The 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is in full swing following last weekend’s Daytona 500 which saw Tyler Reddick make his way to victory lane. We had some nice DFS and betting hits last week if you were in our NASCAR DFS Discord channel. But we turn our attention this week to EchoPark Speedway just South of Atlanta, GA.

We’re in store for some similar racing this weekend. Since Atlanta’s re-configuration the racing is a bit more similar to what we see at Daytona and Talladega. Since 2022, there have been three drivers win multiple times at this track: Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, and William Byron.

We have all your coverage this weekend with the NASCAR DFS Playbook for DraftKings and FanDuel in addition to the NASCAR DFS Projections and the NASCAR DFS Ownership outlook. And after a year away, we’re bringing back the NASCAR DFS Show to offer up some analysis on every race in under 30 minutes each week. Let’s dive in and take a look at the top plays and lineup building strategies for the Autotrader 400!

 

 

EchoPark Speedway

Since the re-configuration ahead of the 2022 season, this track has provided racing that’s more in line with what we see at Daytona and Talladega. However, it’s not a direct comparison because obviously EchoPark Speedway is a mile shorter than both Daytona and Dega. We do tend to see laps led consolidate to a few drivers. This contrasts a bit with last week’s race which set a new race record with 25 different leaders at the Daytona 500.

One thing to note for this race is that while this track was paved within the last five years, don’t be surprised if we hear more about the wear and tear of this track. There have still been a decent number of races on this track and there have been some colder winters with freezing temps in recent years that can increase a track surface’s aging. 

For Sunday’s race we should also acknowledge that there are no practice sessions for this race. Moreover, qualifying on Saturday was rained out so it sucks that it’s only the second race of the year but we’re already looking at the lineup being set by the “metric.” Additionally, the temperatures are going to be pretty cold for this race on Sunday. Atlanta experienced some warmer temperatures on Friday and Saturday (mid 60’s) but for Sunday the temperatures are expected to drop about 20 degrees.

All in all we’ve had eight races at “New Atlanta” and Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, and William Byron can each say they’ve won twice. Christopher Bell and Daniel Suarez won the other two races. You’ll likely see highlights this weekend of Suarez’s narrow win over Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney in this race two years ago. That’s the kind of excitement we’re expecting for this weekend’s action.

 

 

 

NASCAR DraftKings and FanDuel Scoring Trends

These tables aren’t all too different from what we saw in last week’s NASCAR DFS Daytona 500 Playbook. While I am more willing to take risks on drivers starting further up front, we’re still seeing some of the best scores come from drivers starting further back. And for context, I’ll add that this table is reflective of only the last five Atlanta races. So both races from 2022, and the 2023 Spring race, are not included in this sample size. Over the last five races nearly two-thirds of the laps led have come from drivers starting in the top 10 but four of the last five winners came from outside the top 12. And nobody starting inside the top five has won.

Now, if we expanded the sample size to include the 2022 races and the first race in 2023, we’d have two polesitters who have won and both those polesitters collected 25+ dominator points to return scores of 70+ fantasy points on DraftKings. So the tables would certainly change and boost the scores of the polesitter.

 

 

 

NASCAR Autotrader 400 Top Tier DFS Picks

Ryan Blaney (Starting P22) – DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $14,000

With Saturday’s qualifying session cancelled we’re flying a bit blind for this race. They weren’t going to have practice but after three practice sessions, the Duels, and a qualifying session for the Daytona 500, we’re definitely entering lineups with less information than what we had a week ago. For Sunday’s race, we’re just trying to build good, sound lineups.

Blaney offers position differential and this track naturally caters to the strengths of the Ford camp, especially Team Penske. He’s finished top five in three of the last six races here and he has the ability to lead laps at this track. He will be very popular so we’re going to want to maybe just match the field in terms of our exposure for Sunday’s race. We don’t want to be overweight in case he wrecks.

Joey Logano (Starting P2) – DraftKings: $10,000 | FanDuel: $13,500

This typically goes against conventional wisdom for drafting races but I’m perfectly fine playing Logano despite the starting spot. We’ve mentioned it already but he has won here twice including once from the pole where he led 140 laps. Even last year he led 134 laps combined between both Atlanta races. 

