March 29, 2026

Carson Hocevar will start Sunday's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway from the seventh position after qualifying. Hocevar has never previously qualified inside the top 10 for a Cup race at Martinsville. In five prior starts at the site in the Cup Series, Hocevar has two top-20 finishes and gained positive Place Differential four times. After six races so far this season, Hocevar has four top-20 finishes with two inside the top five, and he currently is 13th in the regular-season standings. In practice for Sunday's race, Hocevar ranked ninth in overall lap averages, but struggled in other categories in practice. Due to Hocevar's lack of upside from his starting position as well as his inconsistency at Martinsville in terms of finishes, he is difficult to trust in any DFS lineup this week. Hocevar should be avoided in all cash game lineups for DFS and for tournaments; there are better playable options with more upside around his salary range.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: DriverAverages.com

March 29, 2026

Team Penske's Austin Cindric will start sixth after qualifying for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. This is a new career-best starting position for the No. 2 Ford driver at Martinsville and has qualified inside the top 10 for the second time in his Cup career at the site. In eight Cup starts at Martinsville, Cindric has two top-10 finishes, and he scored positive Place Differential four times. Through six races so far this season, Cindric has one top-10 finish, an average finish of 25.0, and currently sits 21st in the regular-season standings. In practice for this week's race, Cindric ranked 29th in overall lap averages but displayed top-15 speeds in the 10-30 consecutive lap average categories. Cindric's high starting position makes him a DFS risk this week, and combined with his inconsistent history at Martinsville, he is only playable in tournament games. Despite almost no upside, he does have decent enough equipment to compete for a top-10 finish at Martinsville. --Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: DriverAverages.com

March 29, 2026

Denny Hamlin is on the pole for this weekend's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, and it should be no surprise that he is also the pre-race favorite to win on Sunday. Hamlin has been masterful at Martinsville over the course of his career, notching six wins over 40 career starts with an average finish of 10.4, which is second-best among active drivers. He's also posted top-five finishes in over half (21) of his 40 career starts. This weekend, Hamlin will be looking for win number seven at "The Paperclip," and his second of the young 2026 Cup Series season. The No. 11 Toyota wasn't the absolute fastest in practice on Saturday, but Hamlin's car had good long-run speed after the initial short run of laps. As long as Denny is able to get the lead on the start of the race, he should lead early and often this weekend--and contend for another win.--Jordan McAbee
Source: ESPN

March 29, 2026

Look for Ryan Blaney to contend at Martinsville Speedway yet again this weekend. The Team Penske driver has won two of the last five races at "The Paperclip" and has post top-five results in six of the eight Next Gen races at this track. He also just finished second here last fall after leading 177 laps. This weekend, Ryan Blaney has been shown good long-run speed yet again, which is what his No. 12 Ford is known for at this track. In practice on Saturday, Blaney ranked second-best in 25- and 30-lap average, which is a good sign for this team's race on Sunday. They'll roll off the starting grid from 12th-place when the Cook Out 400 goes green, which makes Ryan Blaney an ideal DFS target with some Place Differential upside as well as dominator ability.--Jordan McAbee
Source: ifantasyrace

March 29, 2026

Tyler Reddick is on a hot streak like no other. Through the first six races of the 2026 Cup Series season, Reddick has gone to victory lane four times and has just one result worse than eighth: a 13th-place effort at Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. This weekend will be a true test of the hot streak, though. The Cup Series is at Martinsville Speedway for the Cook Out 400, and Martinsville has been a weak link for Reddick throughout his career. He does have two top-10 finishes here (in 2024 and in 2021), but his career average finish of 19.4 over 12 total starts makes Martinsville one of the worst tracks on the schedule for Reddick. This is a good week to lay off of him in fantasy and go a different route, although Reddick did qualify eighth this weekend (his second-best start ever at this track).--Jordan McAbee
Source: Driver Averages

March 29, 2026

Look for Joey Logano to be strong in Sunday's Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway. The Team Penske driver is a previous winner at this race track (back in 2018) and is currently on a 13-race streak of top-10 finishes at this track. Logano will be looking to make it 14 in a row here on Sunday, and should have a very good chance to do that. The No. 22 Ford qualified in ninth-place for this weekend's race, and Logano had one of the most stable long-run cars in practice when it came to speed for the race. The only downside is that Logano hasn't had that great of a start to the 2026 Cup Series season, and has just one top-10 finish through the first six races. However, Martinsville is a great place for Joey to turn that around. As far as DFS goes, Logano at $9,000 on DraftKings is a very solid fantasy choice on Sunday.--Jordan McAbee
Source: Frontstretch

