RADIO
After last week's All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, the NASCAR Cup Series gets back to "normal" action this week as it heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the longest race on the circuit. The drivers will run 400 laps around the 1.5-mile track in this year's Coca-Cola 600. Anything can happen in a race this long.
Last season, Denny Hamlin won here in a race that was marred by cautions. 18 of them flew, and the 400-lap race during into a 413-lap race with multiple overtime attempts. In the end, 17 drivers weren't on track at the finish, including Chase Elliott, who led 86 laps but ultimately finished 33rd. Be ready to account for some chaos.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Coca-Cola 600 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 5/28/23 at 6:19 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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Kyle Larson
Starts 12th - DK: $11,000, FD: $14,000
With 400 laps in this race, my primary concern is finding a couple of drivers who I think can lead a good chunk of those laps. That search takes me to a pair of Hendrick Motorsports teammates. We'll start with Kyle Larson.
Larson won't lead from the jump since he starts 12th, but I fully expect him to be up there battling for a win before it's all over. He's performed well at the intermediate tracks this season, finishing second at Las Vegas after leading 63 laps, then finishing second at Kansas after leading 85 laps.
The 10-ish points of place differential points you can get from Larson is a nice added bonus as well.
William Byron
Starts 1st - DK: $10,500, FD: $13,500
Byron begins this race with the best shot of leading some laps, something that matters in a race with 400 laps available to be led.
But that's not the only thing that makes Byron appealing. He won at Las Vegas earlier this year, another intermediate track, and was the dominant car, leading 176 of the 271 laps. He only led 10 laps at Kansas, but he finished that race in third.
As for his performance at Charlotte, this really hasn't been Byron's best track, with two DNFs in six starts. He's led double-digit laps three times here though, and was fourth in the 2021 Coca-Cola 600.
Alex Bowman
Starts 31st - DK: $8,600, FD: $10,000
Let's stick with Hendrick a little longer. Alex Bowman is back this week, racing for the first time since fracturing his vertebra in a sprint car race in April.
There might be a little rust here, but when you have a Hendrick car starting 31st, that car is obviously a must-play in cash games, even if Bowman might not be at 100%.
Also of note: since moving to Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman has finished in the top 10 in four of his seven starts here, and one of those races where he didn't get a top 10 was in 2020, when he led 164 laps and won two stages but finished 19th.
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Austin Dillon
Starts 33rd - DK: $7,200, FD: $6,500
Dillon is a great place differential play on Sunday, because he fires off from the 33rd starting spot at a track where he's been pretty strong. It's one of just three tracks that Dillon has won at in the Cup Series, and he has four top 10s here. He crashed out of this race last year, but before that had top 10s in 2020 and 2021.
Also worth noting: his average running position has been in the top 15 in four straight starts here per Racing Reference. Dillon has a long way to go to get a top 15 this time around since he starts pretty far back, but this is also the longest race of the year, so he'll have plenty of time to get there.
Jimmie Johnson
Starts 37th - DK: $6,900, FD: $5,800
Johnson's return to the Cup Series hasn't gone very well so far. He's run a pair of races, and he's crashed out in both of them, finishing 31st at Daytona and 31st at COTA.
But this is Charlotte. This is a place where Jimmie's had a good bit of success during his NASCAR career. And because of that, I think this race is different.
Not that I think the seven-time champion will contend for a win or anything, but the eight-time Charlotte winner has an average finish of 12.9 at this track. Finishing between 12th and 18th...that's well within the range of possibilities, and because the starting lineup was set by the metric, no one has more place differential upside than Johnson.
Michael McDowell
Starts 30th - DK: $5,700, FD: $5,200
After having the best season of his career last season, McDowell has slipped a little. He has just one top 10 through 13 starts, and his average finish has fallen from 16.7 to 20.7.
But since he starts 30th, there's some solid room here for McDowell to run around or a little better than his season average and end up with a nice fantasy scoring day. One of the biggest issues in terms of his fantasy scoring has been losing place differential points, as he's had decent qualifying speed, posting an average starting spot of 18.2.
Also worth noting: McDowell was eighth here last year, his best finish ever at this track. Front Row Motorsports has taken a bit of a step back since then, but it's still an encouraging sign.
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