2 months agoFor Sunday's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, Christopher Bell will start third. This will be Bell's best starting position in his Cup career to a race at Texas and of 2024 so far. Bell has three top-5 finishes in five previous Texas races, including last Fall's race at the site, where he placed fourth. Through eight races so far in the 2024 season, Bell has five top-10 finishes and led in five different Cup events. In practice, Bell's car looked best on longer runs as he ranked fifth of all drivers in 20 consecutive lap averages. The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota is a DFS risk this week due to his starting position, leaving little place differential upside. However, with Texas being one of his better 1.5-mile intermediate tracks, Bell is worth considering for tournament-based lineups. Regardless of track type, Bell is also worth considering as he ran well at all races where he was unaffected by car issues or accidents so far this season.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoKyle Busch will start the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway from the 35th position this week. Busch was credited with this deep starting position toward the rear after crashing during practice and not running a lap in qualifying. In 33 starts at Texas, Busch has four wins, 27 top-20 finishes, and 1,069 laps led, which is second-most of all drivers in the field. After eight races in 2024 so far, Busch has five top-20 finishes with only two inside the Top 10. Despite only running 10 total laps in practice, Busch's five-consecutive lap average ranked 25th among all drivers. Considering his enormous place differential upside, equipment, and history, Busch is a must-play for DFS lineups, especially in cash games, despite going to a backup car.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoIn qualifying for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott gained a starting position of 24th. This is Elliott's second time this season that he will start worse than 11th and his second consecutive time at Texas that he will start outside of the Top 20. In 13 Texas starts, Elliott has six top-10 finishes but also led in his last two appearances at the site. During practice for Sunday's race, Elliott showcased a car best suited for longer green flag runs by having the fourth-best 20-consecutive lap average and the second-best 25-consecutive lap average. Although Elliott has yet to score a top-10 finish at Texas in the next-gen car, he still has a great place differential upside and is in Hendrick Motorsports equipment. Elliott also has yet to finish outside of the Top 20 in any race this season. With these factors in mind, Elliott is a fantastic recommendation for all DFS formats this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
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2 months agoFront Row Motorsports driver Todd Gilliland nabbed a starting position of 28th for this week's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Gilliland matches the best starting position of his career at Texas and will start 24th or worse for the sixth time this year. In two previous Texas starts, Gilliland's best finish is 28th, which he scored in 2022, while he has three top-10 finishes in seven Truck Series races at the site. Through eight races so far this season, Gilliland has two top-20 finishes, but he did obtain a positive place differential four times, including in Las Vegas, where he placed 24th. In practice, Gilliland ranked 21st in five-consecutive lap averages and 17th in 10-consecutive lap averages of all drivers. With favorable PD upside and equipment capable of competing for a top-20 finish, fantasy players should consider Gilliland as a solid DFS value play.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoDuring qualifying for the ninth race of the season, the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin qualified 11th. This marks Hamlin's fourth race this season where he will start outside of the Top 10 and his first starting position outside of the Top 10 at Texas since 2017. In 33 starts at Texas, Hamlin has three wins and 16 top-10 finishes, including the past two races at the site in the next-gen car. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota is one of the most successful drivers of the season so far with two wins, five finishes of 11th or better, including an average finish of 11.0, and he led in every event after eight races. In practice, Hamlin ranked 11th in overall lap averages of all drivers. With his equipment and overall performance so far this season, expect Hamlin to finish in the Top 10 and continue his strong 2024 season.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoStewart-Haas Racing driver Ryan Preece will start 26th in this week's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. This is the fifth time Preece will start below 25th at Texas, and the third time this season, he will start outside the Top 25. Through seven previous races at TMS, Preece's best finish is 18th, but he did obtain a positive place differential four times in his last six appearances there. After eight races so far this season, Preece has three top-20 finishes but also scored positive PD seven times, making him one of the better DFS performers for the price this season. In practice, Preece's 10-consecutive lap average ranked 23rd of all drivers, while his overall lap average ranked 22nd. Considering his starting position, Preece once again has a favorable PD upside and should move up a couple of positions based on his practice speeds while competing for a top-20 finish.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: Driveraverages.com
2 months agoThe road to victory lane at Texas Motor Speedway will likely go through Kyle Larson this weekend. The Hendrick Motorsports driver was super fast in practice, posting the second-best ten-lap average, and then went out and qualified on the pole for this weekend's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. The last time he started on the front row at a 1.5-mile track was at Las Vegas earlier this season, where Larson led 181 of the 267 laps en route to victory, sweeping the Stage wins along the way as well. Since the start of the 2023 season, Larson has the best average running position, most laps led, and highest number of fastest laps on this track type. He is priced at $11,000 on DraftKings this weekend, and even though the price is high, Larson should be a core DFS pick--at least in cash games.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Win The Race
