The NASCAR Cup Series kicks off the second half of the playoff schedule at the home of NASCAR, Charlotte Motor Speedway. This is usually the portion of the playoff schedule that sees the “Roval” get some action. But for the first time in a few years, NASCAR is abandoning the road course in favor of the oval. And truthfully, the Roval wasn’t a particularly great race so a second race on Charlotte’s oval is a blessing.

Chase Briscoe got his second win of the season last week at Vegas in dominating fashion. He led 175 laps on his way to victory lane after a fairly heartbreaking result the week prior at Kansas. Can he continue to chip away at Kyle Larson’s stronghold on the points lead? Or will another playoff driver break through for the win?

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 Bank of America 400!

 

 

 

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Charlotte Motor Speedway is the host for the sixth playoff race and it’s the third straight “cookie cutter” track on the schedule after we saw them race at Kansas two weeks ago and Vegas just last weekend. Charlotte is another 1.5-mile intermediate track but shaped more like a quad oval while the previous two tracks are considered tri-ovals. But overall, we once again get 267 laps for this 400-mile race.

For this weekend’s race, I have provided the usual tables and charts, with the exception of the practice-to-qualifying table. For the fourth time in the last six races, we had practice and qualifying washed out due to poor weather. And when you account for the fact that we won’t have practice for Talladega, that means at least half the playoff races won’t have practice.

Now while we do have tables and track history to look at, we should remember that the Coca-Cola 600 is a 400-lap race. For Sunday afternoon’s race, we’ll only have 267. The fantasy scores below and the tables above are reflective of a much longer race. But since we have a playoff race on Charlotte’s oval for the first time in a while, it seemed worth it to include some data and touch on drivers who have good track history. And I believe the data still carries weight because we didn’t get practice and the starting lineup was set by the metric.

 

 

 

NASCAR DraftKings and FanDuel Scoring Trends with DFS Strategy

Just to reiterate the notes above, these tables are reflective of a 400-lap race with 50% more laps than what we’ll get on Sunday. And the Coca-Cola 600 is also a race with four stages, the only race on the schedule with that many. So the strategy for the drivers can vary a little bit and there’s more time to work your way to the front.

I don’t want to expect this race to be run like the Coca-Cola 600. Sure, the 600 is one of the biggest races of the year. But we have a playoff race on our hands with 267 laps so the DFS strategy should be similar to Kansas and Vegas.

We should be looking at two-to-three dominators for our lineups. Based on pricing and how the lineup was set by the metric, we do get some dominator candidates starting toward the front of the field. And because of the metric we have some good position differential options available to us as well.

Corey Heim is also in the field for this race, and because of his part-time status, he starts very deep in the field due to the metric. Heim will generate a lot of ownership. He’s a cash game lock and worthy of tournament lineups as well. He offers position differential after winning two races this year, and he’s finished top 15 in a few races on comparable tracks as well.

Most lineups are going to follow suit with two expensive dominators, then plugging in Corey Heim as a position differential play. From there, we have plenty of value options to pick from. A good way to get a little different if entering multiple lineups is leaving Heim out of some builds. You do want to still give yourself a chance in the event Heim is a bust or wrecks.

 

 

 

NASCAR Bank of America 400 Top Tier DFS Picks

Kyle Larson (Starting P1) – DraftKings: $11,500 | FanDuel: $14,000

There is perhaps no hotter driver in the playoffs right now than Kyle Larson. He had a rather quiet regular season, but he’s turned it up when it’s mattered most. In the first five playoff races he’s finish top five in all of them. But over the last four races, he’s won two (Gateway and Kansas) and finished as the runner-up in the other two (Bristol and Vegas).

Practice and qualifying were rained out for the fourth time in the playoffs so Larson will start on the pole with the lineup being set by the metric. Prior to last week’s race, where he started P6, we saw Larson start on the front row at Gateway, Bristol, and Kansas where he led 360 laps combined between all three races, including 235 at Kansas.

The upside is massive. And I don’t want to dwell on the track history too much, especially in the NextGen era. The Coca-Cola 600 is a race that is 50% longer than what we normally see on the 1.5-mile intermediates. This track does parallel more to what we recently saw at Kansas and Vegas. And with Larson on the pole once again, I’m leaning into the narrative for him to lead laps early and score a good finish.

