Daytona 500 Preview: Top Fantasy Auto Racing plays

Special to Yahoo Sports
By Dan Beaver

Racing is cyclical.

Restrictor-plates have been a fixture of this sport since the late 1980s when Bobby Allison punched a hole in the Talladega SuperSpeedway fence. They artificially reduce speed so that drivers get locked into huge drafting packs, but every so often teams find a way to break out of this box. In the past few years, several drivers have found a way to manipulate the draft to their favor and are rising to the top.

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Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of the best at side-drafting, which is a method of taking air off the side of the competition’s car and bogging it down in the process. Brad Keselowski has mastered “the swerve.” Once he gets into the lead, he artfully switches lanes to rob the cars behind him of any momentum. Over time, other drivers have caught up to those two and several of them have showed those skills in the preliminaries for the Daytona 500.

Joey Logano
No. 22 Penske Racing Ford
Yahoo! Group A

None of the races run at Daytona so far count in a driver’s Cup victory totals, but they are important in determining who is going to run well in the 500. Logano drew first blood last Sunday by winning the Advance Auto Parts Clash, but it was how he won it that recommends him for the big show. He was following teammate Keselowski when that driver made contact with Denny Hamlin, sending the No. 11 into the wall and stalling the 2’s momentum. Logano saw it coming and made a very mature move to back out of the conflict and take the lead when those cars wrecked.

Denny Hamlin
No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Yahoo! Group A

It didn’t look good for Hamlin following the lap-25 competition caution of the second Can-Am Duel in Daytona. He drove through too many pit stalls after his stop and was forced to go to the tail-end of the longest lap for that restart with 30 remaining. With eight to go, he had made his way to second and then bided his time. On the final lap, he got a push from Austin Dillon and was catapulted to the lead. Hamlin won the second Can-Am Duel and starts fourth in the 500 as a result.

[Fantasy cheat sheet for Daytona 500]

Chase Elliott
No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Yahoo! Group B

The son of a former champion, Elliott is a fast learner. He struggled last year in the Daytona 500 after leading the field to green from the pole and crashed by himself during the race. He also sustained damage in the Coke Zero 400, so this was his chance to show he could be a factor on this track. Elliott won the pole for this year’s 500 and did not need to take any risks in his qualification race. He dropped back early as Keselowski swerved from lane to lane to block the other driver’s momentum. With 24 laps remaining, Elliott took the lead and applied that lesson to win his Can-Am Duel in Daytona.

Austin Dillon
No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Yahoo! Group B

Dillon was the only driver in 2016 to sweep the top 10 on plate tracks. In his Can-Am Duel, he proved that was no fluke. He settled in behind Hamlin and pushed him to the lead—remaining disciplined all the way until the end. Only one driver crosses the line first, and while everyone wants to be that driver it takes patience to get all one can out of each opportunity. That attitude earns maximum points in fantasy NASCAR. Dillon finished fifth in his qualification race.

Jamie McMurray
No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
Yahoo! Group B

The No. 1 team tends to fly under the radar. Chip Ganassi Racing is improving, but they are a long way from challenging the Gibbs, Hendrick, and Stewart-Haas teams. Last year they put both drivers in the Chase, but were eliminated early. McMurray has had success on the plate tracks in the past, but very little of that has come recently. One would not know if by how McMurray performed Thursday night in his qualification race. He was one of the best pushers in the draft and aggressively held his position to finish second behind Elliott.

Clint Bowyer
No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Yahoo! Group B

Bowyer was waiting for this opportunity. He sojourned at the No. 15 last year in a car that he described as “hating him,” but he kept saying he could perform if he was in the right equipment. With Tony Stewart’s retirement, the No. 14 opened up and now Bowyer gets his chance to prove he can earn top-fives. In mid-range and modest equipment, he has scored top-10s in 10 of his last 14 plate races. He has visited Victory Lane in great equipment.

Daniel Suarez
No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Yahoo! Group C

A lot of attention is focused on Suarez this week. He inherited one of the best cars in the field when Carl Edwards unexpectedly retired and started his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race in The Clash. Suarez stayed out of trouble in that event and finished with the leaders. In his qualification race, he also demonstrated a laid-back style that almost cost him. With less than 10 laps remaining, he was toward the back of the pack, but he surged to finish 11th in his Duel and that secures a mid-pack starting spot.

Michael McDowell
No. 95 Leavine Family Chevrolet
Yahoo! Group C

At the end of last year, the addition of Todd Parrott as crew chief made a huge difference for this team. McDowell earned maximum points in Yahoo!’s Group C four times, including the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Parrott’s first race with the team at Charlotte last fall. Another top-earning race came at Daytona in July when he scored a top-10 finish. There are so many great dark horses in Group C on the wild-card tracks, but McDowell could sneak up on the competition.