NASCAR heads to the homeland in Charlotte, North Carolina for the Bank of America ROVAL 400. A correction to an error from this week’s NASCAR DFS Preview article is necessary. I was under the impression this would be the last race on the ROVAL. However, NASCAR dropped its 2024 schedule earlier this week and sure enough, the ROVAL is still on the docket. In a surprising move, NASCAR will start the 2024 season with back-to-back drafting races. And in the playoffs, there will be two drafting races and two road races. It’s a decision that has drawn criticism from some drivers already. But we’re focused on Sunday for now. This is a cutoff race to trim the playoff field to eight. Here are the Bank of America 400 picks for Sunday’s race from Charlotte!
Bank of America 400 Picks: The Top 10
- Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
- Christopher Bell (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Daniel Suarez (#99 Trackhouse Racing)
- Bubba Wallace (#23 23XI Racing)
- Kyle Busch (#8 Richard Childress Racing)
- AJ Allmendinger (#16 Kaulig Racing)
- Joey Logano (#22 Team Penske)
- Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing)
- Ty Gibbs (#54 Joe Gibbs Racing)
Five Toyotas round out the top 10 and just outside that picture is Martin Truex Jr. starting P11. There are plenty of noted road ringers in this group. Tyler Reddick won the pole and has been outstanding on road courses in the NextGen car. Christopher Bell won this race last year. Daniel Suarez won Sonoma last year. AJ Allmendinger has won at this track four times in the Xfinity Series. Chase Elliott has numerous road course wins. This is a very strong top 10, but we need to be mindful that dominator points only matter if the drivers that’s collecting them finishes the race well. Tyler Reddick is a driver that needs points and he has an easy track starting up front. But he also has a ton of win equity. Let’s keep digging as to how to round out the rest of your NASCAR DFS lineups.
Which Value-Priced Bank of America 400 Picks Got A Points Movement Bump?
DraftKings:
- Kevin Harvick – $7,800; Starting P22
- Austin Cindric – $7,500; Starting P29
- Chase Briscoe – $7,400; Starting P30
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $6,800; Starting P27
- Zane Smith – $6,200; Starting P34
- Corey LaJoie – $5,800; Starting P24
FanDuel:
- Chris Buescher – $9,000; Starting P20
- Kevin Harvick – $7,000; Starting P22
- Austin Cindric – $6,800; Starting P29
- Chase Briscoe – $6,500; Starting P30
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $4,500; Starting P27
These are the drivers starting deeper in the field offering a little bang for your buck. Outside of perhaps Kevin Harvick and Chris Buescher, there isn’t a ton of top-10 equity. However, there’s an argument to be made that each driver above can move up 10 spots and gain positive points that way. This isn’t the same strategy as last week. For Talladega, it’s advised in Cash games to “stack the back.” We can’t follow the same strategy as this race won’t see as much variance as a superspeedway. Consider these salary savers, but don’t exclusively build around them and leave salary on the table.
Which Higher-Priced Drivers Got A Similar Bump?
- Kyle Larson – Starting P36
- William Byron – Starting P14
- Chris Buescher – Starting P20 (DraftKings)
- Ryan Blaney – Starting P17
Kyle Larson is the only pure “lock” in this range. He put his car in the wall during practice and will go to a backup car on Sunday. In doing so he’ll serve a “to the rear” penalty so that means he offers plenty of position differential. He’s a driver that absolutely needs a good result and while he likely won’t get stage points in stage one, he’ll likely move up throughout the day. William Byron offers a little position differential. However, he’s locked into the next round and may not have as much upside Sunday. Chris Buescher is a very good road racer and is worth rostering on both sites. Ryan Blaney has won here in the past, but similar to Byron, he’s locked into the next round. Again, Kyle Larson is the only slam dunk in this group.
Bank of America 400 Picks
DraftKings
- Kyle Larson – $10,300; Starting P36
- Tyler Reddick – $10,000; Starting P1
- Chris Buescher – $8,800; Starting P20
- Ty Gibbs – $8,000; Starting P10
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – $6,500; Starting P27
- Austin Dillon – $6,400; Starting P15
This is not a Cash game lineup. Let’s get that out of the way. Three drivers starting in the top 15 on a road course? That’s a GPP build. We take the easy position differential with Kyle Larson. He has a path to 60+ fantasy points as long as he doesn’t wreck. We also have win equity with Tyler Reddick starting on the pole. Chris Buescher should easily move up and Stenhouse is just a guy I want a top 20 out of. When we get to Gibbs and Dillon, it’s more of a gut call. I included both Gibbs and Dillon in the preview article earlier this week. I’m more confident in Gibbs maintaining a top 10, possibly a top five finish. Dillon is more of a wild card but if he scores a top 10, he could be in the optimal lineup.
FanDuel
- Kyle Larson – $12,500; Starting P36
- Martin Truex Jr – $11,000; Starting P11
- Christopher Bell – $9,500; Starting P2
- Chris Buescher – $9,000; Starting P20
- Ty Gibbs – $8,000; Starting P10
This lineup is somewhat similar to the DraftKings lineup. It takes the easy chalk with Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher. And we take the contrarian route with Ty Gibbs hoping for another top 10 finish on a road course. Additionally, we target Christopher Bell and Martin Truex Jr. Bell won this race a year ago and MTJ has plenty of success on road courses. On FanDuel, we only have 10.7 points to consider for laps led. Realistically, we need to try and nail a lineup with five drivers finishing in the top 10 while also having the winner. With this lineup we have five drivers capable of a top 10 and we have win equity across the board. And if you don’t like the construction, there are numerous ways to pivot.
White Flag Thoughts Before You Go
As was just mentioned, 107 laps are a lot for a road course. However, it still isn’t a lot in comparison to other tracks we’re about to have on the schedule. With that said, dominator points are de-valued. They only matter if the driver who collects them still finishes well. Track position is vital at road courses because long, green flag runs spread the field out. It’ll become more difficult to move up and pass other drivers. But with stage breaks re-introduced for this playoff race, there’s hope for drivers starting deeper in the field that they have a better shot to move up. Best of luck constructing your lineups for the Bank of America 400!