Daytona Duels DFS Picks
- RoundersKyle
- Feb 13
- 4 min read
The Daytona Duels are tonight to set the starting lineup for the Daytona 500 this weekend. We will also see what drivers will make the race as we have 7 drivers going for the final 2 spots. We should get some good racing with a bigger field than the last several years and there will be at least one pit stop that the drivers will have to make in the race.
The duels should be approached a little different than a normal Daytona race as drivers will not be as aggressive except for the few drivers trying to race their way into the field. Due to this, I don't mind picking drivers that start a little more towards the front than you would in a normal superspeedway race. However, place differential is still king so any driver that has the upside with place differential are going to be high target picks.
Duel 1
Top Plays
Ross Chastain
Bubba Wallace
Ricky Stenhouse
Tyler Reddick
Justin Allgaier
I expect these 4 drivers to be some of the highest owned drivers for Duel 1 as they start towards the back of the field and I would expect them to try to move forward. These drivers are also pretty good on superspeedways and should know how to move through the field. Allgaier needs to race his way in so he will likely be aggressive to finish up front, so he could be a great play for duel 1.
Fades
Chase Briscoe
Josh Berry
Ty Dillon
Zane Smith
JJ Yeley
These are the drivers that I do not expect to be racing towards the front for a lot of the race. Briscoe is locked into the pole so he has nothing to gain in the duels. He may race at the front for a little while to check his car out but I think by the end he will go to the back to avoid any wrecks. I also expect guys like Berry, Dillon, and Smith to not be as aggressive to make sure they don't wreck their cars. They also don't have much upside starting at the front and they have a high likelihood of not finishing there with a lot of good teams starting farther back. Yeley is one that is just not in good enough equipment to compete much in this race and is not a good option for DFS.
A lot of the other guys starting mid pack are solid options as well. This is a hard race to predict and drivers can get shuffled back in a moments notice. Guys like Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, William Byron, and Ty Gibbs are all solid options to get to the front but there will be a level of caution with everyone as they would rather not wreck their car for the 500.
Duel 2
Top Picks
Corey Lajoie
Anthony Alfredo
Ryan Blaney
Chris Buescher
Brad Keselowski
Duel 2 has some different driver strategies than what I expect in duel 1. I think a lot of the drivers outside the top 10 won't be too aggressive besides the ones trying to race their way in. I think Johnson and SVG will be cautious to not wreck their cars and Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek seem to ride in the back early in speedway races so I would expect them to do the same here. This opens up the opportunity to use guys starting more towards the front like Blaney, Buescher, and Keselowski. Lajoie and Alfredo I expect to be the top open cars racing to make the race depending how Castroneves is running with his provisional to fall back on.
Fades
Austin Cindric
Cody Ware
Legacy Motorsports
Cindric, like Briscoe in Duel 1, has nothing to gain in this race as he is locked into starting 2nd. He likely won't be aggressive towards the end of the race and starting upfront kills his upside. Cody Ware is another I expect to ride around to make sure he doesn't wreck his car as he likely expects to start towards the back anyways. Unless he tries to help his teammate Lajoie make the race he won't be gaining a lot of spots. As I said above I don't expect Johnson, Jones, or Nemechek to be too aggressive in this race as they don't tend to be early on in speedway races, so I don't think they will have high finishes.
A lot of the top drivers start in the 2-10 range so I would not be surprised to see the optimal lineup end up with more drivers starting towards the front in this race compared to duel 1.
Overall the duel races are a bit of a crap shoot for DFS as we don't know how aggressive drivers will be and what their plan is for the race as your starting spot for the Daytona 500 does not mean too much.
Good luck everyone.
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