Toyota/Save Mart 350

Sonoma Raceway

Holy Cow! That was some exciting racing two weeks ago at Michigan when NASCAR decided to make an already fast track faster, with a low-down-force package in place. Joey Logano turned in the best performance of the day with the win and leading 138 of the 200 laps run. It was another winning week as well for the cash lineup as it posted a very solid 294 points. The GPP however missed as Dale Earnhardt Jr. crashed out of the race.

After being off for a week for Father’s Day, NASCAR now heads to the winemaking heart of Northern California where hidden in the rolling hills and vineyards is Sonoma Raceway. Sunday’s race will mark the first road course of the schedule ahead of Watkins Glen a bit further down the race list.

A 1.99-mile loop with 10 turns, Sonoma, or what used to be known as Infineon, poses an interesting technical test for the 40 drivers on the starting grid, as not only will they have right turns to contend with, they will also have to use their brakes much more frequently than normal. Typically paying attention to drivers with previous open-wheel experience is a good strategy at the road courses, however those drivers are fewer and farther between now than in previous years. The other way to make hay at Sonoma is to really pay attention to where drivers are starting as position differential is hard to come by here, with only nine drivers having better than +7 in that category in the last two races and only one of the top-15 historically moving up that much.

93% of winners have come from the starting five at the road course, so if you are banking getting the 46 points from winning, pick one of the top-five qualifiers.

PLAYBOOK

DriverDraft KingsDescription
Kurt Busch$10,700Sonoma is another track that Busch performs well at. 1 win and 7 top-fives in his career plus a starting spot in the top-five this week make it hard to not be playing him
Kevin Harvick$10,400Harvick is still the highest scoring driver on the senior circuit this year and a qualifying spot at 25 make him a solid play for GPP. 6 top-10's in 15 races isn't too shabby
Jimmie Johnson$10,100J.J. has led the most laps (46) in the last two races and has one of the best position differentials out there.He has a win and 9 top-10's in 14 tries at Sonoma
Kyle Busch$9,800Kyle is the defending champ at Sonoma and is in good position for under a $10,000 price tag. He has two wins and the third most laps led at Sonoma in his career.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.$9,700Jr. has looked great in practice with race trim this week and qualified 13th. Owns the third best position differential and two top-10's but has been inconsistent.
Carl Edwards$9,100Edwards earned his third pole this year and has looked very fast in practice. He won here back in 2014 and has finished in the top-10 5 out of 11 races at Sonoma.
Tony Stewart$8,900Stewart is the best active driver here in terms of wins, top-10's and top-20's. Things haven't gone quite as well lately but he looks very fast this week. GPP works here
Kasey Kahne$8,700Kahne owns the best position differential in the field with a +21 in the last two races. He qualified in the mid-teens which makes him quite a steal at $8,700
Chase Elliot$8,500Elliot maybe a rookie but he has very talented drivers showing him the way in practice here. Rookie status hasn't stopped him yet and this week should be no different.
Jamie McMurray$7,800$7,800 for arguably the most consistent driver at the road course is a bargain. In last year's race he started in a similar spot and moved up to a top-11 finish.
Clint Bowyer$7,700Bowyer is one of the best drivers at Sonoma with 8 top-10's out of 10 races there. He also owns the sixth best position differential at +9 so $7,700 works for either format
Ryan Newman$7,500Newman is another consistent performer at Sonoma Raceway finishing top-20 in 13 out of 14 races. Qualifying 17th sets him up nicely for another top-10 finish
Paul Menard$6,900Menard is a great value play this week for GPP lineups with great position differential points (+11.5) but doesn't lead laps.He will fit nicely into the budget at this price
Danica Patrick$6,100Patrick came from open-wheeled racing over to NASCAR so her style fits road courses pretty well. She is a GPP play as she qualified well but hasn't placed better than 18th
Michael Annett$5,000Annett is the bottom of the wrung for salaries this week but he offers value with a +10.5 position differential in the last two years. He won't win you money but won't hurt

OPTIMAL LINEUPS

Draft Kings Cash 
Kurt Busch$10,700
Jimmie Johnson$10,100
Kasey Kahne$8,700
Jamie McMurray$7,800
Clint Bowyer$7,700
Michael Annett$5,000
  
Total$50,000

This week’s cash lineup has five of the top-six average finishers in it in Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, and Clint Bowyer. With position differential being at a premium this week, it’s hard to beat this combination of drivers. Kurt Busch has been on a roll this year and is in prime position for another top-5 finish and a win. Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne are the two best drivers from a team, in Hendrick Motorsports, that has seven top-10 finishes in the last eight combined races. Michael Annett finishes out the lineup with a premium position mover with a +10.5 mark in the last two years.

Draft Kings GPP 
Kevin Harvick$10,400
Jimmie Johnson$10,100
Dale Earnhardt Jr.$9,700
Kasey Kahne$8,700
Danica Patrick$6,100
Michael Annett$5,000
  
Total$50,000

This week’s GPP lineup went with value at qualifying spots and a stack. Kevin Harvick is a top-10 driver on this circuit and the highest scoring driver in DFS this season but a 25th starting spot could slow his move to the front of the pack and drastically cut his chances to lead laps. Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, gives us a stack (uncommon in NASCAR) of Hendrick Motorsports drivers because of their combined six top-10 finishes in the last eight combined races at Sonoma. Only the retired Jeff Gordon missed a top-10 once in the last two years. Danica Patrick has an open-wheeled racing background and has looked good this week with a starting spot just outside the top-10 and a new mentality of attacking. Michael Annett rounds out this lineup just like the cash one as a value play for $5,000.