March 2, 2025
Justin Haley has a reputation as a strong road racer because of a couple genuinely strong runs at Chicago in 2023 and the Charlotte roval in 2022 that don't seem to be representative of his usual performance. His average finish at Austin is only 28.3. He did have a mechanical DNF in one of those races, but even if you go by average running position instead, his average only improves to 23rd as he has mostly run in the midfield. It may help him that Michael McDowell is now his teammate so he may be able to pick up something from his or Carson Hocevar's setups as Bubba Wallace has from Tyler Reddick, but since they both drastically outqualified him with Hocevar starting 4th and McDowell starting 16th, it's hard to imagine Haley doing much in the race.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 2, 2025
Although Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is a genuinely good driver on drafting tracks and he's had moments on all other track types, road courses are clearly Stenhouse's Achilles heel as he has only a single top-10 finish in 40 road-course starts. It did come here at Austin in 2023 when he finished seventh, but that was mostly because he drove through an endless series of wrecks and not because he actually had speed, as his average running position was only 19th. Stenhouse has proven repeatedly that this track type is not his métier, and since he is starting 22nd, he also outqualified several drivers who you would expect to run better (especially Chris Buescher). Stenhouse should not be considered for any race bets, even in DFS.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 2, 2025
Josh Berry had possibly the best drive of his career at Atlanta last week where he led 56 laps, but that means nothing in terms of predicting how he'll do at Austin. Berry has only made four Cup Series starts on road courses to date but so far they seem to be his worst track type a his average finish of 28.5 is worse than on any other discipline and he ran in the 30s for almost the entire event last year. Since the Wood Brothers team might be a downgrade from the Stewart-Haas Racing #4 team, especially since he no longer has Rodney Childers as his crew chief, it's hard to imagine he'll do much better this year. Berry is probably best avoided for DFS lineups.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
March 2, 2025
After a miserable 2024, John Hunter Nemechek is improbably one of only two drivers to earn top-10 finishes in the first two races this season, but those both came on drafting tracks that have little to do with the rest of the schedule, so his performance in previous years is probably more important when forecasting his performance at Austin. In last year's event, he was not much of a factor, starting 22nd and finishing 21st. This year, however, he has qualified 33rd and seems to be even slower, although he only qualified one position worse than his Legacy Motor Club teammate Erik Jones. Even though they both qualified so badly and are cheap, they have been so slow on non-drafting tracks of late that they are probably very negligible in terms of DFS value.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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
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