The NASCAR Cup Series returns after a week off and we’re in the home stretch for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season! We have four races left in the regular season before The Chase begins with the final 10 playoff races. With the NFL season looming we have to take advantage of these slates because the prize pools are about to shrink once we get to September.

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 Iowa Corn 350!

 

 

 

Iowa Speedway

Iowa Speedway measures in as a short track at 0.875 miles but it does have some unique banking patterns. The turns will feature about 12-14 degrees of banking with 10 degrees in the front stretch and four in the back stretch. A great comparison track is Richmond Raceway which follows Iowa on the schedule. Richmond measures at 0.75 miles in length with 14 degrees of banking in the turns, eight degrees on the front stretch, and two degrees on the back stretch. So we can still consider Iowa a bit of a short, flat track.

William Byron (2025) and Ryan Blaney (2024) are the two winners in our small sample size of races at Iowa Speedway. Both drivers started P2 in their respective races and each led at least 140 laps in their winning efforts. In Blaney’s case, he led over 200. In 2024, there were really two dominators. Obviously, we’ve mentioned Blaney already, but Kyle Larson led 80 laps from the pole but finished 34th. In 2025 we saw three drivers lead 60+ laps while two more led 20+ laps.

But despite this being a short track, it is possible to move up and pass on long, green flag runs. In each of the last two races there have been three drivers to start P25 or deeper in the field while finishing inside the top 15. Now this is a short track measuring in at less than a mile in length. So with that said, drivers starting deep in the field are at risk of losing the lead lap if they don’t nail the setup. The 2024 race saw just 14 drivers finish on the lead lap while nine more drivers finished one lap down. Last year’s race saw 30(!) drivers finish on the lead lap.

There are no tables this week aside from the practice-to-qualifying table below. We’ve only had two races at Iowa Speedway so it’s not quite enough of a sample size to pull data from. So we emphasize the practice and qualifying efforts a bit more than just track history for the 2026 version of the Iowa Corn 350.

 

 

 

NASCAR DraftKings and FanDuel Scoring Trends with DFS Strategy

This race will have 350 laps, so we’ll have roughly 230-235 dominator points to work with after we account for some cautions. But with so many dominator points available to us, we should be aiming to collect as many of those points as possible. I’d say it’s far more likely we see a race closer to last year where three drivers led 60+ laps. There will likely be a primary dominator followed by a secondary and tertiary dominator. So I’ll be building my lineups with a minimum of two dominators in mind. But truly I want three dominators if I can fit them in.

Taking a three-dominator approach likely means you’ll have some stars & scrubs lineup builds. On the latest NASCAR DFS Show, Matt Selz and I spoke ad nausea of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Noah Gragson. They’re viable plays but they both qualified inside the top 20 for Sunday’s race. I wouldn’t play them together. You should pick between one or the other if you need to dive that deep into the driver pool, but there’s also little harm in playing Cole Custer or Cody Ware.

A two-dominator build can still be optimal if nailing the right position differential plays. And in doing that kind of a lineup structure, you can live more in the mid-range. But again, with so many points for laps led and fastest laps, we want to try and aim for as many drivers as possible that can provide 75+ fantasy points for our NASCAR DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks & Strategy: Brickyard 400

 

NASCAR Iowa Corn 350 Top Tier DFS Picks

Christopher Bell (Starting P22) – DraftKings: $10,700 | FanDuel: $13,500

For the first time in a long time, I’m leaving Denny Hamlin out of the featured section of the NASCAR DFS Playbook. He’s not a bad play by any means. He offers plenty of position differential so he’s a fine cash game play. But his teammate, Christopher Bell, flashed great speed in practice and also offers position differential.

Bell was second-fastest in plenty of the long run metrics as indicated in the practice-to-qualifying table. And he offers plenty of position differential, just not as much as Hamlin. But if Bell can get to the front later in the race there’s some sustainable long run speed where he also emerges as a dominator candidate and that’s what we’re paying up for this week.

Bell has yet to go to victory lane this year. But he’s finished as the runner-up on SIX occasions this year including Phoenix where he led 176 laps. He’ll have some work to do from P22 but there’s immense upside if he can get to the front and lead laps.

Ryan Blaney (Starting P1) – DraftKings: $10,500 | FanDuel: $13,500

Blaney will likely be the most popular driver on the whole slate. It’s very possible he comes through with 50-60% ownership in GPP contests, and over 70% ownership in cash games. He’s going to be very difficult to fade on Sunday. As we already mentioned, he led 200 laps after starting P2 in a winning effort two years ago and these Penske drivers are certainly flexing on the short tracks of late.

Blaney dominated practice on Saturday. He was fifth-fastest in single lap average, but he was fastest in literally every other metric, and he backed up the speed by winning the pole. There isn’t a whole lot of thought process with this play. You can maybe consider playing Blaney in 40% of your lineups. That gives you plenty of exposure with a little leverage as well, but overall he’s such a difficult fade for Sunday’s race.

