The Cup Series will travel back to Daytona International Speedway for the last race of their regular season. There have been four races so far this year on the Superspeedways. They include the Daytona 500, the race at Talladega and the two races at Atlanta. Each of these races has had fans on the edge of their seats. I expect the same this week at Daytona. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 can be seen Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.
STRATEGY FOR DAYTONA
The strategy for the Driver Group Game is easy this week. Allocations, Allocations, Allocations!! We can use our top drivers in Group A because there is enough talent in that group to get us through the season. We need to save our top drivers in Group B and Group C this week for the more predictable races. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs should be off limits this week. You need to take a chance with the drivers who are good on the Superspeedways, but you do not intend to use much this season.
Each manufacture was able to redesign the nose of their cars before the start of the 2023 season. The redesign of the Fords has allowed the Blue Ovals to have a lot of speed on the Superspeedways this year. I will stack my teams with many of the Fords this week and hope for the best.
Here are the picks for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 …
GROUP A DRIVERS
JOEY LOGANO (8): Logano is one of the best Superspeedway drivers in the Cup Series. Has won five races on the Superspeedway tracks and that includes the 2015 Daytona 500. Logano has also been good at these tracks this year. He finished second in the Daytona 500 and he won the race at Atlanta. This is a good race to take use an allocation with the No. 22 car.
RYAN BLANEY (7): Blaney is the best driver at Talladega, but he is not too bad at Daytona too. He finished eighth in the Daytona 500 to start this season and he won the summer race at Daytona in 2021. Blaney also finished second in his last two races at Talladega and he finished both races at Atlanta this year in the top-10. Blaney is the safest pick in the field for the Coke Zero 400 Saturday night.
(OTHER PICK) DENNY HAMLIN (6): It is hard to ignore the stats that Hamlin has at Daytona. He has three wins at this track, but all of them have been in the Daytona 500. He has only been “OK” in the summer races at Daytona. He is still a good pick because he consistently leads laps and scored Stage Points in this race. Those bonus points cannot be taken away, so that gives Hamlin a high floor, even if he crashes out of the race Saturday night.
GROUP A DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) Ryan Blaney 2) Joey Logano 3) Chase Elliott 4) Denny Hamlin 5) Christopher Bell 6) William Byron 7) Ross Chastain 8) Kyle Larson
GROUP B DRIVERS
AUSTIN CINDRIC (8): Who has the best average finishing position on the Superspeedways in the Cup Series? Of course it is Austin Cindric. He not only won the 2022 Daytona 500, Cindric also finished third in this race last year. Cindric needs a win to make the playoffs. He will have Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney helping him get to Victory Lane. That is not a bad spot to be in the race.
BUBBA WALLCE (5): Wallace has the most points out of the drivers who do not have a win. I expect the No. 43 car to race up front and try to score as many Stage Points as possible. The final Stage will come down to Wallace’s ability to hold off the competition and get to Victory Lane. I am not sure he will win, but Wallace should be one of the highest scoring drivers in the Driver Group Game this week.
CHRIS BUESCHER (7): Buescher has been on fire this summer and he has been really good at the Superspeedways this year too. Buescher finished fourth in the Daytona 500, third at Talladega and 15th at Atlanta. I was late to get aboard the Buescher bandwagon, so I have plenty of allocations left with the No. 17 car. I may use one of them Saturday night if Buescher qualifies up front.
ARIC ALMIROLA (8): I thought about using Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon or Erik Jones for the final pick in Group B, but I want as many Fords as possible. Almirola is a very good Superspeedway driver. He needs a win Saturday night to make the playoffs. I am sure he will be running up front, leading some laps and scoring Stage Points. I just need Almirola to bring his car to the finish line in one piece. That has been tough for him to do, but when he does, it is a top-five finish.
(OTHER PICK) BRAD KESELOWSKI (4): There is no doubt that Keselowski is one of the best picks in the field this week. I would love to use him in the race, but I am running low with my allocations with the No. 6 car. RFK Racing has really stepped up their game this year. Keselowski has been good on the short and intermediate tracks. I will save him for one of those races, but I would use him this week if you have five or more allocations left with Keselowski (I would use him over Aric Almirola)
GROUP B DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) Brad Keselowski 2) Austin Cindric 3) Bubba Wallace 4) Chris Buescher 5) Aric Almirola 6) Kyle Busch 7) Kevin Harvick 8) Austin Dillon 9) Alex Bowman 10) Martin Truex Jr.
GROUP C DRIVERS
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. (9): Stenhouse is locked into the playoffs after his win in the Daytona 500. Can he sweep the races in Daytona this year? I doubt that will happen, but I still think Stenhouse will be a good pick. He was asked after his Daytona 500 win, “How did you win this race.” Stenhouse said he was always too aggressive early in the races on the Superspeedways. He decided to dial it back a bit and save his aggressive racing style until the end of the race. I just hope he uses the same strategy Saturday night.
COREY LAJOIE (9): Lajoie has had some success recently on the Superspeedways. His average finishing position in his last five races at Daytona is 16th (not too bad). He almost won the race at Atlanta last year and he finished fifth at the track earlier this season. LaJoie believes he can win the race Saturday night and secure a spot in the playoffs. I am not so sure he can do it, but a top-10 finish is possible with the No. 7 car at Daytona.
(OTHER CHOICE) TODD GILLILAND (9): Gilliland should be your driver if you want to swing for the fences Saturday night. He has not been very good in many races this season, but he has been decent on the Superspeedways. Gilliland finished 10th at Talladega, 15th in the first race at Atlanta and 16th in the second race at the track. Gilliland was caught up in a wreck in the Daytona 500, but he was running in the middle of the pack when it happened. I doubt anyone will use Gilliland in their lineups. You could gain a lot of ground in your league standings if you have the guts to use the No. 38 car and he finishes up front.
GROUP C DRIVER RANKINGS: 1) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 2) AJ Allmendinger 3) Ty Gibbs 4) Corey LaJoie 5) Todd Gilliland
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
TRUCK SERIES PICKS
XFINITY SERIES PICKS
Good Luck This Weekend!
Follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR
If you like Fantasy NASCAR, LIKE my Fantasy NASCAR Tips Page on Facebook