After an emotional weekend at Charlotte for the Coca-Coca 600, the NASCAR Cup Series season pushes forward. The racing was a struggle across all three series last week due to weather, but the tributes for Kyle Busch were outstanding and Amazon’s coverage was top notch, which was to be expected.

The Toyota camp looked incredibly dominant last week at Charlotte. They had speed and were arguably the best cars all night. Tyler Reddick led 119 laps with 37 fastest laps. The entire Joe Gibbs Racing team combined for 170 laps led and 135 fastest laps. But a great strategy and timely red flag allowed for Daniel Suarez to get the win after 373-of-400 laps were run. It marks his third career win, and his first with Spire Motorsports.

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 plays and lineup building strategies on DraftKings and FanDuel as we get ready for the Cracker Barrel 400!

 

 

 

Nashville Superspeedway

While it may claim to be a superspeedway, it is far from the likes of Daytona and Talladega. Measuring at about 1.33 miles in length, it’s nearly half the size of NASCAR’s two largest ovals. This track can still produce exciting finishes as we saw late Friday night after a nearly three-hour delay for the Craftsman Truck Series. But historically, this has been a difficult track to pass at.

This track operates as a fairly typical intermediate tri-oval even though it’s slightly smaller than Vegas, Kansas, Texas, and Charlotte. Nashville Superspeedway features only 14 degrees of banking in the turns, nine degrees on the front stretch, and six degrees on the back stretch.

We’ve seen five races at Nashville Superspeedway and it seems to be a track and market that NASCAR wants to continue to visit, which gives the state of Tennessee three races per year now. The first three winners at Nashville all started P5 or higher with Ross Chastain winning this race from the pole three years ago with 99 laps led. But each of the last two winners (Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano) both started outside the top 10. In Blaney’s case, his win last year came with 139 laps led in a dominant performance.

It’s hard to find a great comparison track for Nashville. Obviously this track qualifies as more of an intermediate but it has a concrete surface similar to that of Bristol and Dover. And to throw another wrench into this plan, the tire combination they’re using this weekend is the same that they’ve used at Vegas, Darlington, Kansas, Texas, and Charlotte.

 

 

 

NASCAR DraftKings and FanDuel Scoring Trends with DFS Strategy

For our NASCAR DFS picks at Nashville Superspeedway, we’re targeting a minimum of two dominators for Sunday night’s race. Each of the last four polesitters (all from the NextGen era) have collected at least 24 dominator points. But the last two polesitters (Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin) both finished outside the top 10. Kyle Larson’s massive 174.85-point performance on DraftKings in 2021 still provides a significant boost to the P1 average score.

If you look at the Trends from the previous section above, in all three NextGen races at this track, we’re averaging about four drivers per race that lead 20+ laps. And in each of the last four races at Nashville, there have been at least two drivers to lead 50+ laps. And in three of those races, there have been three drivers to lead 50+ laps. While two-dominator builds will be the core of most lineups, you can’t rule out the opportunity to try and find a third. That’s where you can potentially separate your lineups and score big if you nail the right dominators. I don’t think it’s a particular great idea to lean into just one dominator. Kyle Larson was the sole dominator back in 2021 but that was prior to the NextGen era. 

Stage breaks and caution will help cycle different drivers to the front. We have 300 laps available to us for this race, which translates to about 200 dominator points up for grabs. When you take away stage breaks at Nashville, this track is averaging 7.4 natural cautions per race for 51 laps. So that certainly opens the door for a lot of strategizing to come into play which will help some drivers pick up track position.

Now in looking back at that same trends table I just mentioned, we’ve seen 18 total drivers gain double-digit place differential over the last two races at this track. In the NextGen era, this track is averaging about 10 drivers per race gaining at least six spots of position differential. So despite the difficult passing nature at this tri-oval, we’ll see some drivers gain significant ground as the race plays out.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks & Strategy: Cracker Barrel 400

Qualifying was cancelled but for the second straight weekend we did get an extended practice session with all 38 cars on the track for the same session. There was some rubber laid down from the practice session for the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series. I do think there's some weight to these results so I won't be disregarding them at all this week.

