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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kyle Larson (4) – $10.5K | Christopher Bell (3) – $10K | William Byron (7) – $9.5K |
| Ross Chastain (20) – $9K | Ty Gibbs (8) – $8.4K | Chase Elliott (13) – $9.7K |
| Ryan Blaney (18) – $9.3K | Daniel Suarez (31) – $7.5K | Josh Berry (2) – $7.7K |
| Denny Hamlin (1) – $10.3K | Bubba Wallace (24) – $7.8K | Justin Haley (33) – $5.6K |
| Todd Gilliland (32) – $6.7K | Joey Logano (26) – $8.6K | Michael McDowell (14) – $6.9K |
| AJ Allmendinger (28) – $6.5K | Erik Jones (34) – $6.6K | Austin Cindric (10) – $7K |
| Martin Truex Jr. (17) – $9.8K | Corey Heim (29) – $7.2K | Alex Bowman (12) – $8K |
Driver Notes:
- We have 300 laps of racing from Nashville today, which means we will need a couple of dominators in our lineups. Looking back at last year’s race, three drivers led over 50 laps, which was 76.7% of the race. In 2022, the outcome was similar, with three drivers leading 54 laps or more, which constituted 83.3% of the race. If you add Chase Elliott’s 42 laps led in, it goes up to 97.3%. There are drivers starting in the teens and 20’s that can and probably will lead 20+ laps, so I will stick to rostering just 2 of the highlighted drivers in my lineups for Sunday.
- As I noted in Discord last night, Ross Chastain has been outstanding in Nashville. Chastain lead a race-high 99 laps on his way to the win last year and has never finished lower than 5th in his three Cup Series starts here. Larson/Chastain would be where I start any SE build for Sunday’s race.
- All three of AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Blaney, and Bubba Wallace showed great long-run speed in Saturday’s practice session but qualified poorly. I believe all three can improve their positions, especially Blaney. Both AJ and Bubba will be lower owned, in my opinion, than drivers in their price range like Gilliland, Suarez, and Erik Jones making them good GPP pivots.
- Josh Berry, along with his team, are auditioning for their spots with another team in 2025 and have been running hot recently. Berry comes in with back-to-back top 10s and six top 15s in his last eight races.
- Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell, and Austin Cindric are risky GPP plays. I could see all three coming in between 10-15% owned and if they are paired with the right dominators and PD plays any one of them could give your lineup the difference needed for a solo takedown.
NASCAR Best Bets:
(best odds and site in parenthesis)
I will start by saying that Kyle Larson is my pick to win this race, but my goal is to find other drivers who have a shot and could give you a big payday if they do.
Martin Truex Jr. (+700 FD/Caesars)
Ross Chastain (+1800 FanDuel)
Austin Cindric Top 10 (+260 DraftKings)
Ross Chastain Top 5 (+230 FanDuel)
Josh Berry Top Ford (+350 DraftKings)
Longshot To Win:
Alex Bowman (+5000 Caesars)
Matchups:
(All bets are from DK)
Denny Hamlin vs Ryan Blaney (+150)
Ross Chastain (+100) vs Chase Elliott
