Bluegreen Vacations Duel #1 & #2 | NASCAR Cup Series

It’s time for Daytona Duels 2021 to determine starting positions for the 500. Trevor Marcotte gets you ready for the Bluegreen Vacations Duel DFS slate!

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BLUEGREEN VACATIONS DUEL QUICK FACTS

• Daytona International Speedway
• Thursday 2/11/21 – 7:00 PM
• 2.5-mile Paved Track

And the season is off and running. Same as last week, I will stress to not let it all fly in these races with fewer laps and not full fields, plus they are plate races. Do not…….I repeat, do not dump your bankrolls into these volatile events. The good stuff is to come in the following weeks. With that said, here we go.

Let me explain what the Duels are for those of you who are not familiar. They are two 60 lap preliminary races to determine the starting order for the Daytona 500. Position 1 and 2 (Alex Bowman and William Byron) have already been determined; 3 thru 38 will run the Duel to determine their starting position.

Qualifying speeds have determined which Duel the drivers will be in – Even-Numbered and Odd-Numbered starting position –  so, 3, 5, 7, 9, etc. and 4, 6, 8, 10, etc. So, for example, the winner of the Odd Duel will start 3^rd, and the 3^rd place will start 7^th. Same for the Even Duel with the winner starting 4^th and 3^rd place 8^th.

The following drivers will take place in the Odd Duel:

Bowman	Hamlin	Custer	Houff
Almirola	Larson	McDowell	Hill
Stenhouse Jr.	DiBenedetto	Jones	Ware
Bell	Cindric	Reddick	Bilicki
Preece	Logano	Ty Dillon
Suarez	Newman	McMurray

The following drivers will take place in the Even Duel:

Byron	Kurt Busch	Keselowski	McLeod
Wallace	Kyle Busch	Truex Jr.	Gase
Harvick	Blaney	Buescher	Cope
A. Dillon	Grala	Alfredo	Gragson
Elliott	Briscoe	LaJoie
Ragan	Chastain	Smithley

NASCAR DFS PROCESS

Let me give you guys a better idea of what we are doing here for NASCAR. We put out an early article with some track stats and what drivers we have our eyes on, based on some numbers. Things can change once qualifying and practice are over. So then we put out an update with drivers who seem to be fast or have had a good or bad qualifying run. I put out a total of 12 drivers I like and a few who I am off. The guys I am off are typically guys who don’t run that well here and have qualified in a decent position.

I am trying to narrow things down for you. Too much information can just be confusing. If you need more information, you can look at the projections tab.

*Hey Mafia. This is another “Degenerates R’ Us” race. A short 60 lap event to determine starting positions for the 500. The best approach will be similar to last week. Do not go all in and make multiple lineups; get used to the scoring. There are 22 drivers in each of the Duels. The real fun starts on Sunday!!

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BLUEGREEN VACATIONS DUEL DFS PICKS

The drivers listed below are in order of how much I like them.

Top Tier

Duel 1:

Denny Hamlin ($9,800) – Starting 7^th

Joey Logano ($10,100) – Starting 11^th

Kyle Larson ($9,600) – Starting 8^th 

Duel 2:

Chase Elliott ($9,700) – Starting 5^th

Kyle Busch ($9,500) – Starting 8^th

Ryan Blaney ($10,000) – Starting 9^th

Brad Keselowski ($10,200) – Starting 13^th

Mid-Tier

Duel 1:

Aric Almirola ($9,300) – Starting 2^nd

Tyler Reddick ($8,200) – Starting 16^th

Erik Jones ($8,000) – Starting 15^th

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($9,000) – Starting 3^rd

Duel 2:

Martin Truex Jr. ($9,200) – Starting 14^th 

Kurt Busch ($8,600) – Starting 7^th

Kevin Harvick ($8,900) – Starting 3^rd

Ross Chastain ($8,300) – Starting 12^th

Bubba Wallace ($7,700) – Starting 2^nd

Sleepers

Duel 1:

Ryan Newman ($6,400) – Starting 12^th

Michael McDowell ($6,000) – Starting 14^th

Cole Custer ($7,200) – Starting 13^th

Austin Cindric ($6,500) – Starting 10^th

Duel 2:

Chris Buescher ($7,400) – Starting 15^th

Chase Briscoe ($6,700) – Starting 11^th

David Ragan ($6,200) – Starting 6^th

Corey LaJoie ($7,100) – Starting 17^th

A few parting notes: Do not be afraid to leave money on the table. As I said, this is similar to last week, with only 22 drivers in the field and only 60 laps. A multi-lineup approach will yield the best results. 

Good luck and make sure to let me know of any successful cashes! As usual, if you have any questions, hit me up on Twitter, @trmp31.