June 28, 2025
AJ Allmendinger has only made three starts on the "new" Atlanta race track, but he's made the most of them. In addition to his third-place finish here back in the summer 2023 race, Dinger has also posted results of 14th and 16th in his two other starts at this track. Additionally, he's been able to rack up fastest laps in these events, averaging 7.667 fastest laps per start here in the Next Gen era. This weekend, Allmendinger qualified 21st for Saturday night's Quaker State 400 race. This gives him some Place Differential upside for DFS but, at the same time, many DraftKings players will probably overlook AJ (especially at his $6,100 salary). He's worth a roll of the dice in tournament formats and single-entry contests.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
June 28, 2025
If you're looking for a low-tier fantasy pick to roll the dice with in this weekend's Quaker State 400, consider Justin Haley. The Spire Motorsports driver has an average finish of 14.9 over the seven Next Gen races at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), and over the last three summer races he has walked away with finishes of 12th, eighth, and seventh. This weekend, Haley qualified in 22nd-place, which gives him some Place Differential upside but doesn't make him an obvious DFS choice by any means. At $5,600 on DraftKings, Haley is a tournament option to have some exposure to (but don't go overboard). One other thing to note is that the Spire Chevrolets have racked up fastest laps on superspeedways this season. Haley put up nine fastest laps here at Atlanta in February and had eight fastest laps at Daytona earlier this year as well.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
June 28, 2025
The NASCAR Cup Series is at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta) this weekend, and that means it wouldn't be too crazy to see some of the underdog drivers perform well in the race. One of those is Corey Lajoie, who has a pretty good history at this race track. In addition to his fourth-place finish here back in 2023, Lajoie also has a fifth-place finish to his credit at this track and has ended up 15th or better in four of the seven Next Gen races. This weekend, Corey will be in the No. 01 Ford for Rick Ware Racing and will roll off the starting grid from 25th-place. That gives him some Place Differential upside in DFS, but is also high enough that his ownership should be relatively low. Lajoie is a cheap tournament option ($5,500 on DraftKings) for this weekend's Quaker State 400.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
June 28, 2025
Cole Custer used his Ford engine power to qualify seventh for this weekend's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta), his second-straight solid qualifying effort in a row, as the Haas Factory Team driver started fifth at Pocono last weekend. And while track position is always important an any race, it's likely we see Custer do the same thing this weekend as he did one week ago: fall back after the green flag waves. In the Next Gen era, Custer does have one good finish at Atlanta under his belt (a ninth in 2022), but other than that, he has ended up 32nd or worse in the other three races. Even though he's a cheap option in DFS this weekend ($5,400 on DraftKings), Custer is an easy fade due to his high negative Place Differential probability.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
June 28, 2025
David Starr makes his return to Cup Series action this weekend, as he will be behind the wheel of the No. 66 Ford for Garage 66 in this weekend's Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta). Starr qualified last (40th) for Saturday night's race and was well off of the pace in that session, as his lap time (34.113) was over three seconds slower than the pole time of Joey Logano (30.979). In terms of miles-per-hour, Starr averaged 162.519 on his qualifying lap, much slower than Cody Ware, who qualified 39th at 175.643 mph. With as off-pace as Starr is this weekend, it's recommended to completely avoid him in DFS despite the Place Differential upside he could potentially have.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
June 23, 2025
Ryan Blaney had arguably the most impressive drive in Sunday's race at Pocono. After being forced to start in the back due to making unapproved adjustments prior to the race, he drove into the top 15 despite his cooling suit failing early in the race. After speeding on pit road early in Stage 2, he miraculously recovered to finish eighth in that stage before ultimately finishing third in the race. After the race, he was so drained that he fell on his knees a couple times, but he appears to be otherwise OK. He gained 18 points on the championship leader William Byron, but since he trails Byron by 120 points, he's unlikely to be a serious contender for the regular-season championship.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 23, 2025
William Byron made one of the rapidest ascents through the field early in Sunday's Pocono race, earning points in Stage 1 after staying out of the pits leading up to the first stage caution because there was a risk he might've been lapped if he'd tried to pit then. Despite falling back to 18th after his pit stop, he broke into the top five and finished fourth in Stage 2. However, the wheels came off his race after he fell to 24th on the Stage 2 caution. After pitting an extra time on a later caution -- a rare strategy faux pas from Rudy Fugle -- Byron remained in the 20s for the remainder of the race and finished an uncharacteristic 27th. Because he collected more stage points than his teammate and closest pursuer Kyle Larson, his lead in the regular-season points battle only dropped from 68 to 55 points.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 23, 2025
