The NASCAR Cup Series heads to New England for some short-track action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This week’s NASCAR DFS USA Today 301 preview will feature more of the usual short track options but we’ll try and highlight a few new names to spice things up as well. After an early race that saw Kyle Larson dominate the first 80 laps, Ryan Blaney got to the front and didn’t give it up last week. Iowa marks Blaney’s first win of the season. Can he go back-to-back on another short, flat track this weekend? Or will we see Joe Gibbs Racing live up to their reputation on this type of track? It seems crazy but there are only eight races remaining in the regular season. The chance to lock yourself into the playoffs is running thin. Here are this week’s top options as part of the USA Today 301 preview.
USA Today 301: The Top Plays
Martin Truex Jr. (#19 Toyota)
Truex was a bit of a disappointment last week. Sure, he started deep in the field and finished 15th, but given how many dominator points were available, it seemed like he could’ve provided more of a ceiling. That can easily change this week. In the NextGen car, no one has been faster based on pure speed at NHMS than Truex. He’s led a total of 426 laps at this track the last two years and won in dominating fashion last time around. He’s led 110+ laps at this track in six of his last 10 races. You hope that he’s still hungry to get to victory lane. With retirement looming in a few months, he has one last shot to win big as a full-time driver.
Christopher Bell (#20 Toyota)
Bell appeared in the top plays section in last week’s NASCAR DFS preview. He didn’t have a bad run by any means. He grabbed a top-five finish and had some dominator points along the way. But similar to Truex, it could’ve been better. Bell has historically crushed it on the short, flat tracks. Bell won this race two years ago and if you go back to his time in the Xfinity Series, he won three of three starts at this track. He never led less than 90 laps in any of those three races either. This just speaks to JGR’s dominance at this type of track. I’m leaving Denny Hamlin out of the USA Today 301 preview. While he still profiles well for this type of track, his teammates have shown more upside.
Kyle Larson (#5 Chevrolet)
Larson makes the top plays section although he isn’t quite the top play as part of the USA Today 301 preview. Larson has finished as the runner-up three times in his career at New Hampshire. Even last year he finished third. Historically, he isn’t a big dominator at this track. But last week he did lead 80 laps at Iowa before some mechanical problems cost him a lot of track position. He’s driven well on a few short, flat tracks this year already. I already mentioned Iowa but he also finished top three at Richmond and Martinsville leading 85+ laps in both races. It does get a bit stale featuring Larson every week, but he has that consistent kind of upside we seek from our top plays every week.
USA Today 301: Wouldn’t Bet Against Them
Chase Elliott (#9 Chevrolet)
Elliott has been solid and consistent at this track. He finished 12th here in 2023 but was the runner-up to Christopher Bell back in 2022. Elliott hasn’t quite had the dominator upside of Truex or Bell, but the speed on the shorter, flat tracks has been real. He finished top-five earlier this year at Martinsville and Richmond. Additionally, he’s coming off back-to-back top-five finishes at Sonoma and Iowa. So it does feel like he’s knocking on the door of his second win this season. You can make the argument he should’ve won at Martinsville earlier this year. But he’s in line for another great performance at a track he’s been able to run up front at.
Brad Keselowski (#6 Ford)
Keselowski broke out of his winless streak earlier in the year at Darlington. Does he have a shot at collecting his second win of the season this weekend? Possibly. The Fords, as a group, have collectively shown more speed of late, even on this type of track. Team Penske recently won at North Wilkesboro (Logano), Gateway (Cindric), and Iowa (Blaney). Even SHR has shown up at times with the right setup on the shorter tracks. Kez has been consistent at New Hampshire. Keselowski does have a pair of wins here. But he’s also finished fifth and seventh in the two NextGen races at this track. He was solid at Phoenix earlier in the year and had a good showing at Gateway. “Solid, but unspectacular” comes to mind with Keselowski this week. But that can still be beneficial when building out our NASCAR DFS lineups.
Bubba Wallace (#23 Toyota)
Bubba has not been running well of late. The speed on the shorter, flat tracks has been well documented, even by me. The pace is certainly there. Unfortunately, Bubba does need to seemingly string together a perfect race to really show out and have a good day. At least Bubba is one of a few drivers who has finished in the top 10 in each of the two NextGen races at this track. I’m guessing the poor results of late have him priced down a bit this week. That’s not terrible for a driver who still has a great ceiling if you’re okay with getting a bit risky with your lineup construction.
The Sleepers and Values
Daniel Suarez (#99 Chevrolet)
I don’t mind Suarez this week for the USA Today 301 preview. However, he is a driver I’ll be monitoring closely in practice. In the two NHMS races in the NextGen car, he’s finished ninth and 16th. Those aren’t great results, but at his price tag, you’ll take it. Trackhouse Racing does tend to randomly show up with speed on these types of tracks. Ross Chastain has wins at Nashville and Phoenix on his resume. And overall, when you’re considering plays in the value tier, Suarez does possess top-10 potential. There’s a little variance, but at the same time, the equipment is better than most in the field. He finished 13th at Phoenix earlier this year and was top 10 last week at Iowa. If he can score another top 10 finish he’s likely paying off the price tag.
Todd Gilliland (#38 Ford)
We previewed Gilliland in last week’s article and he certainly did not disappoint. He was a bit of an off-the-wall DFS play by Sunday because he started P14. But at the end of the day, he grabbed another top-12 finish. In seven of his last eight points-paying races, he’s finished 17th or better. He’s returned 30+ fantasy points in each of those solid finishes on DraftKings. For the record, Gilliland has raced at New Hampshire twice in the Cup Series. Both finishes were outside the top 20. But at a certain point, when evaluating a driver, you have to consider how they’re faring of late. You take that approach, especially with younger drivers. He finished 17th and 13th at Phoenix and Martinsville respectively and had a strong weekend at Iowa last week.
Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek (#43 and #42 Toyota)
It’s definitely a sad state for Legacy Motor Club when their drivers are this cheap on DraftKings. Both Jones and John Hunter Nemechek are priced under $6,000 on DK. That’s unfortunate when you consider the organization went from Chevrolet to Toyota in the offseason. And this team is owned by Richard Petty and Jimmie Johnson. With either driver, you’re pretty much just hoping for a top 20 nowadays. Fortunately, that might be all we need for these two to return value. Jones was top 15 at Richmond and Martinsville earlier in the year. JHN hasn’t been as fortunate with the finishes, but he’s qualified worse than his teammate most weeks so the PD should be there. At the end of the day, we hope this team finds the short, track magic the rest of the Toyota’s usually bring to this track.