As the number of races ticks down with each passing week, we get closer to the Cup Series Championship. For Sunday, it’s the second race of the round of eight. NASCAR heads to South Florida as we look to lock another driver into the championship race at Phoenix. Joey Logano locked himself in via the win at Vegas last week. Who gets it done this week? Earlier this week, we previewed a handful of drivers ahead of Sunday’s race. But Homestead can be a bit unpredictable. On Saturday, Grant Enfinger won the Truck Series race. Not that it mattered much because he was already locked into the Truck Series Championship at Phoenix. For the Xfinity Series, Austin Hill got the win at Homestead. And he’s normally a driver good at just drafting tracks. Let’s see what surprises are in store for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 picks!
Straight Talk Wireless 400 Picks: The Top 10
- Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
- Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Christopher Bell (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (#47 JTG Daugherty Racing)
- Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Bubba Wallace (#23 23XI Racing)
- Daniel Hemric (#31 Kaulig Racing)
- Justin Haley (#7 Spire Motorsports)
Based on how qualifying played out, we have plenty of win equity starting in the top eight. In fact, five drivers from the Straight Talk Wireless 400 Preview are starting in the top eight. With 267 laps on tap for this race, and the high tire wear, track position is everything. But be mindful, laps led won’t correlate to fastest laps on DraftKings. Fresh tires reign supreme. The drivers that get off the pit cycle will get the fastest laps. There are two clear favorites for this race: Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson. And both drivers start on the front row. Most NASCAR DFS lineups will play at least one of them. There’s a lot on the line and among the Straight Talk Wireless 400 picks, this track is tailor made for these two. They manage tires well and can run the higher line along the wall.
Which Value-Priced Straight Talk Wireless 400 Picks Got A Points Movement Bump?
DraftKings
- Chris Buescher – $7,700; Starting P21
- J. Allmendinger – $7,300; Starting P32
- Daniel Suarez – $7,200; Starting P23
- Austin Cindric – $7,000; Starting P36
- Austin Dillon – $6,700; Starting P30
- Erik Jones – $6,600; Starting P28
- Ryan Preece – $5,900; Starting P35
FanDuel
- Chris Buescher – $7,500; Starting P21
- J. Allmendinger – $7,200; Starting P32
- Daniel Suarez – $7,000; Starting P23
- Austin Cindric – $6,500; Starting P36
- Austin Dillon – $6,000; Starting P30
- Erik Jones – $5,800; Starting P28
- Ryan Preece – $5,000; Starting P35
We highlight just seven drivers for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 picks. There are actually a good amount of drivers across all the pricing spectrums offering position differential for this race. Similar to last week, Chris Buescher starts outside the top 20 and has potential to finish top 10 for this race. Buescher hasn’t been qualifying well, but he’s gained 10+ spots of position differential in three of his last four races. Austin Cindric may be a popular play because of the starting spot. However, in three of his last four races, he’s finished outside the top 30. He’s pretty much the opposite of Chris Buescher. If looking for a pivot off Cindric, consider Ryan Preece who can pay off his price tag with a top 25 finish and he cracked this week’s preview article for Homestead.
Which Higher-Priced Drivers Got A Similar Bump?
- William Byron – Starting P25
- Ryan Blaney – Starting P20
- Joey Logano – Starting P26
- Ross Chastain – Starting P22
It’s actually fascinating that both William Byron and Ryan Blaney qualified so poorly. However, their cars seem to be set up better for the long run. Bob Pockrass tweeted on Saturday that both drivers were top 10 in 10-lap average, and top five in 25-lap average. So if paying up for position differential, those two make the most sense. I don’t think Joey Logano is a “must” play by any means. He won last week at Vegas and is already locked in for Phoenix. However, the same is true for Grant Enfinger who was already locked in for the Truck Series race and he also won at Homestead today. But for the most part, Logano is focused on Phoenix. The top two plays in this section are easily Byron and Blaney. Byron previously has a win here which gives him a little extra juice.
Straight Talk Wireless 400 Picks
DraftKings
- Tyler Reddick – $10,500; Starting P1
- William Byron – $10,300; Starting P25
- Chris Buescher – $7,700; Starting P21
- Noah Gragson – $7,400; Starting P16
- J. Allmendinger – $7,300; Starting P32
- Austin Dillon – $6,700; Starting P30
I enjoy how this lineup came together although it’s risky not targeting multiple dominators in the top eight. However, fastest laps will be spread evenly among the field. I mostly wanted drivers with good track history and good practice speeds. We start with Reddick, who is on the pole. The practice speeds look solid and the long run fall off isn’t terrible. Byron is a spend-up, but a safe one. He offers position differential and some dominator potential based on his excellent long run speed. Allmendinger and Dillon are cheap PD plays based on track history. Dinger has a pair of top fives at Homestead the last two years while Dillon has regularly finished top 12 here. I don’t think he does that this year, but he has a good floor because of the starting spot.
FanDuel
- Kyle Larson – $14,000; Starting P2
- William Byron – $13,000; Starting P25
- Brad Keselowski – $9,000; Starting P18
- Chris Buescher – $7,500; Starting P21
- Noah Gragson – $6,200; Starting P16
We take a very similar approach to the DraftKings lineup but with two pivots. Byron, Buescher, and Gragson transfer over to this build for our Straight Talk Wireless 400 picks. Moreover, we pivot off Tyler Reddick and go with Kyle Larson to spread exposure a bit. If you want to go with Reddick, you definitely can. And with the extra salary you can upgrade off Keselowski for Ross Chastain. Either way, I’m content with the build. It offers position differential, but all five drivers are capable of finishing in the top 10. And we have the obvious win equity with Byron and Larson as top-tier playoff drivers.
White Flag Thoughts Before You Go
With this being the last intermediate track, and one with high tire wear, it is important to note that the dominator points are still worth targeting. However, given the nature of this track, we do need some luck. If there are numerous cautions, that will negatively impact our “long run” drivers. That includes Byron and Blaney. But we also need some good fortune in having drivers in our builds who can get the fastest laps. Some drivers will definitely struggle in this race. But between this week’s preview and the Straight Talk Wireless 400 picks, we can feel confident submitting our lineups with Martinsville coming up next week!