If you haven’t heard, DraftKings has extended the deadline for its Martinsville contest an extra 24 hours to reflect the race being postponed due to snow.
That means it’s not too late to make your picks. Here’s my team heading into Monday’s race:
LAP LEADERS
— Kyle Busch ($11,000): The key for Martinsville is to have all the drivers who lead the majority of the laps on your team (because there are 500 available laps to lead, vs. 200 at a place like Fontana where position differential matters more). If you think Busch will be among the top lap leaders, pick him. But you’ll need two others in that category, too.
— Martin Truex Jr. ($10,700): He starts on the pole, so I can picture him leading much of the first stage. Truex may lose some spots in position differential later in the day, but I’m predicting he’ll make up for it in laps led. So he’s on the team.
— Brad Keselowski ($10,100): The third driver in my predicted trio of lap leaders is Keselowski. He had the fastest 10-lap average in final practice, followed by Busch and Truex. All three of those drivers start in the top four, giving them favorable track position to start the day. That’s why they’re in my lineup. It’s really up to you which three drivers will be your predicted lap leaders, though (and this is an expensive trio).
CHEAP PICKS
— AJ Allmendinger ($6,400): Now it gets harder. Because my lineup is so top-heavy, I need three cheap drivers to fill out the roster without losing too many spots. I’m picking Allmendinger because he ranks 10th in average finish among drivers with five or more Martinsville starts. Prior to a crash last fall, Allmendinger had four straight finishes of 11th or better there.
— Bubba Wallace ($6,200): Admittedly, this is a gut pick more than a statistical one. Wallace is making his first Cup start at Martinsville and was only 28th out of 35 drivers in 10-lap average for final practice (he was 26th in the first practice). So those aren’t great numbers. However, his four starts in the Truck Series at Martinsville were stellar: Fifth, first, second, first (in that order). Could his confidence there carry him to a surprising result on Monday?
— Ty Dillon ($5,600): This seems like a steal based on his practice speed. He was 15th-fastest in 10-lap average for final practice and seventh-fastest in the same category for first practice. However, he starts 32nd — which puts him in danger of getting lapped early. Perhaps there will be a competition caution in the first stage that would help the cause.