This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
The Great American Getaway 400
Location: Long Pond, Pa.
Course: Pocono Raceway
Format: 2.5-mile tri-oval
Laps: 160
NASCAR The Great American Getaway 400 Race Preview
A wet and wild Chicago street race put Alex Bowman into the playoffs with a win a week ago leaving four spots for drivers to win their way into the championship battle. Next up is Pocono Raceway, the next of six remaining stops before the championship elimination rounds commence. Denny Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing won last year's visit to the Pennsylvania triangle, earning redemption after disqualification from the 2022 edition of the race. Hamlin led just nine laps on his way to victory while Joey Logano and Kyle Larson took the afternoon's stage wins. Leading the most laps of the afternoon was William Byron, though. The Hendrick Motorsports driver started on pole but slipped backward later in the race to finish 14th. However, all of those drivers already have their playoff spots secured this season. On the bubble this weekend is Chris Buescher who holds a 45-point advantage over Bubba Wallace on the outside of the playoff field looking in. With the regular season drawing to a close, drivers like Buescher and Wallace are feeling the heat rise as they look to place their name among the 16 drivers guaranteed to race for the 2024 championship.
Key Stats at Pocono Raceway
- Number of races: 90
- Winners from pole: 16
- Winners from top-5 starters: 50
- Winners from top-10 starters: 63
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 7
- Fastest race: 145.384 mph
Previous 10 Pocono Winners
2023 - Denny Hamlin
2022 - Chase Elliott
2021 II - Kyle Busch
2021 I - Alex Bowman
2020 II - Denny Hamlin
2020 I - Kevin Harvick
2019 fall - Denny Hamlin
2019 spring - Kyle Busch
2018 fall - Kyle Busch
2018 spring - Martin Truex Jr.
Pocono's long straights and three unique turns demand a compromise setup. Corner exit is particularly important given those straightaways, and mechanical grip plays a large part in helping drivers get to the front. Enabling a driver to carry speed through the turn and allowing early throttle off the corner will pay dividends by creating passing opportunities to take advantage of when entering the next turn. Pocono's long circuit also tests fuel strategy, which is a factor that has played a key role in several races already this season. The 2.5-mile lap means cars can pit for fuel and tires and still not lose a lap. Sometimes pitting early to go off sequence will improve track position and allow drivers to gain time in clean air without traffic and earning the advantage when cars ahead dive to pit road. That is one way to gain track position, and that position is can be a decisive factor through the track's unique turns. However, Pocono is a horsepower track and teams that find the right mixture of speed and downforce will maximize lap times and find their way to the front.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for The Great American Getaway 400 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Denny Hamlin - $11,000
Kyle Larson - $10,800
Christopher Bell - $10,500
William Byron - $10,000
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Tyler Reddick - $9,800
Chase Elliott - $9,500
Ryan Blaney - $9,300
Ty Gibbs - $9,000
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Joey Logano - $8,600
Ross Chastain - $8,400
Kyle Busch - $8,200
Chris Buescher - $8,000
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Bubba Wallace - $7,600
Michael McDowell - $6,900
Todd Gilliland - $6,800
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - $6,500
NASCAR DFS Picks for The Great American Getaway 400
Lower-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
Christopher Bell - $10,500
Tyler Reddick - $9,800
Ty Gibbs - $9,000
Bubba Wallace - $7,600
Todd Gilliland - $6,800
AJ Allmendinger - $6,300
Christopher Bell (DK $10,500, FD $13,000) has been one of the fastest drivers in the past few races. Circumstances haven't allowed him to grab the fourth 2024 victory, but he is certainly knocking on the door. With that run of form, his Pocono race this weekend could be more of the same. He has three top-10s from six starts at the track and two of those came in the current generation of car. Bell should be considered a top contender this week at a track Toyota has been very good at recently. Like Bell, Tyler Reddick (DK $9,800, FD $12,500) has also been knocking on victory's door. Unfortunately, his mistakes have cost him a win or two. He should be expected to turn that trend around, though. Despite a mistake last week at Chicago that likely cost him the win, Reddick still finished second for his eighth top-five of the season, tied with Kyle Larson. Reddick also finished as the runner up in each of the last two Pocono visits. Ty Gibbs (DK $9,000, FD $11,000) is yet another driver seemingly on the cusp of victory. He drove well in challenging conditions at Chicago for a third-place finish. It was his fifth top-five of the season and it ended a recent run of lower finishes. With playoff positions starting to run low he will be pushing even harder to snag that first series victory, and his fifth-place finish in this race last season shows that it could be possible this week.
