July 13, 2025
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified 34th for this weekend's race at Sonoma Raceway, which is pretty much par for the course for the Hyak Motorsports driver this season. So far through 19 races in 2025, Stenhouse has an average starting position of 27.0, but he has an average finish of 19.6, which has made him a DFS option most weeks due to the place-differential upside. The same is the case this weekend at Sonoma. Stenhouse is no road-course master by any means, but he's a servicable option in some NASCAR fantasy formats. Earlier this season at COTA, for example, he ended up finishing 18th, and here at Sonoma he has ended up finishing 25th, 12th, and 24th in the three Next Gen era races. At just $5,200 on DraftKings, Stenhouse is a cheap place-differential play that could save you some very valuable cap space in your DFS lineup.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
July 13, 2025
Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain will start fourth for Sunday's race at Sonoma Raceway, the Toyota/Save Mart 350. This will be Chastain's first Cup race at Sonoma, where he will start inside the top five in his Cup career. In five starts at the site, Chastain has four top-10 finishes, which all came in his last four appearances at the California road course. Through 19 races so far this season, Chastain has nine top-10 finishes and an average finish of 14.2. Chastain has placed between 10th and 16th in all three road course events this season, only scoring positive Place Differential in last week's race at Chicago. In practice for this week's race, Chastain ranked eighth in overall lap averages but ranked among the top five fastest in all other eligible categories. Chastain has little upside from his starting position, but his practice speeds and Sonoma history do point to another strong top-5 run, making him worth consideration in DFS formats, but especially in tournaments.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
July 13, 2025
The Boston Red Sox have not discussed which role right-hander
Tanner Houck (elbow) will take on when he returns from the injured list, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports. Houck has been working back from a flexor strain that he suffered in mid-May. Before going on the IL, the 2024 All-Star stumbled to an 0-3 record with an 8.04 ERA in nine starts and 43 2/3 innings. Having lost righty
Hunter Dobbins (knee) to a season-ending torn ACL this weekend, the Red Sox are set to plug
Richard Fitts into the fifth spot in their rotation. Barring any more injuries to the team's starting staff, it seems likely Houck will pitch out of the bullpen for the first time since 2022 when he comes back. He's expected to return sometime this month.
--Connor ByrneSource: Christopher Smith - MassLive.com
July 13, 2025
There are certain race weekends where Josh Berry easily falls into the sleeper category, but the race weekends at road courses are not one of them. Berry has never finished better than 22nd at a road course in his Cup Series career, and this weekend's Toyota/Save Mart 350 will mark his ninth attempt at this style of track. The No. 21 Ford will roll off the starting grid from 25th place when the race goes green, but it would be surprising to see Berry move up at all from that spot. In fact, it's much more likely he will fall back. In practice on Saturday, Berry ranked 29th-fastest out of 37 cars. He should be avoided in all NASCAR fantasy formats, even in DFS, where he is a very cheap option ($5,100 on DraftKings).
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
July 13, 2025
Chris Buescher of RFK Racing qualified 14th for this week's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Buescher was the top qualifier of the three RFK entries in this week's race. In eight races at Sonoma, Buescher has seven top-20 finishes, including three top-5s in the last three Cup events at the site. After 19 races completed this season, Buescher has 14 top-20 finishes and an average finish of 13.9. Buescher has two top-10s at road courses this season and finished 18th in the only other road racing event at the Chicago Street Course. In practice for Sunday's race, Buescher ranked fourth in overall lap averages and 11th in five consecutive lap averages. Buescher is one of the best overall drivers at road courses in the field, and with his salary being around $8,600 on DraftKings at one of his better tracks of the past few years, makes him easy to recommend for all formats, especially with his favorable practice speeds.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
July 13, 2025
Baltimore Orioles left-handed reliever
Keegan Akin (shoulder) will face hitters Monday before beginning a potential rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports. Akin has been on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation since July 1. The Orioles had to shut him down from throwing earlier this week after he received an injection in his shoulder, but he's now progressing toward a return. The 30-year-old has gone 3-0 with a 3.32 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP, 38:16 K:BB, and 12 holds over 38 innings.
