Toyota Owners 400
Richmond International Raceway
Another week is in the books and it was another dominating performance on a short track, this time by Carl Edwards as he led 278 laps and logged 85 fastest laps. Several drivers recorded their best finishes of the season in Kurt Busch, Chase Elliot, Trevor Bayne, Matt DiBenedetto and Carl Edwards who hadn’t won a race. It was also fraught with tire issues that caused numerous drivers to call it a day earlier than they would’ve liked after hitting the wall.
The last short track race until August happens on Sunday at Richmond International Raceway in what used to be a night race until last season when it transitioned to a day race. R.I.R. is still grouped with Bristol, and Martinsville, though it is longer than both of those ovals at .75 miles per lap.
As with the prior short tracks that we have talked about, a solid strategy to employ is picking drivers at the front of the pack, and in particular the pole sitter, as there are more opportunities to lead a lot of laps with the reduced speeds and less pervasive passing. In fact 85% of winners all-time at Richmond have come from the first five starting positions so putting together a mini-stack of Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, or Denny Hamlin would be beneficial for both GPP and cash lineups, though all of those drivers are in the $10,000 range so getting more than three of them in will take some work.
| Driver | Draft Kings | Description |
| Kyle Busch | $11,000 | Has the most wins and top-5 finishes of any driver in the lineup at Richmond. Has been dominant pretty much all season averaging 60.8 FPPR |
| Kevin Harvick | $10,600 | A top-5 driver at Richmond who has 3 wins and 9 top-5 finishes along with the second most laps led with 987 in his career at R.I.R. |
| Denny Hamlin | $10,400 | Richmond is considered his home track and it shows with 2 wins, 7 top-5's and more than 1,400 laps led. It is hard to go against him in a lineup |
| Carl Edwards | $10,300 | Edwards is a top-15 performer at Richmond and is coming off the most dominant performance of the season at Bristol last week |
| Jimmie Johnson | $10,000 | J.J. is coming off his worst race of the season but Richmond is a track he's won on three times plus qualifying third makes him worth a serious look |
| Brad Keselowski | $9,700 | Keselowski has led the most laps at Richmond in the last three years with more than 500 but his pit troubles give cause to only play him in GPP formats |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | $9,300 | Jr. loves racing at this track and is the second-best driver with 3 wins, 10 top-5's and 14 top-10's. His value here makes him a must play this week |
| Kurt Busch | $9,100 | He has quietly been getting on a roll the last couple of weeks and is coming off his best race of the year on another short track layout |
| Kasey Kahne | $8,200 | Kahne is a very solid driver at Richmond with a win to his name on the track but poor showings at previous short tracks make him a risky play at this price |
| Ryan Newman | $7,400 | Boom or bust early in the season but now has figured things out with three straight 33-plus point races and heading to a track with a very favorable history |
| Clint Bowyer | $7,200 | The track history suggests Bowyer can be good on the .75-mile oval but he has been up and down all season making him a candidate for GPP lineups |
| Greg Biffle | $6,500 | Biffle has scored 45 points in a race but has also scored -19. Richmond has been a favorable track for him and the price puts him in the budget GPP category |
| Aric Almirola | $6,300 | He started the year being consistent but since then his performances have left buyers wanting. Richmond is a better track for him than previous short tracks |
| Trevor Bayne | $6,100 | Bayne is one of the best FP/$ plays this week and is coming off his best race of the year at Bristol. Can act as a budget-friendly cash game play |
| Landon Cassill | $5,600 | Scored 23 points or better in seven of nine races with a high of 46. Is a great FP/$ play at a track that he is middle of the road at |
With all that in mind let’s take a look at the optimal lineups for cash and GPP games.
Feel free to comment below or reach me on twitter @theselzman
| Draft Kings Cash | |
| Kevin Harvick | $10,600 |
| Denny Hamlin | $10,400 |
| Jimmie Johnson | $10,000 |
| Clint Bowyer | $7,200 |
| Trevor Bayne | $6,100 |
| Landon Cassill | $5,600 |
| Total | $49,900 |
For the cash game lineup my guiding idea was to get as many drivers in the top-5 staring spots into my lineup as possible. Harvick was the easy choice as the pole sitter and on a major hot streak, Hamlin and Johnson are both top-5 drivers historically at the track and allowed for two more drivers in the front of the pack without having to punt the bottom couple of lineup spots. Playing Carl Edwards instead of Hamlin does make a lot of sense given his recent performances but he will be a heavily play as well.
| Draft Kings GPP | |
| Denny Hamlin | $10,400 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | $9,300 |
| Kurt Busch | $9,100 |
| Ryan Newman | $7,400 |
| Clint Bowyer | $7,200 |
| Aric Almirola | $6,300 |
| Total | $49,700 |
GPP lineups in NASCAR DFS can be very similar to cash game lineups, and in fact playing them interchangeably makes sense at some layouts. This week as you’ll notice I have carried over two drivers from the cash lineup (Hamlin and Bowyer) and then filled in with higher risk reward guys than you might play in a cash game. Earnhardt Jr. is always a smart play at Richmond and his price is too good to pass up while Busch, Newman, and Almirola are all higher upside plays that could also not bring in the returns we are hoping for. Playing Brad Keselowski instead of Jr. could work though you may also have to swap out Hamlin for Edwards or another driver for someone just slightly cheaper.
Player News
{{item.text}}
{{analysis.analysis}}