4 weeks agoLast week's Atlanta winner, Daniel Suarez, captured a 16th starting position during Las Vegas qualifying for Sunday's race. In 13 Vegas starts, Suarez collected four top-15 finishes, including both 2023 races at the site. In practice, Suarez recorded a single-lap time that ranked 23rd of all drivers, while his 10-consecutive lap average ranked 13th, showcasing a car better suited for longer green flag runs. Considering his equipment and recent history, Suarez is a driver capable of competing for a top-10 finish and being a solid DFS option for any format.Source: Driveraverages.com
4 weeks agoRick Ware Racing driver Kaz Grala will make his first Las Vegas start in a Cup car this week from the 32nd position. In four Xfinity Series starts at Vegas, Grala's best finish was 16th in March 2018, while he has one top-5 finish at the site in three Truck Series races. During last week's race at Atlanta, Grala scored a finish of 14th, his best Cup Series finish since 2021 when he drove for Kaulig Racing. Grala's single-lap time in practice ranked 32nd of all drivers, while his five-consecutive lap average ranked 26th. The driver of the No. 15 Ford is one of the cheapest drivers that fantasy players could roster this week that starts close to the rear. Overall, while Grala is a serviceable driver that could fit into any lineup, there are better choices capable of placing better or gaining more DFS points, as indicated by track history and practice speeds.Source: Driveraverages.com
4 weeks agoJ.J. Yeley, who is driving for NY Racing, did not set a lap in qualifying and will start 37th on Sunday. In 15 Cup Series starts at Las Vegas, Yeley has three top-20 finishes, with his last one being scored in September 2018 driving for BK Racing. In practice, Yeley set the slowest single-lap time of the entire field, two seconds off the pace of the following driver ahead of him. Yeley also had the slowest overall lap average of all drivers in practice but is still giving NY Racing their first Cup start of the year after missing the Daytona 500. Considering how slow his car is compared to the rest of the field and how NY Racing has some of the slowest, most unstable equipment, DFS players should fade Yeley at all costs.Source: Driveraverages.com
4 weeks agoAfter crashing out of last week's race at Atlanta, Christopher Bell bounced back on Saturday afternoon by qualifying 10th for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. Bell's performance in qualifying should come as no surprise, as he has qualified in the top-10 in all four of the previous races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NextGen car. While strong qualifying efforts are noteworthy by themselves, his ability to finish races at this track is of particular interest. Since 2022, Bell has managed to secure three top-10 finishes, with his best performance being a second-place finish last October. Between his impressive track record at Vegas and the added advantage of participating in the truck race on Friday night, the 29-year-old makes for an attractive betting option this weekend, particularly a bet for him to finish in the top five, which stands at +130 on DraftKings Sportsbook.Source: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoComing off of back-to-back fifth-place finishes, Bubba Wallace will look to continue his momentum on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where he will start fifth in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. Despite the hot start he is off to in 2024, look for things toread more...
4 weeks agoOn Saturday afternoon, John Hunter Nemechek qualified 27th for Sunday's Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. While it is always important to pay attention to how a driver performs in practice and in qualifying, for John Hunter Nemechek this is perhaps the most important indicator we have for determining if we can use him in DFS this weekend at Las Vegas. With just two Cup starts at this track, both of which occurred in 2020, past performance data is limited if not skewed. Even his efforts in NASCAR's other series aren't helpful. For example, while he did win the 2021 truck race here, in the 2022 race he finished 25th despite starting on the pole. Given his lack of speed during qualifying, coupled with the conflicting and limited data we have on him at this track, we recommend limiting your exposure to the No. 42 in DFS this weekend.Source: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoDenny Hamlin will start 28th in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. Throughout his Cup career, Las Vegas Motor Speedway has been a good track for the 20-year Cup veteran. While a driver's past success at a track can sometimes be misleading, particularly given how the sportread more...
