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Zane Smith Probably Starting Too Well for DFS Play
Even though Zane Smith might be the most improved driver of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, you probably don't want to start him at Daytona despite the fact that he did fight for the win in the last drafting track race at Atlanta. The problem is that the cancellation of qualifying resulted in a 13th-place starting position since his 11th-place finish at Richmond allowed him to score highly in the metric. Smith did finish 13th in his first three Cup Series races at Daytona, but he crashed out of the Daytona 500. For all Smith's improvement this year, he does tend to finish worse than 13th and his strong starting position means he has a lot to lose. Although he is probably likelier to win than his teammates Noah Gragson and Todd Gilliland, they are better options precisely because they are starting worse.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference
