NASCAR fantasy picks and lineup: Predictions for Fanduel, Draftkings— Daytona Road Course

NASCAR fantasy picks and projections for Sunday's race on the Daytona Road Course are fairly simple since there has only been one NASCAR Cup Series points race on the course.

The O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 will be just the second Cup Series points race on the 14-turn, 3.6-mile course at Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR did open the 2021 season at the Daytona Road Course, but the Busch Clash was a short non-points event.

Fantasy is not a one-week season. Sure the big wreck was rough on our teams in most cases but we rebound and are on to the Daytona Road Course.

— RJ Kraft (@kraftdaddy85) February 15, 2021

Fanduel and Draftkings both have weekly NASCAR fantasy games, as does NASCAR.com.

NASCAR fantasy picks are also easier to project on road courses due to the limited number of such events and consequently, fewer NASCAR fantasy drivers that consistently run well on road courses.

Let's start with NASCAR.com's in-depth stats on the Daytona Road Course. Here's a look at the NASCAR.com NASCAR fantasy standings after the Daytona 500:

NASCAR fantasy drivers standings at NASCAR.com

DRIVER %OWNED FANTASY PTS

1. Denny Hamlin 51 52
2. Austin Dillon 26 48
3. Michael McDowell 8 44
4. Kevin Harvick 30 42
5. Chase Elliott 50 42
6. Ryan Preece 3 40
7. Kyle Larson 19 37
8. Joey Logano 34 33
9. Ross Chastain 2 32
10. Bubba Wallace 22 32

I'm all in on Chase-Truex. And Dinger. After that I like McD. I'd look hard at Larson, Byron, Logano (if you didn't use at Daytona 500) and potentially Briscoe. With one use off the board for Blaney, I'd consider sitting him when he has more advantageous track position. https://t.co/xMX8UDHALA

— RJ Kraft (@kraftdaddy85) February 18, 2021

Here's a look at NASCAR.com's top 10 NASCAR fantasy drivers for the Daytona Road Course:

Top NASCAR fantasy drivers at Daytona Road Course

AVG FIN AVG POS QUAL PASSES LAPS LED DRIVER RATING

1. Chase Elliott 1 3.2 29 34 135.3
2. Martin Truex Jr. 3 8.3 35 10 126.5
3. Denny Hamlin 2 5.0 39 16 116.0
4. William Byron 8 12.8 40 0 102.3
5. Joey Logano 9 12.2 26 1 86.3
6. Michael McDowell 10 11.0 31 0 85.7
7. Erik Jones 11 13.0 35 0 85.7
8. Alex Bowman 12 23.1 16 0 84.8
9. Kurt Busch 14 8.9 23 0 84.7
10. Aric Almirola 24 15.9 20 0 78.5
11. Chris Buescher 5 15.6 24 0 75.7

NASCAR fantasy prices and projections for optimal lineup at Draftkings

DRIVER PRICE %OWNED

1. Ryan Blaney $10,400 51.5
2. Martin Truex Jr. $11,000 44.1
3. Alex Bowman $9,000 44
4. Chase Elliott $10,700 33.7
5. Erik Jones $7,800 42.9
6. Matt DiBenedetto $8,100 33.0
7. AJ Allmendinger $10,200 32.5
8. Chris Buescher $7,200 31.1
9. William Byron $8,800 26.5
10. Kyle Busch $10,000 20.8
11. Joey Logano $9,400 19.4
12. Aric Almirola $7,900 18.3
13. Denny Hamlin $9,800 15.1
14. Ty Dillon $5,600 21.1
15. Tyler Reddick $7,500 17.1
16. Kurt Busch $8,600 16.1
17. Brad Keselowski $9,600 15.3
18. Kyle Larson $8,300 12.2
19. Kevin Harvick $9,200 11.4
20. Ryan Newman $7,300 14.7
21. Daniel Suarez $5,700 13.8
22. Ricky Stenhouse $6,100 8.7
23. Anthony Alfredo $5,900 10.0
24. Chase Briscoe $8,400 8.6
25. Michael McDowell $6,800 1.4