 

NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 Top Tier DFS Picks

Denny Hamlin (Starting P1) – DraftKings: $11,000 | FanDuel: $14,000

We’re obviously not getting as many laps as we did last week for Charlotte, but we are at least getting Hamlin at $500 less at a track he’s been phenomenal at each of the last four years. While Hamlin doesn’t have a win at Nashville, he’s led at least 70 laps in each of the last four races at this track. He’s finished third in two of the last three races and he’s qualified on the front row in three of the last five races entering the 2026 version of this race.

We also know how good Hamlin and the Toyotas have been at intermediates this year. Just last week he led 75 laps at Charlotte with a top three finish. He won at Vegas with over 100 laps led. He finished top five at Kansas with over 100 laps led. Even for the All-Star Race at Dover, he led 156 laps from the pole on a one-mile concrete track.

It’s no secret that he has such a massive ceiling week in and week out and we’ll likely never get an ownership discount on him. But you tend to lean into the ownership narrative because if he’s going to have another dominant week you need that score in your cash and GPP lineups.

Tyler Reddick is a good pivot off Denny Hamlin in the top tier just based off what Reddick has done when starting on the front row this year. But Hamlin gets the Playbook acknowledgement for our NASCAR DFS picks because of the track history and dominator form of late.

Christopher Bell (Starting P4) – DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $12,000

As someone who had an outright ticket on Bell to win last week’s race, it was incredibly frustrating to see him finish second with a handful of laps to spare. But Bell still had speed with 44 laps led and 44 fastest laps at Charlotte.

As of this writing, Bell is slated to start P4 and with roughly 20 minutes left in practice, he’s laid down the fastest lap in practice. If NASCAR’s going to run the same tire combination as last week, where Bell just had speed, then I’m on board with him for a second straight week and he starts with better track position than last Sunday. The lone concern is that he starts right behind Hamlin and Reddick and those will be two drivers who won’t be easy to pass.

Chase Briscoe (Starting P31) – DraftKings: $9,700 | FanDuel: $11,500

While the frustrating start to the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season continues for Chase Briscoe, we cannot lose sight of the fact that he’s had speed in the car at intermediates, especially last week. Briscoe did lead 34 laps with 25 fastest laps at Charlotte before bad luck struck again and he was caught in a wreck.

But let’s not forget he finished second in the All-Star Race at Dover to teammate, Denny Hamlin. Briscoe managed to lead 68 laps but is treated as an afterthought because it’s an exhibition race and Hamlin was so dominant. But Briscoe does have momentum even if the results aren’t there.

Has Briscoe been good at Nashville? Not quite but on the comparable tracks this year he’s been fast and we want to be early to when Briscoe “rights the ship.” This is a driver who collected three wins last year and four runner-up finishes. The wins will come in time. But because qualifying was cancelled on Saturday, Briscoe starts deep in the field largely because of last week’s result. So ownership will be high for Sunday’s race, and rightfully so.

Chase Elliott (Starting P29) – DraftKings: $9,500 | FanDuel: $11,000

Elliott and Briscoe are such similar plays in terms of where they’re priced and where they start. Briscoe looked a little bit better in practice to my own eye, but Elliott certainly has the track history. He won this race in 2022 and finished fourth in 2023.

Elliott’s entering Nashville on a bit of a cold streak but he’s still a two-time winner this season and he just led 87 laps on this tire combination in a winning effort at Texas. And at the end of the day, he can pay off this price tag with a top 10 finish even if he doesn’t lead a single lap. If you’re curious who I prefer between Briscoe and Elliott, it’s probably Briscoe but I can’t ignore NASCAR’s most popular driver for our NASCAR DFS picks.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Mid-Tier Drivers

Ty Gibbs (Starting P6) – DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $10,000

Once again we are big fans of the Toyota camp heading into Nashville. The Fords have struggled mightily this year and the Chevys are still adjusting to the new body. So if we’re once again going to visit an intermediate track, I’m leaning into the Toyotas like I did last week.

