4 weeks agoOn Saturday afternoon, Todd Gilliland qualified 14th for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Gilliland, who enters Sunday's race fresh off a top-10 performance, will look to build off this momentum at Phoenix. While never a threat to win a race, the 23-year-old remains one of my favorite value plays in DFS each week. Given that his salary is just $5,400 this weekend and that he is averaging 29.83 DraftKings points in the aero package being used in Sunday's race, he looks to be in a good position to at least hit the 5x value we typically look for in our lineup builds. While I would not go as far as to call him a core play, the No. 38 is certainly worth a few dart throws this weekend at Phoenix.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoOn Saturday afternoon, Ty Gibbs qualified 11th for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. While the end of a season can always be emotional, for Gibbs, this weekend takes on a different meaning as Monday marks the one-year anniversary of his father's passing. On November
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4 weeks agoAustin Cindric will start 27th in Sunday's season finale race at Phoenix Raceway. Despite a disappointing 2023, it has already been announced that Cindric will return to the No. 2 next season, an announcement that shows that Team Penske still has a lot of confidence in the young driver. While the future does look promising for the former Xfinity Series champion, do not expect this potential to be met this weekend at Phoenix, as this is a track he has struggled at in his Cup career. In his three Cup starts in the desert, he has yet to crack the top 10, and is averaging just 17.08 on DraftKings. With this said, given that he did win at this track twice on the Xfinity level, I would not go as far as to call him a complete fade this weekend in DFS, but I do think it is best to limit your exposure as he has yet to prove that he can handle this course on NASCAR's highest level.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoTy Dillon, like Austin, has a way of doing well at Phoenix. No one is talking a win here or even a top ten result. However, the Spire Motorsports driver does find ways to improve via place differential. Dillon has an odd knack of finishing better than he starts. In nine of his previous ten races on the short track, Dillon has not ended up better than 11th in his career on the track. His driver rating has only exceeded 65 once in 13 appearances. From a daily fantasy perspective, Dillon is cheap but expecting a top ten is unlikely at best. Keep expectations low and prosper.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 weeks agoOn Saturday afternoon, Chase Briscoe qualified 26th for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. While certainly not an exciting name, and while 2023 has been underwhelming, Briscoe is perhaps my favorite non-Championship 4 play this weekend. Not only does he have a Cup series win at this track, but in the three races in the Next Gen car at this venue, he is averaging 68.25 points on DraftKings, second only to Ryan Blaney (81.48). Given that his salary is just $7,500 and that he is starting from a position that provides place differential upside, Chase Briscoe becomes a core play in DFS this weekend.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoAustin Dillon may not qualify very well at Phoenix but often he improves from a position standpoint. Dillon has enjoyed positive place differential in five of his past six Fall races on the short track. Even in March, the Richard Childress Racing driver shot up to 16th from 30th. That was a bit surprising. Though attrition and some fortunate pit stops helped, the No. 3 did get faster as the race went on. Could that happen again on Sunday? That answer is possibly yes. Dillon starts 21st so at least getting in the top 20 is likely on Sunday afternoon.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 weeks agoRoss Chastain will wrap up the 2023 season by starting P8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Although 2023 has certainly been a disappointment given the expectations he set for himself in 2022, there is a lot of reason to be excited about Chastain this weekend at Phoenix. Considering he has two top-three finishes in his last three starts at this track, a span in which he has averaged 45.93 points on DraftKings, The Watermelon Man has to be on our radar when building our DFS lineups this weekend. While his $8,400 DraftKings salary is not cheap, it is a discount from his season average of $9,205, thus making him a viable play for DFS players this weekend.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoOn Saturday afternoon, Chris Buescher qualified P9 for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Despite being eliminated from the NASCAR playoffs, Buescher had a tremendous 2023. Not only were his three wins, eight top-five finishes, and 16 top 10s all career highs, but he enters the race +2 in place differential on the season, a claim that cannot be made by any of the Championship 4 drivers. With that said, while 2023 was a tremendous season, Phoenix has not been very friendly to the RFK Racing star. In his 15 Cup starts, he has just one top 10, with an average finish of just 22.1. While he will certainly be a driver who will win big money for DFS players in 2024, he will not be that driver this weekend at Phoenix.