Cash games are difficult to read for Atlanta. Logano has a high ceiling and that’s great for GPP’s. I’d be comfortable getting 15% exposure to him despite the chance he could bust. But he’s started on the front row for three Atlanta races and has led 218 total laps at this track from the front row. I love the play for tournaments but I’m a little on the fence for cash games. It’s a gamble but it could pay off well if you play those contests.

Christopher Bell (Starting P32) – DraftKings: $9,200 | FanDuel: $10,500

Bell is a previous winner at Atlanta and he’s going to be wildly popular for this race. He starts outside the top 30 so he’s going to be over 65% owned in cash games and likely over 40% owned in GPP’s. I get it. There’s a great safety net with this play since he starts outside the top 30. Per the starting spot tables above, he’s exactly the kind of play we look for.

Similar to Blaney we should aim to just match the field in terms of exposure. We want some lineups without Bell in the event he wrecks. But from a pure lineup construction standpoint, Bell checks the boxes for our NASCAR DFS lineups for the Autotrader 400.

Denny Hamlin (Starting P29) – DraftKings: $9,100 | FanDuel: $10,000

Hamlin was somewhat popular last week and he ended up finishing 31st so he was a DFS bust. It is a little odd how he’s a three-time Daytona 500 winner but he’s struggled in the NextGen car at drafting tracks the last few seasons.

So why is he in the Playbook? Because of the starting spot, of course. Hamlin did finish 6th here in the Spring races back in 2023 and 2025. However, those are his only top 10 results since Atlanta’s repave. In the eight races at “new” Atlanta, he only has three top 20 finishes. This weekend marks the fourth straight race he’s started outside the top 30 at this track. In the other three races he finished in the top 20 just once.

So there’s obviously some risk here. But just because he’s finished poorly previously doesn’t necessarily mean he will do so again on Sunday. One final note I want to make is that with qualifying cancelled, the drivers starting further back do not have the luxury of pit selection for this race so pit road entry and exit is a bit more crucial with less-than-ideal pit stalls.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Mid-Tier Drivers

Kyle Busch (Starting P14) – DraftKings: $8,800 | FanDuel: $9,000

Busch is going to gain some steam for this race as I sang his praises on the latest NASCAR DFS Show with Jon Impemba. I posted in the NASCAR DFS Discord channel that I’ve bet him outright to win at +1500. In six races since the start of the 2023 season, Busch has the best average finish in the field at 8.8 with 65 laps led over the last four races.

It’s obviously been a rough stretch for Busch with Richard Childress Racing. Early in the year there’s some optimism for the Chevrolet camp. And this team routinely dominates at Atlanta in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. At some point that should be translating to the Cup Series and Kyle Busch has strangely been pretty damn good at this track.

For our NASCAR DFS lineups, he starts P14 which is perfectly fine for lineup construction. He offers a little position differential and has a path to paying off the price tag. With a little win juice to his name we certainly like the outlook for Sunday’s race with Busch being a mid-range recommendation.

Austin Cindric (Starting P30) – DraftKings: $8,500 | FanDuel: $12,500

Cindric is a better value on DraftKings than FanDuel but he’s firmly in play on both sites. He starts P30 and he’s in a Penske car. But similar to Hamlin and Bell, he won’t have the greatest pit stall but that’s not enough of a reason to lay off this play.

Cindric’s average finish over the last six races isn’t great at 17.2 but he has led 198 laps in that span which is second behind teammate Joey Logano (321). As I mentioned on the NASCAR DFS Show, Cindric has led 10+ laps in five straight Atlanta races. Despite starting deeper in the field, I think there’s a chance he can once again get up front for this race. It’s just what Penske does.

He’s certainly had a better average running position at the drafting tracks, but he is a previous winner at Daytona and Talladega. He’ll be difficult to not plug into lineups for Sunday’s race.

Now I’m going to acknowledge that I’m skipping over Chase Briscoe who is cheaper than Cindric and starts two rows further back. Briscoe hasn’t been great at Atlanta. Over the last six races, this track represents his worst average finish (28.5) and he surprisingly doesn’t have a single top 20 under his belt. Now he certainly sounds due to change that. But we have to take some stands on this slate so pick your spots carefully.

Carson Hocevar (Starting P15) – DraftKings: $7,900 | FanDuel: $8,000

I’m a big fan of Hocevar this weekend. He’s another driver I have an outright bet on to win the race (+1800). Hocevar was in contention late at Daytona before wrecking but he comes with some good track history for this race.

