Driver Group Game Picks Daytona – Fantasy Racing Tips

The Cup Series and the Xfinity Series will race under the lights at Daytona International Speedway this week, while the Truck Series will race at the Milwaukee Mile. The Cup Series drivers who are not locked into a playoff spot have a decent chance to win at Daytona and secure their place in a run for the championship. They are going to need a lot of luck for this to happen and we will need a lot of luck with our Driver Group Game picks this week. It should be fun to see how it all plays out at Daytona. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 can be seen Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

STRATEGY FOR DAYTONA

The race Saturday night at Daytona is race No. 25 on the Cup Series schedule. That means we have used a lot of allocations with our top drivers. This is the week to give the drivers who we do not have many allocations left with a break and take a chance with some drivers who we have many allocations left with. The drivers who are on the bubble of making the playoffs typically perform well in this race. I will have some of those drivers in my lineup this week.

NASCAR has eliminated practice at the Superspeedways from the schedule. This means the cars will qualify Friday and then race Saturday. The driver’s starting position does not matter much in the Coke Zero 400. I already know which drivers I will use in the race. I will take a chance with a few drivers who have been really good at qualifying on the Superspeedways this year in order to score some bonus points for qualifying.

DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR DAYTONA

GROUP A DRIVERS

WILLIAM BYRON (6): Byron won the Daytona 500 this year. No driver has won both races at Daytona since Jimmie Johnson did it in 2013. I think Byron has a god chance to sweep the races at Daytona this year. His win in February was his second trip to Victory Lane at Daytona. He also won the Coke Zero 400 in 2020. Byron won on the Superspeedway at Atlanta last year and he finished 2^nd at Talladega in 2023. He is quickly becoming the best Superspeedway driver in the sport. There is a good chance that I will start Byron Saturday night.

KYLE LARSON (6): I know I am going to use William Byron in the race, so I will have Larson on the team for qualifying points. There have been five races at Daytona in the Gen-7 car era and Larson has started on the front row in three of them. It would have been four out of the five races, but he qualified 0.03 second behind Michael McDowell in February. I am going for max points this week, so it makes sense to use a driver for qualifying points if he is going to be on your bench.

OTHER PICK: KYLE BUSCH (9): The stats suggest I should play Busch this week, but I just cannot trust him. Busch is in a must win situation, so the No. 8 team will be very aggressive with their strategy in this race. Busch led 12 laps, scored 12 Stage Points and finished 12^th in the Daytona 500 (good for 87 points in the Driver Group Game). He also finished 3^rd at Atlanta this year. This will be a good race to take a chance with a desperate Busch, if you have the guts to pull the trigger.

GROUP A RANKINGS: 1. WILLIAM BYRON, 2. CHRISTOPHER BELL, 3. KYLE BUSCH, 4. CHASE ELLIOTT, 5. MARTIN TRUEX JR., 6. RYAN BLANEY, 7. DENNY HAMLIN, 8. KYLE LARSON

GROUP B DRIVERS

BUBBA WALLACE (6): Wallace could really use a win to take the pressure off of him next week at Darlington. He just may get it. Wallace has the best average finishing position at Daytona in the Gen-7 car (from the drivers with more than one start). Wallace led 3 laps, scored 7 Stage Points and finished 5^th in the Daytona 500 (good for 96 Driver Group Game points). Wallace won at Talladega in 2021 and he has three 2^nd-place finishes at Daytona (2018, 2021 and 2022). I am sure Wallace will get a lot of help from Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick in this race. That should make the No. 23 car one of the best picks in Group B.

ALEX BOWMAN (6): I am going with two drivers for qualifying points only on my bench, so I need to make sure I get my two starting drivers right before qualifying. Bowman has the best average finishing position in the Gen-7 car on the Superspeedways. He finished 5^th in this race last year and Bowman finished 2^nd in the Daytona 500 this year. He also finished 5^th at Talladega this year. That is a lot of top-five finishes. Pairing Bubba Wallace with Alex Bowman gives me the driver with the best average finishing position at Daytona in the Gen-7 car and the driver with the best average finishing position on the Superspeedways in the Gen-7 car.

JOEY LOGANO (4): Logano is one of the best drivers at Daytona, but I am not using an allocation with the No. 22 car at this unpredictable track. Logano is in the lineup for qualifying points only. He won the pole for the Daytona 500 and he qualified 2^nd at Atlanta. The No. 22 car has been fast in qualifying trim, so I will try to score the bonus points for qualifying with Logano Friday evening. I just hope he does not bring out the Spider Man glove and get disqualified.

MICHAEL MCDOWELL (5): The only driver who has been faster than Joey Logano is qualifying trim is McDowell. He qualified 2^nd for the Daytona 500 and he won the pole at Talladega and Atlanta. That is an average starting position of 1.3 on the Superspeedways this year. McDowell is almost a lock to score bonus points for qualifying this week, so I will have him in my lineup at Daytona (I am not using McDowell in the race though).

OTHER PICK: AUSTIN CINDRIC (6): I had a hard time deciding if I should go with Alex Bowman or Cendric in my starting lineup. Both have been really good at qualifying up front at Daytona and both drivers are good at finishing up front at Daytona. The stats favor Bowman, so I took a chance with the No. 48 car. Cindric is already locked into the playoffs with his win at Gateway, but I still expect the No. 2 car to work well with Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney in the race Saturday night. That is not a bad place to be on the track. You can use Cendric if you do not trust Bubba Wallace of Alex Bowman or if you do not want to go after qualifying points Friday evening.

GROUP B RANKINGS: 1. BUBBA WALLACE, 2. ALEX BOWMAN, 3. AUSTIN CINDRIC, 4. CHRIS BUESCHER, 5. JOEY LOGANO, 6. BRAD KESELOWSKI, 7. ROSS CHASTAIN, 8. ERIK JONES, 9. TYLER REDDICK, 10. DANIEL SUAREZ

GROUP C DRIVERS

COREY LAJOIE (6): Lajoie is a lame duck at Spire Motorsports, since it was not announced that he will not return to the No. 7 team next year. He still has a lot to race for and a finish up front Saturday night will really help him secure a ride for the 2025 season. LaJoie finished 4^th in the Daytona 500, 4^th at Talladega last year and 10^th in the Coke Zero 400 in 2023. He is one of the more underrated drivers on the Superspeedways. I do not plan to play LaJoie at the smaller tracks, so I will take a chance with the No. 7 car at Daytona.

JOHN H. NEMECHEK (9): This should be a good race to take a chance with Nemechek. He has not been very good this year, but he has had a lot of success at Daytona. Nemechek has competed in three Cup Series races at Daytona and he has never finished worse than 11^th. That includes a 7^th-place finish in the Daytona 500 this year. I am not sure if I will start Corey LaJoie or Nemechek Saturday night, but I will have both on the team and see how they perform in qualifying Friday evening.

OTHER PICK: NOAH GRAGSON (4): Gragson should be the drive I pair with Corey LaJoie, but I am running out of allocations with the No. 10 car. Gragson finished 9^th in the Daytona 500 and he finished 5^th in this race in 2022 (that was in a Beard Motorsports Chevy). Gragson also finished 3^rd at Talladega this year. There is no doubt that Gragson knows how to get to the front on the Superspeedways. I would use him if we had unlimited starts with our drivers.

GROUP C RANKINGS: 1. COREY LAJOIE, 2. NOAH GRAGSON, 3. JOHN H. NEMECHEK, 4. TODD GILLILAND, 5. DANIEL HEMRIC

* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.

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