I’m playing DraftKings this season and will be posting my picks here each week. Disclosure: If you want to play and sign up using this link, DraftKings will give my website a commission.
Last race’s results: Played $4 Brake Pad contest. Finished 185th of 1,200. Won $8.
Season results: $88 wagered, $103 won in 22 contests.
This week’s contest: $1 Happy Hour contest.
New Hampshire picks:
— Kyle Busch ($10,700): I’m pretty much in the habit of picking the polesitter every week now. It seems like the polesitter drives off and leads a large chunk of laps — sometimes the entire first stage — which will really add up with the amount of laps available at New Hampshire.
— Joey Logano ($8,700): Expensive pick, but he starts last and will gain you a lot of points as he works his way up through the field. Even if he finishes 15th, that’s a lot of points from position differential.
— Ryan Blaney ($8,000): Though his starting position is too high (fourth), there’s a chance he could lead a chunk of laps. He had the fastest 10-lap average in final practice — which was closest to race conditions — and has shown good speed all weekend.
— Erik Jones ($7,800): Toyotas still seem fast every week, so I like to try and get them into the lineup however possible. Jones was the second-fastest non-playoff driver in 10-lap averages for final practice (12th overall); his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez was the other one (sixth overall). So I picked both.
— Daniel Suarez ($7,500): See above.
— Austin Dillon ($7,000): I only had $7,300 left, so it was a tough choice here. I would have loved to pick Kasey Kahne ($7,400), since it seems like he is having a good weekend — but I was $100 short. So it was tempting to go with Ryan Newman ($7,200), since he’s had a lot of success at a track where he also runs the Modified race. But Dillon has seemed to have speed lately and was 19th in 10-lap average for final practice, so perhaps he can provide decent value here.