NASCAR hits the road on Sunday. This week the Cup Series races at COTA in Austin, Texas. DraftKings is celebrating the first road course of the 2024 season by rewarding the winner of the featured fantasy NASCAR contest with a $100K grand prize. Check out the DFS NASCAR rankings below and make your fantasy racing picks for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $400K Engineer [$100K to 1st] (Cup)
1. Chase Elliott ($10,300) — The stats are the stats. Last season was rough for Elliott, but it wasn’t that bad on the road courses. Even during hard times, the King of the Road still performs. Elliott has 20 top-10 finishes, 17 top-5 finishes and seven wins at road courses.
2. Tyler Reddick ($10,500) — Chase Elliott is the King of the Road Courses. His reign might not be long. Reddick is on his way to usurp the throne. The 23XI Toyota driver has won three road-course races in the last three seasons. That includes a win at The Circuit of the Americas in 2023.
3. Kyle Larson ($10,200) — Hendrick Motorsports has always excelled at the road courses. Jeff Gordon and Chase Elliott are the best ever. Their Hendrick Chevys had something to do with that. Larson had never won at a road course before joining HMS. He’s won four since.
4. Ross Chastain ($9,000) — Track history isn’t as meaningful as track-type history. It’s not the road. It’s roads in general. Some drivers excel at road courses. Chastain is one of those drivers. He also excels on this particular road. His average finish of third at COTA is the best in the Cup Series.
5. Chris Buescher ($7,800) — Is anyone a Buescher fan? Does anyone root for RFK racing? Buescher is an old-school, blue-collar racer who is often overlooked. This is a mistake. It’s a big mistake at road courses. He was a good road racer with average equipment. In good equipment, he averaged the best finish on the road courses last season.
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6. William Byron ($9,700) — It’s been well documented in the DK Network Fantasy NASCAR Rankings that Byron is a top-tier road course driver. He just wasn’t getting the results. The breakthrough happened last season when Byron won at Watkins Glen. He earned three top-5 finishes in the six road events in 2023.
7. Michael McDowell ($8,000) — The only thing that was holding McDowell back was his equipment. He’s a great road racer, but Front Row Motorsports didn’t have the cars. Ford now classifies Front Row as a top-tier Ford team. No surprise, McDowell won the Indianapolis GP in 2023.
8. Kyle Busch ($9,200) — The old man has still got it. Busch earned four top-5 finishes in the six road races last season. His 2022 slump wasn’t a lack of skill. The JGR Toyotas struggled in the NextGen car at all of the road courses that season.
9. Alex Bowman ($7,700) — The showman is a magician on the road courses. He magically pulls top-10 finishes out of his hat. Strategy and sequencing are significant at the road courses. No one does it better than Bowman. No one — other than Ross Chastain — has been better at COTA (average finish of fourth).
10. Austin Cindric ($7,200) — Xfinity Series Champions struggle when they enter the Cup Series. Cindric’s struggles were expected, but he’s lived up to expectations as a road-course expert. He has yet to win, but the competition is fierce. He’s close. This could be the week. This could be the year.
11. Ty Gibbs ($8,700) — Jeff Gordon won two races in his second season and became a star in his third season. Gibbs is on a similar trajectory. Gibbs is fifth in the standings. Last season, Gibbs had the fourth-best average finish at the road courses — as a rookie.
12. Shane Van Gisbergen ($9,500) — There will be reluctance. SVG feels like a novelty, but he isn’t. The Kiwi is a decorated Supercars Champion. He has a Cup Series road course win (Chicago 2023 win) and has experience at COTA. Last but not least, he’ll get plenty of reps by running double-duty this weekend.
13. Joey Logano ($7,400) — Has Logano’s salary ever been this low? This hasn’t been a great season, but it’s mainly been misfortune that’s plagued him. His Ford has plenty of speed. Logano earned four top-10 finishes in the six road course races last season.
14. Todd Gilliland ($6,200) — The best way for young drivers to improve their road racing skills is to learn from their teammates. Not only does Gilly benefit from his mentor being Michael McDowell, but he can borrow his teammate’s setup. Gilliland was an above-average road racer in the Truck Series. He should continue to improve given his enviable position.
15. Corey LaJoie ($5,700) — This might not be the best DFS NASCAR pick. It’s the archetype for a value pick at a road course. LaJoie averaged a 19th-place finish at road courses last season. Any driver in the field can do this. There is a small degree of difference among the back half of the field. Anyone can be optimal if they correctly sequence the stages and cautions.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $400K Engineer [$100K to 1st] (Cup)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