In four career Cup Series races (basically the 2024 and 2025 seasons), his worst finish is 19th while his best finish was the runner-up result he grabbed in this race a year ago. And for those four races he started outside the top 25 in all of them.

Hocevar may be lacking in equipment but that doesn’t really matter for this race. I like that he’s shown he can get to the front and one of these days he’s going to break through with a win. You can also consider Ross Chastain in this price range who offers a little more position differential but I’m leaning into Hocevar’s track history.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Value Drivers

Alex Bowman (Starting P36) – DraftKings: $7,300 | FanDuel: $7,200

Bowman was mentioned on the NASCAR DFS Show and with qualifying being rained out, he’ll start deep in the field so he’ll be an incredibly trendy NASCAR DFS option on Sunday. He starts in the second-to-last row so there’s an abundance of position differential with this play.

Bowman’s results indicate he’s more of a boom-or-bust option for our NASCAR DFS lineups on Sunday. He finished top five in two of the last three races here, but he’s finished outside the top 25 in four of the last seven races at this track as well.

We do get a very safe floor with Bowman, however. He’s obviously going to be popular in all formats, so you have to fade/play at your own risk. He’s smashing the scores and easily optimal with a top 15 finish.

Ryan Preece (Starting P26) – DraftKings: $7,000 | FanDuel: $7,000

I mentioned this on the NASCAR DFS Show. I’m a bit partial and don’t have much to go off of. But I do like Preece for this race. I really liked him at Daytona starting P19 so why wouldn’t I jump back on board for this race starting P26? And yes, I do have an outright ticket on him to win at +4000 so I’m hoping I can hit back-to-back tickets at 40-1 to kick off the year.

Preece’s track history is just okay if we’re being honest. In four races between 2024 and 2025 he finished between 15th and 18th so that’s fairly consistent if we’re being honest. But I’m looking for the ceiling and Preece offers position differential from this starting spot and we know the Fords can run well in this race. Again, this is mostly a gut call, but I’m liking this spot for a bounce back result after he finished 25th last week.

Shane Van Gisbergen (Starting P28) – DraftKings: $5,700 | FanDuel: $4,000

I really wanted to play SVG last week, but he qualified very well so he obviously wasn’t in the driver pool. But the truth is, when he starts deeper in the field at any track that’s not a road course, he still tends to be a leverage spot even though he offers position differential.

Now his results here have not been great. In the Cup Series he’s raced here three times. In the two races here in 2025 he finished 23rd and 24th. But in 2024 he finished 3rd here in the old Xfinity Series. So we have a high variance track where position differential plays. If there’s chaos and he avoids it he can move up and score well as a salary saver. I’d be surprised if he came in with over 15% ownership so I do think he’s potentially worth rostering in 15-20% of our lineups.

And maybe you aren’t sold on this play because of the results. SVG is obviously going to be popular next week at a road course. I’m willing to be a week early to the SVG bandwagon. But if you aren’t, there are plenty of value options starting deep in the field so you are always welcome to diversify your value exposure to your own liking!

The Remaining Value Options

I struggled with who to put above SVG but truthfully, I couldn’t settle on one driver. This is a race where we keep our options open. Do we leave money on the table? Yes, but not as much as Daytona or Talladega. The last seven optimal lineups on DraftKings have left $5,000 or less on the table.

Now among the remaining value options there are several drivers offering position differential. Erik Jones is a driver who has a few top 12 finishes at Atlanta, and he starts P23. Connor Zilisch is greatly underpriced given the equipment/talent and he starts P31. Even Austin Dillon and Todd Gilliland are appealing names starting outside the top 30 with top 10 potential.

For the most part, if a driver is under $7,000 on DraftKings and they’re starting outside the top 15, I’m willing to play them in tournaments. So that really only eliminates drivers like Josh Berry, Zane Smith, Noah Gragson, and Riley Herbst because they start in the top 12 due to the metric. And if you find yourself needing to save salary by punting down to BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley, you can absolutely do that. It’s a high variance track and those two offer a safe floor starting in the back row. They would benefit greatly from a race with a lot of carnage.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Optimizer & Lineups Picks This Week

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