Poor Starting Position and Ford's Drafting Speed Make Todd Gilliland a Viable Option

Todd Gilliland has shown some speed on drafting tracks in the past, particularly in last year's first Atlanta race when he led a race-high 58 laps, but he mostly hasn't been a contender for the lead and Daytona is his worst drafting track. Although he started on the outside pole last year, he's never finished […]

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 […]

Justin Haley has Strong Pass-Differential Potential

Although Justin Haley has had a pretty terrible season, he did win his one NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona in 2019, but that was entirely based on pit strategy and crash avoidance and that had almost nothing to do with him. He did also show strength on drafting tracks in the Xfinity Series for […]

Cole Custer's Daytona 500 Speed Makes Him a Solid Play

Although Cole Custer has had an invisible season with only a single top-10 finish, Daytona is one of the few tracks where you should strongly consider starting him. In this year's Daytona 500, Custer was attempting an outside pass on Denny Hamlin for the lead when he and the rest of the leaders crashed despite […]

Austin Hill Qualifies Poorly Enough for DFS Consideration

For all of Austin Hill's dominance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series drafting-track races, he has never shown anything similar at the Cup Series level. However, that doesn't really matter when assessing his potential for DFS lineups this weekend, since the finishing order is so unpredictable that it's better to focus on drivers who have better […]

Austin Cindric has Arguably his Best Run of the Season at Richmond

After a fast race at Iowa, Austin Cindric quietly delivered again by finishing fifth at Iowa's "sister track" in Richmond, giving him his first top five on a non-drafting oval since Martinsville last year. Team Penske's decision to pit all its cars early in Stage 1 reaped dividends and proved to be the correct decision […]

Ryan Blaney Contends for First Richmond Win but Comes Up Short

Although Ryan Blaney traditionally hates racing at Richmond, he has recently improved with the Next Gen chassis, and on Saturday night, he had probably his best race ever there, factoring for the win and earning his first top-five finish (third place). After starting 20th, steady long run speed and savvy strategy propelled him to a […]

Alex Bowman Finishes Second but Loses Ground in Playoffs

Alex Bowman finished second at Richmond yet lost ground in the playoff picture thanks to Austin Dillon's win from far below the playoff cutline. He ran barely in the top ten in the early stages of the race before staying out of the pits for the entirety of Stage 1, which droppd him to 17th […]

Bubba Wallace Sets Personal Laps-Led Record at Richmond

Although many people think of Bubba Wallace as being primarily an expert on drafting tracks, in recent years, he has actually had his most consistent performances on short tracks. Yesterday's race at Richmond marked the first time that he potentially had winning speed on a short track as he led a race-high and career-high 123 […]

Chris Buescher Falls Out of Playoffs After Miserable Richmond Run

Chris Buescher's weeks of treading water for most of the summer have now caught up with him as Austin Dillon's win coupled with Alex Bowman's second-place finish and Buescher's shockingly bad 30th-place finish at a track he won at a mere two years ago have combined to eliminate Buescher from the NASCAR playoffs on points. […]

Chase Elliott's Lack of Top-Line Speed Hurts his DFS Potential

Chase Elliott largely fell out of contention for the regular-season championship unless his teammate William Byron crashes out of one of the two remaining regular season races after an inexplicably bad run at Watkins Glen, where he used to dominate but instead had his streak of top-20 finishes every race this season snapped. After his […]

Kyle Larson's Recent String of Crashes Make Him a Big Risk at Richmond

On paper, Kyle Larson looks like a must-have to start for DFS play at Richmond since you do not get this many opportunities for place-differential points for him since he rarely qualifies as poorly as 30th. The problem is that after dominating the first third of the season, he has been very sloppy and kind […]

William Byron Probably Slightly Too Inconsistent at Richmond to Start for DFS

In a year when no one has really impressed, William Byron has probably been the best NASCAR Cup Series driver as he leads the points by nearly one full race and has also been the most dominant driver with 910 laps led. Although he's good everywhere, he's only finished in the top five once at […]

Brad Keselowski Probably the Best RFK Racing DFS Option at Richmond

After a terrible first 16 races when he sat 32nd in the championship with five crash DNFs, Brad Keselowski has suddenly looked like a playoff contender in the weeks since he and his crew chief Jeremy Bullins have developed chemistry. However, it will be too little, too late to make the playoffs unless he can […]

Chris Buescher a Solid Choice for DFS Play, but Teammates Look Faster

After years of mediocrity at Richmond, Chris Buescher has typically been very good here in the Next Gen era, winning from 26th in 2023. Although that was the only race he led, he also threatened for the win in the 2022 summer race where he finished third and he finished ninth in the spring race […]

Ty Gibbs is Mediocre at a Track Where his Grandfather's Team Won 19 Times

People tend to think of Ty Gibbs as a short track racer more than they probably should because Bristol is arguably his best track, but he has been nowhere near as fast at Richmond and has never finished better than ninth here or led at a track where Joe Gibbs Racing has won 19 times. […]

Despite Qualifying 33rd, Ross Chastain Not As Strong a DFS Option As Usual

Although Ross Chastain's consistently poor qualifying and somewhat improved racecraft made him a must-have a lot of weeks this year, Richmond probably isn't one of the best tracks to start him for DFS play even though he's starting 33rd. Chastain tends to finish better than he starts this season, but at Richmond, that has tended […]

Will Carson Hocevar's Speed Overcome His Lack of Racecraft?

