Matt Vecchio 
552
Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for the NASCAR Cup Series. Below you will find my rankings for the drivers in this race.
A Group: Drivers I will have the most exposure to and are high priority
B Group: This group is drivers I feel have a high upside and are great filler pieces to pair with the A Group
C Group: The drivers in this tier are a bit risky, but could still be optimal. This group should be used in GPP’s
F Group: These drivers are on my do not play list
(Starting position in parenthesis)
Drivers highlighted in yellow are potential dominators
(All pricing is for DK)
| A Group | B Group | C Group | F Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Bell (34) – $9.2K | Bubba Wallace (37) – $8.3K | Noah Gragson (31) – $5.4K | Harrison Burton (5) – $5.1K |
| Erik Jones (25) – $7K | Corey Lajoie (28) – $6.5K | BJ McLeod (35) – $4.6K | Ryan Preece (13) – $6.1K |
| Chase Elliott (23) – $10.4K | Austin Dillon (33) – $6.4K | Brad Keselowski (11) – $9K | Chase Briscoe (3) – $6.3K |
| Ross Chastain (30) – $9.4K | William Byron (18) – $9.5K | AJ Allmendinger (19) – $6.9K | Todd Gilliland (9) – $5.3K |
| Alex Bowman (36) – $8.1K | Austin Hill (32) $5.9K | Joey Logano (4) – $10.1K | |
| Daniel Suarez (26) – $7.2K | Chris Buescher (15) – $8.6K | Michael McDowell (20) – $6.7K | |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (29) – $7.9K | Denny Hamlin (14) – $9.9K | Austin Cindric (10) – $7.3K |
*** NOTES ***
- This is a drafting race, it is only a 1.5-mile track, so there are 182 dominator points available. Even though there are a good amount of dominator points, we can’t really chase those points. There will be multiple leaders based on past results in the three races under this new configuration. In the three previous races here, there has been an average of 15 drivers to lead at least a lap and no driver has led more than 140 laps (Joey Logano – Spring 2023).
- There were a lot of drivers who had poor qualifying efforts this weekend. Ford dominated qualifying and should be the top manufacturer on Sunday night. Even with this, We will want to load up on the Chevy’s and Toyota’s starting at the back.
- Erik Jones has been great at this new Atlanta. In the three previous races, Jones has an average finish of 8.7 and has finished top 15 in each race. Jones also has the second most avg DKFP per race (among drivers who ran all three).
- Ross Chastain is another driver who has excelled at the new Atlanta. Chastain has finished top 5 twice and has a 5.7 avg finish, which is tops among drivers who have competed in all three races.
- Daniel Suarez is not someone I expect to collect any dominator points on Sunday, but he is a threat for a top 10. In the last three races here, Suarez has two top 10s and an avg finish of 13th.
- Bubba Wallace is the safest play on the slate, in my opinion. Wallace starts dead last, so he can’t get you negative points but also he is great at drafting tracks. Wallace has four top 15s and seven top 20s in nine races at drafting tracks. In those nine races, Wallace has an avg finish of 16.4.
- In the three races under the new configuration, Corey Lajoie has been the best in the Cup Series. Lajoie has the best avg DKFP per race (59.4), has a +21.3 place differential avg per race, and has two top 5s.
- BJ McLeod will have the slowest car on the track, but he always manages to be around at the end of these types of races.
- Lastly, remember that you do not need to max out your salary for this race. I have lineups with over $1K left in salary. Build a lineup you like regardless of salary.
