RADIO
Ryan Blaney the Favorite to Win at New Hampshire
Ryan Blaney won the Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last season, and sportsbooks are thinking he will do it again this year. Blaney is the favorite among all major books to win this weekend's Dollar Tree 301, and for good reason: the No. 12 Ford was the best long-run car in practice on Saturday, and obviously Team Penske knows how to set up their race cars for short, flat tracks. Blaney ranked fastest in 15-, 20-, 25-, and 30-lap averages during practice and will start from the eighth position for Sunday's race. For daily fantasy lineups, Blaney is the perfect pick: he has a little bit of Place Differential upside, along with dominator and race-winning potential as well. He's expensive ($11.2K on DraftKings), but the upside is worth it. He should be one of, if not the highest-scoring driver on the slate.
Source: NASCAR.com
Source: NASCAR.com
Christopher Bell Should Contend for Another Win at New Hampshire
We're at a short, flat track this weekend, so that means Christopher Bell needs to be on your radar. Looking at his six starts here in the Cup Series, CBell has won twice already at this track and has another second-place finish on his resume as well. This weekend, he's looked strong from the start, as the No. 20 Toyota had the best 10-lap average during practice before qualifying sixth for Sunday's Dollar Tree 301. Looking at DFS strategy, Christopher Bell is an interesting pick. He comes in at a $500 discount (salary-wise) from race-favorite, Ryan Blaney, and he starts a couple of positions higher as well (sixth compared to eighth). Bell should be a contender on Sunday in New Hampshire, but the question remains: will he finally get the elusive first win of his 2026 season? Commenting about his race car, Bell stated, "I thought we had some strengths and weaknesses for sure, but really overall, I think the green Camry is gonna be in the game."
Source: Pit By Numbers
Source: Pit By Numbers
No Reason to Expect a Bad Race From Denny Hamlin
Penciling Denny Hamlin in for a single-digit finish is pretty easy these days. Through 24 races this season, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has posted 16 top-10 finishes, and 14 of those were also top-five results. He is currently on a four-race streak of top-fives, and there is no reason to think that he won't extend that to five here at New Hampshire on Sunday. Hamlin is a three-time Cup Series winner at this race track and owns the best average finish here (9.9) among active drivers with more than two starts under their belt. This weekend, Hamlin has had a pretty quiet one but also strong. The No. 11 Toyota ranked seventh-fastest in 30-lap average during practice and Denny ended up qualifying fourth for the race. Go ahead and pencil him in for a top-five finish on Sunday, as he gets closer to locking in the number one seed for the Chase.
Source: The Athletic
Source: The Athletic
Ty Gibbs Should Be Strong at New Hampshire
Don't count out Ty Gibbs in the Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been great on the short, flat tracks this season and recently went to victory lane at Iowa (another short, flat track) a couple of weeks ago. This weekend at New Hampshire, Gibbs has been fast since the team unloaded his No. 54 Toyota, as he ranked fourth-fastest in 30-lap average during practice on Saturday and then went out and qualified seventh for the start of the race. As far as track history goes, Gibbs has never finished better than 15th here at New Hampshire, but we all know by now to throw out his past when analyzing him this season. As far as DFS goes, Gibbs looks to be an excellent play on DraftKings with his affordable $9.2K salary. He has race-winning upside and a little bit of Place Differential room.
Source: ifantasyrace
Source: ifantasyrace
Joey Logano a Great DFS Option at New Hampshire
The NASCAR Cup Series is at another short, flat track this weekend, which means Joey Logano should be in the running for the victory. He's fresh off of a win at Richmond last weekend, and we just saw the No. 22 go to victory lane at North Wilkesboro a month ago as well. Now we're at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, a track where Joey is a two-time winner. Can he grab a third on Sunday? It's certainly possible, but it likely won't be a dominating effort. Logano qualified back in 21st-place for this weekend's Dollar Tree 301, which makes him a great Place Differential option in DFS, but also means he's going to have to drive a very calculated race to get to the front. Logano has finished fourth or better in four of his last six starts at this track, though, so he definitely knows how to drive this place. In practice on Saturday, the No. 22 Ford ranked eighth-fastest in 30-lap average.
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal
Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal
Chase Briscoe Has Potential at New Hampshire
Don't be surprised if Chase Briscoe clicks off another good finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend. With his second-place finish at Richmond last weekend, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has now finished sixth or better in six of the last seven races, and it wouldn't be surprising if he made it seven of the last eight after Sunday's Dollar Tree 301. Briscoe has finished 10th, second, and 10th over the last three races at this track, and the No. 19 Toyota showed good speed in practice this weekend, ranking 11th-fastest or better in all major lap average categories. As far as DFS goes, Briscoe is a solid Place Differential option, as he qualified back in 17th but should be able to grab positive Place Differential during the race on Sunday. However, his salary of $10.0K makes it a little difficult to fit him into lineups, as his dominator upside is limited. Briscoe may be a little too expensive to make sense in DFS this weekend.