Gibbs won at Bristol earlier this season and he had a great car last week at Charlotte with 17 laps led and 30 fastest laps to return over 50 fantasy points on DraftKings.

Gibbs also had strong practice speed, which is no surprise at all. He was top 10 in most metrics and even top five in a few as well. Because of the price and starting spot, Gibbs works very well for our NASCAR DFS picks as a secondary or tertiary dominator candidate.

Bubba Wallace (Starting P18) – DraftKings: $8,500 | FanDuel: $8,200

Bubba Wallace is an intriguing option this week just based on track history. Bubba has finished top 20 in all five Nashville races but more recently in 2024 and 2025, he finished seventh and sixth respectively with a driver rating of 85+ in both races. For a mid-range option that top eight equity can go a long way.

Bubba certainly has raced well with this aero package and tire combination this season. He finished fifth at Kansas while finishing top 10 at Vegas and Texas.

Bubba is typically good at surprising us one race every year with some dominator points and a legitimate chance of winning. Do I think that happens at Nashville? I do not. He has a better shot to win next week’s race. But I do like him as a reasonably priced driver that can go out there and finish in the top eight at Nashville for the third straight year.

Ross Chastain (Starting P35) – DraftKings: $8,100 | FanDuel: $8,000

Honestly, I didn’t love the Watermelon Man heading into this weekend but it’s hard to argue with the DFS potential from his starting spot of P35. Trackhouse Racing has had its struggles this year aside from the road courses. Chastain only has two top 10 finishes on the year. And this is a driver who is expected to win a race or two each year. Even at Nashville, he is a previous winner from 2023 where he led 99 laps from the pole.

But at the end of the day, Chastain has good track history at Nashville. He was the runner-up in 2021. He finished fifth in 2022. 2023 was the race he won from the pole. In 2024 he led 45 laps after starting P20 but was caught in a wreck. Last year he finished 11th. So he is a fairly safe play as long as he can just finish inside the top 15, which seems reasonable. The floor provides a nice safety net. If he wrecks or finishes poorly, you still have hope to cash your NASCAR DFS contests.

Here’s the good news with Chastain: he loved his car following practice. He seemed happy with the grip and balance in his car and they laid down the second-fastest lap overall in practice. He even acknowledged how humbling this season has been, but he also seemed very happy with the car the team brought to the race track this weekend. 

Chris Buescher (Starting P22) – DraftKings: $8,000 | FanDuel: $9,000

The Fords have not had a great season and I can’t say Saturday’s practice session instilled any confidence in me recommending any of the Fords. But the good news is that we get two solid drivers at RFK Racing providing position differential: Buescher and Ryan Preece. I’m going with Buescher over Preece because Buescher appeared better in practice. Preece was slow but they also had a mechanical issue in practice that required them to go under the hood.

So we can at least relish that we’re getting Buescher and Preece with a little PD for this race because qualifying was cancelled on Saturday. Buescher has never started worse than P17 at this track and this is a driver who should contend for top 10’s on a weekly basis and even has top five upside. 

With both Preece and Buescher, we have to hope their teams do what they’ve done all year. And that is gradually making these cars better throughout the race. They may not impress early on but trust the teams to make adjustments and strategize to gain track position as the race unfolds because this can be a track where it’s difficult to pass on green flag runs.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Value Drivers

Corey Heim (Starting P24) – DraftKings: $7,000 | FanDuel: $6,200

Heim was a phenomenal play last week at Charlotte when he started P39 and gained 20(!) spots of position differential to finish the slate with 44 fantasy points. And coming off that top 20 finish it was announced on Saturday that Heim will run the 2027 NASCAR Cup Series full-time with 23XI Racing which likely means that Riley Herbst will shift over to Legacy Motor Club next year.

