August 30, 2025

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has never been particularly strong at Darlington. Not only has he never led here, he's also only posted a single top-10 finish at the track -- an eighth-place finish in the 2022 spring race -- and even that was more a result of attrition than speed, as he had an average running position of only 17th. Stenhouse now seems to be past his short-lived prime and he rarely shows much speed anywhere anymore, except occasionally at a drafting track, so it's hard to imagine him doing so for Sunday's Southern 500, particularly when he only qualified 35th and has never run well at Darlington, even in better seasons. Although his salary of $5,500 might be a little tempting, especially considering how poorly he qualified, he is probably best avoided.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
Source: Racing Reference

August 30, 2025

Although 23XI Racing has consistently had speed at Darlington with Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace each earning several top-10 finishes and battling for the lead in races at least once, the same has not held true for their rookie teammate Riley Herbst, who starts 33rd on Sunday in a race where Reddick starts fourth and Wallace starts eighth. After finishing 34th from a 32nd-place starting position in April, it's hard to imagine him doing much better this time, as Herbst is a limited talent to begin with. It takes time for even the future great talents to prove their competitiveness in the Next Gen chassis, and 23XI is distracted by their lawsuit against NASCAR regarding their charter. Even though Herbst is very cheap at $5,100 on DraftKings, you should still stay away.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
Source: Racing Reference

August 30, 2025

Cody Ware starts 36th for Sunday evening's Southern 500. He actually had one of his career-best finishes on an unrestricted superspeedway in the spring Darlington race three years ago in 2022 when he finished 19th, but that was an atypical result for him on any track type. In his other Darlington starts, he crashed three times and he significantly benefited from attrition in the one race where he had a decent finish, as only 23 cars finished. Since none of the races since have had nearly as many DNFs, Ware won't even likely have the opportunity to score a decent finish, and he certainly won't score enough place-differential points to make him a viable option to start for DFS lineups on Sunday.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
Source: Racing Reference

August 30, 2025

One lower-tier driver to keep an eye on in Sunday night's Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway is Todd Gilliland. The Front Row Motorsports driver has been pretty consistent throughout his career at "The Lady in Black," and better than average. In seven career Darlington starts, Todd Gilliland has finished 17th or better five times, including a 14th-place result in this year's spring race. This weekend, the No. 34 Ford will roll off the starting grid from 28th-place when the Cook Out Southern 500 goes green, and with Gilliland's track record and his Place Differential upside, it's probably best to have some DFS exposure to their one of the cheaper drivers on the slate ($5,600 on DraftKings). In practice on Saturday morning, Gilliland was sixth-fastest on the speed chart--although that speed was aided by the fact that he was part of the first group, which had a speed advantage over the second. --Jordan McAbee
Source: Driver Averages

August 30, 2025

Call it coincidence or what have you, but Cole Custer has finished above average in every single Southern 500 he has raced in. Back ni 2020, he wound up 12th in this Crown Jewel race, and then he finished 11th in the 2021 running of it. In 2022, Custer wound up finishing 14th in that year's Southern 500. While those finishes aren't Earth-shattering, they are well above normal for the Ford driver, as his five other Cup Series starts at Darlington have all ended with him in 22nd-place or worse. This weekend, it looks as though Custer could be on track for another above-average performance. He qualified 18th for this weekend's Cook Out Southern 500 and the No. 41 Ford looked to have pretty good speed on the long run during practice. At $5,200 on DraftKings, Cole Custer is a punt option worth considering, as he could provide some valuable cap relief.--Jordan McAbee
Source: ifantasyrace