Source: WTOC
Source: WTOC
Kyle Larson Searching for First Top-Five Finish in Months
It has now been six straight races without a top-five finish for Kyle Larson, as the last time he cracked that mark was at Sonoma back in June. He got close at Richmond last weekend, though, coming home sixth despite starting back in 30th. Can he find the top five again here at New Hampshire on Sunday, though? Larson has never won at "The Magic Mile," but he does have five podium finishes to his credit in 15 career starts at the track. Over the last three races here, Larson has finished between third and seventh each time, and he will roll off the starting grid from ninth here on Sunday for the Dollar Tree 301. What can we expect from the Hendrick Motorsports driver, though? It has been no secret that the Hendrick Chevrolets have struggled on short, flat tracks this season, although Larson did finish third at Phoenix earlier this year. In practice on Saturday, the No. 5 Chevrolet ranked second- or third-fastest in 15-, 20-, and 25-lap average, so the speed was there for Larson to have a good run. In DFS, Larson could be an under-the-radar tournament play at his $9.5K salary on DraftKings this weekend.
Source: Driver Averages
Source: Driver Averages
Is Another Top-10 Finish in the Cards for William Byron?
William Byron and the No. 24 team are starting to find their groove again. They haven't come out with race-winning speed in quite a while, but after his ninth-place run at Richmond last weekend, Byron has back-to-back top-10 finishes for the first time since March of this year. Can he make it three in a row, though? The No. 24 Chevrolet ended up third-fastest in qualifying at New Hampshire this weekend, which means that Byron will start from row two for Sunday's Dollar Tree 301. In last year's race at this track, he started fifth, finished third in both Stages, and wound up third at the checkered flag, too. Speed-wise, Byron was impressive during practice on Saturday, ranking fifth-best in 25- and 30-lap averages. The No. 24 Chevrolet appears poised for a potential top-five finish, but given how this team has struggled to maintain speed throughout an entire race this season, don't be surprised if Byron falls back as the race day goes on.
Source: Hendrick Motorsports
Source: Hendrick Motorsports
Tyler Reddick Has Never Finished in the Top Five at New Hampshire
In a bit of a surprising turn of events, Tyler Reddick won the pole for this weekend's Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. In practice on Saturday morning, Reddick's No 45 Toyota was not fast at all, ranking 31st-fastest out of 36 cars on the overall speed chart. In an interview afterward, Reddick stated, "Oh man, I was really unhappy. I can't recall a practice when I've complained like that." The No. 45 team must have figured out what they needed to work on, though, because Reddick was fastest in practice and will start from the pole on Sunday. Will that turn into race success, though? After qualifying, the Toyota driver remarked, "We still got a lot of work to do, but we got a lot of motivation to really make sure we nail it for tomorrow." As far as DFS goes, Reddick is an interesting option, as he is affordable ($8.7K on DraftKings) and with the first-place starting spot, he's in prime position to dominate early. However, can Reddick get the finish to offset his potential negative Place Differential? One thing to note: he's never had a top-five finish at New Hampshire in six career attempts.
Source: ABC
Source: ABC
Chase Elliott Struggling to Find Speed at New Hampshire
It seems to be a recurring theme as of late, as Chase Elliott has once again struggled to find speed this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The No. 9 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports was able to post the eighth-fastest lap in practice on Saturday morning, but when it came to actual long-run race speed, Elliott wasn't very good. His 10-lap average ranked just 27th-best out of 36 drivers, and his 20-lap average dipped down to 29th-fastest. With that being said, Chase's falloff was impressive compared to the rest of the field, but his overall speed was what was lacking. So what does that mean this weekend? Elliott will be a prime Place Differential option for DFS players on Sunday, as he qualified way back in 29th-place. We've seen the No. 9 team use strategy to get track position recently, and there's no doubt they'll take the risk to do so again this weekend. As far as daily fantasy goes, you can't avoid Chase Elliott entirely. He's super affordable ($8.5K on DraftKings) and finished fifth here at New Hampshire last season. If he achieves track position on race day, Chase could very well make it into the optimal DraftKings lineup as well.
Source: Hendrick Motorsports
Source: Hendrick Motorsports
Can Josh Berry Contend for the Win at New Hampshire?
