The NASCAR season is revving up and DraftKings is shifting into high gear with an assortment of fantasy NASCAR contests. Dive into the best fantasy racing picks for the NASCAR Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona.
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Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $250K Daytona Beach Drive [$50K to 1st] (Cup)
Fantasy NASCAR Driver Rankings: Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona
1. William Byron ($10,400) — Finishing at Daytona is one thing. Winning it once is a career highlight. Winning twice in three races is rare. Byron won the Daytona 500 in both 2023 and 2024.
2. Chase Elliott ($9,900) — Superspeedway stats are hard to trust, but past results do indicate future success. NASCAR DFS at Daytona reads like the disclaimer in an investment strategy radio commercial. Elliott’s median finish in Gen-7 superspeedway races is the best in the field.
3. Kyle Busch ($8,800) — It’s do or die. Daytona is Rowdy’s last chance to qualify for the playoffs. Win and he’s in. Anything less, and he’s out. Checker-or-wreckers wins tournaments. Busch isn’t laying up. He’s either optimal or abominable.
4. Bubba Wallace ($8,300) — Daytona has always been good to Bubba. In 16 starts, he’s earned 12 top-15 finishes. His average finish of 13th is the second-best in the field.
5. John H. Nemechek ($6,200) — In three Gen-7 races at Daytona, JHN has an average finish of ninth, with a high of fifth and a low of 15th. Most drivers have run all seven races, but Nemechek’s smaller sample size still grades out as the best in the field.
6. Ryan Blaney ($10,200) — Place differential chasing is the move at superspeedways—especially the summer Daytona race. Chaos reigns. Blaney is a low-owned pivot with lap-leading and race-winning upside.
7. Denny Hamlin ($10,100) — The last seven Daytona races haven’t worked out. His average finish is 27th, with 17th as his best result. He’s “due.” That’s a common DFS strategy, but Hamlin was due in the last Daytona race, and the one before that.
8. Brad Keselowski ($9,600) — The RFK Fords are having a good season, but good isn’t good enough. There’s a real chance their entire stable misses the playoffs. Daytona is a “fine, I’ll do it myself” moment for BK. If Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece can’t seal the deal, Keselowski will throw the Hail Mary.
9. Chris Buescher ($8,600) — There are 16 playoff spots. Buescher sits 17th in points, trailing Alex Bowman by 60. His only path to the playoffs is Victory Lane. A typical top-10 won’t amount to a bag of peanuts.
10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($8,700) — The legend must be mentioned. “Spinhouse” is the epitome of superspeedway racing. He wins. He wrecks. He wrecks others. Stenhouse is always a factor at Daytona. He’s the pick… or the pick that picks off the pick.
11. AJ Allmendinger ($6,600) — Win and he’s in. The Dinger is both a road ringer and a Daytona ringer. He’s won superspeedway races for Kaulig in Xfinity and in Cup, he has six top-10s in his last eight Daytona races.
12. Alex Bowman ($7,800) — This is a peculiar spot. His median finish in Gen-7 pack races is the third-best, making him appear safe. But Bowman can improve his playoff standing with stage points. If he chases those, his DNF risk goes up.
13. Christopher Bell ($9,000) — Pack racing is a coin flip at best. Bell finished outside the top 20 in the last Daytona 500, but in the four Daytona races from 2023–24, he finished third in all of them. That’s been better than a 50/50 endeavor.
14. Ty Gibbs ($6,800) — Summer ends Saturday. The regular season ends Saturday. Over half the field will be eliminated from championship contention at Daytona. In a normal world, everything would already be settled. This is not a normal world. Anyone can win at Daytona and punch a playoff ticket.
15. Kyle Larson ($9,500) — The strategy never changes. Larson is well overdue at a superspeedway. The roulette wheel keeps landing on red. As soon as the money comes off black, black will hit. Larson’s best Daytona finish in the last 10 years is seventh. He owns an average finish of 19th with five top 10s in 18 races.
