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Let's get ready for some more NASCAR action! These daily fantasy NASCAR rankings for Sunday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 253 were determined by a combination of DraftKings and FanDuel prices, and the projected DFS points each driver is expected to earn in this week’s race.
Each week, we'll present you the weekly rankings, followed by some key analysis of those rankings.
Be sure to also check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles and analysis to help you set your optimal DFS lineups.
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Fantasy NASCAR Driver Rankings
| Driver Name | DraftKings Rank | FanDuel Rank |
| Ryan Blaney | 1 | 1 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | 2 | 2 |
| Chase Elliott | 3 | 3 |
| A.J. Allmendinger | 4 | 5 |
| Kyle Busch | 5 | 4 |
| Alex Bowman | 6 | 10 |
| Joey Logano | 7 | 6 |
| Denny Hamlin | 8 | 7 |
| Brad Keselowski | 9 | 8 |
| Kevin Harvick | 10 | 9 |
| William Byron | 11 | 11 |
| Matt DiBendetto | 12 | 12 |
| Chase Briscoe | 13 | 14 |
| Kurt Busch | 14 | 13 |
| Erik Jones | 15 | 15 |
| Kyle Larson | 16 | 16 |
| Chris Buescher | 17 | 23 |
| Aric Almirola | 18 | 17 |
| Christopher Bell | 19 | 19 |
| Tyler Reddick | 20 | 18 |
| Ryan Newman | 21 | 24 |
| Cole Custer | 22 | 20 |
| Michael McDowell | 23 | 22 |
| Daniel Suarez | 24 | 26 |
| Bubba Wallace | 25 | 21 |
| Ross Chastain | 26 | 25 |
| Ty Dillon | 27 | 27 |
| Anthony Alfredo | 28 | 28 |
| Austin Dillon | 29 | 30 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 30 | 29 |
| Justin Haley | 31 | 32 |
| Ryan Preece | 32 | 31 |
| Corey LaJoie | 33 | 33 |
| James Davison | 34 | 35 |
| Timmy Hill | 35 | 34 |
| Scott Heckert | 36 | 36 |
| Quin Houff | 37 | 37 |
| Josh Bilicki | 38 | 39 |
| Cody Ware | 39 | 38 |
| Garrett Smithley | 40 | 40 |
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NASCAR Rankings Analysis
Chase Elliott is the clear favorite to win this race. He starts on the pole. He's won four road course races in a row. But because Ryan Blaney starts 27th and Martin Truex Jr. starts 19th, I just can't rank Elliott above them. That place differential upside is huge, and a reason why I think that they've got a higher floor and a better mid-range projection than Elliott, even if Elliott offers the highest ceiling among the three.
I was conflicted about A.J. Allmendinger. A road-racing expert who starts 34th? There's a clear path here to Allmendinger being the top driver in this race, but the fact that this is the first-ever Cup race for Kaulig Racing at a non-superspeedway gives me pause. Are we sure this car will have competitive speed?
Alex Bowman is one of my favorite plays. A 36th-place starting spot will offer a ton of place differential upside, and while he's not necessarily a threat to win at a road course, he's a threat to get into the top 10.
Overall, the fact that this lineup is set by a formula that's heavily influenced by the Daytona results means that there's definitely more upside from our high-end drivers than usual. That makes me slightly lower on guys like Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick than I would be most weeks, just because they're on the wrong side of the PD divide, and as we saw in the Truck race on Friday, things can get messy.
That potential for messiness is why I love Erik Jones this week, who starts 37th. Keep the car clean and you're going to end up with a great fantasy day. He was 11th here last year and has an average finish of 14.3 on road courses.
Michael McDowell is a decent road racer, but starting second makes him almost a full fade. Austin Dillon starting third is really far down my rankings and could have gone down farther, but I do like that he won't be starting mid-pack at a track where a first lap mid-pack crash seems likely.
As for the deep, deep guys, I wouldn't say avoid them all, but you need some chaos for any of the guys ranked from Corey LaJoie down to give you anything. LaJoie would be a good play if he started at the back, but he rolls off seventh. Just like with Ryan Preece who starts sixth, there's probably a better chance that these guys score in the negatives than that they're part of a winning lineup.
Giving James Davison or Timmy Hill a shot as they start 39th and 40th isn't terrible, but again, you'd be betting on chaos.
I wish Cody Ware started 35th or worse. He's a good road racer who I think can get a top 30 finish, but when he starts 21st, there's just too much downside.
NASCAR DFS News and Driver Outlooks
More Fantasy NASCAR Analysis
The Keys to Weekly NASCAR Success
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