NASCAR heads to Sonoma Raceway for the first road race of the season, the Toyota Save Mart 350. Last year’s winner, Tony Stewart retired following the season, so there will be a new winner, although it could also be a former winner. Here are the drivers you should look towards for your DraftKings picks.
Kyle Busch $10,200
Busch is a two-time winner at Sonoma with victories in 2008 and 2015, and he has a finishing average of 18.1 in 12 starts here, including last year’s seventh-place run. He has been rolling as of late with five top-10s in six points races, and he won the All-Star Race, but Busch has given away a couple of victories recently. He knows that he needs a win, so look for Busch to go all out on Sunday. He doesn’t even need to start up front; in Busch’s wins at Sonoma, he has started 11th and 30th.
Kevin Harvick $9,900
Harvick is another former Cup champion who needs a win to secure his place in the Chase, and he has a finishing average of 14.6 in 16 starts at Sonoma, coming in sixth last year. Harvick has also been solid lately with four top-10s in five starts, but he just can’t come up with the closing kick needed to take the checkered flag. Look for Harvick to be aggressive this weekend.
Jimmie Johnson $9,600
Johnson can breathe easy as he has three wins to get into the Chase, and he has been very good at Sonoma with a 2010 win and a finishing average of 12.5 in 15 starts, including 13th last year. Johnson has been up and down this season as his wins have been good, but he has just six top-10s. Still, the seven-time and defending Cup champion deserves a look at every single track that NASCAR goes to.
Jimmie Johnson enters the week in eighth place in the NASCAR standings. It’s a bit surprising to see him that low as he leads NASCAR in wins. So far this season, he has three wins but he’s missed on the times that he hasn’t won, which has sunk him a little bit. He currently has 449 points, which puts him a significant ways off the pace set by Kyle Larson. We’ll see if he can close the gap this week.
Clint Bowyer $9,400
Bowyer might seem overpriced, but his finishing average of 11.5 in 11 Sonoma starts is the best among active drivers, and that’s counting his dead-last finish from last year. Bowyer won here in 2012 and now he is driving the same #14 car that Stewart won in last year.
Bowyer enters the week in 12th place in the standings, which isn’t too bad but he needs to make up some ground before The Chase. He currently has 391 points on the season but the No. 14 car needs to make up nine points between himself and Joey Logano, who is currently in 10th place in the standings.
Kyle Larson $9,300
Larson is coming off his second win of the season at Michigan, and he finished a respectable 12th at Sonoma last year. He has a finishing average of 18.3 in three starts here, but he has a starting average of 4.0 here as well and while you don’t need to start up front here, it helps.
Larson enters the week as our points leader. He has picked up 640 points on the season so far, which is quite impressive. Only one other driver has more than 510 points this year, which is Martin Truex Jr., so it’s clear that the top duo have created a little buffer for themselves.
Jamie McMurray $8,500
McMurray should be considered as a value pick as he has quietly went about his business this season with five top-10s in his last seven starts, although he has yet to win in 2017. McMurray has a finishing average of 16.3 in 14 starts at Sonoma, where he has also won the pole three times and finished 17th in 2016. McMurray isn’t known as a good road-course driver, but he is and the #1 driver could wind up in Victory Lane this weekend.
McMurray enters the week in seventh place in the standings with 450 points.
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