--Connor ByrneSource: Roch Kubatko - MASNSports.com
July 13, 2025
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder
Daulton Varsho (hamstring) will begin a rehab assignment in the Florida Coast League on Monday, according to Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet. Varsho could rejoin the Blue Jays out of the All-Star break if things go smoothly. The 29-year-old hasn't played since he strained his left hamstring on May 31. He also missed almost all of April while recovering from shoulder surgery. When healthy, Varsho has brought plenty of power to the table this year. The two-time 20-home run hitter is batting .207/.240/.543 with eight HRs in 100 plate appearances.
Myles Straw has gotten the majority of starts in center field with Varsho unavailable.
--Connor ByrneSource: Arden Zwelling
July 13, 2025
If you're looking for a deep sleeper to roll the dice on in this weekend's Toyota/Save Mart 350, consider 23XI Racing's Riley Herbst. While we don't talk about the rookie too much--considering he hasn't finished better than 14th this season--the road course venues have been a weird bright-ish spot for Herbst in 2025. After coming home with a 17th-place finish at COTA back in March, Herbst also finished 17th at Chicago Street Course last weekend. Additionally, when it comes to Sonoma, Riley has never ran here in the Cup Series, but he did just finish fifth in this weekend's Xfinity race. At $4,900 on DraftKings, Herbst is one of the cheapest drivers on the slate, and is by no means a slam dunk DFS pick this weekend. But if you need to save some cap space, and he fits in the lineup, why not roll the dice?
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
July 13, 2025
Houston Astros right-hander
Cristian Javier (elbow) began a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on Saturday. In his first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery in June 2024, Javier threw 35 pitches over 1 1/3 innings. He allowed two earned runs on three hits and three walks, striking out one. The 28-year-old's fastball reached 95 mph, and Astros manager Joe Espada said he felt "really good" afterward. The Astros remain optimistic that Javier will contribute in the second half of the season, according to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle. Javier has a career 3.59 ERA in 501 innings, but it's anyone's guess how he'll fare coming off major surgery.
--Connor ByrneSource: Matt Kawahara
July 13, 2025
Team Penske's Joey Logano will start 22nd for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. This is the first time that Logano will start a Cup race outside of the top 20 at the California road course in his career. In 15 races at Sonoma, Logano has 12 top-20 finishes, including two top-10s in the last four Cup races at the site. Through 19 races so far this season, Logano has one win, 12 top-20 finishes, and an average finish of 17.6. Logano has one top-20 finish at road courses this season, coming at last week's race at the Chicago Street Course, but he has never finished worse than 24th at the track type in 2025. In practice for Sunday's race, Logano ranked 27th in overall lap averages and ninth in five consecutive lap averages. Considering his overall track history at Sonoma and his practice speeds, Logano is a sneaky and great overall DFS option for all formats this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
July 13, 2025
Austin Cindric of Team Penske will start 24th for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Cindric was the slowest qualifier of the three Penske entries in this week's race at Sonoma. In three previous races at the site, Cindric has one top-5 finish, but also collected positive Place Differential in all of his Cup appearances there. In 19 races completed this season, Cindric has 11 top-20 finishes and an average finish of 20.0. The No. 2 Ford driver also gained positive PD in all three road course events this season. In practice for Sunday's race, Cindric ranked 32nd in overall lap averages and did not run five consecutive lap averages. Cindric is a driver who historically is solid at road courses, but considering his slow practice speeds, he is not one of the first drivers that fantasy players should gravitate towards for lineup construction this week. Cindric's upside from his starting position does still make him playable in all formats, but he is not a top recommendation.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
July 13, 2025
Arizona Diamondbacks corner infield prospect
Gino Groover capped off a strong first half of the season with a 2-for-2 performance in Saturday's All-Star Futures Game, which the National League won 4-2. Both hits were singles, and the 23-year-old also scored once in the contest. The 2023 second-round draft pick came into the game riding a 20-game streak at Double-A Amarillo in which he reached base at least once via hit or walk, and is riding an 11-game hit streak, during which time he's gone 19-for-46 (.413). For the season, the D-backs' 10th-ranked prospect is slashing .312/.386/.469 with 16 doubles and 10 home runs. Now with 88 games under his belt at Double-A between 2024-25, look for the 6-foot-2 slugger to see some time at Triple-A later this season.