Christopher Bell (Starting P17) – DraftKings: $10,700 | FanDuel: $13,000

Bell got shafted a bit with practice and qualifying being canceled. But he’s going to serve as a popular secondary dominator to go with Larson. Bell offers position differential which gives him a good floor. He also won at Darlington and finished sixth at Kansas with 19 fastest laps. And to that point, Bell has recorded double-digit fastest laps in all five playoff races.

Bell also had a long stretch this year where he wasn’t winning races. But he was getting close. Bell had seven(!) runner-up finished prior to his first win of the year at Darlington to kick off the playoffs. But one of those runner-up finishes was the Coca-Cola 600, which ended under caution due to weather. Bell finished second, and Daniel Suarez was credited with the win. Bell led 44 laps prior to the race being called.

Bell is also a former winner of the Coca-Cola 600 (2024) where he led 90 laps so he’s familiar with taking a car to victory lane at this track. The metric did him a little dirty with this starting spot, but the PD gives him a good floor and if he can get to the front and lead laps later on, then the path to being optimal is clear and concise.

Chase Briscoe (Starting P2) – DraftKings: $10,400 | FanDuel: $12,500

The only thing really holding Briscoe back for this race is the fact he has to start next to Kyle Larson. And there is the possibility that they both lead laps and finish top five. In that case, both can hit the optimal lineup together. We’ve seen a couple times in the postseason where Larson and Joey Logano both started on the front row, and both were able to lead enough laps and finish well to hit the optimal build together.

Briscoe has also been very strong on the intermediates this year. Earlier this year in the Coca-Cola 600, Briscoe led 34 laps and finished top three in the first two stages before getting into a wreck in stage three. But he won at Chicagoland (51 laps led) and he dominated last week at Vegas where he got the win with 175 laps led. The week prior at Kansas, he led 23 laps and finished fourth, but he was leading the race with a few laps to go. But drivers on fresher tires managed to get around him as his car started to fade. Either way, for Sunday’s race he gets a very generous starting spot and the ceiling is huge for both drivers on the front row.

Ryan Blaney (Starting P4) – DraftKings: $9,700 | FanDuel: $10,500

Ryan Blaney’s playoff results have been fairly volatile. He was top five at Darlington, Kansas, and Vegas and that’s great for our NASCAR DFS picks because those three are comparable intermediate tracks obviously. But at Bristol and Gateway he finished outside the top 30, but he did lead over 200 laps at Bristol.

But he has found ways to return 60+ fantasy points in four of the races so that means he’s finishing well and getting dominator points as well. It’s the back-to-back top five results at Kansas Vegas that have me feeling good about Blaney without seeing practice. Blaney’s also a previous Coca-Cola 600 winner and he starts with great track position for Sunday’s race. But the first three rows are loaded with drivers who offer dominator potential, so he’ll have some work to do in order to get to the front.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Mid-Tier Drivers

Ty Gibbs (Starting P14) – DraftKings: $9,400 | FanDuel: $11,500

Ryan Blaney might be the preferred play on FanDuel because he has a chance to lead laps, but Gibbs does offer more PD if you have the extra $1,000 to spare. But in the $8,000-$9,000+ range on DraftKings, we don’t have many PD options available to us aside from Corey Heim who we’ll get to shortly.

Gibbs’ track history is lukewarm. It’s fine, but it’s not elite. He’s finished sixth in two of the last three Coca-Cola 600’s but he’s at least led laps in each of the last three races on Charlotte’s oval. But Gibbs doesn’t quite come in with the best momentum and his best performances (especially his wins) have come on shorter tracks. After consecutive finishes outside the top 15 at Vegas and Kansas, I am a bit hesitant here. But I’m not doubting the setup by any means as Joe Gibbs Racing has been great on intermediate tracks this year.

Bubba Wallace (Starting P8) – DraftKings: $8,500 | FanDuel: $9,500

It’s hard to get a good read on Bubba, or anybody in this range. A handful of the drivers priced around Bubba are all starting in the top 12. If any of them can lead laps or collect fastest laps and finish well, then they’re in great shape because they won’t collect much ownership.

Bubba intrigues me because of his playoff performances so far. He’s finished 14th or better in all five playoff races including top 10 finishes at Darlington, Kansas, and Vegas. He also collected a total of 44 fastest laps at those three tracks. The starting spot definitely means we won’t play him in cash games but for tournaments I don’t hate the play due to the speed he’s had of late. And again, this race is similar to what we witnessed each of the last two weeks. Wallace looked great in those races so I think he’s worthy of some exposure for our NASCAR DFS lineups.