Joey Logano (Starting P3) – DraftKings: $9,500 | FanDuel: $12,000

We just previewed his teammate, but Logano comes in for those interested in maybe running out a Penske stack for this race. Blaney was elite in every metric in practice. But Logano wasn’t too bad either. He was top five in some of the shorter run metrics while maintaining top 10 status in the longer runs. Even Austin Cindric and Josh Berry looked sporty in Saturday’s practice so the Penske cars (and their affiliate partnership with Wood Brothers Racing) are live for our NASCAR DFS picks.

We also aren’t too far removed from Logano’s dominant showing at North Wilkesboro where he laid claim to his only win of the season with 300+ laps led. Moreover, Logano’s finished top 10 in each of the last two Iowa races. He finished third at Martinsville this past spring, and led 73 laps from the pole at Phoenix before getting caught in a wreck. Logano, at best, probably carries half the ownership Ryan Blaney does. But if he comes in at maybe 20-25% ownership, then this is a play I may want to be slightly overweight on.

Chase Elliott (Starting P32) – DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $10,000

I’m treading carefully with my Chase Elliott exposure for Sunday’s race. Honestly, it’s quite possible that Chase Briscoe has the higher ceiling after he qualified better and was a bit more sporty in practice. But neither were lighting it up during Saturday’s session.

Elliott is fine for cash games and obviously eligible for tournaments/GPP contests. The PD he offers is fantastic and he can hit the optimal lineup and pay off the price tag with a top 10 finish because he’s fairly affordable. Elliott finished third in this race two years ago and was 14th last year. He won at Martinsville earlier this year which is one of the shortest, flattest tracks on the schedule. But he also only has one top 10 finish in his last 11 races so the team is certainly experiencing some struggles and that carried over into Saturday’s practice and qualifying sessions.

We should keep an ear to the ground regarding Elliott’s status on Sunday. It won’t matter too much but it’s possible he goes to the rear for unapproved adjustments. He got into the wall about 20 minutes into practice, but the damage was minimal. 

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Mid-Tier Drivers

Ty Gibbs (Starting P6) – DraftKings: $8,200 | FanDuel: $10,500

Gibbs probably won’t make any cash game lineups, but I do like the upside for tournaments and he’s priced in a modest fashion. About halfway through practice he was fastest in single lap, five-lap, and 10-lap averages. Overall, at the end of the session it appears he had a top 10 car and we like when drivers are openly complimentary of their ride.

Gibbs finally got his first career Cup Series win earlier this year at Bristol. But the track history in the previous two Iowa races isn’t great when you consider he finished outside the top 20 in both races.

But while his JGR teammates (Hamlin and Briscoe) reportedly had issues with their brakes in practice and qualifying on Saturday, Gibbs seemed content with the car and we have a good driver in top notch equipment that may just be a bit mispriced for this race. There’s top five upside and a chance to lead laps after stage one for our NASCAR DFS picks.

Bubba Wallace (Starting P26) – DraftKings: $8,000 | FanDuel: $9,000

It’s crazy how many “good” drivers in “elite” equipment didn’t post the best qualifying efforts. And yet, you look at the starting order for this race and there are a lot of value options that qualified better than normal. But Bubba is one of those drivers in good equipment that didn’t qualify well.

Bubba rolls off P26 but based on our practice-to-qualifying table above, Bubba should have a top 12 car. Bubba finished 17th in the first Iowa race two years ago and then he finished sixth in this race a year ago. He also finished sixth at Phoenix and North Wilkesboro this year and he’s gradually shown that he’s getting better on the short, flat tracks over time.

Bubba is always a bit of a risky play and we don’t typically love “Bubba Chalk.” So I’m not saying this is a great leverage play but I’d be happy to match the field’s ownership on Bubba. But there are surprisingly only three drivers in the $8K range on DraftKings this week so Bubba is at least one that offers position differential for our NASCAR DFS picks.

Brad Keselowski (Starting P4) – DraftKings: $7,900 | FanDuel: $9,000

Keselowski was one of Matt’s favorite drivers on this week’s NASCAR DFS Show. He’s not having a great year, but he tends to do very well at Iowa. I’m a little uneasy with how I should be reading RFK Racing’s outlook for Sunday. None of them really practiced well but Keselowski went out and laid down a clean qualifying lap. So it is a bit odd that I’m about to put all three drivers in this Playbook for our NASCAR DFS picks.

We only have two races to work with, but Brad has the third-best average finish in those two races. The only two drivers better than Brad are the two guys that have won here (Blaney and Byron). Brad finished 10th in this race two years ago and he was third last year with 68 laps led and he also won the first two stages.

