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Which drivers should go in your Daytona 500 DraftKings lineup? NASCAR fantasy advice.

DAYTONA BEACH — Now that qualifying is over and the Daytona Duels are in the books, the starting lineup for Sunday's 66th running of the Daytona 500 has been set.

Now, let the lineup building commence.

That's right, the time to jump on the DraftKings app and put together your best set of six NASCAR drivers is back and what better race to take a swing than the Daytona 500 where no such thing as a longshot exists.

A quick refresher: Points are accumulated by finishing position as well as the differential between where a driver starts and where he finishes. Each spot forward equals points, each position backward results in a loss of points meaning drivers with a bad starting position can be a good thing.

UPDATES FROM THE TRACK: Daytona 500 lineup is set, Daytona truck race highlights Friday events

DAYTONA DUELS: Bell, Reddick give Toyota a sweep. Here's the Daytona 500 starting lineup

Bettors start with a budget of $50,000. The best drivers cost the most money.

Simple huh? So, let's take a look at the best possible lineup for the Great American Race.

Ryan Blaney ($9,800)

NASCAR Champion Ryan Blaney answers questions from the media during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.
NASCAR Champion Ryan Blaney answers questions from the media during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

Starting position: 32nd

The last time NASCAR was at a superspeedway Blaney went to Victory Lane and he has four wins at such tracks. Blaney will be in a backup car after a violent crash in Thursday's Duels but speed at Daytona has never been an issue for Team Penske. And then, you factor in the starting position and it's no wonder Blaney is the second-most expensive driver on the board only to Denny Hamlin. There's just not much of anywhere for Blaney to go, but up the leaderboard.

Kyle Busch ($9,700)

Kyle Busch talks with Nascar Digital, Wednesday February 14, 2024 during Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway
Kyle Busch talks with Nascar Digital, Wednesday February 14, 2024 during Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway

Starting position: 34th

This one's a gut feeling, Lord knows there isn't much statistically to back this one up. But Busch is due. Like 0-for-18-in-the-Daytona-500 due and after all, he was leading on Lap 200 last year before the race went to overtime and he crashed out. Busch was caught up in the same wreck that claimed Blaney on Thursday, but it just has to work out for a driver of Busch's caliber at some point, right? We're betting it does.

Kyle Larson ($9,500)

Kyle Larson answers questions from the media during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.
Kyle Larson answers questions from the media during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

Starting position: 17th

Another driver that's due on superspeedways and another one that the stats don't necessarily point to. Much of this pick is based on his performance on Thursday where he was leading a Duel until Tyler Reddick made a last-lap pass for the win. Larson didn't seem to put up much of a fight but on Sunday, that should be different and it sure looked like he had a car capable of pushing and getting to the front. Oh yeah, and he's the best driver in NASCAR if not all of auto racing. He's worth a gamble.

Bubba Wallace ($8,500)

Bubba Wallace answers questions from the media during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.
Bubba Wallace answers questions from the media during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

Starting position: 24th

Value pick alert. Wallace has the best career average finish at Daytona among active drivers at 12.9 and he's starting in the back half of the field. Oh, and after a tough start at qualifying, the Toyotas flashed major speed with Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell sweeping the Duels. For our money, this is the best bet on the entire board and should be a fixture in any and every DFS lineup.

Austin Dillon ($7,300)

Austin Dillon talks with Nascar Digital, Wednesday, February 14, 2024 during Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway.
Austin Dillon talks with Nascar Digital, Wednesday, February 14, 2024 during Daytona 500 Media Day at Daytona International Speedway.

Starting position: 33rd

A former Daytona 500 winner starting this far back in the field, for this price?! Dillon was running up front for most of his time on the track on Thursday before being caught up in a crash in the first Duel and like his teammate, Busch, he was up front at the end of last year's 500. With half of his four career wins having come at the World Center of Racing, there's no reason to believe he won't find himself there again.

Riley Herbst ($5,100)

Riley Herbst answers questions from the media during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.
Riley Herbst answers questions from the media during Media Day at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024.

Starting position: 36th

Look, you're not going to get that kind of fire power in the first five picks without paying the piper eventually, but you could do a lot worse than Herbst who scored a top 10 in the Daytona 500 last year. Yet another driver who got caught up in a mess not of his own doing on Thursday, Herbst led laps early in his Duel and looks to have a real knack for superspeedway racing in the Gen-7 car. With only four cars behind him to start with, here's betting on a plus differential at worst.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona 500 predictions: Building your NASCAR DraftKings driver roster