Matt Vecchio 
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 risky but could still be optimal. This group should be used in GPP’s
(Starting position in parenthesis)
Drivers in BOLD are potential dominators
(All pricing is for DK)
| A Group | B Group | C Group |
|---|---|---|
| Ty Gibbs (10) – $9K | Tyler Reddick (2) – $9.5K | Ryan Blaney (3) – $7.8K |
| Martin Truex Jr. (21) – $10.5K | AJ Allmendinger (11) – $8.8K | Michael McDowell (12) – $8.5K |
| Chris Buescher (26) – $8.6K | Denny Hamlin (25) – $9.2K | Chase Elliott (4) – $9.3K |
| Kyle Larson (5) – $10K | Will Brown (24) – $7.2K | Brad Keselowski (35) – $7K |
| Ross Chastain (9) – $8.3K | Austin Cindric (28) – $8.2K | Austin Dillon (16) – $6.3K |
| Kyle Busch (29) – $7.7K | Noah Gragson (19) – $6.2K | Erik Jones (38) – $5.9K |
| Joey Logano (1) – $7.3K | John Hunter Nemechek (37) – $6K | Daniel Suarez (7) – $8K |
Driver Notes:
- This is a tough week to build. There will be a lot of ownership on a group of drivers and next to none on the rest. With it being so hard to pass here the focus of people’s builds will be around the drives starting up front. At this track, we know that the teams will try to flip the field before the stage ends. This means some teams near the back or mid-pack will pit before the stage breaks to allow them to re-start near the front. Unfortunately, we don’t know who will do that, but it will happen. Since ‘flipping the stage’ is a thing, it has me high on drivers like Buescher, Truex, and Busch because they need points and more importantly, a win.
- Joey Logano is not historically a great road course driver, but he starts on the pole and unless Reddick can pass him early he could run away during the first stage and pick up some dominator points. Even though we aren’t necessarily chasing those points, it doesn’t hurt to get them. Logano is likely to finish near the front and with his super cheap salary he doesn’t need a huge day to make value.
- As for value plays, they are few and far between. If you like a cheap driver, play them. I only found a few under $7K that I think are viable. Noah Gragson is a good road course driver and had speed in practice. While unlikely, a top 10 is viable. Either way, if he finishes in the teens he hits value. Erik Jones is even cheaper than Gragson and starts dead last, a lot of potential upside there at low ownership. Last but not least, is Austin Dillon. I expect sub-10% ownership on Austin today, but he could be a surprise top-10 driver on Sunday. If he manages that and the rest of your build does what it should you could be in for a huge payout.
NASCAR Best Bets:
(best odds and site in parenthesis)
Tyler Reddick (+650 – DK)
Ryan Blaney (+1100 – Caesars)
Joey Logano Top 5 Finish (+125 – FD)
Noah Gragson Top 10 Finish (+400 -FD)
Longshot To Win:
Michael McDowell (+2500 – DK)
Matchups:
(All bets are from DK)
AJ Allmendinger vs Chris Buescher (+120)
Denny Hamlin (+115) vs Daniel Suarez
Kyle Larson (-145) vs Chase Elliott
