Wash, rinse, repat. It was another Denny Hamlin victory last weekend as he got his third straight win and fourth of the season, thus closing the gap on Tyler Reddick as the field makes its push for the playoffs over the remaining summer weekends.

Last week’s results also set the field for the NASCAR In-Season Challenge which will begin next weekend at Sonoma. This weekend’s inaugural Anduril 250 Race the Base is certainly going to be exciting, but potentially incredibly long just based on the cautions we’ve seen this weekend. NASCAR, coming to a new track, didn’t want to kick off the In-Season Challenge at a new track. But can Denny Hamlin make it four straight wins this weekend? Well, it’s highly doubtful considering his own lack of confidence on road courses.

We have all your coverage with the NASCAR DFS Playbook for DraftKings and FanDuel in addition to the NASCAR DFS Projections and the NASCAR DFS Ownership outlook. Let’s dive in and take a look at the top NASCAR DFS picks and lineup building strategies on DraftKings and FanDuel as we get ready for the Anduril 250 Race the Base!

 

 

 

Naval Base Coronado

As exciting as this weekend is, the only downside is that it is a new course/layout, so we don’t have previous track history to consider. But we’re applying the same logic that we do for most road/street courses. We downgrade the dominator points and want to target position differential.

For those that didn’t see Friday or Saturday’s races, or any of the practice sessions, here’s a general look at the track, as it is a huge 3.4-mile loop with some right turns, a chicane, and plenty of scenic views along the way. Jeff Gluck shared this video on his YouTube channel for a visual of how the track looks from the drivers’ perspectives.

I’ll address the DFS strategy in the next section but not only is this layout quite large, the surface itself varies so much. During Friday’s practice session for the Truck Series, Corey LaJoie and a few other drivers noted how the turns and transitions in Turns 13, 14, and 15 are incredibly slick because that area was paved recently for this race. And in general, it’s a tricky layout because some areas are concrete, other areas are recently paved, and other areas of the track are pedestrian streets that are a little worn. By all accounts there are about four different surface types across this 3.4-mile loop.

As I noted on the latest NASCAR DFS Picks show on YouTube, I’m leaning into a bit of variance for this race. That worked for Friday’s Truck Series race and you can view the highlights right here. That race was scheduled for only 50 laps but because the race needed overtime, we were treated to 53. But there were still seven cautions for 13 laps. Nearly a quarter of the race was run under caution. Even the O’Rellly race on Saturday (60 laps) had eight cautions for 17 laps. As good as these Cup Series drivers are, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if there was a little bit of chaos Sunday afternoon in San Diego for our NASCAR DFS picks.

 

 

 

NASCAR DraftKings and FanDuel Scoring Trends with DFS Strategy

Just like in the previous section how we didn’t have a trends table, we don’t have the DraftKings and FanDuel starting spot charts for the inaugural race at Naval Base Coronado. But alas, this is a road course and we only have 75 laps for this race. Friday’s Truck Series race was for 53 laps and it need 2 hours and 48 minutes to get in. Saturday’s O’Reilly Series race took about 3.5 hours to finish.

Now with 75 laps for Sunday’s action, we’ll likely have between 45-50 dominator points available when we consider how many fastest laps will be lost to caution laps. The dominator points matter less this weekend. We want win equity and if those drivers can lead some laps, that’s great. But dominator points mean nothing if a driver doesn’t finish well. Additionally, we also need some plays to come through the field and pay off in terms of position differential.

Perhaps the most overlooked DFS strategy this weekend pertains to bankroll management. I had a profitable DFS slate for the Truck Series but gave it all back during the O’Reilly Series and I play low-dollar contests for those series. We saw those two races have a lot of variance with some big wrecks and red flags due to manhole covers becoming dislodged and the walls have needed to be repaired. We have a predictable road course coming up next week so it may not be such an unhinged idea to go a little conservative this weekend if this race has you a bit weary for our NASCAR DFS picks.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks & Strategy: Anduril 250 Race the Base

Due to the sheer size of this track, we saw most of the field register a five-lap run but nobody eclipsed 10 laps. However, since we don’t have previous track history to look at, I feel as if I’d be robbing you by not including the practice-to-qualifying table so we can at least see who navigated this new course the best during Friday’s practice session.

 

NASCAR Anduril 250 Race the Base Top Tier DFS Picks

Shane Van Gisbergen (Starting P1) – DraftKings: $13,000 | FanDuel: $14,500

It’s no surprise SVG is the most expensive driver on both platforms for our NASCAR DFS picks. Anytime a race calls for some right turns, SVG is easily the favorite. He’s run 14 road courses in the Cup Series and he’s won half of them. So it’s no surprise that he’s a -190 favorite to win this race outright.