Carson Hocevar has had a confusing season as he has shown an increase in speed from his rookie season while also seeming to show less racecraft. Although he has probably had better performance this year, his season somehow feels like a sophomore slump because he exceeded expectations last year and failed to meet them this […]

Not Enough Attrition at Richmond for Shane Van Gisbergen to Be Viable

Shane van Gisbergen has never started a race at Richmond in the NASCAR Cup Series and he wasn't much of a contender in last year's Xfinity race either, where he finished 15th a lap down. He did outqualify his teammate Ross Chastain in 27th, which isn't as much of a surprise as you might expect […]

After Strong Iowa Run, Austin Cindric Might Surprise

After the speed he showed earlier in the season, Austin Cindric had a downturn in performance for most of the summer, but he had one of his best short-track drives two weeks ago at Iowa when he started fourth and finished 12th. It's possible he'll be fast at Richmond. Cindric doesn't typically run well here, […]

Corey Heim Probably Too Inexperienced to Contend at Richmond

After winning his seventh NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race of the season and first at Richmond on Friday night, Corey Heim returns to the track for Saturday's Cup Series race, but it's hard to see him contending since he qualified 32nd when his more experienced teammates Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace both qualified in the […]

Daniel Suarez Won't Benefit From the Same Strategy Play This Year

After years of futility at Richmond, Daniel Suárez surprisingly had one of the best runs of his Cup Series career here last year, where he led 93 laps and finished 10th, although Suárez's good run was predicted here. Nonetheless, don't expect him to repeat that feat this week. Last year, Suárez benefited from going on […]

Erik Jones Was Slow at Richmond Even When He Had Fast Cars

While Erik Jones has been nowhere near as slow as he was in 2023 and 2024, he's still been little more than a mid-packer this year and he hasn't been particularly known for his short track prowess especially after Joe Gibbs Racing fired him. That Jones Boi used to be strong at some short tracks […]

Zane Smith Not a Great DFS Option on Paper, but Typically Outperforms His Expectations

Like his Front Row Motorsports teammate Noah Gragson, Zane Smith has never finished in the top ten on a short track and his overall Richmond record is even worse than Gragson's as his best finish in last year's race was 23rd and even in the Craftsman Truck Series, he never finished better than fifth. However, […]

Noah Gragson Outqualifies His Teammates at Richmond But is Unlikely to Contend

Noah Gragson has never earned a top-10 finish on a short track before, but he did earn his second-best finish on this track type in the spring Richmond race in 2024 when he finished 12th. He also won the Xfinity Series race in 2021. Gragson starts 22nd in Saturday evening's event, where he did outqualify […]

Good Pit Strategy Helps Elevate Christopher Bell to Second

Although Christopher Bell has faded since his three straight wins earlier this season, he remains competitive as he finished second yesterday at Watkins Glen, giving him his third top two finish on a road course this season and his fourth second-place finish since his three-in-a-row streak. Like William Byron, Bell wasn't a major factor early […]

William Byron Extends Championship Lead with Fourth-Place Finish

William Byron never led at Watkins Glen, but he earned a respectable fourth-place finish in a race where three of his championship rivals Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Larson ran terribly. As a result, Byron boosted his championship lead to 42 points, which means he will very likely win the regular season championship unless […]

Despite Finishing Sixth, Watkins Glen Might've Been Ryan Blaney's Best Road Race

Ryan Blaney had possibly the best Cup Series road course race of his entire career at Watkins Glen yesterday, where he earned his first ever pole on a road course, led 35 laps (the most he has ever led on a road course), and led all drivers with 45 points. Although most people expected Shane […]

Alex Bowman Loses Ground Above Playoff Cutline, but Still Pretty Safe

Although Alex Bowman earned points in both stages, his 20th-place finish caused him to lose points to both Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece in the battle for the last two spots in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Bowman started ahead of both drivers in ninth but Buescher overtook him for the eventual Stage 1 win […]

Kyle Larson Finishes Last After Brake Failure and Spin

Kyle Larson's summer slump continued at Watkins Glen yesterday. After qualifying 26th, Larson had only made up two positions when he spun out on Lap 6. The spin was the result of an unforced error but Larson attributed it to losing his brakes, an unusual circumstance for so early in the race. Although his car […]