--Jarod RuppSource: MLB.com
July 13, 2025
Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar is starting in the 23rd position for this week's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Hocevar's starting position is the lowest of his Cup career to date at the California road course. In his only previous Sonoma start last season, Hocevar started 13th and finished 17th, losing a few positions, but still placing in the top 20. With 19 races completed so far in 2025, Hocevar has eight top-20 finishes, with an average finish of 23.5. However, only one of those came at a road course (13th at COTA) this season. In practice for this week's race, Hocevar ranked 30th in overall lap averages and 31st in five consecutive lap averages, while also spinning in practice. Hocevar's practice speeds do not inspire confidence, while his road course results this season have been mixed. With such mixed results and speeds, Hocevar is best recommended for tournaments, despite having enough upside to be playable in cash formats as well.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
July
13,
2025
Detroit Tigers
first
base/catching
prospect
Josue
Briceno
went
1-for-3
with
a
triple
and
a
run
scored
for
the
American
League
team
during
the
All-Star
Futures
Game,
in
which the
National
League
squad
ended
up
winning
4-2.
In
fact,
read more...
July 13, 2025
John Hunter Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club will start 18th for Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. Nemechek's starting position is a new career-best in the Cup Series at Sonoma. In his only Cup start at Sonoma in 2024, Nemechek started 37th, gained positive Place Differential, and finished 29th. After 19 races so far in 2025, Nemechek has nine top-20 finishes and an average finish of 18.9, highlighted by two top-15 finishes in his last two road course events. Notably, Nemechek has captured positive PD in all three road course events this season. In practice, Nemechek ranked 21st in overall lap averages and 12th in five and 10 consecutive lap averages. Despite offering lower upside than most around his salary range of $6,200 on DraftKings, Nemechek has quietly been one of the better performers at road courses in terms of scoring PD this season. Nemechek is a sneaky driver who should be considered in all formats, but especially in tournaments.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
July 13, 2025
With two road courses and Daytona left in the seven races before the NASCAR playoffs begin, A.J. Allmendinger has not been totally eliminated from playoff contention as he is only 43 points behind Bubba Wallace for the final playoff transfer spot and he is much better on road courses than the two drivers he is chasing, Wallace and Ryan Preece. He might view himself as being in a must-win scenario and focusing on getting stage points, but he declined to do that at the Chicago Street Course last week and still finished fifth. Since it seems more likely he'll repeat the latter strategy, he probably won't lead many laps and he'll probably be stuck behind Shane van Gisbergen all day. He's still worth starting since he's likelier to overachieve his DFS salary expectations more than most drivers, particularly in a race where few road course stars qualified poorly, but he probably isn't quite the best option.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July 13, 2025
After having not won a race since his second straight fluky Daytona 500 win and back-to-back DNFs in the last two races which nearly cost him the points lead, William Byron is going to be a little undervalued for DFS play at Sunday's Sonoma race, particularly since he is starting third and is likely to lose a lot of place-differential points and because he is the fourth-most expensive driver at $10,000. Furthermore, Byron has only earned a single top-10 finish here in 2022, which was only a ninth-place finish. Although the track might not favor him, the track type does, as Byron had three straight top-10 finishes, including a third at the Charlotte roval and a second at Austin, so it seems inevitable that he'll run well at Sonoma soon. However, given his current record to date, he's probably not quite worth starting for DFS as expensive as he is.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July
13,
2025
The
hardest
Cup
Series
driver
to
evaluate,
Chase
Briscoe,
has
had
an
odd
season-long
trend
of
qualifying
and
finishing
well
but
running
worse
than
it
appears
on
the
surface.
That
can't
be
sustainable
forever,
and
indeed
Briscoe
had
an
atypical
race
read more...
