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Justin Carter's NASCAR Cup Series DFS lineup picks for DraftKings, FanDuel for the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington. Read our fantasy NASCAR picks.
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs get going on Sunday evening at Darlington Raceway with the Southern 500, a Labor Day tradition. 16 drivers are alive in the race to win a title but don't count out the non-playoff drivers. Last year, all three races in the Round of 16 were won by non-playoff drivers, with Erik Jones winning this race.
Last week at Daytona, Chris Buescher won, marking his third victory of the season. His win allowed Bubba Wallace to get into the playoffs on points thanks to his 12th-place finish.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Cook Out Southern 500 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 9/3/23 at 6:17 PM ET. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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Martin Truex Jr.
Starts 31st - DK: $10,800, FD: $14,000
Huge place differential upset from Martin Truex Jr. after he got loose in qualifying, leading to him starting just 31st on Sunday.
Truex is a two-time winner at Darlington, with his most recent victory coming in the 2021 spring race when he led 248 laps. That was the second race in a row that he led triple-digit laps here after leading 196 of them in the 2020 Labor Day race.
Since then, he has had three DNFs here, but he's been competitive in all those races. In the spring, he crashed out on lap 280, but not before he led 145 laps. 137 of those came at the beginning of the race -- after Bubba Wallace led the first lap, Truex got back around him and ran away with things for a while.
Christopher Bell
Starts 1st - DK: $9,400, FD: $11,500
Track position is going to be the king this weekend, so why not play the driver who starts off with the best track position, Christopher Bell?
As I mentioned above, Truex turned a front-row start into leading 137 of the first 138 laps here earlier this season. Joey Logano led 64 of the first 65 laps in this race last season. Having that clean air early gives Bell a chance to lead a huge chunk of laps early on. I'm sure things will get a little mixed up once different pit strategies emerge. But if Bell can dominate early and stay in the top five most of the day, it'll be a good result.
Also, Bell gets a pit crew upgrade this weekend, as he's swapped crews with Ty Gibbs. That should help cut down on any mistakes on pit road, keeping the 20 car near the front of the field.
Chase Elliott
Starts 13th - DK: $8,400, FD: $9,500
Chase Elliott is in the midst of his first winless season since 2017. He's missed the playoffs for the first time ever. He just hasn't been himself since his injury, and the 9 car hasn't had the speed it usually has.
He's also never won at Darlington, and he hasn't led a lap here in the last five races. But he was third when the Cup Series was here earlier this season and fifth in the spring race last year. And without the pressure of the playoffs, maybe this is when Elliott puts everything together. Remember, non-playoff drivers swept this round in 2022.
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Bubba Wallace
Starts 19th - DK: $8,200, FD: $8,000
There are a lot of people who think Bubba Wallace will be an easy first-round out in the playoffs. He was the last driver in, so it makes sense he'd be in the first four eliminated, right?
But in the words of Lee Corso (and to honor the return of college football), "not so fast, my friend." Because this round is full of tracks that play to Wallace's strengths, starting today at Darlington.
Wallace has finished in the top 10 in his last two starts here, finishing ninth in this race last season and then fifth in the spring race. He's led a total of seven laps between those two events. This should be a really strong race for Wallace, who offers a place differential upside from the 19th position.
Alex Bowman
Starts 24th - DK: $7,600, FD: $7,500
Alex Bowman, like Elliott, missed races due to injury and missed the playoffs this season. And he wasn't as close as Elliott was to winning his way into them. The 48 has been the weak spot at Hendrick Motorsports this season.
But Bowman's still a solid driver, and he has a solid place differential upside on Sunday as he fires off from 24th, nine spots below his average finish this season.
Bowman was 10th in this race last season. His best finish at Darlington came in 2020 when he led 41 laps and finished second in the Real Heroes 400.
Harrison Burton
Starts 32nd - DK: $5,400, FD: 3,000
It's hard to slice this any other way -- Harrison Burton's time in the 21 car hasn't gone well. His average finish this year has gone down from his rookie season, dropping to 23.8.
But there might be something about Darlington. In three career starts here, Burton's average finish is 13.7, with a best finish of sixth earlier in the spring and a worst finish of 21st in this race last year. I'm not sure what it is, but Burton has a little something extra at this track. That also includes four finishes of 11th or better in four Xfinity Series starts here, including a runner-up result in 2021.
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