2 months agoTyler Reddick should be one of the contenders in this weekend's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. He won the 2022 race here and led 36 in laps in last year's event but finished 25th after being burned by a caution in the middle of the pit cycle. At Las Vegas earlier this season, Reddick had one of the best cars and finished runner-up to Kyle Larson after showing a ton of speed late. Las Vegas correlates well to Texas, and this weekend's race will likely come down to those two once again. Reddick is priced at $10,000 on DraftKings, which is a bit lower than he should be. This allows you to fit the 23XI Racing driver nicely into lineups, and with his high upside for finishing position as well as dominator potential, you definitely should. Reddick is one of the best DFS picks on this weekend's NASCAR slate at Texas.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
2 months agoBubba Wallace qualified his No. 23 Toyota in 10th-place for this weekend's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 and he should be a top-10 contender when the checkered flag waves as well. Looking back at all of the races on 1.5-mile tracks since the start of the 2023 season, Bubba has the 12th-best average running position on them along with an average result of 13.57. Here at Texas, he started on the pole last fall and led 111 laps en route to a career-best third-place finish. Bubba ranked ninth-fastest in terms of ten-lap average during practice at Texas this weekend. Look for him to challenge for his fourth top-10 finish of the season on Sunday. When it comes to DraftKings, though, Bubba's $8,700 salary and limited place differential potential make it tricky to go too heavy on him. In tournaments, he could be a contrarian dominator, but it'll take a lot for Wallace to get into the optimal Texas lineup at that price.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Win The Race
2 months agoDaniel Suarez isn't one of those drivers that you constantly point to when the NASCAR Cup Series is at an intermediate race track, but the Trackhouse Racing driver seems to have something figured out at Texas Motor Speedway, so you should definitely consider him for this weekend's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. Over the last three races at Texas, Suarez has posted finishes of eighth, 12th, and 10th, and he had a couple of third-place results here back in 2019 as well while driving for Stewart-Haas Racing. This weekend, Suarez qualified back in 17th, giving him room for place differential points in DFS contests while his salary is a palatable $7,200 on DraftKings. During practice on Saturday, Suarez ranked sixth-fastest in terms of ten-lap average.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
2 months agoBrad Keselowski has been one of the best drivers at Texas Motor Speedway as of late. Over the last five races in the Lone Star State, BK has posted finishes of ninth or better in every single one of them, including seventh- and eighth-place finishes in the last two with the NextGen car. However, with all of those races, Keselowski also started inside the top 10. That is not the case for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 this weekend. The No. 6 Ford will roll off the grid from 22nd on Sunday, and while this does give some place differential upside for Kez in DFS contests, it is worth noting that the No. 6 team struggled with long-run speed during practice on Saturday. They also struggled to find speed at Las Vegas earlier this season, finishing 13th after starting 25th. While Keselowski should improve from his 22nd-place starting spot at Texas, his top-10 finishing streak at this track may be in jeopardy this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
2 months agoRicky Stenhouse Jr. was off in speed and acceleration during practice and qualifying on Saturday. Not surprisingly, the JTG Daugherty Chevrolet starts 31st at Texas. Even his practice lap intervals tailed off dramatically. That 15-lap time of 30.335 seconds was the slowest of any car who ran that many laps. Stenhouse was about 0.405 to 0.409 seconds off in individual lap runs. However, longer runs produced slower and slower numbers for the No. 47 car. Watching the tenths of a second melt away on the turns looked like a hint of what may come on Sunday at Texas.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoTy Dillon tries to keep pushing the Kaulig Racing car but to no avail. Dillon was 0.639 seconds off in practice and 0.653 seconds in qualifying on Saturday. He will start the Texas race back in 36th. The No. 16 Chevy is a bit slower than the Spire Motorsports car he had raced in last season. Dillon is a decent candidate for place differential given his 36th-place start on Sunday afternoon. However, this hinges on if he can keep the car running and there are more caution flags than usual. With intermediate track speed an issue, Dillon cannot run 29 second or better laps like the faster cars. Speed is a significant issue.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 months agoAustin Dillon and his Richard Childress Chevrolet has had a rough start to the 2024 season. His best result was 16th in Las Vegas and every other result has been outside the Top 20. Worse, he has no DNF's in the No. 3 car. That simply means the performance has been lacking. Dillon qualified 15th for Sunday's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. The Texas Motor Speedway track has been good for Dillon during the Spring in the past. He won the 2020 All-Star Race and placed second in the 2022 event. Alas, can Dillon's car perform over 267 laps is the biggest question mark.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
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