March 29, 2026

After his first bad finish of the year last weekend at Darlington (where he ended up finishing 34th after a mid-race incident), Bubba Wallace will be looking to get his 2026 Cup Series season back on track at Martinsville Speedway this weekend in the Cook Out 400. Martinsville has been a solid race track for the 23XI Racing driver over his NASCAR career, and in the last two spring races here, Bubba has finished inside the top five each time. Over his last seven starts here, he's ended up 11th or better each time. This weekend, Bubba qualified in 15th-place for the Cook Out 400, but his No. 23 Toyota looks stronger than that in race trim, as Wallace was third-fastest in 20-, 25-, and 30-lap average in practice. As far as DFS goes, Bubba Wallace looks like a very strong pick this weekend at Martinsville, especially with his affordable $8,300 salary on DraftKings.--Jordan McAbee
Source: ifantasyrace

March 29, 2026

Shane van Gisbergen has continued to show progress on the oval race tracks throughout his young NASCAR Cup Series career, and this weekend has been no different. After a slow start in practice on Saturday (where he wound up 34th-fastest), SVG rebounded with a solid top-five qualifying effort later that day and will start from fifth-place when the Cook Out 400 from Martinsville goes green. It's his career-best qualifying effort (so far) on an oval in the Cup Series. Martinsville is a track that, historically, has been a good venue for road course racers, like SVG. In three career starts at "The Paperclip," van Gisbergen has already notched two top-15 finishes, as he looks to get his first top-10 result this weekend.--Jordan McAbee
Source: Jayski

March 22, 2026

23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick had an eventful race at Darlington Raceway in this year's Goodyear 400, but he ultimately prevailed with victory. Reddick started from the pole position in first and led all laps until his first green flag pit stop, where his pit crew had a slow stop after trouble with tightening his lug nuts on his tires. This sent Reddick to the back half of the top 10, but he recovered positions until he ended the first stage in second, earning nine stage points and falling short of overtaking Brad Keselowski for the stage victory. During the second stage, Reddick dealt with brake issues that forced him to pit early in the stage to resolve them. Reddick continued to show that he had the fastest car in the race, as he rallied back to fifth by the end of the second stage and collected six more stage points. In the final stage, Reddick restarted inside the top 10 and quickly made up more positions, but midway through the stage, he made contact with Chris Buescher, causing Reddick to fall further behind Keselowski, who was leading around lap 242 after passing Buescher. Reddick then chased Keselowski through the rest of the stage until lap 266, where he passed Keselowski and never looked back for his first Darlington victory and his fourth of the season. Reddick became only the third driver in NASCAR history to win four of the first six races, and he continues to lead the regular-season standings by 95 points after six races.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

March 22, 2026

Brad Keselowski was the dominant driver in this week's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, but fell short of victory. Keselowski started the race from fifth and quickly displayed plenty of speed. The No. 6 Ford driver made it up to third before the first round of green-flag pit stops, but came away with the lead after a better pit stop sequence than Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick had a slow pit stop with issues on one of his tires. Keselowski went on to win the first stage and earn 10 stage points. Between the first and second stage, Keselowski lost the lead through a slow pit stop, but he gained it back midway through the stage thanks to having one of the fastest cars in the field. Keselowski went on to dominate the rest of the stage and win it, scoring 10 more stage points. In the final stage, Keselowski fell back once again through pit stops, but regained his lost positions as the third stage progressed, and he led the race until lap 266, when Reddick overcame his penalties and passed Keselowski. Reddick had a faster car, and Keselowski was unable to catch up to him, settling for second place despite leading 142 laps total. This was Keselowski's first top-5 finish since winning the spring 2024 race at Darlington, and he now rose up to eighth in the regular-season standings this season after six races.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

