We close out the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series regular season where the campaign began, Daytona International Speedway. This is the World Center of Racing and it’s been the regular season finale for the last few seasons now as NASCAR dials up the excitement just ahead of The Chase.

And of course, to add to the nonsense we have a new aero package for this race that’s meant to include more “dynamic” passing to help with drafting runs and make for more passing. The drivers think it’ll add more chaos to this race, but how much more chaos should we really expect at Daytona?

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 Coke Zero Sugar 400!

 

 

 

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway falls on the schedule twice each year. Obviously, the Daytona 500 is the biggest race of the season and it’s also the first race of the year on NASCAR’s schedule. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 used to fall right around 4th of July weekend and I’m one of the few people who would like to see them move Daytona back to that part of the year because it makes this race feel just a bit more important. And the fireworks at night at this track are a great experience visually.

But this is a superspeedway track. The only true comparable track on the schedule is Talladega Superspeedway. EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta draws some comparison in the style of racing we tend to see. However, EchoPark is shorter by a mile in comparison to these two tracks.

This track measures in at 2.5 miles in length, second in length only to Talladega. We get 31 degrees of banking in the turns, which is obviously much different from the very flat confines of New Hampshire Motor Speedway from a week ago. Additionally, there are 18 degrees of banking in the front stretch tri-oval section. We know what to expect here. These cars will run in a draft while teams/manufacturers will attempt to pit together, and there will be wrecks. The goal is to somehow play the drivers that can avoid the carnage and finish well.

To add to the chaos, NASCAR is implementing a new aero package with no practice session. The rear spoiler is reduced from seven inches to four, which matches the intermediate package. We also see reduced horsepower but that’s meant to compensate for the adjusted downforce. All in all, the single laps qualifying speeds were faster on Friday. So the reduced horsepower won’t diminish the quality of racing.

Overall, NASCAR is hoping to create more passing. And the crew chiefs have acknowledged that they don’t quite know how much mileage they’ll get out of this package until the end of the first stage. So the fuel-saving complaint could come into play as we’ve seen at the last few superspeedway races. But NASCAR is optimistic that the package will force teams to race hard on each lap and not conserve fuel.

A handful of drivers in the field aren’t comfortable racing without a practice session. Plenty believe this new package will add more chaos to an already high-variance race. For our NASCAR DFS picks, we lean right into that variance and get comfortable building uncomfortable lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.

 

 

 

NASCAR DraftKings and FanDuel Scoring Trends with DFS Strategy

The tables above should not come as any surprise to a seasoned NASCAR DFS player. It’s no secret that the highest scoring drivers for DFS come from the back of the field at Daytona and Talladega. We don’t really target dominator points because they mean nothing if a driver wrecks out. Laps led don’t necessarily correlate to fastest laps at this track by any means.

For your NASCAR DFS cash games on DraftKings and FanDuel, you’re likely going to be stacking the back. That means you’re targeting five or six drivers that offer the safest floor because if they wreck or finish poorly, they aren’t killing you with negative fantasy points. Ideally, you’re aiming for drivers starting P28 or deeper.

For tournaments, you can take a similar approach but that may not lead to a take down or any big returns. Unfortunately, you have to take some risks on drivers starting inside the top 20. And for all formats, you have to be comfortable leaving salary on the table. It’s a good way to differentiate your lineup(s) because trying to spend every dollar of your salary typically doesn’t pay off at a track like Daytona.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks & Strategy: Coke Zero Sugar 400

No practice-to-qualifying table this week as NASCAR opts to no longer practice when superspeedways are on the schedule.

 

NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 Top Tier DFS Picks

Ryan Blaney (Starting P19) – DraftKings: $10,500 | FanDuel: $14,000

Once again, Blaney appears at the top of our NASCAR DFS picks as he’s the most expensive driver on DraftKings and FanDuel. We know that win equity and position differential are the name of the game for NASCAR DFS at superspeedways. Blaney offers plenty of win juice and a good amount of PD as well.

Blaney didn’t score well at Daytona or Talladega earlier this year. But he did win at Atlanta earlier this summer. Team Penske are notorious for how strong they are in the draft and running up front contending for the win. Sometimes that doesn’t always work in their favor. Blaney’s won this specific race twice, including last year. He’s also a three-time winner at Talladega. Not much more needs to be said. He will not come with an ownership discount but he’s a great tournament option. In cash games, you don’t need to take the risk in the event he wrecks. You can stack the back for those contests.

