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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the shortest track on the schedule this weekend. This is the first of two races this season at Martinsville, which will also host the series in the playoffs.
Last week, the series was at Richmond. Denny Hamlin drove to victory lane in that one, with Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr., and Chase Elliott rounding out the top five. Truex currently sits atop the point standings, holding a 14-point lead over Larson. Hamlin is in third, 18 points behind Truex.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Cook Out 400 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on Sunday, April 7 at 3:09 p.m. EST. 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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Kyle Larson
Starts First - DK: $11,200, FD: $13,000
There are 400 laps here, plus the potential for overtime. That means we have at least 400 fastest laps and 400 laps led up for grabs. This is a race where finding the right combination of contenders is hugely important, even more so than finding place differential is.
Back to back poles! Really cool to put the ruby red 5 on the front row for tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/mzEQbKNLKS
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) April 6, 2024
With that in mind, we start with the polesitter, Kyle Larson. Track position is important here, especially in the current generation of car. In October, polesitter Martin Truex Jr. led the first 47 laps. Last April, Ryan Preece was on the pole and led the first 135 laps. Even if Larson has issues later in the race, he has a great shot to lead a ton of laps early and really build up that DFS score.
Larson won this race last year, one of four top-five finishes in his career at this track. Two of those have come since NASCAR moved to this current car.
Ty Gibbs
Starts 15th - DK: $9,000, FD: $10,500
The wait for Ty Gibbs' first Cup Series win continues. The second-year driver has three top-five finishes this year, including a pair of third-place results. He struggled a bit at Richmond though, finishing 16th and dropping from second to fourth in the point standings.
Gibbs has struggled here in Cup so far, finishing 19th, 18th, and 18th in three starts. However, he has a win here in the Xfinity Series and led over 100 laps in both 2022 Xfinity races here. He starts 15th in this one, which offers a little bit of place differential upside for the No. 54 car.
Chris Buescher
Starts 30th - DK: $8,600, FD: $8,500
Alright, now we'll look at a true place differential option. Chris Buescher starts way back in 30th but has the upside to finish in the back half of the top 10. He was eighth here back in October, plus was 14th in the spring. In four starts here in this current generation car, Buescher has three top 15s.
Got some work to do Sunday, but @Chris_Buescher’s done it before.
P30 in qualifying at Martinsville. pic.twitter.com/tUgt2bI0YD
— No. 17 Team (@RFK17Team) April 6, 2024
I'm not super excited about this play because I think his past performance suggests a cap on his upside, but he should be good for some fantasy points on Sunday at Martinsville.
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Bubba Wallace
Starts Second - DK: $7,700, FD: $7,800
Bubba Wallace was fast in practice and fast in qualifying, which led to a second-place starting spot for the No. 23 car. In a world where track position matters, Wallace has a great shot to parlay that starting spot into a strong result on Sunday.
Looking at the lap averages for @BubbaWallace:
5 lap: P2
10 lap: P2
15 lap: P2
20 lap: P3
25 lap: P2
30 lap: P3— Phil Spain (@philenespanol) April 6, 2024
Wallace has run well here in this current generation car, finishing 16th or better in all four races with a pair of top 10s. He only had negative place differential in one of those four races.
Starting on the front row gives Wallace a chance to lead laps early as well. While Larson is more likely to control the first portion of the race, don't count out Wallace as an option to lead 50-plus laps at the start.
Ryan Preece
Starts 22nd - DK: $7,200, FD: $6,200
Ryan Preece is pretty good at Martinsville. He won the pole in this race last year and went on to lead 135 laps before finishing 15th, then in October, he followed that up with a 20th-place run. He's also won here before in the Whelen Modified Tour, finding victory lane in 2008 and 2023.
Preece starts 22nd on Sunday and should be able to move forward. There's definitely some risk here because Stewart Haas cars just haven't had great speed this season, but I love Preece as a play to differentiate my GPP lineups from other people's.
Michael McDowell
Starts 35th - DK: $6,300, FD: $5,500
Huge place differential upside for Michael McDowell here as he starts way back in 35th. While McDowell has never recorded a top 10 at this track, he has a top-25 finish in all four races here in this current-generation car. He also has an average finish of 21.7 this season. While McDowell probably won't be contending for a top 10 here, a finish of 20th would be +15 in place differential. At this price, that's a win.
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