DFS best buys for NASCAR at Bristol

— -- Bristol, baby -- a half-mile track that's big on action, thanks to its high banks.

It's also a track that provides a lot of laps for that action to take place; we're scheduled for 500 on Sunday afternoon, but it could always go to overtime.

Although fastest laps run are worth double what laps led are worth (a half-point to a quarter-point), we rarely see more than 75 fastest laps at Bristol, thanks to the leaders having to constantly deal with lapped traffic, while laps led tend to come in chunks.

The days of leading an absolutely dominating number of laps are past. In the past five years, no driver has led more than 250 laps at this race. Since passing is tough at this track, drivers tend to get out in front for 80 laps here or 100 laps there.

Let's take a look at the past seven Bristol races. Each one had multiple drivers lead more than 75 laps, but none of those races saw a driver lead more than 200.

Qualifying position plays an important factor when trying to find these lap leaders, with 12 of the 17 to lead 75-plus laps at Bristol in that span started in the top five -- though only one of those dozen was the polesitter (Kevin Harvick in August 2014).

Let's look at the laps led leaders this season. The asterisk here is that not all tracks are created equal, but with the new aerodynamic package in play this season, it does appear that one team has excelled more than others.

Out of the 2,149 laps this season, two drivers -- Harvick and Kyle Busch -- have combined to lead half of them (49.6 percent, but I'm an optimist, so let's round up), but you have to dig a little deeper to get the whole story.

Joe Gibbs Racing, and the JGR-supported Furniture Row Racing, are responsible for five of the top seven drivers in laps led this season (all five of the drivers that drive for those teams, so nobody is left out). Those five drivers (Busch, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin) have combined to lead 55 percent of the laps this season.

Food for thought, but you know I love the food. Let's get to this week's picks and fades.

Remember, you get $50,000 to spend on your six-driver lineup, and it's not just your finishing position that nets points. Start/finish differential, fastest laps run and laps led also come into play.

Big Spenders ($9,000 or More)

To win, you need a stud in your lineup -- maybe even two. The win is nice, but often the top scorer isn't the race winner. Spend wisely, my friends.

Buy High

Matt Kenseth ($10,000): There are three big-value drivers I loved coming into the week, and somehow they qualified (spoiler alert!) 1-2-3. Kenseth, who starts second, has shown the most consistent runs at the track, having led at least 25 laps in eight of the past nine Bristol races, with more than a dozen fastest laps in each.

That's the low side of his production. On the high end, he has gone over 100 laps led in three of those races and in six of them Kenseth has topped 30 fastest laps. Throw out his 42nd-place finish last August, and Kenseth has averaged 74.7 fantasy points per race in his past eight.

Carl Edwards ($9,900): Starting alongside Kenseth is his JGR teammate, Edwards. I like him here as he starts on the pole, and because, over the past two seasons at Bristol, Edwards averages 62.4 DraftKings fantasy points per race -- leading all drivers.

Last year Edwards started third in both Bristol races, and led 86 and then 74 laps, respectively. He faded to finish 24th in the spring race (38.5 points) but finished third in the August race (68 points). What I'm hoping to get with an Edwards selection is a copy of the August 2008 race. Edwards started from the pole, won with 84 laps led and 65 fastest laps -- worth 99.5 points.

Honorable mention: Joey Logano starts third, the only non-Gibbs driver starting in the top five. Logano has won two of the past three races at Bristol, but also proves a possible risk. Over the past two seasons, in the August race he averages 103.5 points per race, but in the spring race he averages minus-11 points per stop, thanks to a combined pass differential of minus-50.

Save Your Cash

Kurt Busch ($9,400): Yeah, Busch is a five-time Bristol winner, but the last of those races took place in March 2006. In the past nine Bristol races, Busch has just a pair of top-10 finishes (although they are both top fives) and averaged just 34.5 fantasy points per race.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ($9,100): Kurt Busch and Junior are the only two drivers in this salary class starting outside the first six rows, and passing is tough at this track, so you can't count on start-finish differential. Earnhardt doesn't have a top-five finish at this track since the spring 2008 race; this will also be the third time he has started 20th in the past four races at the track. In one of those, he finished ninth; in the other, 39th. That's too much volatility for this guy.

Mid-salary tier ($7,000-$8,999)

Depending on how you spread your lineup with big-cost drivers, you'll need a couple of these guys to make your lineup work. This is a mixed group of drivers -- some whose value has fallen, and some who are on the rise.

Who I Love

Ryan Blaney ($7,000): Ryan Blaney, welcome to the mid-salary tier! Blaney has been making his residence in the bargain-basement, but his value is starting to catch up with his ability. Still, you're getting a good deal as he's the minimum value to get into this category. He has shown his ability racing in the second-tier Xfinity Series at this track; in the August 2014 race, Blaney won in a field that also included Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.

Jamie McMurray ($7,500): McMurray makes me nervous starting 13th, since I'm not sure he'll be able to move up much, and that makes him a fall-back candidate. But he was fifth-fastest in Friday's opening practice, and sixth-fastest in the opening qualifying session before finally qualifying 13th. McMurray has finished 14th or better in the past three Bristol races, and led a solid 148 laps in the August 2014 race to put up 100.5 DraftKings points.

Honorable mention: Kyle Larson will only run you $7,600, and starting 25th, provides the most moving-up potential in this salary class. Larson wrecked out here last August, but before that he finished 12th or better in his three career Cup starts at the track. Last spring here, he led 90 laps and picked up a nice 57 fastest laps for 95 total fantasy points.

Keep Your Distance

Kasey Kahne ($7,800): Kahne won here back in the spring 2013 race, but his past three races at the track, he has finished 35th, 37th and 16th. Although he finished 16th in the last race here, his four fastest laps were his fewest in a single race at Bristol since the August 2009 race.

Martin Truex Jr. ($8,900): Admittedly, this is a different Truex than in past years, but even last year, Truex finished 28th and 29th in the two Bristol races -- averaging fewer than a dozen fantasy points per race. Going back even further, in his past five races at the track, he has averaged 8.6 points a race. There's a counter-argument to be had, as he was second-fastest in opening practice, but I remain skeptical based on his track history.

Bargain-Basement Special (under $7,000)

These are the drivers who will round out your team, and could make up as much as half of your roster. Here are some guys I like to round out my lineup by giving me quality points and avoiding a dreaded negative number.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($6,400): I love some of the drivers starting in the back this week, much more than usual. Part one: the House! Stenhouse has shown he can do something few others can at Bristol: move up. In five of his six career races at the track, he has started outside the top 20 and finished 18th or better each time, moving up at least nine and as many as 21 spots from his starting position. He'll start 32nd on Sunday.

Ty Dillon ($6,300): Dillon starts two spots behind Stenhouse in the No. 14 (not the No. 95) car. Dillon has made five Xfinity Series starts at the track (none in the Cup Series), and has finished seventh or better in each -- fourth or better in the past three. He had double-digit fastest laps (remember the Xfinity Series runs about half the laps of the Cup Series) twice in those last three races.

Clint Bowyer ($6,800): I'm admittedly not a Bowyer fan this year -- he has struggled to adjust to running for HScott, with only one finish in the top 20. In four of the seven races he has run, Bowyer has finished outside the top 30. Still, he starts 36th -- making him essentially risk-free if you need a driver at this salary level. Although he was previously in better equipment, it's worth noting that he has finished the past eight Bristol races 17th or better -- and last year in this race, he started back in 37th and recovered to finish 12th. That'd give you 61.5 fantasy points right there.