Brad had a rough stretch in May and June but prior to the week off he finished seventh at North Wilkesboro and sixth at Indianapolis so I’m optimistic he’s found a little momentum and he can deliver a good performance on Sunday. He is strictly a tournament/GPP only kind of play because of the starting spot, but he likely won’t carry heavy ownership as the field goes heavy on some more chalky dominator candidates.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Picks: Value Drivers

Chris Buescher (Starting P27) – DraftKings: $7,500 | FanDuel: $8,000

I don’t quite understand what DraftKings and FanDuel are doing with the pricing of this play. But we shouldn’t just assume this is good value. We kick off our NASCAR DFS picks value section with a pair of RFK Racing drivers. But these two recommendations were less-than-stellar in practice so we’re mostly banking on the name recognition in addition to the equipment/drivers showing up on Sunday.

Buescher’s practice speeds indicate he should have a top 20 car. And he is a good driver who has won races at this level. He’s priced around guys like Carson Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, and Ross Chastain who all seem a bit mispriced. But I feel the best about Buescher who has 10 finishes inside the top 10 this year, but Hocevar and Bowman aren’t too far behind in terms of how I’d rank the DFS plays in this range.

Now Buescher isn’t as noteworthy on the short, flat tracks as the next driver we’ll get to. But he typically qualifies much better than P27, so I’ll take the PD because this is a soft price tag on a guy like Buescher, who returns 40+ fantasy points on DraftKings if he just finishes inside the top 15.

Ryan Preece (Starting P35) – DraftKings: $7,000 | FanDuel: $7,200

Preece had two very strong runs prior to the week off and he desperately needed those after some poor results at Chicago and Atlanta. But at North Wilkesboro (a similar short, flat track) he started P21 and finished 10th. Then at Indianapolis, he grabbed another top 10 although that track does not compare to Iowa at all.

But again, Iowa is a short track and that plays to Preece’s strengths. We tend to upgrade him whenever NASCAR visits a short, flat track and we simply haven’t had too many on the schedule over the last couple months. But this weekend should be a race where he runs well. In this race a year ago, Preece started P33 and grabbed a top five finish.

Grabbing a second consecutive top five finish at Iowa is a big ask especially from a driver like Preece. But we know that he and the car are good enough for a top 10 finish especially at a track like Iowa. He will have some work to do given the starting spot. The car also failed inspection twice so his car chief is ejected (not a big deal), and he loses his pit stall selection (kind of a big deal).

Josh Berry (Starting P13) – DraftKings: $6,900 | FanDuel: $6,200

As we mentioned earlier in the article, the Penske cars (and their affiliate team), all looked strong in practice and qualifying on Saturday. Berry isn’t having a great year by any means but the car looked decent in practice and he grabbed a respectable starting spot. 

Berry has been outstanding on the most comparable tracks since 2023. In 2024 he finished 7th at Iowa with 32 laps led and last year he finished 13th. Over the last four Richmond races, his worst finish is 14th. And in the last two races at New Hampshire he’s finished 2nd and 3rd.

He may not collect much ownership starting P13 but if the practice speeds hold up and the car is strong in the long run, then this is a great GPP play that we can aim to be a bit overweight on. And that obviously is a bit odd because Berry’s had a bad year, but the short track narrative plays to his favor on Sunday.

Austin Dillon (Starting P7) – DraftKings: $6,800 | FanDuel: $7,000

Let’s be a little early to the party for our NASCAR DFS picks, shall we? Austin Dillon has won at Richmond each of the last two years. Sure, one of those wins was rather controversial but last year’s win was pretty legitimate. It’s a bit odd that he thrives on superspeedways and Richmond, but we’ll use that to our advantage.

Iowa is a very strong comparison track to Richmond and Dillon ran the tire test here alongside Tyler Reddick and Noah Gragson. He does have a bit of an edge and his performances in the last two races at Iowa are pretty noteworthy.

Two years ago, he started P36 and finish 19th. The +17 spots of position differential paved the way for a strong score among the value plays. Last year he started P18 and finished 10th so maybe there is something about these shorter tracks that Dillon likes because he’s performed well at both Iowa and Richmond (obviously).

Dillon wasn’t elite in practice, but he oddly qualified very well. It’s almost as if he wasn’t trying to show his full hand in practice. While we aren’t playing him in cash games, he’s still on the table for tournaments despite the good qualifying effort.

Todd Gilliland (Starting P17) – DraftKings: $5,800 | FanDuel: $4,500

We used to call him Toddfather. Some would reference the “Gilly Gang” when discussing him for betting or DFS purposes. But after winning the NASCAR In-Season Challenge at Indianapolis, and collecting a cool $1 million, he’s now a Gillionaire (credit to Jeff Gluck for that one).

Gilliland was surprisingly very good in practice on Saturday. We didn’t get a good look at the car but as you can see from the practice-to-qualifying table above, he was top five in a lot of the short run metrics and qualified P17. So if the speed holds true, he has a car that can move up. Moreover, he has a starting spot that means he should maintain the lead lap unless there’s a mechanical issue or a wreck.

But perhaps he used some of his newfound wealth to help the team and make some investments on the car. It’s hard to tell! But the car looked great in practice and it’s possible the team properly used the notes and data from Noah Gragson’s tire test to provide a strong setup for this race.

 

 

 

NASCAR DFS Optimizer & Lineups Picks This Week

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