The Hollywood Casino 400, NASCAR’s second playoff race, gets underway this afternoon at 3 p.m. ET, broadcast live on USA Network.
If you missed my preview on Thursday, I looked at which drivers jumped out as favorites in Kansas. Now that the starting lineup is set, we have a better idea of how to structure our DFS lineups to put us in a position to cash in this afternoon’s contests.
Tyler Reddick secured pole position, finishing a lap in 29.899 seconds, averaging 180.608 mph. He just nudged Joey Logano out, finishing .037 seconds faster than last week’s pole sitter. Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, and Ross Chastain round out the Top 5.
Bowman is a bit of a surprise, having won in Las Vegas early in the season but has been very quiet since. Indeed, this is his highest starting position since qualifying in second place at Daytona in February. After a tenth-place finish last week, he sits in tenth place in playoff points now. However, he is untrustworthy when it comes to our DFS purposes.
Hollywood Casino 400 DFS Picks
Here’s a look at some values on the board in NASCAR DFS for the Hollywood Casino 400:
FanDuel Values
| Driver | Salary | QP |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Buescher | $5,800 | 10 |
| Erik Jones | $6,800 | 24 |
| Michael McDowell | $6,200 | 23 |
| William Byron | $8,800 | 9 |
| Kevin Harvick | $9,500 | 14 |
DraftKings Values
| Driver | Salary | QP |
|---|---|---|
| Noah Gragson | $6,100 | 28 |
| Brad Keselowski | $7,000 | 26 |
| Erik Jones | $7,800 | 24 |
| Kevin Harvick | $8,700 | 14 |
| Kyle Busch | $10,900 | 20 |
| Kyle Larson | $10,700 | 7 |
Kevin Harvick remains The Middle Man for DFS lineups. DFS sites continue to price him in a mid-range salary, and he continues to put himself in starting spots that leave room for positional points while maintaining a chance to win. Last week’s winner, Erik Jones, has a low salary on both sites and a starting position of 24. While he greatly benefited from others’ car troubles, he has been driving well enough to win anywhere at this point.
The gift of the week is Kyle Busch starting 20. Sometimes I truly believe he could start a lap down and still make his way to the front in time to win Stage 1. He should be fairly chalky in GPP, but he is hard to ignore in cash games. Sticking with Joe Gibbs Racing, Denny Hamlin is the highest-priced driver on both sites but for good reason. He should provide value even at the exorbitant fees.
Last but not least, Chase Elliott will be starting 22nd today. Don’t let last week scare you off of how great he has been this season. My problem is you can basically only have two of the Hamlin/Busch/Elliott crew, and I prefer the Toyotas to the Chevrolet for the Hollywood Casino 400.
Here are two lineups I plan to enter in GPP contests tomorrow. If you want to chat, feel free to reach out on Twitter at @thewonkypenguin. Have a magnificent sports day, everyone! And, as always, good luck!
FanDuel Lineup
| Driver | Salary | QP |
|---|---|---|
| Kyle Busch | $13,500 | 20 |
| Kyle Larson | $12,000 | 7 |
| Kevin Harvick | $9,500 | 14 |
| William Byron | $8,800 | 9 |
| Brad Keselowski | $6,000 | 26 |
| TOTAL | $49,800 |
DraftKings Lineup
| Driver | Salary | QP |
|---|---|---|
| Kyle Busch | $10,900 | 20 |
| Kyle Larson | $10,700 | 7 |
| William Byron | $9,100 | 9 |
| Chris Buescher | $6,900 | 10 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr | $6,300 | 35 |
| Noah Gragson | $6,100 | 28 |
| TOTAL | $37,100 |