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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to COTA this weekend, capping off an eventual weekend of action for the sanctioning body. On Saturday, both the Truck Series and Xfinity Series were on track in Austin.
Last week at Bristol, we saw one of the most enjoyable strategy races in years, with Denny Hamlin saving his tires enough to win a race that saw just five drivers finish on the lead lap. Despite that, the action was wild and if you missed the race, it's worth going back and checking it out.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on Sunday, March 24 at 3:47 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 15th - DK: $10,200, FD: $10,500
Kyle Larson wasn't the best car on Saturday in the Xfinity Series race, but he took advantage of mistakes. He led just one lap, but it was the most important, with Larson taking the checkered flag to win the Focused Health 250. Now, he'll try to sweep his two starts this weekend.
Larson has four Cup Series wins on road courses, but he's still searching for COTA win No. 1. In 2021, he was second here, but his luck ran out in the next two races, finishing 29th and 14th.
After a mediocre qualifying run, this No. 5 car will fire off from 15th, offering a decent bit of place differential upside. Even if Larson doesn't win, going anywhere from +5 to +10 in place differential will help your DFS score.
Shane Van Gisbergen
Starts 12th - DK: $9,500, FD: $12,000
Shane Van Gisbergen has run three road course races in NASCAR. In Cup, he won at Chicago last year and was 10th at Indianapolis. Then yesterday, he led 20 laps and originally finished second to Kyle Larson in the Xfinity Series race until he was hit with a time penalty for track limits, which dropped him to 27th.
Crazy race today. It got better and better as the day went on, had some awesome battles! The race just went ballistic at the last green and white chequers, just couldn’t quite pull it off. Cup race tomorrow! 😀 pic.twitter.com/mdQWSbZFIh
— Shane van Gisbergen (@shanevg97) March 24, 2024
It's pretty clear that Van Gisbergen is really good at tracks like this, so he should definitely be considered one of the favorites to win this race. The former V8 SuperCars champion should probably be considered the favorite in every Xfinity Series road course race this year and a top-five favorite in every Cup Series road course he runs.
Ty Gibbs
Starts 2nd - DK: $8,700, FD: $11,500
I keep saying that Ty Gibbs' first Cup Series win is just on the horizon. Maybe Sunday at COTA is when Gibbs finally gets it done. He ran into some trouble in the Xfinity Series race here yesterday but looked like a contender before that.
This season, Gibbs has four top 10s through five races, with the lone non-top 10 coming at Daytona. He led 137 laps at Bristol last weekend, but in a race where tire strategy mattered above all else, he faded back to a ninth-place finish.
Gibbs was ninth in this race last year, which at the time tied the best finish of his Cup Series career. Four of his 15 top 10s in Cup have come at road courses despite road courses being a relatively small part of the overall schedule.
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Alex Bowman
Starts 17th - DK: $7,700, FD: $7,000
When I think about good road course drivers, Alex Bowman doesn't immediately spring to mind. But Bowman has an average finish of 15.5 on road courses in his Cup Series career, which is especially impressive considering the first two seasons he ran in Cup were in underfunded rides.
Bowman's never won on a road course in Cup though, but he's come close at COTA. He has finished in the top 10 in all three of his starts here so far, which includes a second-place run in 2022 and a third-place finish last year.
Alex bowman has 3 top 10s out of 3 races here at Cota he is a contender this week watch out . pic.twitter.com/RBwbCK6VDT
— Cbellupdates (@Team20Nascar) March 19, 2024
The No. 48 car starts 17th today, the worst that Bowman has ever started at COTA. On one hand, I'm fairly confident that just means he has extra place differential upside. On the other hand, track position is important here so I'm worried he might get bogged down in the midfield. We'll see, but the value is too good to pass up.
Joey Logano
Starts 35th - DK: $7,400, FD: $7,200
Joey Logano might not be known for his road course prowess, but he's not as bad as this pricing makes him seem. Sure, his average finish of 14.5 is worse than his average finish on speedways and short tracks, but he has a win and 23 top 10s on road courses. It's not like he becomes a backmarker.
COTA treated Logano well in his first race here, as he led 14 laps and finished third. The last two years though...yikes. 31st in 2022, followed by 28th last year.
Still, he starts way back in 35th, so I'm not particularly concerned with whether or not this is a good track for him. We have a former champion in a really good Penske car starting near the back for under $8,000 on both platforms. You can't pass up the place differential upside here.
Noah Gragson
Starts 39th - DK: 6,500, FD: $6,200
Noah Gragson became a bit of a meme at Chicago last year when he kept crashing, but don't let that make you think he's a bad road course racer. The results might not be there in Cup, but he's shown in the Xfinity Series that he can navigate the left and right turns.
Talkin’ turns at COTA with @NoahGragson. pic.twitter.com/3Kdm7bZz8y
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) March 22, 2024
In 21 road course starts in that series, Gragson has 18 top 10s and an average finish of 9.8. He's never won at one, but he was fourth in the 2022 COTA race. He has some chops.
He also starts 39th, so there's obviously a ton of place differential upside for this No. 10 car on Sunday. Just a really great value—it feels like this pricing isn't keeping up with the improved performance we've seen from Gragson through the early part of the season.
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