Pocono has recently been one of Bubba Wallace's (DK $7,600, FD $8,200) better tracks. His best finish from his first eight starts there was 14th. His average finish from the last three races is eighth, though. He qualified inside the top 10 in each of those races, too. If he qualifies well for Sunday's race, fantasy players should expect him to finish well in the race, too. Todd Gilliland's (DK $6,800, FD $5,800) is even more recent. The Front Row Motorsports driver has had four top-15 finishes in the last five races. He only had three of those in the 13 races before the All-Star weekend. In fact, his best finish of the year came last week when he finished seventh and he finished 12th or better in three of the prior four races before that. Gilliland has been on a run of significant progress. He has an average finish of 20.0 from two prior Pocono starts, which suggests he should be in the mix for another top-15 (or better) again this week. AJ Allmendinger (DK $6,300, FD $3,500) will make his ninth series start of the season this week. His best results form those have come on road courses, but he did finish sixth at Daytona and 11th at Nashville. His best Pocono finish was seventh in 2015, and he finished 17th at the track last season.
Higher-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
Denny Hamlin - $11,000
Chase Elliott - $9,500
Joey Logano - $8,600
Kyle Busch - $8,200
Michael McDowell - $6,900
Zane Smith - $5,800
After being stripped of the 2022 Pocono victory, Denny Hamlin (DK $11,000, FD $14,000) set the record straight by winning this race in 2023. He is the winningest active driver at this track and has led 827 laps through his 34 career starts. It has been a fantastic track for him, and fantasy players should expect him to be at the front again this time, too. Chase Elliott (DK $9,500, FD $11,500) was the beneficiary that 2022 disqualification, which gave him his first and only win at the track so far. He started that race third but didn't lead any laps in that race, but he backed it up with a 10th-place finish last season. Hendrick Motorsports continues to be one of the leaders of the series and Elliott has used that to put himself second in the points. In the Ford camp, Joey Logano (DK $8,600, FD $9,500) might be worth a look. He and the team are gearing up for the playoffs and dialing in consistency. They're still working to find that, but they have scored two top-10s in the last five races. Logano led 21 laps in this race last season before damage knocked him out of the running.
Of the drivers still looking for a 2024 victory, Kyle Busch (DK $8,200, FD $7,800) seems to need just a bit of luck to go his direction. The speed has been in the car the past several races, but various issues have taken him out of contention for the wins. Pocono may be a place Busch gets the breaks he needs, though. He is a four-time series winner at the track and only trails Hamlin in that category. He finished in the top 10 in half of his 38 career starts and would have one more had he not been disqualified along with Hamlin in 2022. Another driver with the ability to win before the season is out would be Michael McDowell (DK $6,900, FD $6,000). Two top-fives in the last five races suggest that win is within reach. His best shots may be on road courses or superspeedways, but his best Pocono finishes have come recently, too. He finished sixth in 2022 and was 19th last year. Finally, Zane Smith (DK $5,800, FD $2,500) may have a chance at outperforming this week. He plans to compete in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race Friday ahead of time in the Cup car. Smith was the runner up at Nashville and started on the front row in two Truck Series races at this track. The weekend's extra track time should help him in his first series start at the track.
