2 months agoFresh off a victory last weekend at COTA, William Byron will start 13th in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway, ending his streak of consecutive top-10 starts at Richmond at four races. Despite having strong starting positions in the four previous races at this venue, the seven-year Cup veteran has struggled to maintain track position, averaging 14.25 for his finishing position and 42.06 points for his DraftKings score. While these results aren't terrible, they are underwhelming, particularly given that his salary is $10,500 on DraftKings for this weekend's race. It should also be noted that the 26-year-old has had similar mediocre results at other short tracks in recent years. In the 11 short track races in the Next Gen car (Bristol Dirt excluded), the Hendrick Motorsports star is averaging 43.07 DraftKings points, which is 12th in the series. Although you should never fully fade a racer the caliber of William Byron, you do need to temper your expectations and limit your exposure to no more than 10% of your lineup builds this weekend in DFS.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
2
months
agoJosh
Berry
will
start
30th
in
Sunday's
Toyota
Owners
400
at
Richmond
Raceway.
Berry,
who
is
in
his
first
full
season
in
the
Cup
Series,
is
off
to
a
rocky
start
in
2024.
Despite
being
with
a
storied
team
(Stewart-Haas
Racing)
and
in
a
car
that
was
always
read more...
2
months
agoIt's
been
a
rough
start
to
the
2024
season
for
Joey
Logano.
Through
the
first
six
races
of
the
year,
Logano
sits
22nd
in
the
points
standings
and
has
just
one
top-10
finish--a
ninth-place
result
at
Las
Vegas
last
month.
But
if
Logano
is
going
to
turn
things
read more...
2 months agoRichmond Raceway is considered a driver's race track, and Kyle Busch has widely been considered one of the most talented drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series ever since he joined. So it should come as no surprise that Rowdy is very good at Richmond. Over 36 career starts at "The Action Track," Busch has gone to victory lane a series-best six times while posting an average finish of 7.1 (also a series-best mark). And over the last decade, Kyle has been the model of consistency. Looking at his last 18 races at Richmond Raceway, Busch has posted a single-digit finish in 15 of those events and hasn't had a result worse than 16th. Talk about good. This weekend, the No. 8 Chevrolet was way down on the speed chart during practice on Saturday (34th-fastest) but Busch will start the Toyota Owners 400 from 15th-place. With Rowdy being priced at $9,700 on DraftKings this weekend, it's hard to see the upside there for him to make it into the optimal lineup, though.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2 months agoTeam Penske has found plenty of success at Richmond Raceway, with both Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski getting two victories for the organization here as well as numerous top-10 finishes. But NASCAR's defending Cup Series Champion hasn't quite found that success at "The Action Track." Over 15 career starts at Richmond Raceway, Ryan Blaney has an average finish of 20.1, making this track one of his worst on the schedule. He has never posted a top-five finish here and has just three results inside the top 10. In other words, temper your expectations with Blaney for this weekend's Toyota Owners 400. While the No. 12 Ford did look to be very fast in practice on Saturday--Blaney ranked inside the top-five in all lap average statistics--his poor track record here and his 12th-place starting spot makes the defending Series Champion a risky pick on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2 months agoRichmond Raceway has never really been a great track for Michael McDowell during his Cup Series career, but there's hope on the horizon. Over the last year, the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports team has improved greatly on the short, flat tracks, including a sixth-place finish here at Richmond last season and an eighth-place finish at Phoenix earlier this year. When you consider that McDowell's career average finishes are 30.1 at Richmond and 28.3 at Phoenix, those are definitely big improvements. This weekend, McDowell qualified 31st for the Toyota Owners 400 race despite being 14th-fastest in practice. His track record at "The Action Track" leaves a lot to be desired (McDowell has just one top-20 finish in his last 11 starts here) but the No. 34 Ford showed pretty good speed on practice and McDowell has solid place differential upside because of his starting position, so his $7,000 price tag on DraftKings makes him a safe target for cash lineups.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
2 months agoAustin Dillon used to hate coming to Richmond Raceway. "I sucked there at the beginning of my career. I dreaded going there," he once said. But that's not the case anymore. Now, Richmond is one of the best tracks on the circuit for the Richard Childress Racing driver, as he has finished 11th or better in seven of the last ten races at "The Action Track." Now the question becomes, can we expect a good finish out of Dillon this weekend? The No. 3 Chevrolet was 12th-fastest during practice on Saturday and Austin qualified 22nd for this weekend's Toyota Owners 400. With him being in the weird price spot of $6,800 on DraftKings this weekend, Austin Dillon makes for a sleepy tournament pick for this weekend's Toyota Owners 400 based on his track history and upside.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Motorsport
