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The rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on the highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by value of each driver.
DraftKings‘ Pocono Green 225 slate locks on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET. Set your lineups here: NXS $100K Piston [$20K to 1st] (XFIN).
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NASCAR Price Check
1. Riley Herbst ($7,700) – It’s very rare that Herbst receives a positive mention based on statistics because he has not had much success in his young career. There is one exception, however. Herbst’s sole career win came in a 2017 Pocono ARCA race running for JGR, and it was against a decent field.
2. Noah Gragson ($9,800) – Forget whether Gragson will be a good Cup driver or if he is even a good Xfinity driver. He’s a great driver in this field. Gragson had the third-highest driver rating at Phoenix and Darlington. His rating was the second best last week at Talladega and he had the best driver rating at Daytona, Bristol, Atlanta and in both Homestead races.
3. Daniel Hemric ($9,400) – In the 2018 Pocono race, Hemric finished third behind Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. Last year, he finished seventh and 13th at Pocono in the Cup series. Pocono seems to be a Daniel Hemeric track.
4. Timmy Hill ($6,800) – It’s a sad state of affairs when a Carl Long car becomes a permanent fixture in the Xfinity rankings. This is a Hattori-Long car, but it’s still a Carl Long car, and unequivocally, Long has been the worst team in the Xfinity series for years. Google Zombie Dodge.
5. Brett Moffitt ($8,200) – Pocono is an equipment race more than it is a skill race. Moffitt has skill, but he’s also driving old Gallagher Motor Sports equipment. Over the past 10 races, Moffit is averaging a 13th-place finish and that number includes a wreck at Homestead.
6. Ross Chastain ($10,400) – Passing the leader at Pocono is nearly impossible. It requires very aggressive driving, but that’s right up Chastain’s alley. If he can get the lead, his aggressive blocking might mean the first non-plate race win for a Kaulig regular.
7. Justin Allgaier ($10,700) – He was a contender last year at Pocono, but a lot of that had to do with differing pit strategies. When Allgaier’s tire advantage equalized, the real contenders left him in the dust. To make matters worse, he wrecked on a late-race restart.
8. Chase Briscoe ($10,000) – Last year, he had nothing for Bell, Custer or Reddick, but those guys are gone. Pocono favors the best car with track position and Briscoe seems to fit that criteria more than any other driver this year.
9. Brandon Brown ($7,300) – Finally, Brown is starting outside of the top 20. He’s been unplayable each week because he starts in a position that’s better than where he can realistically finish. In Brown’s eight top 15 finishes, he’s averaging a 12th-place finish.
10. Austin Cindric ($10,200) – He was pitiful last year at Pocono, but he was not satisfied being just a disappointment for Team Penske. He had to go further and wreck. Amidst a battle for seventh place, 25 seconds behind the leader, Cind-WRECK thought it was a good idea to dump Jeffrey Earnhardt.
11. Brandon Jones ($9,600) – He’s been terrible at Pocono. He finished eighth in his first Pocono race, but 25% of the laps were run under caution and the race ended due to rain on lap 53 of 100. A dead give away that he struggles at Pocono is that he’s run two ARCA races at Pocono in order to get extra laps.
12. Jeremy Clements ($8,600) – Clements finished 16th last year at Pocono. That’s behind the likes of Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon and John Hunter Nemechek. Not one of those drivers will be racing this weekend, and none of them have been suitably replaced. That’s an easy five spots for Clements.
13. Justin Haley ($8,400) – Don’t be so quick to dismiss his plate win last week. One thing is for certain: In order to win a plate race, a driver needs a good car, and Haley has had fast race cars every week. Pocono is a track that unfairly favors equipment over ability.
14. Harrison Burton ($11,100) – The rookie is getting better at the “no practice” format, but the most recent races are misleading. Talladega doesn’t matter. He had the first Homestead race to warm up for the second Homestead race, and in his win in the first Homestead race, Burton was trailing the leader by 15 seconds until a caution reset the field with two laps remaining.
15. Michael Annett ($8,100) – His finishes are unacceptable for a Jr Motorsports car. Annett only has three top 10 finishes this season. There are only 11 big team cars in the Xfinity series, but somehow Annett is the worst of all of them every single week.
16. Joe Graf Jr. ($5,700) – There are two fears. Starting 25th, Graf can’t earn that many place differential points, and Graf has never raced at Pocono. At $5,700, a couple of place differential points will do. Graf just has to play it safe, and he’ll likely do just that in his first race at Pocono.
17. Ryan Sieg ($7,500) – At Las Vegas, it looked like Sieg might win. Although he faded out of contention in that race, the general feeling was that Sieg would win a race this season. That was a long time ago. Sieg has failed to finish on the lead in each of the past six races.
18. Myatt Snider ($9,000) – At some point, DFS players will have to make a decision: Is Snider unlucky or does Snider lack talent? He wrecked again last week. Talladega can be dismissed, but Snider had finished on the lead lap in just five of 11 races this season.
19. Bayley Currey ($6,700) – This is a hefty price tag for a Mike Harmon car. This team has never finished on the lead lap at Pocono and the average finish for a Harmon car is 31st at the Tricky Triangle. This year has been different though. Currey is averaging a 25th-place finish over his past five races. If he can scratch his way to 20th, he’ll be optimal.
20. BJ McLeod ($5,200) – The BJ McLeod bubble burst. Over his past four races, he’s averaging a 27th-place finish. Everyone is selling BJ stock, so now is the time to buy. He’s cheap and he’s starting in a position where he can move forward. His average finish over the past four Pocono races is 22nd.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above,they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above.