NASCAR is back this weekend from the music city of Nashville, Tennessee. The NASCAR Cup Series is slated for 300 laps around Nashville Superspeedway. This track is a slightly smaller tri-oval that compares to tracks like Vegas and Kansas but without the tire wear. So far we’ve separately seen Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott win here. But the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI seem to be the class of the field this weekend. Be sure to expand your daily fantasy NASCAR plays with the mid-week preview before locking in your builds. Let’s dive into the top daily fantasy NASCAR plays on DraftKings and FanDuel for Sunday night’s Ally 400!
Daily Fantasy NASCAR Picks: The Top 10 For The Ally 400
- Ross Chastain (#1 Trackhouse Racing)
- Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
- Justin Haley (#31 Kaulig Racing)
- Joey Logano (#22 Team Penske)
- William Byron (#24 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Bubba Wallace (#23 23XI Racing)
- Daniel Suarez (#99 Trackhouse Racing)
Quite the list of drivers making up the top 10 for the daily fantasy NASCAR plays this week. We have five Chevys, four Toyotas, and only one Ford. NASCAR decided to host qualifying in the afternoon even though these drivers will race Sunday night. The track will be much cooler tomorrow night and in general, it’s looked like the Fords will struggle. There is still some hope for the RFK drivers, but it’s clear the Chevys and Toyotas nailed this week’s setup.
Nashville Superspeedway is a difficult track to pass at and tire degradation won’t play a huge factor. Will we need some position differential out of our daily fantasy NASCAR plays? Absolutely! But nailing the right dominators that collectively lead a majority of the 300 laps will be key. We’ll also need value plays to move up to help push our daily fantasy NASCAR lineups to victory lane.
Which Value-Priced Daily Fantasy NASCAR Picks Got A Points Movement Bump?
This is interesting because most of the pricier drivers in the field qualified very well. So that does lend us to daily fantasy NASCAR plays in the value range that are starting further back. However, as noted before, this track is tough to pass on without an abundance of cautions. But these are the value-priced drivers offering those precious position differential points.
Daily Fantasy NASCAR Picks on DraftKings
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – P28, $7,300
- Michael McDowell – P33, $5,800
- Corey Lajoie – P36, $5,300
Daily Fantasy NASCAR Picks on FanDuel
- Brad Keselowski – P20, $7,800
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – P28, $6,800
- Michael McDowell – P33, $4,500
McDowell and Lajoie are so close in pricing on FanDuel so you pick your poison there. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is always a risky play, but he’s finished in the top 15 in half the races this year. And yes, while we downgrade the Fords because of the aero struggles this year, McDowell still has finished top 20 in about half the races this season. Will these value plays all crack the optimal lineup? Very unlikely. But it’s possible one or two make it with a clean race. We’ll need daily fantasy NASCAR plays from across the entire pricing spectrum in order to turn a profit.
Which Higher-Priced Daily Fantasy NASCAR Plays Got The Same Bump?
- Chase Elliott – P14
- Christopher Bell – P22
- Kevin Harvick – P17
Christopher Bell is really the only “true” higher-priced driver in the daily fantasy NASCAR plays that is offering healthy PD. Elliott and Harvick are both starting in the teens and I’d prefer the slight discount on Harvick who is a top-10 machine. Is he in a Ford? Yes, but he’s one of the more reliable Ford drivers and his price is reasonable on both sites. But all three of these drivers have the ability to move up through the field and finish in the top ten.
Ally 400
Be mindful and careful when making your own driver pool with the daily fantasy NASCAR plays this week. Practice was run Friday late afternoon. Qualifying was run in hot, slick conditions on Saturday afternoon. And the race won’t go green until Sunday night in cooler conditions. It’s been a hodgepodge of track conditions for just one race. Based on the projections of several touts in the industry, it looks like Ross Chastain, William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., and Denny Hamlin are the favorites to lead the most laps. You’ll want to mix in at least two drivers to collect those laps led and fastest laps while nailing the other daily fantasy NASCAR plays that score and finish well. Here are two lineups I’ll be entering on DraftKings and FanDuel based on this week’s daily fantasy NASCAR plays.
DraftKings
- Denny Hamlin – $10,700
- Ross Chastain – $9,600
- Kevin Harvick – $8,800
- Brad Keselowski – $8,000
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $7,300
- Corey Lajoie – $5,300
This lineup is a nice combination of two dominators (Hamlin and Chastain) with two mid-tier drivers starting in the top 20. Harvick and Keselowski could move up and finish in the top 12, while Stenhouse and Lajoie offer salary relief and should also move up. It also leaves $300 left over in case you wanted to pivot to other daily fantasy NASCAR plays. You could consider moving off Hamlin for Martin Truex Jr. Or maybe moving off the popular option of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for a more contrarian play in Chris Buescher. Or you could open up more salary pivoting to Ryan Preece who has won at Nashville twice in the Truck Series. These six drivers may carry heavier rostership so keep that in mind if you want to find some leverage.
FanDuel
- William Byron – $13,000
- Christopher Bell – $11,500
- Ross Chastain – $10,000
- Kevin Harvick – $8,500
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $6,800
This is a fairly similar build to the DraftKings lineup, but I have faith in these five drivers staying on the lead lap. And with 300 laps on tap, we do want to collect as many of FanDuel’s laps led points. But we have four drivers that can surely finish in the top ten. Even Stenhouse can get a top 15 here based on how well he’s driving this season. This lineup leaves $200 left over which isn’t a lot to make pivots, but you could move some drivers around if you’re concerned Ross Chastain loses PD points and doesn’t lead as many laps as I may think. You could also consider looking for more PD points by pivoting off Byron and upgrading from Stenhouse. Those are viable pivots to consider as well.
White Flag Thoughts Before You Go
I can’t stress enough how difficult this race is to read with the cooler track conditions tomorrow night. I do feel confident a majority of the Fords will struggle. I’m not considering too many for my daily fantasy NASCAR plays aside from Harvick, McDowell, Buescher, Keselowski, and some others. But Cash games and Tournaments are both viable for this race. And if you’ve had more success on the road courses this season then maybe you consider playing lighter ahead of next week’s street course race in Chicago. But this should still be a great race Sunday night despite the difficulty with passing. Best of luck this weekend with your NASCAR DFS contests on DraftKings and FanDuel!