With 1,120 points earned so far in 2019, Kyle Busch stands head and shoulders above the competition in terms of productivity in the Draft Kings game. Earning the most points five times and landing among the top five on 11 occasions in 15 races and among the top eight in all but one, it has been difficult win without him on board.
Then again, with a high salary cap of $13,000 at Richmond Raceway early this year and nothing short of $11,000 since Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he makes for some difficult decisions each week.
Still, of his 11 top-fives, he has been third or better on nine occasions – earning the most points at Daytona International Speedway, Ingenuity Sun Media Raceway, Auto Club Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, and most recently at Pocono Raceway—where his salary cap was a relatively modest $11,400.
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It’s hard to say that he has not been worth the stress he puts on other selections, especially during weeks when he earns substantially more than second-place. This March, his 144.75 points in Phoenix were almost double that of second-place dark horse Ryan Blaney (76) and considerably more than twice that of third-place Martin Truex Jr.’s 65.5.
A look at the chart at the end of this post reveals, there really are not a lot of surprises among the top five drivers. With an average of 52.72 points per race, Chase Elliott is the most likely candidate as the current best value. That is because he started the season modestly with only two occasions in the first nine races in which he earned top-10 points in the Draft Kings game.
Draft Kings’ points and raw finishing results do not always dovetail, but they have for Elliott. Talladega Superspeedway proved to be his turning point in both categories and 69.75 markers in that race kicked off a five-race streak of top-five earnings in the game.
The fact that the remaining drivers among the top five are not a surprise is a double-edged sword. It means that Brad Keselowski (with an average of 59.05), Truex (57.85), and Joey Logano (55.55) have been among the most expensive each and every week and it has been difficult to place them alongside Busch with considerable risk.
Keselowski has come closest to supporting his salary cap with top-five performances in seven of 15 races and top-10 outings five more times.
Truex has eight top-fives performances with only two other top-10s.
Logano sits at six plus three.
Truex has been just as erratic in his points’ earning as he has been in terms of his race finishes, making him an uncertain value every week.
On the other hand, Logano has earned the most points three times – most recently last week at Michigan in the Firekeepers Casino 400. Better still, with a salary cap of $9,700, he was only the sixth-most expensive driver in the game.
When Busch anchors your roster, that forces you to look deeper in the pack for bargains and should send you down to the cusp of the top 10. With an average salary cap this season of $7,736, Daniel Suarez has regularly outperformed expectations. He has not yet scored top-five points, but he has landed between sixth and 13th 11 times. Because he lacks jaw dropping performances, his cap has never exceeded $8,000, which means he has never broken your bank.
Suarez’s average points per race of 38.90 is skewed by only two truly disappointing results at Daytona to start the season (with 2 points earned) and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the Coke 600 (15.5).
Alex Bowman has an average production of 36.13 points per race.
Like Suarez, Bowman has not disappointed players very often this year by banking 25 or more points 12 times in 15 races. While his average salary cap of $7,457 is a little less expensive than Suarez, Draft Kings got excited about him after he started rattling off his string of second-place finishes and jumped him $1,100 to $8,100 at Charlotte. He has not come down in price since.
Among the true bargains, Ty Dillon stands out. With an average cap of $6,214, he has earned 25 or more points nine times in the first 15 races of this season. He was a great value at Martinsville Speedway with 45.5 points in the bank for the cost of $6,100.
Questionable values so far this year are Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with 21.87 points earned per week with an average salary cap of $7,421 and Austin Dillon with 19.97 for the cost of $7,471.
Draft Kings Points Earned | |||
Driver | Avg. | Total | Avg. |
5.20 | 1,120.25 | 74.69 | |
10.33 | 885.75 | 59.05 | |
10.53 | 867.75 | 57.85 | |
9.13 | 833.25 | 55.55 | |
9.80 | 790.75 | 52.72 | |
11.60 | 717.75 | 47.85 | |
11.20 | 671.75 | 44.78 | |
13.60 | 595.50 | 39.70 | |
13.27 | 583.50 | 38.90 | |
16.87 | 554.50 | 36.97 | |
15.40 | 542.00 | 36.13 | |
15.80 | 506.50 | 33.77 | |
17.73 | 497.00 | 33.13 | |
16.07 | 483.00 | 32.20 | |
17.33 | 472.00 | 31.47 | |
17.33 | 467.50 | 31.17 | |
18.20 | 462.00 | 30.80 | |
18.20 | 441.00 | 29.40 | |
17.73 | 440.50 | 29.37 | |
19.20 | 389.00 | 25.93 | |
21.40 | 379.25 | 25.28 | |
21.17 | 151.50 | 25.25 | |
22.27 | 347.50 | 23.17 | |
22.57 | 314.50 | 22.46 | |
23.33 | 330.50 | 22.03 | |
22.47 | 328.00 | 21.87 | |
23.40 | 299.50 | 19.97 | |
22.93 | 296.75 | 19.78 | |
23.73 | 291.00 | 19.40 | |
24.13 | 275.25 | 18.35 | |
27.50 | 139.50 | 17.44 | |
25.87 | 250.25 | 16.68 | |
BJ McLeod | 28.00 | 115.50 | 16.50 |
28.13 | 113.50 | 14.19 | |
26.20 | 208.25 | 13.88 | |
27.13 | 204.50 | 13.63 | |
29.75 | 54.50 | 13.63 | |
29.20 | 198.00 | 13.20 | |
31.00 | 13.00 | 13.00 | |
29.00 | 86.50 | 12.36 | |
31.00 | 12.00 | 12.00 | |
29.89 | 101.00 | 11.22 | |
30.33 | 61.00 | 10.17 | |
29.50 | 19.00 | 9.50 | |
34.00 | 13.00 | 6.50 | |
33.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | |
34.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 |
