NASCAR Pick ‘Em is open to give you an opportunity to win prizes and bragging rights in the NBC Sports Predictor app.
When NASCAR implemented stage racing in 2017, they changed how drivers and teams approached the race. With race points on the line and a playoff bonus point for winning stages, drivers have to decide if it is worth racing hard to win the stage, or if they want to employ some other strategy.
The free-to-play NASCAR Pick ‘Em game is simple to play, but with equally matched drivers in each stage, it’s not always easy to determine who will lead their group. Each week, players will pick one of four drivers to finish best in Stage 1, Stage 2, and when the checkers wave.
Participants can compete for weekly cash prizes, with a $10,000 jackpot available for any participants who earn a perfect score. There will also be at least $1,000 awarded each week in guaranteed cash and prizes, even if there is no player with a perfect score.
Click here to head to the Predictor lobby and play
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Best Finish, Stage 1
Matchup: Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr.
Keys: While chaos rear its ugly head at any point of a carburetor-restricted superspeedway race, intensity builds as the race progresses. Stage 1 often goes to aggressive drivers who have decided they need to press the envelope from the drop of the green flag. In this group, Truex has the most segment wins in 2021 with five, while Harvick is still seeking his first.
Edge: Harvick. This is the final regular season race and he desperately needs the playoff bonus point.
Best Finish, Stage 2
Matchup: Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson
Keys: Larson has dominated stages much the same as he’s dominated the end of the race. He has the most stage wins with 12 – more than twice that of his closes competitor – and amassed the most points at 284. But you don’t forget that Daytona plays by its own set of rules.
Edge: Hamlin. He has not only grabbed the most Daytona trophies in the past three years with a pair of Daytona 500 victories, he has the most segment wins at three, (tied with Joey Logano).
Best Finish, Final Stage
Matchup: Matt DiBenedetto, Austin Dillon, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace
Keys: It’s a battle of underdogs for who will finish best in the final stage. All four of these drivers have top-10s to their credit during the past five seasons at Daytona and anyone could come out on top. Experience matters, however, and this matchup will go the driver and team combination that has the most.
Edge: Dillon. While all four of these drivers have Daytona top-10s in the past five years, he is the only one with a victory.
Top-three, Race Results
Picking a winner is difficult on carburetor-restricted superspeedways, much less identifying the trifecta. This week, go with recent Daytona momentum. Hamlin, Elliott, and Harvick have been the most consistent with top-fives in the past two seasons.
DFS Gems for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (Daytona 2)
FireKeepers Casino 400 (Michigan)
Quaker State 400 (Atlanta)
