March 2, 2025
Ryan Preece starts 28th at Austin on Sunday. He is not particularly known as a road racer, having only posted two top-10 finishes in 21 road-course starts, but he did have one of his all-time best moments at the inaugural race in 2021 in Austin when he passed Ross Chastain for the lead in the rain. However, that came with the previous Gen 6 car, and he's rarely shown much with the Next Gen chassis. Sometimes drivers can benefit from being teammates of strong road racers who can help with setups, so there is a possibility Chris Buescher may be able to do that for Preece, but since Buescher himself qualified a mere four positions better than Preece and finishes in the top-10 more than any other driver on this track type of late, he's a much better choice for DFS play than Preece, even though Preece is cheaper.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 2, 2025
Riley Herbst is making his NASCAR Cup Series debut on a road course in Sunday's race at Circuit of the Americas. Although he actually led Saturday's Xfinity Series race for a while, don't expect him to repeat that feat on Sunday, as it generally takes time for any new driver to learn the Next Gen chassis, and Herbst is proving to be no exception after qualifying 31st. Simply because of the speed of his car, his poor qualifying position, and the fact that his DraftKings salary of $5,400 is so cheap, there might be some DFS value here if you think he has similar speed to his teammates, but more likely his inexperience will result in a mediocre finish.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 2, 2025
Although Cody Ware has a surprising amount of road course experience and he even won an Amateur class championship in the Asian Le Mans Series in 2019-20, he has never really factored in his NASCAR Cup Series road course starts to date as he has an average finish of 31.8 on all road courses and an average of 28.0 at Austin specifically. On top of that, he not only qualified 37th and last in yesterday's qualifying session, but he was also 1.3 seconds slower than the next-slowest driver Austin Cindric, and this is not the sort of track where one would expect a slow car to fluke into a decent finish. Ware should obviously not be considered for any fantasy prospects.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 2, 2025
No, that's not a typo on the starting lineup for this weekend's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. Bubba Wallace actually qualified on the outside pole for this weekend's race. Road course tracks have typically been a major struggle for Wallace, but he has been improving at this track type over the years. Looking at the last eight races at road courses, Bubba hasn't finished worse than 20th, and he actually came home with a ninth-place finish at the Charlotte Roval last October. This weekend, Bubba will start on the front row for the first time ever at a road course, which actually ended up being a historical qualifying session for 23XI Racing. As far as DraftKings playability, though, it's best to avoid Bubba Wallace in DFS fantasy contests this weekend. It's very unlikely that he finishes as high as he qualified this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: MSN
March 2, 2025
One driver that was a bit of a surprise on the leaderboard in qualifying at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday afternoon was Todd Gilliland, who was just 27th-fastest in practice earlier that day but ended up qualifying 10th for his weekend's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. And don't be surprised if the Front Row Motorsports driver parlays that into a solid finish on Sunday as well. Gilliland already has a pretty solid record at this track, with finishes of 10th in 2023 and 16th in 2022. Additionally, he was pretty good on the road courses overall last season, finishing between 10th and 18th at Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and the Charlotte Roval. At $6,600 on DraftKings, Gilliland likely starts too high up to take any real shot with him, but it's worth having a little bit of exposure in DFS tournaments this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
March 2, 2025
Zane Smith is a sneaky DFS option to consider at Circuit of the Americas this weekend. Even with all of his struggles last season while with Spire Motorsports, Smith was able to put up respectable finishes on a consistent basis on the road-course tracks. Here at COTA last season, Smith walked away with a 19th-place finish despite starting back in 34th, and he followed that up with a 16th-place result at Sonoma, a fifth-place finish at Watkins Glen, and a 19th-place finish at the Charlotte Roval. And don't forget, he has two COTA wins under his belt in the Truck Series. This weekend, Smith qualified 20th for Sunday afternoon's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. He is priced at $6,400 on DraftKings and should be considered a risky tournament option.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Racing-Reference.info
March 2, 2025
Don't expect much out of Cole Custer in this weekend's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas. The Haas Factory Team driver has shown decent upside at road courses in the past (he had three top-15 finishes on them in 2022) but the No. 41 Ford is struggling this weekend, and it's hard to see Custer cracking the top 20 on Sunday. In the first practice session on Saturday, the No. 41 Ford was 27th-fastest out of 37 drivers, and Custer got even worse in the second practice, ranking 35th-best. At $6,500 on DraftKings this weekend, there are better drivers to spend that money on with your DFS lineups on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
March 2, 2025
If you're looking for a cheap option on DraftKings this weekend at Circuit of the Americas, don't overlook Ty Dillon. The Kaulig Racing driver starts way back in 34th for Sunday's afternoon's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, and he has 21st- and 20th-place finishes to his credit at this track (back in 2021 and 2022, respectively). Dillon isn't a top-tier option at road courses, by any means, but he's a capable driver in decent equipment. Back in 2023, he finished 23rd at Sonoma, and also ran 16th at Watkins Glen in 2022. Ty posted the 19th-fastest lap during the second practice session on Saturday afternoon. If you need to save some cap space with your DraftKings lineup this weekend, Ty Dillon ($5,100) just may be your guy.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
February 24, 2025
Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch ended Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the seventh position. The No. 8 Chevrolet driver would fail to score stage points for the day as he ended the first stage in 12th position and the second stage in 19th. In the final stage, Busch took advantage of pit strategy and adjustments made on his car by his team throughout the day and took the lead around lap 193, leading his first laps of the day. Busch exchanged the lead with several drivers until he lost it to Ryan Blaney on lap 224. Ultimately, Busch would never get back to the lead from this point but managed to avoid multiple crashes and incidents to walk away with the fifth top-10 finish of his Cup career at Atlanta since the track was reconfigured in 2022.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
February
24,
2025
Kyle
Larson
ended
up
earning
the
best
result
of
his
Cup
career
at
a
drafting
track
during
Sunday's
Ambetter
Health
400
at
Atlanta
Motor
Speedway.