4 weeks agoTy Gibbs will start eighth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. Despite having a win at this track in Xfinity (March of 2022), his Cup appearances at Las Vegas have been disastrous. In his three Cup starts at the "Diamond in the Desert," Gibbs' average finish is 26th and his average DraftKings score is just 3.62 points. While his previous poor outings could be chalked up to inexperience, there is a trend that we must keep in mind when building our lineups this weekend. Specifically, since 2023, Gibbs has appeared in the DraftKings optimal lineup four times, including last weekend at Atlanta. In these four appearances, his average starting position was 26.5, which means he does tend to produce when place differential is in play. Since he will be starting in the top 10 in Sunday's race, the place-differential upside necessary to justify playing him is not there, which means you need to greatly limit your exposure to the No. 54 in DFS this weekend.Source: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoAfter an underwhelming performance in his home state of Georgia last weekend, Chase Elliott will look to get his season on track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when he starts 11th in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. Despite starting off the season with finishes ofread more...
4 weeks agoErik Jones has had a bit of an adjustment with his Toyota car for Legacy Motor Club. Starting off 37th at Atlanta probably was not ideal but he did improve 12 positions. It may be a little harder doing that at Las Vegas on Sunday beginning 22nd. Jones' best result was an eighth in the Fall of 2022. He replicated that result in a Joe Gibbs car back in March of 2018. Even in those days, Jones never garnered much in the way of stage points so that is not expected on Sunday either. Again, there may be a little potential in a DFS sense but Jones could be stuck in the middle.Source: Racing Reference
4 weeks agoOn Saturday morning, Alex Bowman qualified 23rd for the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. After a disappointing race last weekend at Atlanta, a trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway has got to get the Hendrick Motorsports star excited, as this is a track he has performed well at in recent years. Over his last three appearances in Sin City, Bowman has a victory, a third-place finish, and one DNF, which was the result of a crash. Even with this crash, which resulted in him finishing in 35th place, he is averaging 40.09 points on DraftKings and has appeared in the optimal lineup twice. Given his history at this track, the fact that he has just the 15th-highest salary on DraftKings ($8,100), and that his starting position offers place differential upside, the No. 48 should be treated as a core play in DFS this weekend. Source: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoAustin Cindric got the car going at the right time on Saturday and came up just short of taking the pole at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Cindric and his Team Penske car settled for third, a mere 0.042 seconds off of Joey Logano's pole position lap. For a time, Cindric looked like he might have a shot but lost a little speed late in his lap. Nonetheless, it is a great start for the No. 2 car. Cindric did finish sixth last year and was in the top five very late in the race. He had some bad luck at Daytona but did end up fourth at Atlanta just missing out on that extraordinary three-wide ending. Cindric has the potential to be among the top ten again Sunday.Source: Racing Reference
4 weeks agoHarrison Burton has not qualified well at Las Vegas. The last couple races were near the final position. On Saturday, he turned in a lap more than 1.4 seconds off the pole of Joey Logano. The Wood Brothers Racing driver is on the hot seat and starting 36th is not ideal (33rd and 35th last year. Burton does come off an 11th place result at Atlanta but has never finished better than 16th at Las Vegas. Being this far off pace wise will be a problem on Sunday especially with winds expected to still gust 30+ mph at times. However, he might be a decent start for DFS as far as place differential (+9 and +13 in 2023 at Vegas). Source: Racing Reference
4 weeks agoChris Buescher and the RFK Racing team got in a few solid runs on Saturday in the heavy winds. Buescher and his No. 17 Ford will start ninth on Sunday after a solid 29.52 second lap in the final round of qualifying. Buescher was right around the top ten or so cars in practice and he does come off a solid 11th last October. Buescher has never finished among the best ten cars during the Spring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sunday might be as good of a chance as any. Buescher comes off a ninth at Atlanta and looking to build momentum. Source: Racing Reference
4 weeks agoJosh Barry will start the Pennzoil 400 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 26th on Sunday. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver did not fare well at Atlanta and Daytona (29th and 25th respectively). Now, he has not been incident free in either race but Berry definitely has a learning curve for the Ford car. Berry's best lap in practice was 29.93 seconds which was more than six-tenths off the best time. That improved slightly in qualifying but so far, his Ford has lost speed in the second halves of races. If the No. 4 car and team cannot find a little extra speed, Berry might struggle again Sunday.Source: NASCAR.com