NASCAR DFS: Autotrader 400

After a Tyler Reddick win at the Daytona 500 last weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Echopark Speedway for the Autotrader 400 this Sunday. It is the second straight drafting-style race to open the season, but this week is a little bit different and is more of a hybrid superspeedway.

Atlanta converted from an intermediate to a superspeedway back in 2022, and while it does mirror the drafting strategy needed at Daytona and Talladega, there are definitely some differences in the racing. The most noticeable thing is the track surface, which is aging aggressively with each race. That leads to much faster tire wear and raises the importance of car setup and handling. The other difference is that the packs tend to spread out more, and the wrecks are often isolated with much less carnage.

NASCAR DFS: Autotrader 400

Track History

There have now been eight total races on the new Atlanta setup, with some trends starting to develop from a track history standpoint. Three drivers(Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, William Byron) have two wins apiece, but Elliott leads them all with a series-leading 9.1 average finish. Ryan Blaney is probably due for a win at Atlanta as he is second in average finish (10.9) with four Top 5s and six Top 10s. Kyle Busch has been on a good run here with five Top 10’s in his last six races. After starting out with back-to-back 31st-place finishes here in 2022, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has a 9.7 average finish over the last six races here and has placed 6th or better in three of the last four.

Fantasy Angle

From a fantasy angle, we notice even more differences from the Daytona and Talladega races. For those two bigger superspeedway tracks, the strategy is pretty simple with “stack the back” and build around place differential upside. While building around place differential upside is crucial here in Atlanta, the player pool is much wider as dominator points are also a big part of the equation.

In the second 2025 race here, two drivers starting in the Top 10 were in the optimal lineups with Keselowski and Bowman finishing 3rd and 2nd, respectively, thanks to 30+ laps led for each driver. In total, five drivers led more than 30 laps in the race. The first race was a heavy place differential race when looking at optimal lineups, but the two previous races also saw two drivers in the optimal lineup that startedin the  Top 10.

In the end, the final starting lineup will determine the overall strategy, but be prepared to open up that player pool and look at both dominators and place differential.

Top Pre-Qualifying Targets for DraftKings

Ryan Blaney ($10,200)

The top of the salary chart is very interesting this week, with Blaney followed by three drivers who all have multiple wins here at Atlanta. If anyone is due for a win here, it’s Blaney, who leads all drivers in Top 5’s(4) and Top 10’s(6) and is second to Chase Elliott in average finish. He is a driver I would consider when looking at either dominator or place differential this week.

Chase Elliott ($9,900)

While there are three drivers with multiple wins here, it’s Elliott who has been by far the best. He is not only the only driver to finish each race here inside the Top 20, but he leads the series with a 9.1 average finish. In the most recent race, he easily made the optimal lineup, providing us both dominator points (41 LL) and place differential points(+14). He came close to winning the Daytona 500 last week, ending up 4th, and should carry that momentum over to this week.

Daniel Suarez ($7,200) / Carson Hocevar ($7,900)

With Suarez joining Spire Motorsports in 2026, these two are now teammates, and both return to Atlanta with a ton of prior success. Suarez got caught in wrecks in both races last year but has four Top 5s in eight races, including a win in 2024 and two runner-up finishes. Hocevar has also been impressive here, finishing all four races inside the Top 20, including Top 10’s in both races last year. I don’t really have either on my dominator radar, so I will be looking for them to start further back in the field.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,500)

Stenhouse comes in at #2 in my pre-qualifying model on the back of some great track history. He finished Top 10 in both races here last year, has Top 10’s in four of his last five trips to the track ad is 8th in DraftKings point average over the eight races with the new configuration. Qualifying is not his strong suit so I am expecting him to be another high upside place differential play.

A.J. Allmendinger ($5,600)

At just $5,600 on DraftKings, we cannot ignore Allmendinger as a top value play. He has raced here four times on the new configuration and has finished 16th or better in each of those races.