NASCAR DFS: Straight Talk Wireless 500 @ Phoenix Raceway

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the desert this weekend for the Straight Talk Wireless 500 at Phoenix Raceway, marking the fourth different track type in as many races to start the season. The one-mile, flat oval places a premium on precision, tire management, and track position, creating a very different DFS puzzle than we’ve seen in the past few weeks.

It’s been a historic start for the No. 45 team, as Tyler Reddick became the first driver ever to open a season with three straight wins and remains the only driver with multiple top-five finishes. In this article, we’ll break down Phoenix trends, track history, and the key DFS angles to shape our player pools for Sunday.

NASCAR DFS: Straight Talk Wireless 500

Fantasy Preview

With 312 laps at Phoenix, we shift our focus to a heavy dominator strategy. Since 2022, when the NextGen car was unveiled, we have seen at least one driver lead 100 or more laps in seven of the eight races. Three times there have been multiple drivers who led 100 or more laps, and twice we have seen a driver lead 200 or more laps. The spring race in 2024 was the only race where no driver led 100, but we did see five drivers lead 50 or more.

When looking at place differential, it is much harder to come by in Phoenix. In the eight races here in the NextGen era, there has only been one race where more than seven drivers have picked up double-digit PD points.

Overall, we are looking at building lineups around drivers with good starting positions who show dominator upside in practice. We will also look at some place differential, which always seems to show up after qualifying. Stay tuned.

Track & Track Type History

Christopher Bell has won the last two spring races and is one of two drivers with multiple wins here at Phoenix in the NextGen era. Joey Logano joins him with two wins, both earning him championships in 2024 and 2022. Logano also leads all drivers with 379 laps led here. Despite no wins on the short flat tracks in 2025, Logano was very consistent with five Top 5s and eight Top 10 finishes.

No driver has been better than Ryan Blaney at Phoenix Raceway in the NextGen era. He is coming off a season-ending win here in 2025 and has finished Top 5 in seven of the eight races for a 5.8 average finish. He also dominated the short flat tracks in 2025, tallying three wins(Phoenix, New Hampshire, Nashville), seven Top 5’s, and was one of three drivers with 500+ laps led over the nine races.

Leading the next tier is Kyle Larson with a 9.3 average finish over those eight races, and he comes in with Top 5 finishes in five of his last six races here at Phoenix. He ranked 3rd behind Logano and Blaney on the short flats in 2025 with a 8.6 average finish. Denny Hamlin is one of five drivers with a top 10 in both Phoenix races in 2025. He also had two wins on short flats while leading the series in laps led on the track type comps.

Top Pre-Qualifying Targets for DraftKings

Ryan Blaney ($11,200)

Huge change in pricing this week, with six drivers over $10K, and previous optimal lineups show us we are likely going to need two of them. I will lead with Blaney, who is in a tier of his own here at Phoenix in the NextGen era. He won the most recent race here and has an insane 5.8 average finish here over those eight races. On top of that, he also dominated the short flat tracks with three wins, seven Top 5’s, and an average of 76.4 DK points per race.

Kyle Larson ($10,500)

Larson is 4th in pricing this week but #2 in my pre-qualifying model. He returns to Phoenix with Top 5’s in five of his last six races here and is second to only Blaney in Top 5 and Top 10 finishes in the NextGen era. He didn’t win a short/flat track race in 2025 but was very consistent with an 8.6 average finish(3rd overall). It was also nice seeing him get back on track last week with a 6th-place finish at COTA.

Christopher Bell ($10,200)

Hard to ignore Bell, who has won the last two spring races at Phoenix and leads all drivers with a 8.6 average finish in the spring races(NextGen era). He also rebounded last week, picking up a 3rd place place finish at COTA.

Joey Logano ($9,200)

With his two championship wins in 2022 and 2024, Logano has a much better average finish in the fall, but is always an option on short/flat tracks. He didn’t win on the track type in 2025 but led the series with eight Top 10 finishes and was second to only his teammate Blaney in average finish(6.6). At a sub $10K price tag, Logano is one of my top PTS/$ upside plays at this point of the week.

Kyle Busch ($8,000)

Busch has been hit or miss here at Phoenix since jumping into the #8 Richard Childress car. He has three finishes outside of 20th but also has three Top 10s, including both races here in 2025. He is more of a risk/reward GPP play for me this week unless he qualifies further back in the field, giving him place differential upside.

Bubba Wallace ($7,200)

Coming off terrible results here last year(37th, 29th), Bubba does appear to be somewhat risky this week. Before those results, he had four straight finishes of 16th or better at Phoenix, including two Top 10 finishes. He was also fairly consistent on the short/flat tracks in 2025 with four Top 10’s while tallying the 5th most laps led. All the talk early in 2026 has been with his teammate, Tyler Reddick, winning three straight, but Bubba has been solid with three straight finishes of 11th or better.

Alex Bowman ($6,800)

There is a lot that lines up for Bowman to become a top value play this week. First of all, he is at his lowest price here at Phoenix in the eight NextGen races. During that stretch, he has provided consistency as one of just eight drivers with seven Top 20 finishes during that stretch, with three straight Top 15 finishes. We will be looking for him to qualify outside of 15th to lock him in as a value, something he has done in six of the last seven trips to Phoenix.