The NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan is on Sunday, and DraftKings is offering a new way to play fantasy NASCAR. The game is simple. Build a “Pick Set” (2+ drivers) and decide if they will outperform their stat projections. Here is some advice to help build your DraftKings Pick6 Pick Sets for the NASCAR Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan.
Brad Keselowski | Projected Finish: 14.5
Pick6 Play: Better
It’s a home-track hero pick. It’s hard to overstate the importance of this race for Brad Keselowski. This is his Daytona 500, Indy 500 and Monaco GP. He loves Michigan. He loves history. Winning at the track at the heart of the American auto industry is the last feather in this future Hall-of-Famer’s cap.
As per usual, Keselowski didn’t qualify well. It’s routine. Also part of this routine is Keselowski easily navigating through traffic in the race. He’s done it all season, and he knows how to finish at Michigan — finishes of sixth, 10th, fifth and fourth in the Gen-7 car. An RFK Ford won the 2023 race with Chris Buescher.
Erik Jones | Projected Finish: 16.5
Pick6 Play: Better
Narratives mean more than practice. This sounds ludicrous, but truth is stranger than fiction. Teams are afforded one practice session. Setup changes are impractical with this schedule and this generation of stock car. Practice laps are warm-up laps compared to previous eras of NASCAR. The data is clear. Speed in practice no longer strongly correlates with race speed. This is true for nearly every track in this weekend format with the Gen-7 car.
Jones wasn’t blazing fast in practice at Michigan. Imagine that. A smaller team decided not to risk their equipment at a high-speed track. Even with the possible difference in approach, Jones was still a borderline top-10 car. Toyota had speed across the board. Sorry, Detroit auto-manufacturing purists.
Buried in this pick is the storyline. Jones is another Michigander who always runs well in the state up north. His worst finish is 16th in this era of stock car. His better finishes were 11th, 10th and eighth.
Ross Chastain | Finishing Position: 13.5
Pick6 Play: Worse
Trackhouse Racing is not an elite team. They were inching their way closer. Now, they’re centimetering if not going backwards. Outside of the road courses and superspeedways, this Chevy team is not building speed. If the intermediate-track program is lacking at the more common 1.5-mile ovals, then the rare two-mile oval likely received the least amount of resources and support. That showed on Saturday. Chastain did not have speed in practice or qualifying.
Checks aren’t issued Saturday. Sunday matters more, but race speed is not completely independent of practice speed. The r-value increases when a driver struggles on Saturday and Sunday every week. The most charitable analysis is that Trackhouse isn’t taking a nose dive, the other teams are ascending rapidly and Trackhouse is being left on the runway. Either way, the haves have speed. The have-nots do not. Chastain can drive, but what he drives matters.
For NASCAR insight and quick DFS help, follow Pearce Dietrich (@Race4thePrize) on Twitter.
What is DraftKings Pick6?
Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy variant where you build a lineup (your “Pick Set”) of 2+ players and select whether you believe each will outperform their listed stat projection. Enter your Pick Set in Pick6 contests to compete against other users. Get enough picks correct and win a share of cash prizes.
How to Play
Create a Pick Set
Create a Pick Set by choosing 2+ players from the same sport and Pick Group (a set of picks available from a group of set competitions). For each player, simply select if you think they’ll have more or less than their listed stat projection. In each Pick Set, you can not pick the same player twice and you must pick players from at least two different teams.
Enter an Amount
Once you finalize your Pick Set, choose your entry fee amount. Your entries will be automatically distributed into available contests, subject to your confirmation.
Sweat Your Picks
When the games go live, use the My Picks tab to follow your picks in real time to track how your players are performing against their projections and how they stack up against other users.
Compete for Prizes
Make enough correct picks and win a share of the contests’ guaranteed prizes. Any prizes won will be credited to your DraftKings account after contests are finalized.