August 30, 2025

Darlington has the nickname "The Track Too Tought To Tame" for a reason. For many Cup Series drivers, it's hard to find success at "The Lady in Black," and that is true for Joh Hunter Nemechek. Although he did pull off a ninth-place finish back in 2020 at Darlington (while driving for Front Row Motorsports), Nemechek has struggled in every race here since, with four results of 30th or worse over his last five starts at the track. His best finish? A 25th-palce result in last year's Southern 500, although his 18th-place starting spot probably helped that a little bit. This weekend, Nemechek will roll off the starting grid from 30th-place when Sunday's Southern 500 goes green, and it's likely that the struggles will continue for this No. 42 Legacy Motor Club team. JHN is a cheap DFS option this weekend ($5,700 on DraftKings) with some Place Differential upside, but due to his struggles at Darlington historically, it's probably best to limit your exposure to the Toyota driver.--Jordan McAbee
Source: Driver Averages

August 25, 2025

Team Penske's Ryan Blaney had one of the fastest and most dominant cars of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night. Blaney began the race at the front in first and dominated most of the first stage, leading a majority of the laps despite several challengers. However, on the final lap of the first stage, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain both passed Blaney, leaving Blaney in third at the end of the stage. In the second stage, Blaney went to pit road early as the stage began, setting him further back in the field until he stayed off of pit road during a late caution on lap 83. This allowed Blaney to return to the top 10 and finish the second stage in the seventh position. In the final stage, Blaney went through multiple pit stops in order to make sure he had enough fuel and tires for the end of the race. He continued to ride towards the middle and back of the pack until late into the race. By the time it became two laps to go, Blaney, who was running 14th, decided to push Cole Custer to the front as other drivers were being shuffled back. This plan worked out well for Blaney and Custer as they both soared to the front by the final lap. As Custer tried blocking other drivers, Blaney passed him for the lead and barely held off the field in a photo finish, collecting the victory at Daytona. Blaney's win was his second of the season as well as the second of his Cup career at Daytona.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

August 25, 2025

Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing was one of the drivers who did not previously lock into the 2025 Cup Series playoffs before this week's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway, but that changed over the course of this past weekend's race. Reddick first started the event from 27th place, but found himself in trouble early on lap 19. On that lap, Reddick and Todd Gilliland both spun off of turn four and Reddick's car spun into the inside wall, obtaining damage. Although Reddick's team was able to repair the damage, Reddick's car performance was reduced and his playoff hopes had some doubt as Alex Bowman was still running and had the potential to outpoint him for a potential playoff spot. However, several laps later, a big multi-car crash happened which caught Bowman, ending his day. As a result, Reddick was locked into the playoffs by default before the race's first stage ended. Reddick then spent the rest of the race riding around in the pack and staying out of trouble. He placed 28th at the end of the first two stages and then went on to finish 21st at the finish.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

August 25, 2025

Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones needed to earn a win to enter the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, but could not get it during Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Jones began the race from the 26th position, but did not do much during the race's first two stages. The No. 43 Toyota driver finished 21st at the end of the first stage and 17th at the end of the second; however, he kept his car clean and without damage through both stages. In the final stage, Jones started making moves to advance to the front as he ran in the top five midway through the stage and eventually competed for the lead with Joey Logano and Chris Buescher. After the race's final restart, Jones got pushed to the top of the track by other drivers, causing him to drop back in the pack with five laps to go. He did not give up, however, and spent the rest of the race regaining ground and had a chance to get the win on the final lap, but fell short as he finished in fifth position. This was Jones's third top-5 result of the 2025 season, but it was not enough to earn him a trip to the 2025 playoffs.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

August 25, 2025

Justin Haley of Spire Motorsports gave his best performance of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season during Saturday night's Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Haley started the race from the back in 37th place, but quickly made it up through the field, also avoiding a large wreck in the process on lap 27. He would go on to finish fifth at the end of the first stage. In the second stage, Haley did run in the top five and even compete for the lead at some points, but fell further back by the end of the stage and placed 24th. In the final stage, Haley returned to the top five and even competed for the lead against multiple drivers until the end of the race. Although he would try to mount a charge on the final lap, knowing his chance to make the playoffs was on the line, Haley fell short of victory and finished in third place. Despite missing the 2025 playoffs by not winning and not scoring enough points during the season, Haley did collect his best finish of the year at Daytona.--Sean Engel - RotoBaller
Source: NASCAR.com

