Matt Vecchio 
Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday night’s Cup Series race from Daytona International Speedway. If you didn’t play the Xfinity race or read the article, here is what I wrote about this track:
For those who are new to NASCAR DFS this season, Daytona is what used to be known as a restrictor-plate race and not your typical oval track race. NASCAR has switched from the “plates” of old that began being used 1988, so technically it’s not plate racing because they implemented new tapered spacers. These spacers still have the same effect on the engine, they still restrict the airflow to the engine and allow for the cars to be bunched up at 200 mph running 2 or 3 wide. This type of racing leads to a plethora of accidents and many of the top cars being out early.
One thing I need to remind everyone of is not to worry about salary! You SHOULD have salary left over after you build your lineups on Saturday. When I build lineups for superspeedway races, especially in the Cup series, I will try to only roster 1-2 drivers starting inside the top 20 on the starting grid. Do not feel like there is something wrong with your build if you have over $1-$2K left over. Winning lineups in the last 5 years at plate tracks have had over $3K leftover in some cases. This season at Talladega the optimal DraftKings lineup only used $43,500 of salary, leaving $6,500 on the table and had no drivers starting inside the top 10.
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
If you are playing in cash games on Saturday (I do not recommend doing this by the way) there are 3 drivers in the top price tier that you should consider. Ryan Blaney ($10,000) starts 9th on Saturday and while he only has minimal upside, he does have the potential to pick up some dominator points and win here. Blaney has 2 wins in the last 10 SS races and has led the most laps (244) in those races.
Chase Elliott ($11,000) starts 27th and will probably be the highest owned driver in this tier and maybe the entire field. Elliott has 1 win and 3 top 10’s in his last 10 races at superspeedway races. Chase makes the list this weekend purely as a place differential play for me.
Lastly, Denny Hamlin ($10,400) starts 10th and is the only other driver to have multiple wins at superspeedways in the last 10 races. Hamlin came home with the win at the Daytona 500 this season and can complete the sweep Saturday night. Hamlin has six top 10’s in the last 10 SS races as well, so he is pretty much a lock to finish better then where starts.
My favorite pivot off these three drivers is Erik Jones ($9,800). Jones starts from 20th Saturday night so he has PD upside. Over the last 5 races at SS tracks the 20th position is one of the highest scoring spots in the field averaging almost 40 DK points per race.
Other Options: Kyle Busch ($10,200)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Brandon Gaughan ($8,600)
Starting Postion: 40th
I know I said Chase could be one of the chalkiest plays on the slate, well there is one driver who I fee will be higher owned and that’s Gaughan. Starting 40th means he can Gaughan can only get positive place differential, making him the safest play and will most likely also make him a lock for the optimal lineup this weekend as well. I will be rostering Gaughan on Saturday no matter the ownership because his points may not be able to be replaced on the slate.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($8,300)
Starting Position: 31st
Stenhouse is one of my favorite plays on the entire slate this week. Not only does he have place differential upside, but also has small dominator potential, and can win this race. Stenhouse has an average finish of 14.7 over his last ten SS races including four top 10’s and 161 laps led. I plan on rostering Stenhouse in 75% of my lineups on Saturday.
Aric Almirola ($8,100)
Starting Position: 5th
Almirola is a great superspeedway driver, but he is a GPP ONLY play this weekend because he is starting so high up in the field. I do think Almirola and #10 SHR team can win this race, and that he can lead a good number of laps as well. Almirola has the potential for a huge negative as well, and even though has been great at these tracks he can still kill your lineups.
Other Options: Austin Dillon ($9,000), Kurt Busch ($8,400), Christopher Bell ($7,500)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings
We are going to live in this tier on Saturday. As we saw with the Xfinity race, a single tire going down can take out half the field and a lot of these drivers will be towards the rear and are generally able to avoid the big one(s).
- Ross Chastain – $7,100 – P36
- Ryan Newman – $6,500 – P22
- Ty Dillon – $6,100 – P29
- Ryan Preece – $5,800 – P28
- Corey Lajoie – $5,300 – P25
- Michael McDowell – $6,900 – P26
- Josh Bilicki – $5,300 – P39
- Chris Buescher – $6,000 – P17
- Daniel Saurez – $5,600 – P30
- JJ Yeley – $4,900 – P33
Thanks for reading this article on the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Cup Series 8/29/20 from Daytona International 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!
