Note: Below is a Fantasy NASCAR Bristol Motor Speedway preview article from Wheels (@DK_Wheels) and PJ (@PJFrapDFS) of the Power Hour DFS (@PowerHourDFS) crew.
For more Fantasy NASCAR insight from them, CLICK HERE

It's Bristol Baby! The high-banked, half mile oval is home to two of the best races on the NASCAR schedule with fans and drivers alike all looking forward to the excitement that is short track racing.

Bristol is known as "The Last Great Colosseum" because well, once that green flag drops you are literally battling for every inch lap after lap for 500 laps. YES PLEASE! 500 laps here really tests just about every ability a driver has whether that is how to pass, how to navigate lap traffic, how to avoid wrecks, concentration, and probably the biggest one; how to handle your temper. There won't be one driver that leaves the track on Sunday that didn't yell into the radio about someone or some incident on track.

Every driver wants to put a Bristol win on their resume and they are going to have to tap into all of their abilities to do so.

Now, let's take a closer look at our top daily fantasy sports (DFS) scorers at Bristol Motor Speedway from last season:

2017 Spring:

  • Kyle Larson - 110.5 DK pts (Dominator)
    • Finishing Position: 38 pts
    • Dominator: 5 pts
    • Place Differential: -5 pts
  • Martin Truex Jr - 104.5 DK pts (Dominator)
    • Finishing Position pts: 36 pts
    • Dominator pts: 73.5 pts
    • Place Differential pts: -5 pts
  • Jimmie Johnson - 96.75 DK pts (Dominator)
    • Finishing Position pts: 46 pts
    • Dominator pts: 40.75 pts
    • Place Differential pts: +10 pts

2017 Fall:

  • Kyle Busch - 145 DK pts (Dominator)
    • Finishing Position: 46 pts
    • Dominator: 82 pts
    • Place Differential: 17 pts
  • Erik Jones - 135.5 DK pts (Dominator)
    • Finishing Position pts: 42 pts
    • Dominator pts: 94.5 pts
    • Place Differential pts: -1 pts
  • Kevin Harvick - 70.5 DK pts (Place Differential)
    • Finishing Position pts: 36 pts
    • Dominator pts: 13.5 pts
    • Place Differential pts: 21 pts

Kyle Busch - It seems like we keep hitting on Kyle Busch each week because of his current form plus his track history for that given week (which is good just about everywhere we go). Well, now factor in his recent form after finally putting his #18 Camry in victory lane with his track history at Bristol and we could be in for another show this weekend. Rowdy leads the active drivers list with the most 100+ DK point scores with 7 which includes scores of 200+ on two separate occasions. No other active driver has scored more than 145 DK pts while Rowdy has posted scores of 145 (in 2017 fall), 174.75, 203.5 and 208.25. If Rowdy can keep it clean, look for him to be around the front the of the field all day on Sunday.

Kevin Harvick - Harvick had yet another fast car in Texas and overcame all of the pit road issues to finish runner up last week, so it is safe to say that his current form is still intact as we head to Bristol. While Harvick doesn't have the same ceiling of numbers behind him like Rowdy does, he has shown a lot better consistency than he has while scoring 50+ DK pts in 7 straight Bristol races (while Rowdy only has 3 scores over 50 in 6 races during the same stretch).

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - Just as we thought Ricky was starting to put his nickname ("Wrecky") to rest in 2017, he has quickly returned to form this season, but it seems like he just can't make it through practice before pulling the backup out of the truck for the race. Recent form has definitely not been there lately, but this is the track that Ricky needs to turn his season around. In 10 races at BMS, Ricky has an amazing 10.8 avg. finishing position, including 9 top 20's, 5 top 10's and 3 top 5's.

ROSTER CONSTRUCTION


**As a disclaimer for this next section, a lot of DraftKings (DK) plays are dependent on Qualifying and Practice speeds, but we want to give you our initial thoughts on two Dominators, two Value Plays and one Punt Play**


DOMINATORS

Dominators are drivers who earn bonus points by dominating the race through laps lead and running the fastest laps during the race.

PJ's Dominators:

  • Kyle Larson ($9,700)
    • Led both races last year with 202 in the spring and 72 in the fall
    • This style of race track fits his perfectly and he has said that this is one of his favorite tracks
    • The only other track that Larson has led more in his entire career in Dover
  • Erik Jones ($8,300)
    • This may come as a surprise but Erik led 260 laps here in the fall
    • The car Erik is now driving finished 4th in both races here last year
    • Obviously early on in his career but this is easily one of his best tracks and he realistically can win here.

Wheels Dominators:

  • Kyle Busch ($11,300)
    • Consistent, which is what you want when paying up…take out Daytona and he's averaging 82 DK points/week
    • Has six wins and nine tops fives here…has led a total of 2,115 laps
      • Has 21 total wins at this track if you include all three series
  • Kevin Harvick ($11,500)
    • Two wins, 12 top fives and 17 top 10s here
    • Has an average finish here of 4.2 over his last five starts (including his Fall 2016 victory)

VALUE PLAYS

Value plays are the drivers who usually start in the middle to rear of the field that can stay clean, move up, and gain place differential points. Most importantly get you a good finishing position at the end of the race.

PJ's Values:

  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr ($7,600)
    • Outside of the super speedways this is far and away Ricky's best track
    • Has five top fives in 10 career starts here with a worst finish of 21
    • Last four races he has finished on the lead lap and has had positive place differential in all of them
  • Trevor Bayne ($6,000)
    • Same story as his teammate I just talked about, this is Trevor's best track
    • Has two top 10's in his last four races here with positive place differential in each with a worst finish of 12th!
    • This is just a mis-price, I know he hasn't been good this year, but this is the week to get right

Wheels Value Plays:

  • Erik Jones ($8,300)
    • Had a solid week in Texas, leading 68 laps and finishing 4th (after starting 21st)…now coming back to Bristol after he led 260 laps (won the pole) and finished second
    • Only has two Cup starts here, but has 5.1 average running position and 9.5 average finish
      • Won the spring Xfinity races in 2016 (from the pole) and 2017
  • Ricky Stenhouse Jr ($7,600)
    • Exactly what you want out of a driver at this track
    • Holds an average finishing position of 10.8 (average starting position of 22)
      • Best among drivers with at least three starts (finished second twice)

PUNT PLAYS

Punt plays are your $6K & under drivers who usually start in the 30's and can move up a couple spots, maybe break into the top 25-30 if all goes well. Most of all your punts allow you to jam in multiple Dominators into your lineup to cover your bases since there are many occasions that a race will have multiple Dominators.

PJ's Punt:

  • Matt DiBenedetto ($5,600)
    • Positive place differential in every single race of his career here (6)
    • Finished 6th here in the spring of 2016…6th!
    • By far Matt's best track statically

Wheels Punt:

  • Trevor Bayne ($6,000)
    • His home track (from Knoxville) - average finishing position of 8.75 (last four races)
    • Solid 12th place finish last week…this is a place where the Roush-Fenway team can turn things around (along with teammate Ricky Stenhouse Jr.)