6 days agoOn Saturday afternoon, Noah Gragson qualified 39th for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas (COTA). Gragson is off to a hot start in 2024, as he has three top 12s in just five races. Even with last week's 34th place finish, which came in a race plagued by tire issues, his average finish for the season is 19.4, which is quite impressive given how relatively inexperienced he still is. Despite the strong start to the year, there is reason to believe that the Stewart-Haas star may fall back down to earth this weekend at COTA. While Gragson has an average finish of 11.31 in his 21 Xfinity starts on road courses, he has an average finish of 21.5 in his two Cup starts on road courses, which includes a 20th-place finish at this track last season. Between his struggles on road courses at the Cup level, and the mediocre speed he showed in Saturday's practice, it is best to treat the No. 10 as nothing more than a dart throw in DFS this weekend.Source: DriverAverages.com
6 days agoOn Saturday afternoon, Joey Logano qualified 35th for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas (COTA). Although Logano is widely considered among NASCAR's elite drivers, his 2024 results do not reflect this. With two DNFs and an average finish of 25th, the 2022 Cup Seriesread more...
6 days agoCorey Lajoie will start fifth in Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, TX. Despite finishing 11th in this race last year, there is little reason to be excited about Lajoie this weekend in DFS. In 24 Cup starts on road courses, he has never finished in the top 10 and has an average finish of 25.3. While there is something to be said about driver development, particularly given that he did move up 16 spots in last year's race, the fact that he has failed to crack the top 20 in the two races using the new short/road package suggests there is still work to be done. Based on a starting position that is likely to result in negative place differential and considering that he is averaging just 14.95 DraftKings points in the package that will be used for Sunday's race, it is recommended that you fade the No. 7 in DFS this weekend.Source: DriverAverages.com
6 days agoBrad Keselowski, fresh off back-to-back top-five finishes, will start 36th in Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, TX. While the last two weeks have given the RFK Racing driver-owner a much-needed shot in the arm, do not expect the streak ofread more...
6 days agoAustin Dillon's rocky start to the 2024 season continued on Saturday as he qualified 21st for the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas (COTA). For fans of the former reality TV star, the last year and a half has felt more like a nightmare asread more...
6 days agoOn Saturday afternoon, Ryan Blaney qualified 28th for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuits of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, TX. Despite last week's 16th-place finish at Bristol, Blaney enters Sunday's race with considerable momentum, as he has already earned three top-five finishes in 2024. Unfortunately forread more...
2 weeks agoFor the second time in a row at Bristol Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin ended up in victory lane. In a race filled where tire management came into play in a major way, the Cup Series veteran was able to maintain speed over the course of the day for his first win of the 2024 season. The No. 11 Toyota ranked fastest in Green Flag Speed and was the best in Average Running Position as well. Hamlin now has four career victories at Bristol. After the race, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver noted that this win is one of the proudest of his career given the difficult circumstances with tires. Hamlin is now locked into the 2024 Playoffs with this win.Source: Fox Sports
2 weeks agoKaz Grala finished 19th in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Heading into the race, there was little reason to be excited about Grala, particularly as it relates to DFS. Not only did Sunday mark his first Cup start at the Last Great Colosseum, but he was the only driver not to get under 16 seconds during Saturday's practice session. Despite the low expectations, the 25-year-old performed quite well, earning 44.75 points on DraftKings, a return of nearly 9x value on his $5,000 salary. Although Grala is scheduled to race only a limited number of dates for Rick Ware Racing in 2024, his performance on Sunday should be considered as a statement that he is the right choice to drive the No. 15 car when NASCAR returns to eastern Tennessee in the fall.Source: Jayski.com
