Matt Vecchio 
Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday afternoons Cup Series from Michigan International Speedway. We have 156 laps of racing on Saturday evening meaning we only have 117 dominator points available for this race. Like we saw with the Truck Series race Friday night there is some drafting needed, especially on restarts, to make passes. We also saw plenty of blocking, like the block Grant Enfinger tried to throw on Austin Hill to keep him from passing for the lead in Overtime, but he just ended up wrecking himself, Hill, and John Hunter Nemechek.
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
Like with practically every week since NASCAR returned to the track, both Kevin Harvick ($11,000) and Denny Hamlin (10,400) are both the top plays in this tier. It really comes down to the $600 price difference if you are choosing one over the other. Harvick starts 2nd, and Hamlin goes off in the 3rd position.
Martin Truex Jr. ($10,800)
Starting Position: 12th
Martin Truex comes off of two straight 3rd place finishes, and four top 10 finishes in his last 5 races. In his last 6 races at Michigan, Truex Jr. has four finishes of 6th place or better and has also led 187 laps during that 6 race run.
Brad Keselowski ($10,100)
Starting Position: 5th
Keselowski is coming off a dominating performance last in New Hampshire and he comes to one his best track he’s never won at. Dating back to 2014, Keselowski has done everything but win. In twelve races since 2014, Brad has finished outside the top 10 only 3 times, and has led 203 laps while averaging a 7.75 finish.
Other Options: Christopher Bell ($9,900 – P29)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Erik Jones ($8,800)
Starting Position: 23rd
Erik Jones was informed he would not be returning to the #20 Toyota for the 2021 season and is now racing the rest of this season for a job next year. Jones does not have a ton of success here at Michigan, but nothing motivates someone then fighting for their livelihood. Jones will find a ride for next season, but if he wants a good ride, he will need to show what he has.
Matt DiBenedetto ($8,400)
Starting Position: 15th
This play is just a pure gut play for me. DiBenedetto has been hanging around the top 10 every week it seems and he is coming off 6th place finish last at New Hampshire. I consider Matt DiBenedetto a GPP ONLY play because he does not give you dominator points because he generally isn’t running fastest laps and does not lead laps so he is a pure place differential play.
Both Kyle Busch ($9,500) and Chase Elliott($9,300) are in the mid-tier this week and starting inside the top 10. After what happened with Kyle last week, it is hard to feel confident rostering him, and the same goes for Elliott. I think both will come in severely low owned and could actually be great GPP upside plays.
Other Options: Aric Almirola ($9,100 – P4), Kurt Busch ($8,000 – P10)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings
- Ty Dillon ($5,700 – P34)
- Daniel Suarez ($6,000 – P37)
- Corey Lajoie ($5,600 – P36)
- Austin Dillon ($7,500 – P18)
- Tyler Reddick ($7,200 – P14)
- John Hunter Nemechek ($7,000 – P31)
- Ryan Preece ($5,800 – P35)
- Ricky Stenhouse ($6,900 – P32)
Ty Dillon, Suarez, and Lajoie are the best plays from the bottom, if for no other reason then they are the best place differential plays. Also, Ty Dillon has been very successful at superspeedways in his career and at Michigan. Dillon has raced here 8 times and if you take out his 38th place finish in 2018, he has an average finish of 19th in the other 7 races. For his low price, he has exceptional upside.
Thanks for reading this article on the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Cup Series 8/2/20 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway! Make sure you head to the Win Daily Sports Discord for up to date info and help directly from our pros! Head over to Twitter and give the @WinDailySports account and me (@MVecchio81) a follow for all things Fantasy Sports! You can find more FREE NASCAR content over at WinDailySports.com!
