RADIO
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Atlanta on Sunday for the Ambetter Health 400. This is part of a tripleheader weekend for NASCAR and if this one is anything like Saturday's Truck and Xfinity races, then expect some chaos. That's because both the Truck and Xfinity races on Saturday set track records for cautions. Just accident after accident, setting up some weird finishing orders, like Bayley Currey finishing fourth in the Truck Series race.
Through the first four races of the season, three drivers have found victory lane, including William Byron twice. Alex Bowman currently leads the points standings, with Kevin Harvick in second, three points back.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Atlanta Ambetter Health 400 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 3/19/23 at 3:14 p.m. ET. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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DFS Lineup Picks - DraftKings, FanDuel
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William Byron
Starts 11th - DK: $10,900, FD: $14,000
William Byron comes into this race on a hot streak, winning the last two Cup Series races this season, moving him up to fourth in the point standings. Now, he comes to Atlanta, where he led 111 laps and won in the spring last year, and then led 41 laps before crashing out in the return here.
Since the repave, Bryon's essentially been the best driver here, even if he only finished 30th last time we were here. The potential for crashes makes it risky to play too many drivers starting in the first 15 or so spots, but if you are going to grab someone in that range, Byron's by far my favorite option.
Ross Chastain
Starts 18th - DK: $10,000, FD: $12,000
I said above that Byron's been the best driver here since the repave, but you could also make an argument that Chastain holds that title, as he finished second in both races last year, leading a combined 74 laps between the two races. Coming from the 18th starting spot, there's also some good place differential appeal here.
(As an aside, Chastain's currently embroiled in some issues with Denny Hamlin, who purposefully wrecked Chastain at the end of last week's race. I wouldn't be worried about that spilling over to Atlanta—Hamlin and Chastain are both smart enough to not seek revenge at a track that races like this.)
Martin Truex Jr.
Starts 29th - DK: $8,900, FD: $9,500
Now we start to get to the guys who I'm playing almost entirely for the place differential. We have to treat this track the same way we treat Daytona/Talladega, except with a little more focus on laps led since it's tougher to pass here, meaning a few guys will likely lead most of the laps.
Anyway, I have Truex down as a solid play because of his 29th-place starting spot. I know he has a pretty terrible reputation at superspeedways, but he ran well at this track last year, finishing eighth and 11th, and leading 27 laps in the fall race. Luck will matter, but Truex can gain 20-plus spots on Sunday.
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Daniel Suarez
Starts 25th - DK: $7,800, FD: $6,800
Suarez ran really well here in 2022, leading 13 laps and finishing fourth in the spring race, then coming back in the fall and finishing sixth. Two good races for Suarez.
He's also been running well this season in general. He opened the year with a seventh-place finish in the Daytona 500, then followed that up with two more top 10s. With teammate Ross Chastain to draft with, Suarez will have a great shot at his fourth top 10 of the season.
Corey Lajoie
Starts 31st - DK: $6,000, FD: $5,000
Lajoie's going to be really chalky, but he's basically a must-play in cash games. Last season, he finished fifth in the first race here, then in the return to Atlanta, he made some daring strategy calls to get up front for a bit, leading 19 laps before finishing 21st.
And that happened during a season where Lajoie's average finish was 24.3. He's been better this season, with an average finish of 19.0 through the first four races. Spire improving plus Lajoie showing twice last season that he can be competitive here makes him a top value play on Sunday.
Ty Gibbs
Starts 35th - DK: $5,900, FD: $4,800
I'm not going to sit here and say that Ty Gibbs hasn't been disappointing this season, but when he starts 35th at a track where place differential and randomness are both in play, you've got to play Gibbs and hope this is when he figures out the Cup Series, even though he's only had one top 10 in his first 19 races.
Gibbs also has a win here in Xfinity. Not that that necessarily matters, but he's at least shown he knows how to get around this weird psuedo-superspeedway.
