NASCAR DFS: AutoTrader Echopark Automotive 400 Picks

The NASCAR Cup Series goes green on Sunday from Texas Motor Speedway. They say “Everything is bigger in Texas” and that was certainly true on Saturday. The NASCAR Xfinity Series put on a pretty decent show with one of the closest finishes you’ll ever see. On Sunday it’ll be the Cup Series’ turn to try and top that. We did have practice and qualifying on Saturday morning. I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised that Kyle Larson won the pole. It’s an intermediate and Larson has historically dominated at these tracks. And with Kyle Busch going to a backup car for Sunday’s race, we have a fairly clear idea of how to start our cash lineup construction. So let’s take a look at the top AutoTrader Echopark Automotive 400 picks on DraftKings and FanDuel.

AutoTrader Echopark Automotive 400 Picks: The Top 10

1. Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Motorsports)
2. Ty Gibbs (#54 Joe Gibbs Racing)
3. Christopher Bell (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing)
4. Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
5. Chase Briscoe (#14 Stewart-Haas Racing)
6. William Byron (#24 Hendrick Motorsports)
7. Ryan Blaney (#12 Team Penske)
8. Austin Cindric (#2 Team Penske)
9. Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Joe Gibbs Racing)
10. Bubba Wallace (#23 23XI Racing)

You can feel pretty good about getting some win equity in your lineup from the top 10. Kyle Larson starts on the pole. He has a clear and easy path to early dominator points. Cash lineups should start with him and one other driver we’ll get to shortly. But there are 267 laps for Sunday’s race. In the NextGen era, we haven’t seen too many solo dominators on intermediate tracks. A popular GPP core will be Kyle Larson and Tyler Reddick. Larson can get the early lead and get his dominator points that way. However, Reddick was posting great long-run speed and should be considered as a secondary dominator. We can’t just marry ourselves to those two drivers, however. Ty Gibbs, Christopher Bell, and William Byron all have a shot to run up front as well. Mix and match. Diversify your dominators for this race.

Which Value-Priced AutoTrader Echopark Automotive 400 Picks Got A Points Movement Bump?

DraftKings

• Erik Jones – $7,000; Starting P27
• Jimmie Johnson – $6,700; Starting P37
• John Hunter Nemechek – $6,500; Starting P30
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $6,100; Starting P31
• Justin Haley – $5,300; Starting P32 (Punt Play)

FanDuel

• Joey Logano – $8,500; Starting P20
• Kyle Busch – $8,200; Starting P35
• Brad Keselowski – $7,800; Starting P22
• Erik Jones – $7,000; Starting P27
• John Hunter Nemechek – $6,200; Starting P30
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $4,000; Starting P31

The value options obviously look better on FanDuel. But that’s just how the pricing differs between the two sites. The average price for a driver is ~$8,300 on DraftKings. But on FanDuel it’s $10,000 based on the respective budgets for both sites. It’s obviously easier to build lineups on FanDuel. DraftKings will provide some difficulty with the value plays. Erik Jones will be popular. He’s very affordable and offers position differential. He wrecked in this race last September but was sixth in 2022. We also have some DFS players who may flock to Jimmie Johnson. Johnson took on some damage in practice and qualifying and will start deep in the field. But on this part-time schedule with Legacy Motor Club, he hasn’t looked great so we may opt to look elsewhere.

Which Higher-Priced Drivers Got A Similar Bump?

• Chase Elliott – Starting P24
• Kyle Busch – Starting P35 (DraftKings)
• Joey Logano – Starting P20 (DraftKings)
• Brad Keselowski – Starting P22 (DraftKings)
• Chris Buescher – Starting P19 (DraftKings)

Most of these drivers are priced up on DraftKings. As we’ve discussed, they’re relatively discounted on FanDuel. It might actually be difficult to play some of these drivers on DraftKings. If paying for two drivers in the $10,000+ range, you may have to skip over Elliott and Busch. And rightfully so because we should prioritize dominator points. Brad Keselowski jumps off the page as one of the best PD plays. The price tag is reasonable and he has top 10 equity at Texas. Joey Logano could also pay off his price with a top 10 but you get more savings with Keselowski. As far as Kyle Busch goes, you lock him into cash game lineups with Kyle Larson and probably two other drivers like Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

AutoTrader Echopark Automotive 400 Picks

DraftKings

• Kyle Larson – $11,000; Starting P1
• Tyler Reddick – $10,000; Starting P4
• Brad Keselowski – $8,200; Starting P22
• Noah Gragson – $7,500; Starting P21
• Daniel Suarez – $7,200; Starting P17
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $6,100; Starting P31

We have some familiar names from this week’s NASCAR DFS Preview article. Larson is an easy lock button in all formats this week. But we also pull Reddick, Keselowski, and Suarez from the preview article. Suarez may even come as a leverage play given how much more popular Erik Jones may be in this mid-range. But we also get exposure to Noah Gragson, who we were high on heading into Vegas, where he finished sixth and he finished 21^st here two years ago with Kaulig Racing. We get two dominators into our lineup with Larson and Reddick. We also get off some of the chalk while still getting exposure to some upside plays. Overall, I’m comfortable submitting this into single-and-multi-entry tournament contests on DraftKings.

FanDuel

• Kyle Larson – $14,000; Starting P1
• Tyler Reddick – $13,500; Starting P4
• Kyle Busch – $8,200; Starting P35
• Daniel Suarez – $7,200; Starting P17
• Erik Jones – $7,000; Starting P27

We maintain some similarities with the DraftKings lineup. We keep the same dominator core with Larson and Reddick. Admittedly, the laps led matter less on FanDuel, but I like the win equity and potential for these drivers to finish first and second. Yes, we eat the chalk with Busch and Jones. We’re taking the easy position differential and hoping both can finish in the top 15. In the case of Busch, we hope he can get to the top 12 along with Suarez at less exposure. Again, we’re building a tournament lineup, but I do feel better about this one in cash games than the DraftKings lineup.

White Flag Thoughts Before You Go

This is a bit of an odd stretch for NASCAR. We’re coming off a pair of underwhelming short-track races with Richmond and Martinsville. Now we have the worst track on the schedule and Talladega looming next week. Dega is great for betting, but a bit rough around the edges for DFS. But at the end of the day, we do have a fairly predictable race on a track like Texas Motor Speedway. Even if the racing is a bit of a bore, we do have some money to be made. We can only hope there’s similar excitement to the previous two races from this weekend. Best of luck this weekend! I hope to see some of you all profit in a big way on Sunday!