Heim’s sample size this year has been minimal. He’s run only four races and one of them was the Daytona 500. But he was great for our NASCAR DFS picks a week ago. He grabbed a top 15 finish at Kansas earlier this month. And even at Texas, while he didn’t have a great finish, he surprisingly collected nearly 29 dominator points. So he’s certainly making the most of his opportunity in the Cup Series when he’s given a shot.

I’m still not fond of the pricing but that won’t keep me from playing him given the upside he’s showing. Over his last three appearances at Nashville in the Craftsman Truck Series, Heim grabbed three top five finishes with 115 total laps led and a 120+ driver rating in all three races.

Connor Zilisch (Starting P38) – DraftKings: $6,400 | FanDuel: $3,800

This one hurts. Zilisch has plenty of potential. Remember Corey Day’s struggles in his first year in the Xfinity Series? He looks much better this year. So maybe Zilisch is going to spend his rookie season at the Cup Series level just getting accustomed to the car and such.

But the talent is there and he’s going to win races at this level. And while Trackhouse has definitely had their struggles, Zilisch starts dead last for this race. So he’s already providing a great floor because he can’t possibly go backward and rack up negative points. So we have one of NASCAR’s best young drivers, he’s affordable, and he has a solid floor for this race from a DFS perspective. Yes, I’m going to put him in the Playbook for our NASCAR DFS picks.

Can we find reasons for optimism with Zilisch? Honestly, I think we can. He finished top five at Dover two weeks ago. Sure, that’s an exhibition race. But he was also 16th at Texas after he started P12. In the Xfinity Series a year ago, he started P10, finished second, and led 18 laps. If he simply finished 25th you’re looking at 30 fantasy points on DraftKings and you’ll take that. If he cracks the top 20, he’s clearing 40 fantasy points and likely in the optimal lineup. I haven’t played him at an oval in quite some time, but I’m changing my tune for Sunday night’s race.

AJ Allmendinger (Starting P16) – DraftKings: $6,000 | FanDuel: $5,200

Allmendinger may not be as much of a “high upside” play like Heim is. But Dinger can still provide a good floor that can be helpful to our NASCAR DFS lineups.

In four races with Kaulig Racing at Nashville, Dinger’s never finished outside the top 20. And sure, that’s fine for betting and actual racing. But for DFS, a top 20 finish only means something if he’s a value play starting deeper in the field. With that said, he did qualify inside the top 20 in three of those four races. But even last year he had to serve an early penalty after his tech inspection went poorly. He lost a lap early and stayed in the fight to finish 20th.

I’ve noted all year how I’m concerned about the funding and resources that Kaulig is getting from Chevrolet at this point because the team will inevitably shift to being a Dodge camp. And Dinger has certainly struggled on some of the comparable tracks. But he did finish 18th at Charlotte (started P10) and he was 12th at Dover the week prior. Again, it’s not the sexiest play on the board especially because of his starting spot, but this is a sneaky good GPP spot for Allmendinger. I’ll be playing 20 lineups and will sprinkle him into two or three builds.

John Hunter Nemechek (Starting P27) – DraftKings: $5,700 | FanDuel: $3,200

Full disclosure: this is entirely a gut call. I really wanted to go with Erik Jones because he’s had great track history here, and I’ll include him in the driver pool below as a GPP play. But because qualifying was wiped out, Jones starts too high for my liking based on the metric. But based on what I saw from practice, I think Nemechek could have a top 20 result on Sunday as long as he runs a clean race.

Track history clearly isn’t on his side. He wrecked in this race two years ago and then last year he started P36 and finished 27th. But he did win the Xfinity Series race at Nashville in 2024 where he started P15 and led 76 laps.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Optimizer & Lineups Picks This Week

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