William Byron (Starting P13) – DraftKings: $10,400 | FanDuel: $12,000

Byron does catch my eye as a guy who can win this race without significant ownership. He starts P13 which is a bit high and that alone takes him out of cash game consideration. But he’s firmly in play as a tournament option with win equity. In a five-race stretch from 2023-2025, Byron finished seventh or better at Talladega. Although in the last two races there he finished outside the top 20.

At Daytona, Byron carries the third-best average finish since 2023 and that’s obviously weighted heavily as he won the Daytona 500 in 2023 and 2024. But he also won this very race back in 2020, and he’s won at Atlanta a couple times since that track was re-configured.

Byron may go overlooked for our NASCAR DFS picks and you should be willing to take some risks on him for tournament contests. He hasn’t had the greatest season by his standards, but he certainly can get to the front and win this race.

Christopher Bell (Starting P35) – DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $10,000

The first two drivers mentioned are better suited for tournaments. But Bell is arguably a lock for cash games and he’ll draw plenty of ownership in all formats because of the P35 starting spot. Simply put, he offers a very safe floor and a very high ceiling. A top 15 finish would likely return 50+ fantasy points on DraftKings.

Since the start of the 2023 season, Bell has the fourth-best average finish at Daytona (14.9) with a trio of top three finishes in that span. But it’s also worth mentioning, in his 13 Cup Series race at Daytona, he’s wrecked in six of them. After all, this is a high variance race. We can’t predict who wrecks unfortunately. If Bell does wreck, he isn’t killing your lineup necessarily because he will carry ownership and you can still finish in the money if that happens. But if he finishes well then he’ll easily provide value and you’ll need that score in your lineups if chasing the optimal build.

Austin Cindric (Starting P8) – DraftKings: $9,300 | FanDuel: $13,000

Cindric is strictly a tournament-only option for our NASCAR DFS picks. If you’re playing cash games, there’s absolutely no way you can roster a driver starting in the top 10. But Cindric isn’t going to generate significant ownership. But he is a teammate of Ryan Blaney’s, which means he’s obviously in a car that can get to the front in the draft.

Cindric is a previous Daytona 500 winner and he’s won at Talladega as well. We don’t typically target dominator points at Daytona. However, Cindric has led 10+ laps in half his Cup Series races at this track. Even at Atlanta, he’s led 10+ laps in six of the last seven races.

Now because he is in a Penske car, it’s very possibly that he’s once again an all-or-nothing play. It’s likely this team is in contention during the closing laps. But that’s also when the field tends to make moves to get to the front. So as good as Penske and the Fords are at running up front when the race is green, it’s not a lock that they take the checkered flag. And that’s part of the risk for this kind of DFS slate.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Mid-Tier Drivers

Bubba Wallace (Starting P26) – DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $9,500

I’m not going to highlight Denny Hamlin, but he’s obviously a fine play because of where he starts. He’s a three-time Daytona 500 winner but he also doesn’t have a single top 10 finish at Daytona in his last 10 races here. In fact, he’s only finished top 20 in three of those races.

So I’m going to preview Bubba Wallace because there’s high risk, high reward playing Bubba. Everyone knows he excels and thrives in this style of racing. He’s never won at Daytona, but he’s finished as the runner-up at this track on three occasions. This past spring he actually led 40 laps and finished 10th after he started P27. Bubba does have a win on his resume at Talladega even if it was a shortened race due to weather. You can’t take that away from him just like how nobody can take away Justin Haley’s lone Cup Series win at Daytona.

Bubba also offers some position differential and win equity that we like. And as we briefly touched on, he can leap laps here which can pad his score if he can manage to finish well.

Brad Keselowski (Starting P21) – DraftKings: $8,300 | FanDuel: $8,500

I’m going to skip over Carson Hocevar, but he’ll make the driver pool below. Hocevar is certainly a fine play on paper and he won at Talladega back in the spring. But he’s going to be a popular option because of that Dega win. He’s failed to finish three-of-five Cup Series races at Daytona and you can’t play all the chalk here if you desire a big win.

Instead I’ll pivot to Keselowski who won’t generate the ownership that Hocevar will. Keselowski also has a better average finish at Daytona since the start of the 2023 season. Since joining RFK Racing as a driver and owner, Keselowski has four top 10 finishes in nine races. More recently, this past spring for the Daytona 500 he was able to grab a top five finish.

