NASCAR at Daytona Fantasy 2015: Top Drivers and Sleeper Picks for Coke Zero 400

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will travel to Daytona, Florida  this week for the Coke Zero 400 at the Daytona Raceway. Our job is to select the best combination of drivers that will give your DraftKings fantasy team the best chance to come home with the prize money this week.

With the top 16 fairly well set, it seems fairly likely that one of the top drivers will come away with the triumph. As a result, we have three of those top 16 drivers on our fantasy team.

This NASCAR Sprint Cup event will get underway Sunday night at 7:45 p.m. ET. The newly redesigned "Daytona Rising" track is 2.5 miles in length and consists of four turns with 31-degree banking.

Each week, the strategy for constructing the perfect five-driver lineup for DraftKings is different. The Coke Zero 400 is likely to be a hotly contested 160-lap race that may see a number of passes and lead changes. That's why we have a lineup that should have an excellent chance to earn bonus points for laps led, fastest laps and place differential.

Driver	Average Finish	FPPR	Salary
Jimmie Johnson	11.5	45.1	$11,800
Denny Hamlin	16.3	25.3	$11,100
Greg Biffle	21.0	9.8	$9,700
Aric Almirola	16.9	22.8	$9,200
Sam Hornish Jr.	23.6	15.2	$7,900

Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, $11,800

You have to consider Jimmie Johnson in every event, and he has had a ton of success at the Daytona Speedway. Johnson has three victories, 10 top-fives and 13 top-10 finishes at the track, and he's had an average running position of 14.6, which is fourth-best among all drivers in the field.

While he finished sixth in last week's ToyotaSave Mart 350, Johnson held the lead for 45 laps and had a pass differential of plus-13.

Johnson is averaging 45.1 fantasy points per race, and that makes him one of the most consistent drivers available. While he has an excellent chance to win this race, he should be able to stay among the leaders and have the lead for a number of laps even if he doesn't get the checkered flag.

Denny Hamlin, Toyota, $11,100

Denny Hamlin is at his best at the super speedways. He won the Sprint Unlimited and the Budweiser Duel at Daytona, and he also finished second in the Daytona 500. This should allow him to come into this race with as much confidence as any driver in the field.

Hamlin has had four top-five finishes and he has also finished in the top 10 five times at Daytona. He has an average running position of 15.4, and that's the sixth-best of any driver in the field. He also has 82 fastest laps, which ranks fifth among all drivers.

Hamlin was not at his best in the ToyotaSave Mart 350, finishing 18th, and he did not lead at all in this race. He is averaging 25.3 fantasy points per race, and he should be able to come back in this race with a strong performance.

Greg Biffle, Ford, $9,700

Greg Biffle has not been having the greatest season, but he does his best work at the super speedways. That's why he has an excellent chance to have a memorable race here. Biffle finished eighth at the Daytona 500, and he also had a second-place finish at Talladega.

Biffle has done well historically at Daytona, with a victory, three top-fives and eight top-10 finishes. He has also taken the pole at Daytona once. Biffle has an average driving speed of 190.161, and that's the sixth-fastest among all drivers.

Biffle has an average finish of 21.0 this season, and he has not done well with his fantasy points. He has garnered just 9.8 this week. However, he comes at the right price and this is one of his best tracks, so we will take our chances with him.

Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Aric Almirola, Ford, $9,200

You have to take a strong look at Aric Almirola. He won the 2014 Coke Zero 400, and he ranks 15th on the Sprint Cup leaderboard.

Almirola has 431 points this year, and that puts him 185 points behind leader Kevin Harvick. In 16 starts this year, Almirola has one top-five and one top-10 finish.

Almirola's average finish this season is 16.9, and he has earned an average of 22.8 fantasy points per race.

Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, $7,900

Sam Hornish Jr. had a respectable showing at the ToyotaSave Mart 350, finishing 10th overall, recording one fastest lap and getting credit for a pass differential of plus-22.

Hornish has not finished in the top five in any race this year, but he has two top-10s and three top-15 finishes.

Hornish's average finish is 23.6 this year, and he has earned an average of 15.2 fantasy points per race.

However, the reason we are including Hornish is that he had one of his best races of the year in the Daytona 500, finishing 12th and picking up more than $366,000 for his efforts. He should be confident on this track.

Stats courtesy of NBC Sports, NASCAR and DraftKings.