INTRO
NASCAR stays out west this week going to Phoenix for the first race on a shorter flat style track. The last time the Cup Series was here was for the championship and they race here twice a season. They had a longer practice session on Friday this week with a new package for the cars although a lot of drivers said they did not feel much of a difference.
POTENTIAL DOMINATORS:
Denny Hamlin
Christopher Bell
Ross Chastain
Tyler Reddick
A lot of the drivers that had the fast lap averages in practice start outside of the top 10. But Denny Hamlin was fast in practice and got the pole. With it being difficult to pass and I do not think there are immediate threats starting around him, he should get the lead early and lead a good chunk of the race. Bell is one of my favorite plays as he was the best car on the long run in practice by a good amount. He has some room to move forward and get to the front, but I think he will be a contender throughout the race and lead laps. Chastain won here at the end of last year and had fast lap times again in practice. He should make his way to the front as well. Another Toyota that was really fast in practice was Tyler Reddick. He starts up in 6th but is a good value at only $8500 on Draftkings. I am high on the Toyotas this week.
PLACE DIFFERENTIAL:
Ryan Blaney
Joey Logano
Kyle Busch
Bubba Wallace
Josh Berry
Blaney has been great at Phoenix and all flat style tracks recently. He should be good again this week and has room to move forward starting 16th. Logano is a great play this week as he was 2nd fastest in practice on the 20-lap run so he could be a top contender as well but he has big place differential potential starting 23rd. I don’t love Busch this week as he and a lot of the Chevy’s were not great in practice times but starting 31st he is a usable play. Bubba Wallace is one of my top plays as I was high on him coming into the week and he was great on lap averages in practice as well. I think he will have top 5 potential. Berry starts dead last and should be solid as some of his teammates looked good in practice.
CHEAP OPTIONS:
Ryan Preece
John Hunter Nemechek
Austin Cindric
Corey Lajoie
Zane Smith
Harrison Burton
Preece should have room to move forward as I think he is likely to have top 20 upside. Nemechek was great in practice and looked like a top 10 contender but qualified 19th. Cindric and Lajoie have huge place differential potential starting in the 30s and should be popular plays to move forward. I do prefer Cindric as his teammates looked good too. Smith and Burton on riskier contrarian plays as I think they will be low owned as their didn’t show the greatest speed in practice and start higher up. However, they seemed to have less tire falloff and were better on the long run.
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