July 13, 2025
After winning his first race at Sonoma three years ago, Daniel Suárez returns to the site of his triumph as a lame-duck driver as he has been released from Trackhouse Racing to presumably make room for Saturday's winner Connor Zilisch, who has not yet been formally announced. Although Suárez was a quite consistent qualifier here as he earned four top-10 finishes in qualifying in a row, not counting the canceled 2021 qualifying session, his win was something of an outlier that served as his only top-10 finish as well as the only race where he led a lap. Suárez has rarely seemed to have winning speed in any of his other Cup Series seasons unless his teams implemented wild strategies, and even that hasn't worked for him as much lately. Couple that with a career-worst starting position of 19th at Sonoma, and it's hard to envision him doing much.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July 13, 2025
Although Kyle Busch no longer seems to have the oval speed he once did, he remains a strong contender on road courses and seemingly nowhere else of late. At Austin, he led the most laps and earned 42 of his 62 laps led this season and finished fifth. At Chicago last week, he recovered from a spin to finish fifth again; his two fifths are his only top five finishes this season. Busch starts 17th, much worse than he did in either of those races, but he does only have two finishes worse than 7th at Sonoma in his last nine starts. Coupling that with the fact that he surely needs to win to make the playoffs and Busch is likely a high-volatility option who would likely reap high dividends if he doesn't crash (like at Austin or Chicago) or underachieve wildly if he does (like at Mexico City). Essentially, whether he's a good DFS play or not pretty much comes down to whether he makes a mistake.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July
13,
2025
Zane
Smith
of
Front
Row
Motorsports
will
start
12th
for
this
week's
Cup
Series
race
at
Sonoma
Raceway,
the
Toyota/Save
Mart
350.
Smith
outqualified
his
two
other
teammates
at
FRM,
as
he
is
the
only
driver
from
the
team
to
score
read more...
July 13, 2025
After coming out on top in his latest iteration of his feud with Bubba Wallace last week at Chicago, Alex Bowman advanced to Round 3 of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge, where he should be easily favored to advance since he has earned top-10 finishes in all three of his road/street-course starts this year while Dillon has never earned a top-10 finish on either track type in his career. Since Bowman starts ninth, there is a solid chance that he will lose positions from his starting spot, and he isn't the kind of driver who can usually go out and dominate a race. Since he's unlikely to score either place-differential or lap-leader points, he's not as valuable as he might seem on the surface, but considering he's been a consistent top-10 finisher on road courses lately, there's definitely a little value.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July 13, 2025
Although Denny Hamlin doesn't have as strong a record at Sonoma as he does at many other tracks, he is probably going to be a little undervalued for DFS play because he has finished 31st, 36th, and 38th in his three races with the Next Gen car. However, that record is somewhat misleading with regard to how he has actually run as he wo the pole in 2023 and crashed after leading 33 laps then blew an engine on lap 3 last year, which suggests he will likely finish better than a statistical model based on recent performance would predict, particularly considering he had five consecutive top ten finishes at Sonoma before that, highlighted by a second-place finish where he arguably should've won before Tony Stewart ran him into the wall. Considering Joe Gibbs Racing's traditional road course speed and his 16th-place starting position, he should gain positions in the race, but maybe not enough to justify starting him.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July 13, 2025
Brad Keselowski got himself in some hot water when he publicly lambasted NASCAR for suddenly embracing more road course races in the Jim France era, which helped precipitate a decline for a champion who was typically mediocre on road courses apart from a few years at Watkins Glen. At Sonoma, Keselowski tended to be much more mistake-prone. Although he's actually finished in the top 20 in his last nine Sonoma starts, his only finish better than 10th came in 2017 when he finished third while he was still good. Now that he is on the verge of not being good anymore, the chances of him pulling out a strong run seem much likely, especially when he is in a win-and-in scenario in a track where he's essentially certain not to win today. Although he'll probably gain a few spots from his 21st-place starting position, it won't be enough to make him a great DFS contender.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July 13, 2025
Although Austin Dillon crashed last week in Chicago, he's well worth considering for DFS play this week at Sonoma, mainly because the Richard Childress Racing cars have been faster on road courses than they have on any other track type lately. Not only did Kyle Busch lead the most laps at Austin, he also recovered from a spin to finish fifth last week while his similarly-named teammate Austin Hill got his first top ten. Even Dillon himself earned a surprise top ten qualifying run at Chicago before his crash. Having qualified 33rd for today's Sonoma race, Dillon stands a really solid shot at earning Place Differential points at a track where he finished between 11th and 19th in seven of his ten starts including his best finish of 11th in his first Next Gen race in 2022. If you want to free up money to draft Shane van Gisbergen, Dillon would be a solid option for that purpose.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July 13, 2025
St. Louis Cardinals shortstop prospect
J.J. Wetherholt hit leadoff for the National League team in Saturday's All-Star Futures Game, going 1-for-4 with a double in the contest that the NL team won 4-2. Wetherholt's hot hitting is what earned him a spot in the game, slashing .340/.460/.583 since June 3, including hits in each of his first three games at Triple-A Memphis. For the season, the Cardinals' top-ranked prospect is hitting .303 with eight home runs, 14 steals, and more walks (45) than strikeouts (42). With a good showing at Triple-A, the team's 2024 first-round draft pick could make a late-season debut in St. Louis, otherwise, expect him to see plenty of time in the big leagues next season. The 22-year-old is expected to see time at third base and second base in addition to shortstop during his time at Triple-A, which should help open multiple paths to a promotion to the big league club.
