Chicagoland was a 13th place finish last year. He had finishes of fourth, eighth, and third the three races prior. Even through his 16 career starts at Chicago, his average finish is still 15.4, two sports better than where he is starting on Sunday.
Busch has a top 10 car this weekend, and barring any on-track mishaps, he will finish there. He is priced out as the 15th most expensive driver. Middle of the road pricing for a driver that will benefit the middle of your DraftKings lineup.
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