Josh Berry has suddenly become an every-week name as of late, as the Wood Brothers Racing driver is on quite a hot streak, with three straight finishes of eighth or better (compared to his season average finish of 24.8). Can it continue this weekend, though? The signs point to yes. In addition to having one of the best cars in practice on Saturday morning--Berry ranked top five in 15-, 20-, 25-, and 30-lap average--he also put the No. 21 Ford on the outside pole for Sunday's Dollar Tree 301 race. The best part, though? New Hampshire is a great track for Josh Berry. He finished second here last season after posting a third-place finish here in 2024. As far as DFS goes this weekend, Josh is affordable at $8.2K on DraftKings, but obviously risky because of the second-place starting spot. Still, Berry has the potential to dominate this race, so he's still a very viable daily fantasy option this weekend.
Source: Speedway Media
Source: Speedway Media
Bubba Wallace a Prime DFS Option at New Hampshire
It's setting up to be a good DFS scoring weekend for Bubba Wallace. The 23XI Racing driver had a great practice session on Saturday morning, ranking second-fastest in both 25- and 30-lap average, but he didn't have the best qualifying run later that day and will start from back in 23rd-place for Sunday's Dollar Tree 301 race. Pair that Place Differential upside with his affordable salary of $8.0K on DraftKings and we could definitely see Bubba in the optimal lineup this weekend. Wallace has had a couple of good runs here at New Hampshire in the past, specifically in 2022 and 2023, when he finished third and eighth (respectively). This season, at similar tracks, Bubba ended up sixth at Phoenix back in March (after starting 28th) and 12th at Iowa a couple of weeks ago (after starting 26th). He also finished sixth at North Wilkesboro after starting 26th.
Source: ifantasyrace
Source: ifantasyrace
Temper Your Expectations with Austin Cindric at New Hampshire
For the third time in four races, Austin Cindric has some work to do after qualifying this weekend. The No. 2 Ford ended up 26th-fastest on the qualifying speed chart on Saturday afternoon, which means Cindric will start from row 13 when the Dollar Tree 301 goes green. That was a disappointing run considering the No. 2 Ford was fifth-fastest in practice earlier in the day. Last weekend at Richmond, the Team Penske driver was in a similar scenario, as he charged from a 23rd-place starting spot to finish third. Cindric also started back in 35th at Indianapolis last month and ended up finishing 14th. Here at New Hampshire specifically, Cindric hasn't found a ton of succes, though, so Sunday may be a challenge. In four career starts here, Austin has never finished better than 13th, and his average result is 18.5. It's easy to be hyped on Cindric from a DFS perspective, but maybe temper your expectations as we visit a track that he hasn't found much success at ever in the Cup Series.
Source: ifantasyrace
Source: ifantasyrace
Is Erik Jones a Sleeper Option at New Hampshire?
Erik Jones needs a good run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon. This No. 43 Legacy Motor Club was sitting well in the points standings after the Atlanta race and a month and a half ago, but things have unraveled badly for them since. Over the last four races, Jones hasn't posted a single top-20 finish, and over the last three, his best result has been 27th. Jones didn't shy away from the struggles recently, either, as he mentioned during an interview this weekend, "The Dollar Tree Camry has speed again. We just got to put these weekends together. We just haven't been putting together here recently." Could this be the weekend he turns it around? Erik qualified 11th for Sunday's Dollar Tree 301 and showed some respectable speed in practice on Saturday, ranking 10th-best in 15-, 20-, and 25-lap average. Jones struggled here at New Hampshire last season (finished 28th), but before that he posted results of 13th and 11th at "The Magic Mile." For DFS this weekend, Jones is a very interesting low-dollar tournament play, as he could be very valuable if he can post a top-10 finish.
Source: Pit By Numbers
Source: Pit By Numbers
Shane van Gisbergen Qualifies Fifth as Chase Looms
Shane van Gisbergen needs a good run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend to keep his Chase hopes alive, and he got off to a great start on Saturday afternoon with a fifth-place qualifying effort for the Dollar Tree 301. Van Gisbergen enters the race weekend with a 50-point cushion over Ryan Preece in the points standings, as there are two more races before the final Chase field is set. Last year at New Hampshire, SVG had a good race going until he didn't, as the Trackhouse Racing driver looked to have legitimate top-10 potential before getting damage on a restart and finishing 32nd. This weekend, van Gisbergen showed decent speed in practice, and qualifying fifth definitely helps, as good track position at a short track is definitely a positive for a driver. There were concerns that the No. 97 team would have to fix the starter in the car after practice, and subsequently start from the rear, but it doesn't appear that that is going to happen, and SVG will be able to maintain his scheduled fifth-place starting spot.
Source: Jordan Bianchi
Source: Jordan Bianchi
