Daily Fantasy NASCAR 2015: Complete Primer and DFS Strategy
Fantasy NASCAR just got more serious, as DraftKings launched their new NASCAR contest. Unlike other fantasy NASCAR sites, DraftKings offers daily contests where players can earn real money. The beauty of it all is that it is perfectly legal. The more you know about the game, the better your chances of winning your contest will be. This primer and strategy guide will be the tool you need to win your DraftKings contest.
How to Get Started
The first step in playing in a contest is to create an account on the DraftKings site. Once you are a member, you can join a contest, create a team and compete against other fantasy players. The money you wager is real and so is the prize money.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Joining a Contest
After your account is created, the next step is to join a contest. Fantasy players will want to click on the "Lobby" tab to bring up the list of contests to join. You can sort through the different sports by clicking on "All" next to where it says "Sports." The NASCAR contest will be listed as "NAS" under the "All" tab.
There are many different types of contests to join. The fees to join the contest range from free to as much as $10,600. You can also play in head-to-head contests against another fantasy player or larger leagues with as many as 100,000 entries. The prize money is based on the price of the entry fee and the number of entries in the contest.
The most popular contests to join are Happy Hour, Sling Shot, Checkered Flag and Donut. Here are the details for these leagues:
| LEAGUE | ENTRIES | ENTRY FEE | TOTAL PRIZE |
| Happy Hour | 23,000 | $1 | $20,000 |
| Sling Shot | 11,400 | $3 | $30,000 |
| Checkered Flag | 4,597 | $10 | $40,000 |
| Donut | 1,725 | $2 | $3,000 |
DraftKings also has 50/50 contests available. If you are able to score in the top 50% in the contest, you will be guaranteed to receive a prize. The payouts for these leagues are not as high as the more risky leagues listed above.
Rules
There are many different ways to calculate points in fantasy NASCAR, and DraftKings has one of the best. Each driver is scored by where he or she finishes the race. Points are awarded the same way NASCAR scores its drivers in each race:
Finishing Position Scoring
1st: 46 Pts 15th: 29 Pts 29th: 15 Pts
2nd: 42 Pts 16th: 28 Pts 30th: 14 Pts
3rd: 41 Pts 17th: 27 Pts 31st: 13 Pts
4th: 40 Pts 18th: 26 Pts 32nd: 12 Pts
5th: 39 Pts 19th: 25 Pts 33rd: 11 Pts
6th: 38 Pts 20th: 24 Pts 34th: 10 Pts
7th: 37 Pts 21st: 23 Pts 35th: 9 Pts
8th: 36 Pts 22nd: 22 Pts 36th: 8 Pts
9th: 35 Pts 23rd: 21 Pts 37th: 7 Pts
10th: 34 Pts 24th: 20 Pts 38th: 6 Pts
11th: 33 Pts 25th: 19 Pts 39th: 5 Pts
12th: 32 Pts 26th: 18 Pts 40th: 4 Pts
13th: 31 Pts 27th: 17 Pts 41st: 3 Pts
14th: 30 Pts 28th: 16 Pts 42nd: 2 Pts
DraftKings also awards bonus points for drivers throughout the race. Understanding how the bonus points are awarded will be the key to winning your contest. Here are the four different categories of bonus points in the DraftKings contest:
| BONUS POINTS CATEGORY | POINTS | DESCRIPTION |
| Place Differential | 1 | Starting Position - Finishing Position |
| Pass Differential | .25 | Cars Passed In Race - Times Car Was Passed |
| Laps Led | .25 | Leading a Lap in the Race |
| Fastest Lap | .50 | Each Lap the Driver Is Scored Fastest on Track |
The scores for each driver will be calculated at the end of each race. The total of all five drivers will be your team score. If you score enough points, your team will win a prize.
DraftKings has one of the best live-scoring features in the fantasy industry. Users can see in real time how many points their teams have scored and what place their teams are in throughout the contest. The live scoring will even let you know if your team has scored high enough to win a prize in your contest.
Selecting Your Team
The key to winning your contest is to select the perfect combination of drivers. People often ask me if it is possible to win your contest if everyone selects the same top drivers each week. I have not done the math, but with 43 cars in the race each week, the combination of lineups that could be entered is enormous. I have played in many contests, and usually the teams are very different.
Each driver is assigned a price by DraftKings. The prices change each week and are based upon the driver's past performance at the track and how the driver is currently performing in the Sprint Cup Series. The better the driver performs, the higher his or her price will be.
Each user must select five drivers for his or her team and remain under the $50,000 salary cap. Here is an example of a roster for the DraftKings contest:
| DRIVER | AVG FINISH | AVG POINTS SCORED | SALARY |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 7.6 | 33.8 | $11,500 |
| Kasey Kahne | 14.0 | 20.6 | $10,800 |
| Ryan Newman | 14.1 | 13.7 | $9,600 |
| Paul Menard | 15.6 | 14.2 | $9,700 |
| Aric Almirola | 16.7 | 20.9 | $8,300 |
Strategy
The best way to win your contest is to know which strategy is best for each track and to know which drivers run well in these races. Each week, the Sprint Cup Series competes at a different track. You must know the size of the track and how many laps there are in the race. Strategies will change based upon how many bonus points are available for leading laps.
Short-Track Strategy
Whenever the Series competes at a track one mile or shorter in length (Bristol, Dover, Martinsville, New Hampshire, Phoenix and Richmond), the strategy should be to select drivers who qualify up front and have a good chance to lead many laps in the race. There are usually at least 400 laps in the short-track races, so your team will have the ability to earn 100 bonus points for leading laps. This will be the difference between the winners and losers in your contest.
Selecting drivers who lead laps is not only good because it allows your team to earn points for leading laps, but also because the drivers in the lead usually run the fastest laps since their cars are not affected by the air off other cars. Your team will have a good chance to earn bonus points for running the fastest laps in the race.
Intermediate-Track Strategy
Intermediate tracks are the races run on tracks one-to-five miles in length (Atlanta, California, Charlotte, Chicago, Darlington, Homestead, Kansas, Kentucky, Las Vegas, Michigan and Texas). The strategy for these tracks is to take a combination of drivers who start up front with an opportunity to lead many laps and drivers who start in the back with an opportunity to move to the front. Since there are usually 200 laps in these races (50 bonus points available), you will not score enough bonus points by relying on drivers to lead laps. You must all be able to score bonus points for pass differential (passing other cars) and finishing differential (start position minus finish position).
Large-Track Strategy
The large tracks are considered any track that is two-and-a-half miles or larger (Daytona, Indianapolis, Pocono, Sonoma, Talladega and Watkins Glen). Since there are fewer laps in these races, there are not going to be many bonus points available for laps led and fastest laps in the race. The best strategy is to select drivers who start the race farther back in the field with an opportunity to pass cars and finish up front. This will allow your team to earn bonus points for pass differential and place differential. If you select the right combination of drivers, you could score very well using this strategy.
If you need any further advice with your team, look for me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR.
If you like Fantasy NASCAR, LIKE my Fantasy NASCAR Tips Page on Facebook.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