NASCAR fantasy prices and projections for optimal lineup at Fanduel

DRIVER PRICE %OWNED

1. Ryan Blaney $12,700 31.0
2. Martin Truex Jr. $13,500 29.4
3. Chase Elliott $14,000 24.9
4. Alex Bowman $9,000 27.9
5. Erik Jones $8,000 26.9
6. Matt DiBenedetto $8,300 22.4
7. Chris Buescher $6,000 21.2
8. AJ Allmendinger $12,000 23.4
9. William Byron $9,600 18.8
10. Joey Logano $10,700 16.2
11. Kyle Busch $12,500 16.9
12. Denny Hamlin $12,000 14.7
13. Garrett Smithley $2,000 27.9
14. Kurt Busch $9,000 14.1
15. Brad Keselowski $10,000 13.7
16. Aric Almirola $7,800 14.2
17. Tyler Reddick $7,000 13.4
18. Kevin Harvick $11,300 12.0
19. Kyle Larson $9,300 10.9
20. Ty Dillon $2,500 18.9
21. Ryan Newman $6,000 11.4
22. Ricky Stenhouse $4,500 9.1
23. Cole Custer $7,200 7.7
24. Daniel Suarez $4,500 10.6
25. Chase Briscoe $8,700 8.4
26. Anthony Alfredo $5,500 8.2
27. Michael McDowell $6,500 3.0
28. Christopher Bell $7,600 4.2

NASCAR Fantasy picks, best bets

The best NASCAR fantasy drivers are easier to project on road courses due to a select few that have dominated road courses. They should be among the most played NASCAR fantasy drivers, despite their high prices.

Chase Elliott will be the overwhelming favorite among NASCAR fantasy drivers on the Daytona Road Course after winning the last four road races, including the inaugural race at Daytona's infield course.

Elliott has five career road course wins, while Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch have four each. Busch won the non-points Busch Clash on the Daytona Road Course last week.

Another good NASCAR fantasy selection is Ryan Blaney, who has one road course victory and was leading the Busch Clash before getting wrecked on the final lap. Also keep an eye on AJ Allmendinger, who has five career road course wins in stock cars, including two Cup wins.

The best cheap NASCAR fantasy option is Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell, a solid road racer who scored his best road course finish in the Cup Series (10th) on the Daytona Road Course last year. McDowell is among several cheaper NASCAR fantasy drivers sure to get a look, in order to offset the high costs of drivers like Elliott, Truex and Busch.

Here's a look at where the NASCAR fantasy options will be starting in Sunday's race.

Daytona Road Course starting lineup

1. Chase Elliott No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2. Michael McDowell No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
3. Austin Dillon No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4. Denny Hamlin No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
5. Kevin Harvick No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
6. Ryan Preece No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
7. Corey Lajoie No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
8. Kyle Larson No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
9. Ross Chastain No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
10. Bubba Wallace No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota
11. Joey Logano No. 22 Penske Racing Ford
12. Christopher Bell No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
13. Cole Custer No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
14. Kyle Busch No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
15. Brad Keselowski No. 2 Penske Racing Ford
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet
17. Kurt Busch No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
18. Chase Briscoe No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
19. Martin Truex Jr. No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20. Justin Haley No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
21. Cody Ware No. 51 Petty Ware Racing Chevrolet
22. William Byron No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
23. Josh Bilicki No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Ford
24. Tyler Reddick No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
25. Garrett Smithley No. 53 Rick Ware Racing Ford
26. Aric Almirola No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
27. Ryan Blaney No. 12 Penske Racing Ford
28. Scott Heckert No. 78 Live Fast Motorsports Ford
29. Quin Houff No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet
30. Chris Buescher No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
31. Anthony Alfredo No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford
32. Matt DiBenedetto No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford
33. Ryan Newman No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford
34. AJ Allmendinger No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet
35. Daniel Suarez No. 99 TrackHouse Racing Chevrolet
36. Alex Bowman No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
37. Erik Jones No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet
38. Ty Dillon No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
39. James Davison No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
40. Timmy Hill No. 66 MBM Motorsports Ford