How to Play Fantasy NASCAR

Fantasy NASCAR racing is a type of motor sport fantasy sports game. Players compete as teams, owning a roster of specific drivers. The goal is to earn as many points as possible, simulating real NASCAR racing. NASCAR fantasy games are either season-long or daily, similar to other types of fantasy sports games.

Getting Started with Fantasy NASCAR
NASCAR racing is fun and challenging. Typically, you’ll start by picking a site to play on such as FanDuel, DraftKings, or Victiv. At DraftKings, you can filter contests and select details about each one. Start by registering an account there and then you can go to the lobby. At the lobby, you’ll see a sport menu and several tabs above each contest. Select NASCAR, then click on Guaranteed to see filters that will let you select Start Time, Entry Fee, and the size of your team.

Fantasy NASCAR Rules and Scoring
Clicking the title of a contest will populate your screen with a great deal of data. You can see who else has joined the contest and total number of entrants. The entry fee and prize winnings will be displayed as you continue playing fantasy NASCAR.

DraftKings offers salary cap style contests, where players are given a fixed salary limit of $50,000. This is the money you can use to draft your drivers. Based on total points scored for each roster, the contest results and ultimate winners are then chosen.

Depending on which site you choose, you may be subjected to slightly different rules. For example, Yahoo Sports and NASCAR Fantasy Live have different weights for finishing position, where Yahoo has more weight on finishing than NASCAR FL does. If a driver qualifies in the top 5 but falls to mid 20s in the race, and does not recover, you will suffer a greater penalty in NASCAR FL. This system also places more weight on place differential than Yahoo Sports, which is worth keeping in mind when selecting a site.

Fantasy NASCAR Drafting Tips
To draft a team for fantasy NASCAR, you will need to select five players. A few things to keep in mind are starting position, finishes, and practice speeds. For example, there are usually practice sessions that take place before the race, and since drivers can go as many times as they want in each practice, this can be an indicator of success — perhaps a better one than just their qualifying speed. So look at each driver’s average speed over 10-lap runs. Also look at the driver’s recent history more than what happened several years ago. Was the driver a five-time winner at a certain track, but the track was since repaired or repaved? Has the driver gotten older and slowed down? It’s critical to know the factors that have changed in each race over the course of the years.

How to Win at Fantasy NASCAR
Points are accumulated based on fastest laps, led laps, a plus or minus one place differential, and finished position. For example, finishing in 1st place will give you 46 points while 13th place is 31 points. So you definitely want to try to speed around the track as fast as possible by selecting winning players.

The keys to winning at fantasy NASCAR are to know the scoring system, understand your driver statistics, and researching the tracks ahead of time. By knowing the scoring system inside and out, you can make good picks, knowing where the driver will finish for laps led or qualifying finish. It’s also critical to know your drivers. The top drivers are going to cost more but there may be up and coming drivers who are looking for new teams. You need to know who the best drivers are in name — and in skill. Try reading NASCAR websites and magazines for research material. Finally, know the track you’re going to compete on. Certain drivers do better on other tracks. The track might be one that is known for frequent crashes, or might have restrictor plates. Since each track is different, it’s critical to know the inside scoop.

Ultimately, fantasy NASCAR is a very fun and challenging game. While it may be less popular or profitable than fantasy baseball or basketball, if you know your strategy, you can make a lot of money. Watch NASCAR live to get ideas, inspiration, and research materials, and keep up to date with the latest NASCAR sites.