The NASCAR Cup Series goes back to the short-track package this weekend. Iowa Speedway hosts the Cup Series for the first time ever. This is obviously a huge occasion for the track but it’s not without its faults. It’s a slightly older surface and only certain parts of the track were recently repaved. Friday’s practice session didn’t instill a ton of confidence. Tire issues were abundant and some drivers wrecked bad enough where they’ll go to a backup car. But we have a clear path to building out our NASCAR DFS lineups while also getting exposure to some affordable drivers offering position differential. Even if the track will be difficult to gain ground on, it’ll be fun to build lineups with this week’s Iowa Corn 350 picks.
Iowa Corn 350 Picks: The Top 10
- Kyle Larson (#5 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Ryan Blaney (#12 Team Penske)
- Josh Berry (#4 Stewart-Haas Racing)
- William Byron (#24 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Brad Keselowski (#6 RFK Racing)
- Chase Briscoe (#14 Stewart-Haas Racing)
- Kyle Busch (#8 Richard Childress Racing)
- Tyler Reddick (#45 23XI Racing)
- Chase Elliott (#9 Hendrick Motorsports)
- Christopher Bell (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing)
It’ll be awfully hard to avoid Kyle Larson this week. He immediately jumps off the table as a top play. The car looked strong in practice, he landed on the pole, and he ran the tire test at Iowa earlier this year. It wasn’t a great qualifying effort from Toyota. Yes, there are two in the top 10. However, Christopher Bell has to drop to the rear for going to a backup car. I mentioned both Stewart-Haas Racing drivers in the Iowa preview earlier this week. Unfortunately, both Berry and Briscoe qualified very well. So you can only utilize them in large-field tournaments on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Which Value-Priced Iowa Corn 350 Picks Got A Points Movement Bump?
- Alex Bowman (Starting P33)
- Noah Gragson (Starting P23)
- Ryan Preece (Starting P29)
- Erik Jones (Starting P32)
- Austin Dillon (Starting P36)
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Starting P35)
On both DraftKings and FanDuel, these drivers are likely the popular value PD targets. Bowman obviously carries the most rostership of the Iowa Corn 350 picks. He’s easily in the best equipment as the other HMS drivers qualified in the top 10. Both Briscoe and Berry qualified very well. It’s unfortunate that their teammates, Gragson and Preece, qualified poorly. It is worth noting that Ryan Preece does come from a short, flat-track background. But it appears that Berry and Briscoe may have landed the better setups with SHR this week. We shouldn’t overlook drivers like Corey LaJoie, Zane Smith, or Carson Hocevar. They are value options, sure. But they start further up and may carry less ownership with better chances to not get lapped early on.
Which Higher-Priced Drivers Got A Similar Bump?
- Martin Truex Jr. – Starting P31
- Ty Gibbs – Starting P27
- Chris Buescher – Starting P15
- Ross Chastain – Starting P17
Buescher and Chastain may not offer as much position differential as the JGR drivers of MTJ and Ty Gibbs. But they’re still solid plays with top five upside starting between P15 and P20. It was an eventful week in Iowa for Martin Truex Jr. He officially announced that he’ll be retiring following the 2024 season. He did leave the door open for some one-off races in the future. But for Sunday, he’s arguably a cash-game lock alongside Ty Gibbs. Both start deep in the field and you can play both easily in cash games. But we do need those valuable dominator points. You can save a lot of salary by pivoting off Truex and going to Bowman. From there you should allocate funds to your primary or secondary dominator.
Iowa Corn 350 NASCAR DFS Picks
DraftKings
- Kyle Larson ($11,000; Starting P1)
- Denny Hamlin ($10,300; Starting P12)
- Ty Gibbs ($9,700; Starting P27)
- Alex Bowman ($8,000; Starting P33)
- Austin Dillon ($6,200; Starting P36)
- Zane Smith ($5,500; Starting P26)
This is a fairly safe cash game lineup with some tournament upside. It eats plenty of chalk. Larson’s on the pole with a ton of upside and dominator potential. We take the affordable PD with Gibbs and Bowman starting deep in the field. Denny Hamlin even has upside. We’ve noted plenty of times how JGR crushes it on short, flat tracks. But the Toyota’s have been critical of the issue with the track and tire maintenance. But Hamlin can still get up to the front and has potential to win the race. We wrap the build up with Austin Dillon and Zane Smith. Dillon starts dead last. He can’t get you negative points. But he’s disappointed plenty this year. And yet he crushes value with a top 20. Plugging Smith in is just admitting that he’s my favorite play that I could squeeze in.
FanDuel
- Denny Hamlin ($13,500; Starting P12)
- Kyle Larson ($13,000; Starting P1)
- Martin Truex Jr. ($12,000; Starting P31)
- Alex Bowman ($7,200; Starting P33)
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($4,000; Starting P35)
We keep a similar core with these Iowa Corn 350 picks for FanDuel. Dominator points are devalued on FanDuel. However, Larson still carries win equity and can lead plenty of laps. Additionally, Hamlin can move up, lead laps, and potentially win as well. We eat the MTJ and Bowman chalk once again in this build. Bowman is simply too cheap on FanDuel and potentially has a top 10 car. Lastly, we wrap up the lineup with Stenhouse. He’s basically the Austin Dillon of the FanDuel lineup. He starts second-to-last and won at Iowa three times over a decade ago in the Xfinity Series. Alas, he did comment that the track is completely different from back then. But he offers position differential at a very affordable price on FanDuel.
White Flag Thoughts Before You Go
With the tire issues we’ve seen in practice, qualifying, and during Saturday’s Xfinity Series race we do need to be mindful to truly diversify our driver pool. We don’t need balanced structure with our lineups. But we should aim to spread exposure around. Our leverage spots shouldn’t be excessive leverage. If you anticipate a driver you like coming in at 25% ownership, maybe commit to just 30-35% exposure. Don’t go too heavy in case your leverage cuts a tire early on. This is a new layout and weather is a concern this weekend for what could be a frustrating race. Even top Iowa Corn 350 picks like Bowman, MTJ, Ty Gibbs, and Larson are drivers we shouldn’t go too heavy on. Best of luck on taking your lineups to victory lane!