This weekend, NASCAR returns to Loudon, New Hampshire for the Ambetter 301. In 1993, New Hampshire Motor Speedway hosted its first NASCAR race. A little over a mile in length, it is an incredibly narrow racetrack that keeps the drivers in close proximity to each other. There are 301 laps scheduled for Sunday (which works out to 75.25 DraftKings points for laps led). A similar setup is required at New Hampshire’s flat paperclip layout as at Martinsville, Phoenix, and Richmond, drivers who have done well on these tracks should have an advantage this weekend. Just seven races remain before the playoffs begin, and 13 different winners have emerged. With three race wins, Chase Elliott leads all drivers. The third came last weekend in Atlanta.
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Practice & Qualifying
The Cup Series will hold a group practice session on Saturday morning. The practice session will last approximately an hour before qualifying begins. Both groups will compete in single-car qualifying, consisting of a timed lap for each driver. In the second round of qualifying, the five fastest drivers from each group will attempt their best lap time. The driver with the quickest time will earn the Busch Pole. Aric Almirola will look to make it back-to-back wins at the event before he retires at the end of the season.
This week, the Money Train delves into the DFS options for Sunday’s Cup Series event in Loudon, New Hampshire. The selections are broken down between high salary, mid-range, and value play. Included are player salaries from both FanDuel (FD) and DraftKings (DK). Best of luck to everyone with lineups this weekend.
High Salary
Kyle Busch (12,500 FD | 11,000 DK)
As a result of last year’s disastrous New Hampshire race, Busch will be looking to redeem himself. Having spun out due to the slippery track, Busch bumped the pace car in frustration. Despite requests from teams to delay the start of the race, NASCAR refused. Busch’s annoyance was compounded by the fact that the incident occurred on lap three, while he was leading the race.
At 11,000 on DraftKings, it is a hefty price but considers his dominating abilities. A total of 436 laps were led by Busch between 2017 and 2019. Many of those laps came from his dominant performance during the (ISM) Connect 300 when he led 187 of 300. Busch has qualified for the top five in six of his last eight visits to New Hampshire. Thus, he should be able to secure a strong starting position.
Joey Logano (13,500 FD | 10,800 DK)
It wasn’t Logano’s day at Atlanta, as he would move from one let down to the next. His Ford Mustang suffered mechanical issues throughout the race. He would build himself back up from an early wreck on lap 92. However, a second multi-car wreck on lap 254 torpedoed his day. Now that he’s dropped back-to-back races, Logano needs a huge bounce-back result. For his career, Logano has shown he has this track figured out with just a single finish outside of the top 10 over his last 11 attempts. He had one of the quickest cars in last season’s visit to Loudon. After falling two laps down he came back strong, cracking the top five.
Mid-Range
Kevin Harvick (8,200 FD | 8,800 DK)
Harvick survived the wreck fest in Atlanta. After hovering around the top 10 a majority of the day, he finished out the race 12th. He needs another strong performance at New Hampshire to at least keep pace with Christopher Bell for the final playoff spot. He has handled the short tracks well this season, his best finishes coming at Phoenix and Richmond. Two of the last four attempts in New Hampshire have produced victories, making it a good track option. Last year, he led 66 laps for a respectable six-place finish. The only other track in which he led more than 50 laps last year was Bristol with 71. Loudon would be Harvick’s best chance to regain some of his old magic.
Value Play
Brad Keselowski (6,000 FD | 6,900 DK)
There have been some bright spots for Keselowski this season, but they have been overshadowed by the doldrums. The 10th place finish he had four weeks ago at Sonoma was promising, but he’s lost any momentum he had. In the weeks leading up to the playoffs, he’d appreciate some more strong runs. A great candidate could be New Hampshire. Only two visits ago, Keselowski dominated at Loudon, leading 184 of 301 laps en route to his second career track victory.
This season, Keselowski has finished 17th at Martinsville, 13th at Richmond, and 23rd at Phoenix. The numbers are not stellar but are very serviceable for a driver in his price range. He should be a good filler as you consider which driver to add to the backend of your roster. His salary this weekend is under 7,000 on both sites.
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