The field is set for Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway with Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott on the front row. Let’s delve into this week’s top Fantasy NASCAR picks and value plays for DraftKings and FanDuel NASCAR DFS lineups for the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Fantasy NASCAR Picks: Toyota/Save Mart 350 Values
Kyle Larson, 1st ($10,600 DraftKings, $13,500 FanDuel)
The fastest driver in practice found his way back to the pole, marking his fifth-straight start on the pole at Sonoma. Last year in this race, doubts swirled about Larson’s capability to be a dominant polesitter with no practice numbers to back up that starting position and history that demonstrated him continually fast enough to win the pole but never fast or good enough to hold on to the lead for long.
Those fears were quickly wiped away after Larson went on to lead 57 laps and was never in any danger of losing the race. Later on that season, Larson replicated this effort at Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval, showing that road courses he was familiar with, he could take his newfound Hendrick speed and put on a clinic in road racing. Much like last year, as long as Larson can clear Chase Elliott early, he can easily set sail and start accumulating dominator points from the pole.
Due to the preponderance of place differential options this week, Larson isn’t a must in cash but he’s definitely in the cash pool should DFS players think he’s up to replicating his effort from last year.
A.J. Allmendinger, 16th ($8,800 DraftKings, $11,500 FanDuel)
This starting position might cause some to balk, at playing Allmendinger in cash. However, with Allmendinger not getting too drastic of a price bump this week, he can still make hay starting 16th. While it would be fantastic if he had the place differential appeal of Martin Truex Jr., the fact remains that not only can Allmendinger grab 10 or more positions from start to finish, he could easily be in the fight for a top-five finish. With points not being a focus of his this weekend, Allmendinger can get off sequence compared to the field and in doing so inherit the lead and start racking up dominator points to make up for not having a ton of access to place differential. The same circumstances happened earlier this year at COTA when Allmendinger started 20th, worked his way to the lead, and was in contention for the win before getting punted by Ross Chastain.
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Austin Cindric, 25th ($8,400 DraftKings, $11,000 FanDuel)
When it comes to rookies and Sonoma, the rule of thumb is to stay away as they generally flame out needing the entire race just to get acquainted with a track they didn’t race at in the Trucks or Xfinity Series. Judging by his practice numbers, DFS players would assume that Cindric might be another casualty tomorrow as he fights this track. However, Cindric does have experience with this track racing it as a 17-year-old. Not to mention, this is Austin Cindric, one of the better road racers in the Xfinity Series the past few seasons. While he may not be a threat to win tomorrow, surely he can make positive progress from his 25th starting position and be worth his $8,400 price tag on DraftKings. If a driver can’t offer “dominator” appeal in a 100+ lap race, they had better have place differential upside and that is exactly what Cindric can give DFS players tomorrow.
Erik Jones, 33rd ($7,500 DraftKings, $ 6,500 FanDuel)
Unlike his Petty-GMS teammate listed below, Jones actually had speed in practice that wasn’t apparent in his qualifying lap. Jones should have no issue knifing through the field making his way into the teens, a common fixture of his finishes while driving for Richard Petty, at road courses including 11th in this race last season. It’ll be interesting to see where Jones lands in the Awesemo NASCAR DFS projections when the come out tomorrow and what his ownership is looking like.
Ty Dillon, 34th ($5,800 DraftKings, $3,500 FanDuel)
More of a sturdy floor play than anything, Dillon has been fairly consistent in the few road course starts he’s had since the beginning of last season. He finished 19th at the Daytona Road Course and survived the wrecks and rain at Circuit of the Americas to finish 21st, albeit in the Gaunt Brothers 96. Fast forward to earlier this Spring at COTA and Dillon started 33rd and finished his day in 20th. Laying a hot lap is not one of Dillon’s skills at road courses apparently, but he’s smart enough to maneuver his way forward and provide DFS players with a great floor in cash or tournaments at less than $6,000 on DraftKings and near the bottom on FanDuel.
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