--Jarod RuppSource: MLB.com
July 13, 2025
Although Noah Gragson earned his first top-10 finish on a road course earlier this year at Austin, that is starting to look more and more like a fluke, as he is tending to run consistently mediocre everywhere. Case in point: His 32nd-place qualifying run at Sonoma on Saturday was far slower than his Front Row Motorsports teammate Zane Smith's 12th-place run, although he actually beat his other teammate Todd Gilliland in qualifying. Gragson missed the 2023 Sonoma race due to a concussion, so his only Cup Series start there came last year when he finished 26th for a Stewart-Haas Racing team that was arguably faster than FRM is now. There seem to be few reasons to justify starting him when there are better road-course drivers who are available for less money and are starting worse.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Referenec
July 13, 2025
Justin Haley's season has been somewhat disastrous thus far, but if he has any hope of turning around, it could happen at Sonoma. Last year, Corey LaJoie had one of his best runs of the year in the No. 7 car at Sonoma, where he finished 11th and had an average running position of 15th. However, Haley does not have as strong a record at Sonoma as LaJoie does, as he only finished in the top 20 once, earning a 12th-place finish in 2022 when he drove for Kaulig Racing. If Spire Motorsports' road-course cars are as fast as they seemed to be last year (especially at Watkins Glen), Haley may be an excellent dark-horse selection to earn place-differential points. The speed Michael McDowell showed last week at Chicago is certainly promising, but ultimately he's been running too poorly everywhere to be seriously considered for DFS play.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July 13, 2025
After backing into the Round of 16 in the NASCAR In-Season Challenge because he finished both of the first two races while his heavily-favored opponents Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski both crashed, Ty Dillon's run will likely end on Sunday now that he is facing Alex Bowman, a driver who has earned top-10 finishes in all three of his road/street-course starts, while Dillon has never had one in his career. At $5,000, Dillon is one of the most inexpensive drivers in the field, but in five Sonoma starts, he has never finished better than 23rd. The fact that he had his best qualifying run on Saturday and starts a career-best 26th indicates he's even less likely to gain place-differential points than he was in previous years. There are plenty of drivers who are available relatively cheaply who should be considered before him.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
July 13, 2025
Arizona Diamondbacks relief pitcher
Shelby Miller (forearm) will seek a second opinion after getting his MRI results. It's usually not good news when a pitcher is seeking a second opinion on an elbow or forearm issue. It seems like the D-Backs and Miller are trying to avoid having Tommy John surgery. The 34-year-old is currently sidelined with a right forearm strain, but we'll see what happens after the second diagnosis. It is looking increasingly likely that Miller is done for the season. That would be tough news for the D-Backs who are already without
Justin Martinez (elbow), AJ Puk (elbow), and
Jalen Beeks (back) right now. That being said, the D-Backs are likely going to use a committee of
Kevin Ginkel,
Kendall Graveman, and
Kyle Backhus as their closer going forward.
--Andy WebbSource: Arizona Sports
RADIO