Beginning
the
race
from
the
17th
position,
Larson
did
not
do
much
during
the
first
stage
read more...
February 24, 2025
On Sunday, Ryan Blaney of Team Penske went through an eventful race, the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but managed to leave with a fourth-place result. Blaney began the race from the lead but eventually faded back to eighth by the end of the first stage, scoring a few stage points. The second stage was quiet for Blaney as he ended it in 12th and failed to earn more stage points, but the third stage was where Blaney started experiencing setbacks. After a few pit stops and some strategy, Blaney eventually managed to trade the lead with a few drivers until Carson Hocevar bumped him on lap 234, sending him spinning. Blaney saved the car from being out of the race and then rallied back to the front by the end to capture the sixth top-10 finish of his Cup career at Atlanta since 2022.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
February 24, 2025
Although Bubba Wallace outqualified all the other Toyota drivers for Sunday's Ambetter Health 400, he never led and rarely contended for the lead but he consistently ran well nonetheless and finished ninth. His ninth-place average running position and 100.8 driver rating were both better than any other Toyota drivers. It's possible that since his past record indicated he was unlikely to win at Atlanta, that he chose to maximize points instead, and he definitely did that as his 44 points scored were tied with Kyle Larson for the most in the field, which elevated him from a tie for 17th in points to fifth. It's still unclear whether he will make the playoffs or not since he was fourth after this race last year and missed the playoffs, but he has definitely had a good start.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 24, 2025
Ross Chastain was a relative non-factor in the first half of Sunday's Atlanta race, as he rarely ran in the top 10 until he stayed out of the pits during the Stage 2 caution when the other leaders pitted. However, on the ensuing restart, Chastain immediately took the lead from Chase Briscoe with the help of Shane van Gisbergen and ran consistently near the front for the rest of the race, leading seven times for 25 laps. He beat the leader Kyle Larson to the line on the overtime restart but ultimately fell to eighth after his protege Carson Hocevar bumped him out of the racing groove, which caused him to lose his momentum. Although Chastain missed out on what could have been a possible win and confronted Hocevar after the race, he still did what he needed to do in avoiding a crash.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 24, 2025
After embarrassing himself by triggering the first Big One in the Daytona 500 a week ago, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recovered to finish fifth at Atlanta despite qualifying a miserable 34th. He never led the race, and his average running position of 18th wasn't stellar, but he led the field with a pass differential of 59 and 13 fastest laps and he continues to show a knack for being there at the end of drafting-track races, even though it didn't seem like the Chevies were quite as fast as the Fords. This marked his first top-five finish since HYAK Motorsports purchased JTG Daugherty Racing and elevated him to sixth in points in a tie with Kyle Larson and John Hunter Nemechek, but based on recent history, it seems very unlikely he will have much speed at all outside of drafting tracks, so he probably won't contend for the playoffs.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
February 24, 2025
Carson Hocevar earned his best career finish in the NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta on Sunday when he finished second from a 26th-place starting spot. After choosing not to fight for the lead in previous drafting-track races in an attempt to avoid crashing, Hocevar adjusted his strategy and fought for the lead this time, but not without ruffling a couple feathers as he first spun out Ryan Blaney to trigger the ninth caution and then bumped his mentor Ross Chastain out of the way on the overtime restart to move into a three-wide battle for the lead with Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson before Josh Berry spun out on the final lap. Hocevar was listed in second place at the time of the crash, which also moved him into his best-ever points position of 15th, making him a possible playoff dark horse this year.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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