2 weeks agoOn Sunday evening, Brad Keselowski earned his second top-five in a row by securing a third-place finish in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Despite the chaotic tire situation that affected many drivers throughout the 500-lap race, Keselowski managed to stay in the top 15 for 98.6% of the race and earned an impressive driver rating of 110.4. His strong finish, along with his 13 fastest laps and the fact that he moved up 14 places, helped the RFK driver-owner score 61.10 DraftKings points, exceeding value for the 15.96% of DraftKings players who had him on their roster. Next up for the Cup Series is a trip to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), a track that the former Cup Series champion has struggled at in his three previous starts.Source: Jayski.com
2 weeks agoAfter the Food City 500 at Bristol this past weekend, many of the Cup Series drivers were very happy about the tire falloff and needing to manage their tires over the course of a run. One driver that was not happy about it, though, was fifth-place finisher Kyle Larson. After the race, Larson said, "I hope I never have to run a race like that again. To have to run a race like that every week would not be good, and it's honestly probably a black eye to Goodyear just with all the rubber that couldn't get laid down and just wearing through tires and all that." Larson still had one of the best cars all day, ranking fifth-fastest in Green Flag Speed and sixth-best in Average Running Position. He has now finished sixth or better in seven of his last eight starts at Bristol.Source: Autoweek
2 weeks agoOn Sunday evening, Chase Elliott finished eighth in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sunday's result was the first top-10 finish for the former Cup Series champion since the Charlotte Roval last fall, a stretch that spanned eight races. Given that he only led eight laps, spent just 48.7% of the race in the top 15, and lost three places from where he started, there wasn't much to Elliott's day. Perhaps the most notable accomplishment coming out of Sunday for Elliott is that he was able to complete 499 of the 500 laps despite the tire issues that plagued the field. Up next for the No. 9 is a trip to the Circuits of the Americas (COTA) for NASCAR's first road race of the season, a style of track that Elliott has excelled at throughout his career.Source: Jayski.com
2 weeks agoRick Ware Racing certainly had a good day in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway this past weekend. Both Justin Haley and Kaz Grala were legitimate contenders for top-10 finishes, something that Rick Ware Racing as a whole doesn't contend for outside of superspeedway races. Haley led the way for RWR with the 12th-best Average Running Position in the race and 17th-fastest Green Flag Speed. He finished 17th in the race after fading late due to tires. This is the best finish for Rick Ware Racing in the NextGen era on a short track and it matches the best result for the organization at Bristol with Cody Ware's effort in the 2022 race.Source: Speedway Digest
2 weeks agoOnce again, it looked like Ty Gibbs was going to break through for his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Bristol this past weekend. Unfortunately, the No. 54 Toyota faded late and Gibbs was relegated to a ninth-place finish after dominating for most of the day. Gibbs looked masterful for most of the Food City 500, leading 137 of the 500 laps despite starting back in 19th and also having to drive through the field mid-race due to a pit stop penalty. Gibbs won Stage 1 and Stage 2 but, during the final green flag run of the race, he was unable to manage his tires and faded late. Still, it was another strong run for the Joe Gibbs Racing racer, as he is the only Cup Series driver with four top-10 finishes through the first five races of 2024.Source: Jayski
2 weeks agoJohn Hunter Nemechek drove all the way up to sixth from 25th on Sunday at the Food City 500. Toyota was absurdly fast and the Legacy Motor Club driver racked up 13 stage points as he flirted around the Top 5 all afternoon. It was unfortunate that he could not stay on the lead lap. However, Nemechek held off Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott for the sixth spot. His 99.2 driver rating and 440 laps inside the Top 15 showed his racing ability. The high-tire wear did not phase the No. 42 Toyota at all. Nemecheck set several career highs on the 0.533-mile track including quality pass percentage (77.1%). Source: NASCAR.com
2 weeks agoChris Buescher did not have the best of races starting 34th. However, the RFK Racing driver ended up seventh at the end of 500 laps in Bristol. Buescher led 17 laps but fell back even behind teammate Brad Keselowski. Keselowski finished third while Buescher ended up a lap down. With only five cars on the lead lap and all the tire wear, the No. 17 Ford clawed his way to a good result. Buescher now has three Top 10 results in his last four races heading to COTA next week. He did finished eighth last year and fifth after Stage 2 on the Austin track. Source: NASCAR.com