NASCAR returns to Texas for a high-speed intermediate track. DraftKings is rewarding the winner of the featured fantasy NASCAR contest with a $100K grand prize. Check out the DFS NASCAR rankings below and make your fantasy racing picks for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $350K Engineer [$100K to 1st] (Cup)
1. William Byron ($10,800) — Track History and Current Form are two of the strongest statistics in NASCAR DFS. Byron won the 2023 Texas race and was the runner-up in 2021. He’s won two races in the last three weeks and three overall.
2. Kyle Larson ($11,000) — Wins are great. Top-5 finishes matter. Hog Points — fast-lap and lap-led points — are everything. Larson scored 63 Hog Points at Texas last season and 111 in the 2021 race.
3. Ryan Blaney ($10,200) — Texas is a high-speed track. Blaney is great at the heavy-braking short, flat tracks. He also excels at the flat-footed, pedal-to-the-floor intermediate tracks. Blaney has the best average driver rating over the last eight Texas races.
4. Denny Hamlin ($10,500) — Pit road decides races. Hamlin criticizes the NextGen car and parity on his podcast weekly. He laments the lack of skill required to win races and the significance of pit stops. He’s not dumb. That’s why he put together the best pit crew in NASCAR.
5. Christopher Bell ($9,500) — JGR cannot be perfect every week. One of their four cars is bound to have an off week or bad luck. Gibbs got it at Richmond. Bell fell at Martinsville. It’s onto the next week.
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6. Ross Chastain ($9,200) — Texas, Dover and Nashville have setup similarities. Speed is consistent across these three tracks. Chastain was the runner-up at Texas and Dover last season. He won at Nashville.
7. Joey Logano ($8,800) — The No. 22 Penske Ford is back. Richmond and Martinsville brought Logano back to life. Texas could put him in the win column. Logano has a top-5 driver rating in five of the last eight Texas races.
8. Martin Truex Jr. ($9,700) — Texas isn’t a long-run race. It can be but that doesn’t seem likely due to the way the NextGen car handles at Texas. Long-run speed is Truex’s superpower. That strength won’t likely be helpful on Sunday.
9. Brad Keselowski ($8,200) — Texas is a strategy race. Pitting at the right time determines winners. There will be four-tire, two-tire and no-tire stops. Drivers will skip pit road altogether. Keselowski is one of the most aggressive pit strategists in NASCAR.
10. Ty Gibbs ($8,500) — Hit reset. Don’t power wash the system. A simple reset will suffice. The intermediate-track package is back. Toyota dominance is not expected at Texas. Gibbs will compete but he does not have a competitive advantage.
11. Chase Elliott ($9,300) — A win is coming soon. Elliot has a top-10 driver rating in four straight races at the intermediate track in Texas. He’s also been fast at the comparable tracks in Dover and Nashville.
12. Chris Buescher ($8,000) — The Texan has never been great at Texas. He’s never had great equipment. His best Texas Motor Speedway race car was last season and he earned the fourth-highest driver rating.
13. Erik Jones ($7,000) — Legacy Motor Club is not a big team. Their equipment isn’t the greatest. Texas is an idiosyncratic track. It doesn’t play out like the typical 1.5-mile race. Jones capitalized on the quirkiness and earned a top-10 driver rating in the last two Texas races.
14. Jimmie Johnson ($6,700) — This isn’t the Hendrick version of the seven-time Cup Series Champion. His Legacy Motor Club Toyota won’t be a race-winning car. He is a race-winning driver (seven Texas wins). At this price, a top-10 finish will be more than enough in NASCAR DFS.
15. Michael McDowell ($6,200) — There are a lot of value options on this slate. Given the nature of Texas, almost every punt or value pick is in play. McDowell has a top-20 finish in five of the last seven Texas races and a top-15 in four of those races.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $350K Engineer [$100K to 1st] (Cup)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
