NASCAR at Michigan DraftKings Picks: DFS Strategy for Saturday’s FireKeepers Casino 400
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images. Pictured: Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, pits
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Michigan International Speedway for another doubleheader weekend of racing. Michigan is a 2-mile, D-shaped oval that is similar to Auto Club Speedway. However, Auto Club's excessively abrasive surface creates much more tire wear than Michigan.
As a result, instead of using only Auto Club as a comparison, it makes sense to use all 1.5- and 2-mile ovals to assess driver performance, including the two Michigan races from 2019.
NASCAR at Michigan DraftKings Dominator DFS Picks
Joey Logano – Logano is today's pole sitter, and has a strong history at Michigan with three wins in his career. Last year he led for 163 and 52 laps in the two races, while picking up one win. Logano also has a win, third- and sixth-place finish at the low-to-medium tire wear 1.5-mile tracks this year.
Kevin Harvick – Michigan has been one of Harvick's better tracks in recent years. He's picked up back-to-back wins in the August Michigan race, and has top fives in 10 of his last 14 races at the track. He starts on the second row, and is the most likely dominator if Logano isn't out front.
Martin Truex Jr. – Truex has finished third or fourth in each of the last three high downforce Michigan races. That includes the 2015 August race in which NASCAR experimented with a high-downforce package similar to the one in use today. The bonus here is that Truex starts in 12th, so there is plenty of place differential opportunity even if he doesn't find himself in the lead.
NASCAR at Michigan DraftKings Value DFS Picks
Erik Jones ($8700) – Jones will be a chalky play starting back in 23rd, but with a wide track like Michigan, Jones is less likely to encounter the trouble that he's known for. In fact, he's never had a DNF in any NASCAR national series event at Michigan or Auto Club Speedway.
His downside and lack of strong results at Michigan may scare people, but a driver this fast starting 23rd should still be used, especially if there's a bigger-than-normal ownership discount.
Austin Dillon ($7500) – Dillon is an interesting tournament play starting in 18th. Michigan is one of his better tracks, with four top-eight finishes in his Cup career. Four of his five best finishes in 2020 have come at 1.5-mile tracks, so he's performing quite well at the high-speed venues.
Ty Dillon ($5700) – The choice this weekend in this price range is between the younger Dillon brother, Corey LaJoie ($5600) and Ryan Preece ($5800).
LaJoie starts 36th and is the cheapest, while Preece starts 35th and has a seventh-place finish at Michigan on his resume. That means Ty Dillon should go overlooked. Michigan is a good track for Dillon, with an 11th place last year, and a 14th place when he raced a third Richard Childres Racing car back in 2015.
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