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoHarrison Burton began sixth last Fall at Phoenix Raceway. The Wood Brothers Racing driver finished 19th. It was his best finish on the 1-mile short track. Place differential for the No. 21 Ford has been -8, -13, and -5 in his appearances. That does not bode well for Sunday considering Burton starts 25th. Expecting a result of 20th or better is pretty remote. Burton did finish 15th at Martinsville but Phoenix is a different track where passing is far more challenging. Tempering DFS expectations is likely prudent on Sunday afternoon.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 weeks agoWilliam Byron will start on the pole in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Despite finishing 13th in last week's race at Martinsville, Byron comes into this race white hot as he has finished in the top 10 in seven of the nine playoff races. Considering he has both a Cup win (March 2023) and an Xfinity win (November 2017) at this track, there is no reason to think that this momentum will not continue this weekend in the championship race. Given the season he has had in 2023, the incredible playoff run that he has been on, and that he is averaging 52.02 DraftKings points in the three races in the Next Gen car at this track, load up on the No. 24 in DFS this weekend.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
4 weeks agoDaniel Suarez qualified 16th on Saturday for the season-ending race from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday. Suarez has struggled to contend and has two top ten results in his past 11 races. It is hard to believe he had three finishes of sixth or better and then struggled badly once again. It has been one of those seasons for the Trackhouse Racing driver. His Chevy has not been quite as fast as it should be. Again, Suarez concerns many for DFS as his place differential has been mostly negative during Fall races at Phoenix.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 weeks agoAlex Bowman finished ninth in March after starting 18th at Phoenix. It seemed hard to believe the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver pulled this off and yet Bowman did. The No. 48 car calls nearby Tucson, Arizona home. His debut race was his best on the Avondale 1-mile short track. Bowman led 194 laps and finished sixth. On Sunday, the driver begins 23rd. With the Championship Four battling and several high-profile drivers in the top ten, Bowman will have considerable work to do in order to move up significant from a position standpoint.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 weeks agoAric Almirola takes one last ride in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas car on Sunday as he begins 28th at Phoenix Raceway. He finished sixth two years ago but the past few races have been a struggle. It is likely Almirola will drive some here and there next year, but his days as a full-time driver are over. He led 66 laps last week and almost got past Ryan Blaney for the win last week at Martinsville. Phoenix may be a different story as the Ford started and finished outside the top 30 in March. Expectations may be low once again on Sunday.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 weeks agoJoey Logano is very proficient at Phoenix Raceway. He won the Fall race last year to win his second NASCAR championship. The Team Penske racing driver has not finished worse than 11th since late 2018. However, he did start 16th in the Spring and only ended up 11th. This Fall, he begins 17th. The No. 22 Ford has higher hopes this time around. Up until March of this year, Logano had at least one stage where he accumulated stage points. That included four stage wins in that span. It will be intriguing if the trend with Logano continues on Sunday at Phoenix.
--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
4 weeks agoThe NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix this weekend is the biggest race (thus far) of Ryan Blaney's career, so he picked a bad time to have a blunder in qualifying. Blaney's No. 12 Ford just didn't quite have the speed when the starting lineup was set on Saturday, and he will start from 15th-place when the Championship Race goes green. This is the worst starting position for Ryan Blaney in 16 career attempts at Phoenix Raceway. However, it's not all doom and gloom. The good news is, Blaney was one of the fastest cars on the long run during practice on Friday, ranking fastest in both 15- and 20-lap average. He's never won at Phoenix but he's currently on a four-race streak of top-five finishes and has finished 2nd in each of his last two attempts here. Blaney still has a chance of winning this year's Cup Series Championship despite the poor qualifying effort.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
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