After being the clear-cut best racer in NASCAR for the first 10 races of 2020, Kevin Harvick has finally started to falter. He finished 15th at Martinsville and then 26th this past Sunday in Miami. Denny Hamlin was able to emerge victorious with his cup series leading third win of the year. With the cup series moving to the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama for the Geico 500, who should you be picking for your lineup this week?
Denny Hamlin (1.15X)
I have been fading Hamlin recently with his multiplier value being at 1X. However, now that you can snag him at 1.15X, he becomes instantly more valuable. Hamlin, as mentioned before, has more wins than anyone, is tied for the most top-five finishes, he’s 3rd in top 10 finishes, and he is 2nd in top 20 finishes. In addition to that, he is 5th in laps led with 359 and has the 3rd best average place number of 10.67. By all accounts, he has been one of the best racers in NASCAR this year. He has shown that in his past five races as he averaged 82.41 fantasy points per event in that time period. If you factor in his multiplier, the average goes up to 94.77.
He has a very promising resume at Talladega that makes him an appealing pick as well. If you eliminate the race he crashed in 2019, he has finished 3rd, 4th, 14th, 6th, 11th, and 3rd in his last six races at the Talladega Superspeedway. Combine this with his recent success and appealing multiplier, I like Hamlin a lot for Sunday.
Kurt Busch (1.3X)
Busch’s 17th place finish was the first time he has finished outside the top 10 since he finished 15th at Darlington. For a man to show that level of consistency, that is pretty solid value to get a 1.3X. In his last six races, he averaged 73.94 fantasy points per event and that average goes up to 96.12 when you include his 1.3X multiplier. Busch may have not won any races yet and only finish in the top five three times, but he has finished in the top ten 10 times which is good for the 2nd most among all drivers.
At the Talladega Superspeedway, he has crashed twice in his last 11 races there. However, in the nine times he did not crash, he finished 6th, 14th, 2nd, 6th, 4th, 8th, 10th, 12th, and 7th. Based on this history and the way he has been consistently finishing in the top 10 recently, he feels like a pretty solid bet to be right in the mix again on Sunday. Given the fact his multiplier is 1.3X, he should bring a lot of value to your lineup on Sunday.
Ryan Blaney (1.15X)
After a 2nd place finish at the Daytona 500, Blaney went on a rough cold streak of races. In his next five races, he finished 11th, 19th, 37th, 16th, and 21st. He was way off the radar when it comes to DFS. Since the 21st place finish he had at the Darlington 300, Blaney has been as hot as any driver in NASCAR. In his last six races, he has finished 3rd, 2nd, 4th, 40th, 3rd, and 3rd. The 40th place finish was a result of a crash at the Supermarket Heroes 500. If you disregard that race, he averaged 85.62 fantasy points per event in the other five races. When you factor in his multiplier, the average goes up to 98.46 fantasy points per event.
In addition to the fact that he is scorching hot right now, is the fact that the last time he raced at Talladega he came in 1st place. His other history is not great as he has only placed in the top 10 twice in 10 races. However, the fact that he has a 1.15X multiplier and he has been as good as any driver in NASCAR recently makes him worth having a spot in your lineup.
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