March 22, 2026

Team Penske's Ryan Blaney finished third in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway. Blaney began the race from the seventh position, but showed he had a fast car suitable for longer green flag runs. As the first stage progressed, Blaney went from seventh to third at the end of the first stage, earning eight stage points. Between stages, however, Blaney's pit crew did not get one of his tire's lug nuts tight and relied on teammate Austin Cindric's pit crew to fix the issue. As a result, Blaney started the second stage from the rear of the field and spent the stage recovering from his pit road mistake. Blaney fell short of scoring more stage points as he finished stage two in 12th. In the final stage, Blaney kept his car out of trouble and took advantage of his car's long-run speed to return to the top 10 and passed cars until he reached third by the end of the race. This is Blaney's best career finish in his Cup career at Darlington, and he is now second in the regular-season standings after six races this season.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

March 22, 2026

Carson Hocevar placed fourth in Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway after a hard-fought race where he started from the rear of the field. Hocevar was originally slated to start 16th, but his team made unapproved adjustments before the race that forced him to start last per the NASCAR rulebook. The No. 77 Chevrolet driver spent the entire race making up for starting in the back of the pack. By the end of the first stage, Hocevar made it up to 24th but was a lap down and did not score any stage points. Hocevar returned to the lead lap by using the wave around and continued to get closer to the front. At the end of the second stage, Hocevar finished 16th and failed to earn stage points. In the final stage, Hocevar continued to gain positions, and on the final green flag run, he went to pit road for his final stop later than most drivers, giving himself a tire advantage for the end of the race. Using this tire advantage, Hocevar went from 12th all the way to fourth by the end of the race, obtaining his first top-5 finish at Darlington. After six races, Hocevar is now 13th in the regular-season standings.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

March 22, 2026

Kyle Larson ended Sunday's Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway with a disappointing result of 32nd. The No. 5 Chevrolet driver began the race from the fourth position and displayed solid speed throughout the entire race. In the first stage, Larson ran inside the top 10 for most of the stage, but did not have the speed to compete for the lead against the top two drivers of the race, Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski. At the end of the first stage, Larson finished fifth and earned six stage points. During the second stage, Larson was able to lead the race as Reddick dealt with car issues and Keselowski dealt with a slower pit stop that allowed Larson to compete for the lead with Chris Buescher. The Hendrick Motorsports driver led 20 laps, but eventually lost the lead to Keselowski and slipped back to third, where he ended the second stage. In the final stage, Larson continued to run inside the top 10 through most of the stage, but as the stage progressed, he kept slipping and losing positions until he eventually was running 11th with 10 laps to go. Suddenly, Larson's car experienced internal issues with the toe link, causing him to fall off the lead lap and eventually finish in 32nd, two laps down. This continues a streak of not finishing a spring Darlington race in the top 10 since 2021, and he is now 10th in the regular-season standings after six races. --Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

March 22, 2026

It should come as no surprise that Tyler Reddick is fast at Darlington Raceway this weekend. "The Lady in Black" has long been one of his best tracks on the circuit, and Reddick has had a ton of speed to start out the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season, with three wins along with finishes of eighth and 13th over the last two weeks. Now, back to Darlington. Although Reddick has always shown a ton of potential at this race track, he has yet to go to victory lane at "The Track Too Tough To Tame." Reddick has come close (he has three runner-up finishes over the last eight races here) but has yet to get over the hump. Will that happen this weekend? The No. 45 Toyota was the clear fastest car in practice on Saturday, and Reddick went out and won the pole by over a tenth of a second in qualifying as well. All signs are pointing to a big day for this No. 45 team, and possibly their fourth win in the first six races.--Jordan McAbee
Source: Jayski

March 22, 2026

Kyle Larson has always been a high risk, high reward driver. However, that has never been more apparent than at Darlington Raceway, where "Yung Money" has notched six podium finishes (including one win) in 16 career starts. Larson has also led more laps (1,050) than any other active driver at this track. However, as mentioned before, there is some downside. To go along with those six podium finishes, Larson also has five results of 19th or worse at this track, but in several of those he still a contender before running into issues. This weekend, Larson will roll off the starting grid from fourth-place when the Goodyear 400 goes green, and there is no doubt that he has the talent to win on Sunday. The upside is definitely there, but is it worth the risk? Avoiding trouble is often times easier said than done at Darlington.--Jordan McAbee
Source: ifantasyrace