NASCAR DFS: DuraMax Texas Grand Prix @ Circuit of the Americas

This week, the NASCAR Cup Series shifts gears and heads to Circuit of the Americas for the first road course race of the season. This is the first of five road course races in 2026 and the sixth time the Cup series has raced at the 3.41-mile track.

In this article, I will preview some track history, road course history, look at the fantasy angle, and provide a few pre-qualifying targets for DraftKings.

NASCAR DFS: DuraMax Texas Grand Prix

Track & Track Type History

Over the first five years here, COTA has produced five different winners in Christopher Bell, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, and Chase Elliott. Of those drivers, it is Reddick leading all drivers with four Top 5’s and a 4.6 average finish. He is also one of just two drivers to finish all five races inside the Top 10. The other driver to accomplish that is Alex Bowman, who is also second to Reddick with a 5.2 average finish. Byron and Bell have been the hottest drivers at COTA most recently as they have finished 1-2 in back-to-back seasons, each with a win. Kyle Busch has the 6th best average finish(10.8) here and is one of five drivers with three straight Top 10 finishes at the track.

Looking at road course history from 2025, it is clear who the road course king is right now. Despite only finishing 6th here at COTA, Shane Van Gisbergen won each of the other five road course races. Christopher Bell was the only other driver with five Top 5 finishes over the six road course races. Tyler Reddick then joins those two drivers as the only three with five Top 10 finishes in on road courses in 2025.

Fantasy Angle

After no practice last week and somewhat meaningless practice at Daytona, it finally means something and factors into our models this week. There has been one driver to lead 30 or more laps in each of the last four races here, and two drivers with over 20 laps led in two of those. There was no practice last year, but in 2022 and 202,3 the cars that were fastest in practice also led the most laps.

With fewer laps and tougher passing conditions than intermediate, superspeedway, and short tracks, we see much less place differential. With that said, COTA is by far the best track for targeting place differential among all the road course tracks over the last few years. Three of the five races here have seen nine or more drivers gain double-digit place differential. As always, the amount of place differential value will solely rely on practice and qualifying. Stay tuned for that throughout the weekend.

Optimal builds have included a mix of both place differential and drivers starting inside the top 10. Each of the five races here has been somewhat of a stars and scrubs build, with each having two drivers in the $9K+ range.

Top Pre-Qualifying Targets for DraftKings

Shane Van Gisbergen ($13,000)

The road course king has yet to tame COTA (21st, 6th), but I can’t see that lasting much longer, considering he won each of the other five road course races in 2025. He was also the lap leader in all five of those wins and was second with 23 in his 6th-place finish here at COTA.

Tyler Reddick ($9,500)

Reddick is unavoidable right now and might just get higher ownership this week than SVG, and it makes complete sense. He has not only won here and leads all drivers in average finish, but he also comes into the week having won the first two races of the season! To cap it off, he comes in the mid $9K range and 5th in DraftKings pricing this week.

Christopher Bell ($9,800)

Like Reddick, Bell comes in under $10K on DraftKings and checks every box. He won here last year, was runner-up to Reddick in 2024, and finished 3rd in 2022. Bell was also dynamite on road courses a year ago, joining SVG as the only drivers with five Top 5 finishes in the six races, and he also averaged 41.9 DK points per road course race(2nd to SVG).

Alex Bowman ($7,800)

The middle tier of pricing has a lot of value this week, starting with Alex Bowman, who is 13th in DraftKings salary. He not only put together three straight Top 5’s here at COTA between 2022 and 2024, but he is also one of just two drivers to finish Top 10 in all five races at this track. He could end up being an elite PTS/$ upside play this week.

Todd Gilliland ($6,100)

If loading up with two top-tier drivers this week, we will need multiple value plays, and no one stands out more in the punt zone than Gilliland. While he had just one Top 10 on road courses in 2025, it came here at COTA, where he is now one of just 12 drivers with multiple Top 10’s here, and he is also 13th among all drivers with a 15.8 average finish at the track.

Thanks for checking out my DFS NASCAR preview, and as always, be sure to finalize your lineups after practice and qualifying.