Keselowski has always been a good drafter dating back to his time with Team Penske. Moreover, he’s still with the Ford camp so there’s the aerodynamic edge these cars have. He starts in the middle of the field which presents some risk early on, but he tends to score well if he can avoid wrecking out.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Starting P31) – DraftKings: $8,100 | FanDuel: $6,200

The price on FanDuel is a sign that they’re officially mailing it in for the year. $6,200 is a bit of a joke for a driver who is historically much better on superspeedways and there’s no way he should be that cheap. But this is also a race where salary isn’t typically restrictive so even if he was more expensive, we’d still find ways to leave money on the table.

Stenhouse, like a lot of the upside plays among our NASCAR DFS picks, is an all-or-nothing option. He’s won here twice and finished as the runner-up in this past spring’s Daytona 500. He’s even won twice at Talladega. But in his last nine races at Daytona, Stenhouse has wrecked in six of them. He makes aggressive moves to get to the front and try to win. But sometimes it’s not always meant to be.

He’s still a good cash game consideration because of the starting spot. And obviously he’s a terrific GPP option because he scores very well with a good finish and this is one of the few tracks he can actually win at. You have to be a little uncomfortable with your lineups and Stenhouse certainly fits that billing.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Value Drivers

Erik Jones (Starting P15) – DraftKings: $6,600 | FanDuel: $5,800

The value range for our NASCAR DFS picks isn’t necessarily difficult to navigate. We have a healthy amount of options available to us for our NASCAR DFS lineups. There are certainly safer options in this range like Austin Dillon, Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, and Daniel Suarez. But Jones always gains my interest whenever NASCAR visits a superspeedway.

Jones usually has a better running position than finishing position, but you have to believe he comes through for a gaudy score at some point in time. He did win this race way back in 2018 with Joe Gibbs Racing but he also finished fifth in last year’s version of this race.

With so many viable and popular PD plays in this range, you do have to take a risk on one or two drivers in your lineups. Jones will come in as a leverage play for our NASCAR DFS lineups and I do believe he’s capable of winning this race even if he’s a driver on Toyota’s third-best organization.

Zane Smith (Starting P34) – DraftKings: $5,900 | FanDuel: $5,500

If you want a safer option aside from Erik Jones, you can consider Todd Gilliland who offers more PD. But Gilliland’s teammate, Zane Smith, also starts deeper in the field and has the better track history than Gilliland.

Zane possesses an average finish of 18.7 in his six Cup Series races at Daytona and we know he won here a couple times in the Truck Series. In four-of-six Cup Series races at this track he’s finished 13th or better. In this year’s Daytona 500 he led nine laps after starting P30 and finished sixth. Later in the spring he followed that performance up with a top five run at Talladega.

A.J. Allmendinger (Starting P36) – DraftKings: $5,500 | FanDuel: $4,000

Allmendinger may hate this style of racing but he sometimes comes away with a really impressive performance and a great score for DFS. Earlier this year for the Daytona 500 he started P36 and finished 19th. That’s a fine day overall but for DFS, he returned 45.6 points because Allmendinger can somehow rack up fastest laps in the draft. In that particular race he had a dozen. Even at Talladega in the spring he started P28 and finished 16th with six fastest laps.

Dinger also finished sixth in both the 2023 and 2024 versions of the Daytona 500 and he gained over 20 spots of position differential in both races. Once again for this race he starts deep in the pack but he’s a veteran driver with plenty of experience. He’s not immune to the carnage but he’s found ways to keep his car clean in the past for some very strong finishes.

John Hunter Nemechek (Starting P27) – DraftKings: $5,200 | FanDuel: $4,500

JHN checks in with the second-best average finish at Daytona since the start of the 2023 season. In seven career races at this track in the Cup Series, he’s finished outside the top 18 just once and that was this past spring when he wrecked in the Daytona 500 but he still got up front for 19 laps. He’s finished 11th or better in four Cup Series races and he starts outside the top 20 for our NASCAR DFS picks.

Surprisingly he’s only wrecked in 1-of-20 races in the NextGen era at Daytona, Talladega, and Atlanta. Daytona has been his best track of the three. It’s really hard to gauge where his ownership will land simply because, while he does start deep in the field, there are a lot of big name drivers and other value plays that offer PD as well. But he’s posted big scores here in the past while surprisingly avoiding the carnage. Would some say he’s due for a wreck? Possibly but he also got that out of the way in this year’s Daytona 500.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Optimizer & Lineups Picks This Week

Player Pool

$ Tier {{pos.alias}}

Stacks

{{stack.team.name}} {{player.name}}
DraftKings {{player.fantasy.price.value[8]}}-
Fanduel {{player.fantasy.price.value[6]}}-