The NASCAR Cup Series is about to waive the green flag to start the 2024 season. This will be the third season for the Gen-7 car in the Cup Series. The first year produced 19 winners and last year the Cup Series had 15 drivers in Victory Lane. The field is deeper than it has ever been, so I expect another exciting season.
I match each driver with their best track in the One & Done contests before the season begins. I typically have to make some changes because a driver will get on a hot streak and I have to use him before he cools off, or a driver I had picked is in a slump. The picks came together pretty easy this year, but we will have to see how it all plays out.
Here are the picks for the Daytona 500….
ONE & DONE CONTESTS
This pick is for games where you can only use a driver once throughout the season.
DAVID RAGAN will be my pick in games where you can use a driver once throughout the season. Ragan has the best average finishing position in the Gen-7 car at Daytona. He finished eighth in the 2022 Daytona 500 and he finished ninth in the Coke Zero 400. He did that while driving a RFK Racing car. Ragan will be behind the wheel of a RFK Racing Ford this week. I am not worried about Ragan starting dead last. He finished in the top-10 in both races using the Gen-7 car from the 34th starting position. Ragan just wanted to stay out of the way in his Duel race. He should be much better Sunday.
ONE & DONE (REGULAR SEASON/PLAYOFF GAMES)
The picks for the Regular Season / Playoff Games are rest this week. There are some One & Done Contests that reset when the playoffs start. That means you only need to use 26 Drivers for the regular season and then 10 drivers for the playoffs. We can be more aggressive in these types of One & Done Contests.
AUSTIN CIDRIC will be my pick in games that reset at the end of the regular season. We do not need to dig too deep into the field to find drivers for our One & Done games that reset at the end of the regular season, but we still need to find 26 drivers for our lineups. I will save my top drivers for the more predictable tracks and take a chance with Cindric. He won the Daytona 500 in 2022 and he finished third in the Coke Zero 400. Cindric ran the most laps in the top-10, had the third-most green flag passes, had the fourth-best driver rating and finished second in his duel race. He will be an awesome pick if he runs like that in the Daytona 500.
ONE & DONE (USE A DRIVER MORE THAN ONCE)
There are some One & Done games that are not really “One & Done.” I play in a league where you can use a driver twice and another league where you can use a driver three times during the season. The picks posted below are for these types of contests (I am going to base these picks on being able to use a driver twice during the 2024 season).
I play in a game where I can use a driver three times throughout the season. I know some of you have told me you can use your drivers twice. We will only need 18 drivers in these games, so we do not need to dig too deep with our picks. Here is my pick in games where you can use a driver more than once….
JOEY LOGAO will be my pick in games where you can use a driver more than once during the 2024 season. Logano is the best pick in the field when I crunched the numbers. Logano finished 21st in the Daytona 500 last year, but he was running first when he got into Brad Keselowski and wrecked both cars. Logano also finished second in the 2022 Daytona 500 and fifth in the Coke Zero 400. Logano has also averaged the second-most Stage Points in the Gen-7 car at Daytona. So, Logano will score well if your league awards Stage Points too. We only need 18 drivers in this format, so we do not need to worry about saving our allocations with Logano Sunday.
Good luck Sunday!
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