SVG was eighth in single-lap average during Friday’s practice session but he was unsurprisingly fastest in the five-lap metric, and not only that, but he was a full second faster per lap in the metric than Austin Hill who ranked second. He did mention on Friday that the track is trickier than he anticipated but that’s no cause for concern. If he wins the race and collects maybe 30% of the available dominator points, he’s likely going to be in the optimal lineup.

But if there’s one driver who will see excessive ownership, it’ll be SVG. If you’re a 20-lineup NASCAR DFS player like yours truly, you can still get exposure to SVG including him in maybe 30-40% of your lineups. And that may give you leverage in the event he’s over 50% rostered by the field.

Connor Zilisch (Starting P8) – DraftKings: $10,000 | FanDuel: $13,000

It’s easy to consider Tyler Reddick who offers more position differential. But practice and qualifying so far this weekend have shown that the Toyotas aren’t the dominant group they’ve been most of the season. On paper, Reddick is the better road course DFS play and he’s won on a road course this year. But Zilisch can’t be slept on. Even at the road courses this year, the results haven’t been too great. But he’s still had speed.

Zilisch laid down the fourth-fastest single lap in practice while also being top 10 across the five-lap metric as well. He backed it up with a good qualifying effort, but we do need him to run a clean race. That’s something he has definitely struggled with this year. So if we’re laying off SVG for some builds, Zilisch is an upside play but Reddick may have the better floor.

Christopher Bell (Starting P37) – DraftKings: $9,500 | FanDuel: $10,500

So I’ve gone back and forth on Bell this week. I gave him high praise on the NASCAR DFS Picks show with Jon Impemba. But when we recorded, I completely forgot about the wrist injury. So I had to own that and apologize in Discord and on the YouTube channel.

Bell rolls off and will be scored from P37 so there’s an abundance of position differential with this play. However, it’s still not a guarantee that Bell finishes the race. It’s possible he pits early and swaps out for Brent Crews who will tag in if necessary. Crews is regarded as a great road course driver in the O’Reilly Series. There are even rumors he takes over the 11-car after Denny Hamlin retires following the 2027 season.

But in the event Bell has to tag out, you’ll still receive fantasy points based on how Crews does. And Crews didn’t look entirely lost in this car when he ran some practice laps on Friday. So while it may not be Bell himself posting the score, you can still build lineups with him and reap the benefits of whoever wheels the 20-car.

Chase Elliott (Starting P30) – DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $8,000

This was a tough call because there are some great options on paper in this $8,000-$9,000 range on DraftKings, and I can’t write up everybody. But even if you play on FanDuel, the price tag on Elliott is too good to pass up.

Elliott’s recent finishes aren’t great, and he’s had some bad luck (like that wreck at Michigan). But we still have a driver who has excelled on road courses in the past. Were those wins mostly before SVG made his debut in stock car racing? Yes. But he’s only $9,000 and starts P30, just a few spots behind teammate, William Byron, who is also going to make the driver pool this week.

Hendrick Motorsports, aside from Kyle Larson, wasn’t great in practice. But again, it’s a new track layout and everyone’s getting adjusted. But for cash games and even tournaments, Elliott’s in some of the best equipment in the field. And with road courses you don’t always need speed to gain track position. Cautions and strategy are often just as valuable for a race like this.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Mid-Tier Drivers

Kyle Larson (Starting P14) – DraftKings: $8,900 | FanDuel: $9,500

Both DFS sites are pricing Larson pretty soft. Larson has previously won multiple times at the Roval, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen. The practice speeds were pretty impressive as well. So if the lack of wins (of late) will drag Larson’s pricing down, then I’ll jump on the play as this is a driver who can still move up and score well.

While it hasn’t been an elite campaign for Larson in 2026, he does come into this race with momentum. He’s finished top five in three of his last four races while leading a healthy amount of laps in each contest. Sure, those were on ovals, and we only have 75 laps for Sunday’s race. But we similarly saw him start P15 at COTA earlier in the year and he finished sixth with a few fastest laps. A similar result on Sunday will have him sniffing the optimal lineup.

Michael McDowell (Starting P9) – DraftKings: $8,800 | FanDuel: $11,500

McDowell hasn’t appeared in the NASCAR DFS Playbook too much this year, but I do like him for this weekend’s race. McDowell is the tenth-most expensive driver on DraftKings and yet he’s getting the seventh-best odds to win this race outright (+2200) and he’s +110 for a top 10 finish.

McDowell is regarded as one of the better road course specialists at the Cup Series level. He won one of the road course races at Indianapolis a few years ago. He was top five at Mexico City last year and he’s finished seventh or better at all four NextGen races at Sonoma, which is where we’ll be racing next week.

McDowell was seventh-fastest in single lap speed in practice and he was third in the five-lap metric just barely behind Austin Hill. His Spire Motorsports teammates have both collected wins this year, perhaps we keep our eye on McDowell to potentially surprise us on Sunday with a trip to victory lane.

