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 |
|---|---|---|
| Denny Hamlin (14) – $11K | Noah Gragson (29) -$7K | Ty Gibbs (13) – $8.3K |
| Tyler Reddick (6) – $10.5K | Bubba Wallace (1) – $7.7K | Chris Buescher (10) – $8.5K |
| Alex Bowman (27) – $7.5K | Chase Elliott (20) – $9K | Martin Truex Jr. (5) – $9.5K |
| Joey Logano (23) – $8.7K | Ross Chastain (22) – $8K | Josh Berry (15) – $7.1K |
| Erik Jones (28) – $7.4K | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (36) – $6.2K | Kyle Busch (17) – $7.8K |
| Kyle Larson (4) – $10.7K | Brad Keselowski (12) – $9.8K | William Byron (8) – $10.2K |
| Todd Gilliland (33) – $6.8K | Ryan Blaney (7) – $8.8K | Daniel Suarez (32) – $6.5K |
Driver Notes:
- This is the last race of the regular season so there could be some carnage late as drivers on the outside looking in try to play strategy to get the win and secure their spot in the playoffs.
- Denny Hamlin has not done well at Darlington in the next-gen car, but that has to change at some point. Hamlin has some solid PD upside with dominator potential as well. With 367 laps, Hamlin has plenty of time to get upfront and pay off his huge price tag.
- Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick run exceptionally well here because of their propensity to run the high line, up against the wall. That doesn’t come without risk though. While they can both run fast laps up there, the chance of getting into the wall and wrecking is high. I don’t think that happens to either and both make for great plays on Sunday night.
- I think Bubba Wallace is a great play after he showed some speed in practice and qualifying (obviously) but he is more of a high-risk/high-reward play. Meanwhile, Alex Bowman and Erik Jones are low-risk/high-reward plays that will be safer and, therefore, more popular. I would lock both drivers into my lineups in single-entry and cash games.
- Todd Gilliland will be the chalky $6K range play on Sunday. I don’t disagree with that notion and will probably be at or overweight on him. Ricky Stenhouse is the pivot off of the chalky Gilliland. Stenhouse starts on the last row of the field and presents some big-time PD upside if the attrition goes in his favor.
NASCAR Best Bets:
(best odds and site in parenthesis)
Tyler Reddick (+600 – industry-wide)
William Byron (+1100 – Casears)
Bubba Wallace (+1400 – FanDuel)
Todd Gilliland Top 10 (+600 – FanDuel)
Alex Bowman Top 5 (+650 – FanDuel)
Longshot To Win:
Kyle Busch (+2200 – FanDuel)
Matchups:
(All bets are from DK)
Denny Hamlin vs William Byron (+115)
Ty Gibbs vs Kyle Busch (-115)
Kyle Larson vs Tyler Reddick (-110)