Corey Heim (Starting P37) – DraftKings: $8,000 | FanDuel: $7,800

Heim is going to be a very popular option for our Bank of America 400 NASCAR DFS picks. He obviously has the well documented wins earlier in the year at San Diego and Indianapolis. And he got those wins as a part-time driver.

Because he’s a part-time driver, he doesn’t get a great starting spot when practice and qualifying are washed out. That’s obviously the case this weekend. Earlier this year at Chicagoland he started P28 and finished top 10. In two separate Kansas races, he’s collected top 15 results while gaining at least nine spots of position differential as well. And a few months back in the Coca-Cola 600, at this very track, he started P39 and finished 19th.

Heim is going to be popular because of where he starts for Sunday’s race. If he can just chip away at track position throughout the race, he’s returning 50+ fantasy points with another top 15 finish at an intermediate. But even if he just finishes top 20 with no dominator points, we’re still looking at 40+ points which can pay off this price tag. He’s chalky but he’s worth getting plenty of exposure to.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Value Drivers

Brad Keselowski (Starting P22) – DraftKings: $7,500 | FanDuel: $7,200

So this play could backfire. Brad Keselowski is on his way out of RFK Racing as both driver and owner. He’s made plenty of waves complaining about the equipment the organization received from Ford and there are obvious frustrations with the resources available to this team. So while he only has five races remaining with RFK, there is the risk that the better equipment, research, and attention is directed toward Chris Buescher and Ryan Preece. Because those two are at least playoff drivers.

But Keselowski obviously has the track history. In each of the last three Coca-Cola 600’s, Keselowski finished top 15 in each gaining over 10 spots of PD. Two of those finishes even happened to be top five.

Brad had a poor showing at Vegas last week, but he was top 12 in both Kansas races this year. But with the fact being that he’s on his way out, if you want to pivot to Ross Chastain, I wouldn’t fault you. Trackhouse Racing has struggled this year, but Chastain is in a good spot too bounce back after last week’s poor result.

Ryan Preece (Starting P24) – DraftKings: $7,000 | FanDuel: $6,500

Preece will always be an intriguing play because he’s affordable and honestly has top 10 upside most weeks. Even this year he has a dozen top 10 finishes. But he also is a playoff driver, who could certainly use a string of good finishes. Is he going to win the championship? No, he’s over 200 points behind Kyle Larson with five races to go. But at the end of the day, he wants to finish as well as he can and will chase points when he can.

Preece has decent track history. He did wreck earlier this year in the 600 but he grabbed a top 10 here in 2025 and finished 13th in the 600 in 2023. We also saw him finish top 10 at Kansas two weeks ago and we love taking advantage of Preece when he starts outside the top 20. 

Erik Jones (Starting P25) – DraftKings: $6,600 | FanDuel: $5,200

Jones has the track history you can respect to a certain degree. But also, when we get into the value tier, we mostly go to drivers we can trust when practice and qualifying are canceled. Jones is a driver that is cheap but has wins under his belt. And on a good day, he’s capable of a top 10 finish even if Legacy Motor Club is the “wet blanket” of the Toyota camp.

Jones starts P25 so he offers some position differential and there’s top 15 potential. In each of the last two Coca-Cola 600’s at Charlotte, he’s finished 13th after starting P21 and P27 respectively in both races. 

Two weeks ago at Kansas he started P30 and finished 16th. And in two other playoff races, Darlington and Gateway, he finished top 15 as well. But if he notches another top 15 result with a handful of fastest laps then he can deliver 40+ fantasy points.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Starting P32) – DraftKings: $5,600 | FanDuel: $3,200

I do get the sense that this could be a trap but without having practice notes, we have to rely on track history and recent form. Stenhouse has good track history, but the recent form is a bit of an eyesore. Stenhouse has finished outside the top 25 in all five playoff races, and he’s finished 30th or worse in three straight races. And unfortunately, that includes some comparable tracks like Kansas and Vegas.

The good news is that Stenhouse, despite the cheap price tag, has done pretty well at Charlotte. Among active drivers, he has the ninth-best average finish (15.3) over the last four versions of the Coca-Cola 600. While he is known to be better on superspeedways, he is solid at withstanding Charlotte Motor Speedway when there are 400 laps. Can he do it again with 267 laps? We can only hope! In six of his last seven races at Charlotte, he’s finished 12th or better. I’m not getting my hopes up for that high of a finish this weekend, but I’d be content with a top 20 finish so long as he just keeps the car clean.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Optimizer & Lineups Picks This Week

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