August 25, 2025

Kyle Larson had yet another sloppy drive at Daytona. Although he finished sixth and didn't crash out himself, he arguably triggered the Big One on lap 28 as a bump-draft of Bubba Wallace went awry and sent him into Kyle Busch. Larson came out unscathed and used pit strategy in Stage 3 to break into the top five. With Larson and his teammates Chase Elliott and William Byron still in the race, they worked together to ensure their teammate Alex Bowman would lock himself into the playoffs and Larson arguably roughed up both Erik Jones and Ryan Preece to increase the probability of that, which panned out nicely for Hendrick Motorsports after Ryan Blaney won the race. While such team tactics may be loathsome, the win-and-in playoff system incentivizes such behavior. Larson starts the playoffs tied with Byron in points, but he's been so sloppy lately that he probably isn't the playoff favorite.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
Source: Racing Reference

August 25, 2025

Ryan Blaney's win allowed Alex Bowman to secure a spot in the playoffs by the skin of his teeth even though Bowman had already been eliminated from Saturday's race at Daytona. After Tyler Reddick (who Bowman was battling for what could've ended up being the final transfer spot) crashed early in the race, Bowman stood poised to possibly jump ahead of Reddick in points. However, a mere nine laps later, Bowman got caught up in the Big One and crashed out of the race. This allowed Reddick to clinch a playoff spot by default as Bowman's chances of advancing hinged on whether another driver won from below the playoff cutline or not. Although many drivers threatened to, Ryan Blaney outdueled all of them and thereby salvaged Bowman's season. He ended up beating Chris Buescher by 31 points for the final playoff spot.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
Source: Racing Reference

August 25, 2025

After months of mediocrity, Cole Custer had arguably the best run since his return to the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona, where he emerged in the top five late in the race just as he did in the Daytona 500, only this time the finish was clean and Custer finished fourth after leading the penultimate lap. For a while, it looked like the winner would come from below the playoff cutline as Erik Jones, Justin Haley, Ryan Preece, and Custer combined to lead laps 148-159, but after Custer took the lead on lap 158 leading Ryan Blaney on the outside line, Haley switched lanes to cut off Custer, after which both drivers dropped to the bottom line, which allowed Blaney to scoot on past. Nonetheless, Custer finally showed signs of life for the moribund post-Stewart Haas team and his two passes for the lead were his first such passes this season.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
Source: Racing Reference

August 25, 2025

Daniel Suárez had what was probably one of his last realistic shots for victory in Saturday's race at Daytona, where he finished second in one of his last starts for Trackhouse Racing, missing out on a playoff bid by a mere .031 seconds. The Trackhouse cars were fast throughout the entire race, with all three Trackhouse drivers making passes for the lead in the first half of the race. Suárez led six laps early after passing Bubba Wallace for the lead on Lap 25. However, he faded from view during Stages 2 and 3 until he picked the right lane of traffic in the closing laps, deciding to draft off eventual winner Ryan Blaney along the outside line, which propelled him from 16th to second in the last two laps. He wasn't as much of a contender as that implies since it would've been difficult for him to dispatch of Blaney.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
Source: Racing Reference

August 23, 2025

Although Chase Elliott has not yet won at Daytona, it seems inevitable he likely will at some point, and even though he's starting 30th, it could happen on Saturday. Elliott earned his only win this season in the previous drafting-track race at Atlanta, and his 174 laps led here suggest he might be overdue for a win. His bravado and clutch performances in drafting races (particularly the Atlanta ones) can probably carry over to Daytona nicely, and Elliott runs up front enough that it may help him to avoid wrecks behind him. However, his seven crash DNFs in 19 starts is a pretty high percentage. Nonetheless, as the only likely threat for the win who is starting poorly, he has a strong chance at earning a lot of place-differential and lap-leader points, thereby making him almost certainly the best choice for DFS managers in Saturday's race.--Sean Wrona - RotoBaller
Source: Racing Reference