Kyle Larson didn't have his usual speed at Pocono and he didn't drive up through the field as quickly as his teammate William Byron did, but he had a solid racecraft and finished seventh after qualifying 24th. Although he earned no points in Stage 1, he finished ninth in Stage 2 before jumping to sixth after pitting shortly before the final caution of the race for Shane van Gisbergen's spin. After falling to seventh on Lap 134, he maintained his position in a final stint where it was almost impossible to pass. Although Larson didn't score as many stage points as Byron, his much better finish resulted in him cutting his deficit for the regular-season championship by 13 points, and he now trails Byron by 55 points.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June 23, 2025
John Hunter Nemechek had one of the best runs of his career at Pocono on Sunday, finishing sixth after starting fourth as Legacy Motor Club's cars improve. Although Nemechek quickly fell from fourth to 10th early in Stage 1, he returned to the top five early in Stage 2 after pitting just before the first stage caution came out. Although he fell to the middle of the pack for much of Stage 3, he had the good fortune of making his final pit stops just a few laps before Shane van Gisbergen's spin. After settling into sixth position on Lap 132, he remained there for the rest of the race. With Nemechek now boasting back-to-back sixth-place finishes and his teammate Erik Jones finishing no worse than 17th in his last five starts, LMC seems to be having a resurgence this year as Nemechek gains experience while Jones recovers from last year's injury.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
June
23,
2025
Denny
Hamlin
of
Joe
Gibbs
Racing
fell
short
of
victory
during
Sunday's
Great
American
Getaway
400
at
Pocono
Raceway.
In
the
race's
first
stage,
Hamlin
started
from
the
first
position,
took
the
lead
immediately,
and
never
looked
back.
Despite
Chris
Buescher
read more...
June 23, 2025
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott had a highly favorable finish of fifth during this weekend's Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Beginning the race from the 18th position, Elliott displayed great speed right from the beginning as he went all the way up to the eighth position and claimed three stage points at the end of the first stage. In the second stage, Elliott progressed further through the field with his team also executing on pit stops and making no mistakes. Elliott finished stage two in the third position behind Chase Briscoe and Josh Berry. In the final stage, Elliott continued to maintain a top-5 running position through most of the stage, even across cautions and pit stops under green flag conditions. By the end of the race, he was trying to hold onto fourth, but was passed by Chris Buescher in the closing laps, giving Elliott a final finishing result of fifth, marking his fourth consecutive Pocono top-10 finish.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
June 23, 2025
Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing had a difficult weekend, culminating in a terrible result in Sunday's Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Wallace was initially slated to start in the 34th position for this race but had to start from the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments related to the car's starter. Wallace then spent the first stage progressively making up ground and passing cars. By the end of the first stage, Wallace ended in the 21st position and went to pit during the stage break. In the second stage, Wallace restarted deep in the pack but had a lot of trouble passing other drivers until Lap 54, where his car experienced a right front-tire failure and slammed into the Turn 2 wall. From there, Wallace could not continue racing and was credited with a finish of 36th, the worst of his Cup career at Pocono since 2018.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
June 23, 2025
Chris Buescher of RFK Racing placed fourth during Sunday's Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Buescher ran well throughout the entire race, running inside the top 10 and sometimes the top five despite shuffling through the field at times due to pit strategy. Buescher was fast from the beginning as he started the race in second and ended the first stage in second, falling short of passing Denny Hamlin for the stage win. The second stage had Buescher mostly run inside the top 10 after pit strategy would put him further back, but he caught up to fifth by the end of the stage. In the final stage, Buescher briefly held the lead for two laps before pitting under the green flag and setting himself up for the finish. He restarted outside of the top five during the race's final restart and eventually worked up to fourth, scoring his second career top-5 finish at Pocono.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
June
22,
2025
Heading
into
The
Great
American
Getaway
400
race
weekend,
Denny
Hamlin
was
pegged
as
the
favorite
by
sportsbooks
to
take
the
win
on
Sunday.
After
a
sluggish
start
to
the
weekend
in
practice,
and
it
looked
as
though
that
could
change.
read more...
June 22, 2025
Ryan Blaney will have some work to do to get to the front once the great flag waves at Pocono Raceway on Sunday afternoon, as the Team Penske driver ended up qualifying 20th for this weekend's The Great American Getaway 400. If he's able to get to the front, though, Blaney should be a contender for the win. The No. 12 Ford showed great long-run speed during practice at Pocono this weekend, just as it has at almost all intermediate race tracks this year. That long-run speed and consistency should help Blaney on race day. As far as DFS goes, Ryan Blaney is a premier option this weekend, even with the high salary of $10,700 on DraftKings. With high Place Differential upside as well as race-winning potential, you couldn't ask for more out of a top-tier driver. Blaney is a two-time winner at Pocono Raceway, and is the defending victor of this race in particular.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
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