AJ Allmendinger (Starting P15) – DraftKings: $8,500 | FanDuel: $7,800

Gone are the days when it felt like Dinger was a lock to be $9,000+ on DraftKings at a road course. And it’s not like the results have been terrible by any means. He was top 10 at both COTA and Watkins Glen this year. The practice speed on Friday doesn’t particularly stand out, but after SVG, Allmendinger is the kind of road course specialist that will adapt and shorten the track as best as he can.

Kaulig Racing’s speed has taken a hit in recent years but that hasn’t kept Allmendinger from being sporty on road courses. Dinger still finished top 10 at the Roval last year. He finished sixth at Sonoma in both 2023 and 2024, and he was sixth in last year’s Chicago street race. If he can keep the car clean and maybe sneak into the top eight we’re looking at nearly 45+ fantasy points and that seems reasonable for one of the best road ringers in the field.

Kevin Magnussen (Starting P21) – DraftKings: $8,000 | FanDuel: $7,500

A lot of people might play Magnussen and hope to find similar lightning in a bottle to what SVG did in his first NASCAR race at Chicago a few years ago when he won in his debut. I don’t think that’ll happen for Magnussen but on paper he’s a good DFS play because of the starting spot. A top 10 result would return 45 fantasy points and that’s if he finished 10th with no dominator points. 

We’re coming to a track that has everyone on a level playing field in terms of experience. Where Magnussen doesn’t have an edge is with the car. His practice numbers look slow and the qualifying effort wasn’t great. But he was really testing the limits of the car and the track on Friday and Saturday. He kissed the wall a couple times and we should be mindful of the fact that this is his first time in a NextGen car. So while he starts in the middle of the field, I do like that this track may cater to his strengths as a former F1 driver. It’s unlikely that he wins but there is upside. We should also monitor any reports of his dropping to the rear for any repairs.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Value Drivers

Joey Logano (Starting P19) – DraftKings: $7,400 | FanDuel: $6,500

Let’s stick with the theme of leaning into chaos and possibly building some weird lineups, shall we? Logano is not a road ringer by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, Logano’s barely cracked the Playbook this year for ovals or superspeedways.

But if we’re looking at how the first two races played out this weekend, we should be looking to play some off-the-wall kind of drivers for this race. If we look at what he’s done over the last handful of road course races, we’ll see that there’s top 12 potential and we’re seeing a handful of top five finishes sprinkled in there. And the Ford camp didn’t look entirely hopeless in practice and qualifying so at this price tag for an experienced driver, I’m fine playing Logano at lower ownership.

Corey Heim (Starting P13) – DraftKings: $6,800 | FanDuel: $5,500

Heim was top 10 in both the single-lap and five-lap metrics following Friday’s practice session. He’s last year’s Craftsman Truck Series Champion and next year he’ll be a full-time driver with 23XI Racing. Currently he’s running a part-time schedule across all three series but he is the simulation wizard for 23XI Racing this year. He’s logged plenty of simulation hours for this track so he’s familiar with the layout and the braking points.

Corey Heim’s also pretty good on road courses and we haven’t seen him this year on a road course at the Cup Series level. During his tenure in the Craftsman Truck Series, he previously collected wins at COTA, the Roval, Lime Rock Park, Mid-Ohio, and Watkins Glen. And the Truck Series doesn’t run on road courses that often. But when they did, Heim was a big favorite to win. It’s hard to see him winning this weekend but this might be the race he grabs his first Cup Series top 10 finish of the 2026 season. 

Cody Ware (Starting P39) – DraftKings: $4,600 | FanDuel: $2,000

Based on what we’ve seen so far this weekend, it may not be such a terrible idea to play the driver starting dead last and just hoping they move up through attrition. There are some obvious benefits with this play. For starters, his DFS floor on DraftKings is three points. The cheapest driver in the field cannot possibly get you less than two points.

From what we’ve seen this weekend, while we need to take some risks building lineups, there’s safety in playing the “DFL” driver. The Truck Series race saw four drivers start P30 or worse and finish inside the top 15. Moreover, 10 drivers started outside the top 20 and cracked the top 17. The O’Reilly race was more of the same. Seven drivers that finished in the top 15 all started outside the top 20. So while Ware may need a lot of help to crack the top 20, I don’t want to rule it out. More laps will lead to more cautions and we’ve seen a lot of chaos this weekend.

Even if he just finished in the top 25 we’re looking at 30+ fantasy points from an absolute punt play. And if we’re trying to squeeze in the likes of SVG, and maybe that Bell/Crews play for PD in addition to more expensive options, then we do need to find some value. Ware is a guy you plug in and hope he just isn’t part of any big messes. 

And for those wondering, this whole argument of playing value starting deep in the field can be applied to the likes of Erik Jones, JHN, Riley Herbst, Josh Berry, Jimmie Johnson, etc. Some of these plays will emerge and score well simply through attrition.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Optimizer & Lineups Picks This Week

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