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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol on Sunday for some dirt tracking!
Cole Custer is on the pole for Sunday's race, which will find 36 drivers wheeling around the dirt-covered banks of Bristol. Unlike last year, it appears multiple grooves have developed, which should make for some unpredictable racing.
Below are some drivers to consider for DFS purposes this week. If you have any questions or want to talk NASCAR, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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Christopher Bell
Starts 2nd - DraftKings $10,800 | FanDuel $13,000
Here's the favorite.
Christopher Bell crashed and finished 34th here last year, but don't let that obscure the fact that he's an absolute menace on dirt.
See, there's this thing called the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa. It happens in January and it's a huge deal, to the point where it's nicknamed the "Super Bowl of midget racing." And Bell has won that event three times. Only Sammy and Kevin Swindell have won more.
Dirt is in Bell's blood. He's won at Eldora in the Truck Series and has an average finish of 4.0 there in three Truck starts. He has the chance to just absolutely dominate this field.
Tyler Reddick
Starts 3rd - DraftKings $9,200 | FanDuel $11,500
Reddick has a great shot to earn his first Cup Series win on Sunday.
He was fastest in the first practice. He was fourth-fastest in the second practice. He won his heat race. Reddick has shown a complete mastery of this track.
Last year, Reddick started 27th here and finished seventh.
Sure, there's always the downside of starting a driver who starts this high because without leading a ton of laps, he's unlikely to pay off, so you probably want to choose between him and Bell. Likely can't go wrong either way, though Reddick is a little cheaper...
Denny Hamlin
Starts 34th - DraftKings $8,700 | FanDuel $9,000
Now we get to the place differential plays.
Hamlin is obvious: he's a Joe Gibbs Racing driver who starts 34th. Yes, he finished last in his heat race. Yes, he has just one top 10 this season.
But he also finished third in this race last year. We can't ignore that.
Besides, even if he'd finished 23rd here last year, I'd still be all over this play because of the PD. This is a race that will be tough to project, but if I had to put my foot down and make one statement that I could stand behind 100%, it'd be that Denny Hamlin is going to finish a lot of spots above where he starts.
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Ross Chastain
Starts 33rd - DraftKings $8,500 | FanDuel $6,800
Another PD play, Chastain also has a win this year like Hamlin does, but he's also run well in the other races, with five top fives.
Unlike Hamlin, his first visit to this track didn't go well, as he crashed and finished 35th.
But Chastain was seventh in the first practice and while that speed disappeared in the second session, I still think it's worth taking note of how he ran some good laps here on Friday. Play him for the PD upside.
Aric Almirola
Starts 31st - DraftKings $6,800 | FanDuel $6,000
Oh look, another driver in good equipment starting below 30th. And at just $6,800 on DK and $6,000 on FD? Yes, please. His practice times weren't ideal as he was 25th in the first practice and 21st in the second one. He crashed and finished 36th here last year, which is another concern.
But this is one of those tracks where anything can happen. If Almirola can run a clean race, there's so much upside here. Sure, he might not run a clean race, based on last year, but at this price, he's worth the risk.
Cole Custer
Starts 1st - DraftKings $5,900 | FanDuel $4,000
More of a FanDuel play than a DraftKings play, since the potential for negative place differential won't sting as much there. But if you want to pivot off of Christopher Bell when targeting someone who can lead a lot of early laps, why not grab the driver sitting on the pole, Cole Custer. He's basically half the price of Bell and one of them will probably lead most of the first stage.
Sure, Custer could crash out and just kill your lineup, but at $5,900 on DK and $4,000 on FD, it's kind of worth the risk, right? Custer wasn't very good here last year, but he did finish sixth in 2016 in a Truck Series race at Eldora.
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