2 months agoDon't be surprised if Todd Gilliland runs decent in the Toyota Owners 400 this weekend. Last year at Richmond Raceway, Gilliland finished a career-best 15th in the spring race, which is impressive considering his other three Cup Series results at this track have been 25th, 27th, and 25th. During media availability earlier this week, Gilliland stated, "We had a pretty solid run in last year's spring race, so that's the standard for this weekend." The No. 38 Ford was just 28th-fastest in practice on Saturday morning and but he went out and qualified sixth for this weekend's race, which was a major improvement. Although Gilliland does have some sleeper potential on Sunday night, his ceiling is likely a mid-teens finish at best, and he should be avoided in DFS contests due to his high starting position.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Digest
2 months agoWe're just six races into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season and we already have a two-time winner, as William Byron put on a dominating performance at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Byron's No. 24 Chevrolet was the fastest car in practice, qualifying, and the race at COTA. He led 42 of the 68 laps in the race, posting the fastest Green Flag Speed and the best Average Running Position. After the race, the Hendrick Motorsports driver stated, "Just super thankful to have this opportunity. It's just a lot of fun to win races, and it's really difficult, too." Byron now has six wins over the last 36 Cup Series races, the most of all drivers.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoIt ended up being another solid race day at Circuit of the Americas this past weekend for Ty Gibbs, who wound up finishing third after running near the front all day. His No. 54 Toyota was third-fastest in Green Flag Speed during the race and Gibbs ranked second-best when it came to Average Running Position. The sophomore Joe Gibbs Racing driver now has three top-five finishes over the past four races and has five consecutive top-10s. He is second in the points standings for the Cup Series. Now the series heads to Richmond, where Gibbs walked away with finishes of ninth and 15th in the two races there last season.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Fox Sports
2 months agoChris Buescher finished eighth in Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, TX. Despite being his fourth top-10 finish of the season, it was a rather uneventful day for the Texas native in the Lone Star State. Perhaps the biggest story coming out of the race is that Buescher finished with 48.45 DraftKings points, the sixth highest on the slate. While these results were not enough to earn him an appearance in the optimal lineup, he did return over 6x value on his $7,800 salary, which is considered a good play for the 25.96% that rostered him in DFS. Next up for the Cup Series is an Easter Night race at Richmond Raceway, a track Buescher won at last summer.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
2 months agoOn Sunday afternoon, Kyle Busch finished ninth in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas, marking his second top-10 finish of the season. While a top-10 finish would normally be a topic of conversation, that is not why everyone is talking about Kyle Busch exiting the weekend. In turn one of lap 40, Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell went for the same spot on the track, leading to contact that spun Busch's No. 8 Camaro. Despite rebounding from the incident, the former Cup Series champion was clearly frustrated with his former teammate, resulting in a confrontation between the two. Although the microphones did not capture the entire conversation between the two, we did hear Busch warn Bell that retaliation was coming. While cooler heads may prevail, this is a situation to monitor moving forward, as it could impact Bell's value for DFS heading to Richmond and beyond.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Jayski.com
2 months agoJustin Haley had another strong run at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, qualifying 13th and crossing the finish line in 17th. The No. 51 Ford was 18th-fastest in Green Flag Speed during the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix and ranked 11th-best in Average Running Position. However, during post-race inspection, Haley's car was found to be too light and he was disqualified from the event. Due to the DQ, Haley will be credited with a 39th-place finish for the race. The statement from Rick Ware Racing regarding the disqualification was simply, "The car was just too light in post-race inspection."
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Bob Pockrass
2 months agoMartin Truex Jr. had an eventful day at COTA. There was that problem on Lap 1. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver recovered enough to rack up eight points from Stage 2. Other than that, Truex Jr. led two laps. He fell back outside the Top 10 late before sliding back in at the end of the 68 laps. Simply, Truex Jr. has not had the best of seasons. However, his 51 stage points overall help him lead in points despite zero wins. Again, the No. 19 car does have four Top 10 finishes and has led a total of 124 laps. Truex Jr. and his Toyota figure to be in contention at Richmond on Easter Sunday. He has a win and five top ten results in six races there.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoA.J. Allmendinger started 14th on Sunday at COTA. The Kaulig Racing driver survived a little bit of attrition and managed to finish sixth on the road course. Allmendinger never led a lap and could not keep up with the contenders like William Byron, Christopher Bell, and Ty Gibbs. Allmendinger did not contend for the stage points. After all, he drives part time at the top level while racing full-time in the Xfinity Series. He wa closer to winning that race until a late mishap. Sixth is better than a DNF at least.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
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