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Race Preview/Lineup Construction
The NASCAR Cup Series will be heading to Dover, also known as “The Monster Mile”, this weekend. It is a one mile steep track that isn’t really comparable to any of the other tracks the drivers race at for the most part. Looking at some of the previous races at this track, we generally don’t see too many cautions which means the punt plays might not be as valuable. This event is 400 miles and 400 laps, so dominator points are going to be very important again considering there’s almost 300 available. They will be running the 750 horsepower package, so we’ll definitely have to look at the races and see which drivers have performed well with this package this season. In terms of lineup construction, DraftKings priced up a lot of drivers which means we’re going to have to make some decisions on what drivers we want to target in our DFS lineups. Making lineups on FanDuel won’t be as difficult with the way they did their salaries. The three favorites to score a lot of dominator points in this race are Martin Truex Jr, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin. I don’t think we’ll be able to play all three because of their expensive salaries but pairing two of them together looks like the way to go. With all of this all out of the way, here are some of the drivers that I’ll be targeting for this weekend’s race at “The Monster Mile”.
Martin Truex Jr (DK $11,900 FD $14,000)
Truex has been dominant in the 750 horsepower package this season winning at Phoenix, Martinsville, and Darlington last weekend. His track history at Dover is great as well with two wins, eight top 5’s, nine top 10’s, 622 laps led, and an average finish of 4.3 over his last ten races here. He has a great opportunity to score a lot of dominator points starting from the front and will probably be the highest owned driver on the slate because of the upside he brings each and every weekend. I think Truex is a lock in cash games, but the tough decision will be how much exposure we want to him in tournaments.
Denny Hamlin (DK $11,100 FD $13,000)
Hamlin is another driver that has ran very well in the 750 horsepower package as he leads all drivers in laps led and ranks 2nd in fast laps only behind his teammate Martin Truex Jr this season. He won at Dover in 2020 leading over 100+ laps which shows the dominator upside he has. We saw both Joe Gibbs Racing drivers lead the majority of the laps at Richmond earlier this season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them do that again this weekend at Dover. Hamlin is a great driver to pair with Truex in cash games or start a lineup with in tournaments to get off of the MTJ chalk.
Kurt Busch (DK $8,700 FD $8,500)
Kurt has had a lot of bad luck this season, so I’m not really concerned about his finishes as of late and is probably due for a strong run. Over his four starts at Dover in the #1 car for Chip Ganassi Racing, he’s finished 13th or better in three of them. He’ll probably still have decent ownership because of the place differential upside he offers starting from 28th, but I could see him being lower owned than guys like Almirola and Custer because of he’s more expensive than both of them. Kurt is too inconsistent for cash games, but I love the upside he has in tournaments this weekend.
Christopher Bell (DK $8,000 FD $9,000)
If you haven’t figured it out already, I love the Joe Gibbs Racing drivers this weekend and think they’re definitely worth stacking in tournaments. Bell was running inside the top 5 at Darlington last week but had to pit at the end because he brushed the wall and didn’t get the finish he deserved. He’s had a lot of success at Dover winning two of his four starts at this track in the Xfinity Series which gives me even more confidence on what he’ll be able to do in his Joe Gibbs Racing car. With drivers like Almirola and Custer starting further back in the field, this might lower Bell’s ownership and make him a fantastic tournament play.
Ross Chastain (DK $6,500 FD $5,000)
Chastain is a driver that I feel like I always write up in the article, but he’s been great this season finishing top 15 in five of his last seven races. He could’ve finished top 10 last week at Darlington, but his team decided to keep him on the racetrack which ended up backfiring and putting him a lap down for the majority of the race. In his two Xfinity Series starts at Dover last season, he finished 2nd and 3rd, so this is definitely a track that I could see Chastain running well at. His consistency and upside makes him a great play for cash games and tournaments this weekend.
Chase Briscoe (DK $6,100 FD $5,500)
Briscoe caught a yellow at the perfect time last week which was why he was able to finish 11th in the Darlington race. However, I feel like he has the potential to finish top 15 again looking at his dominating performance he had at Dover last season in the Xfinity Series. I think the 750 horsepower package benefits a driver like Briscoe and could help score him another strong finish. He’s starting too close to the front to consider him for cash games, but I don’t mind playing him in tournaments at his cheap price.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my free article for the Cup Series Dover race, and I wish you the best of luck in your DFS contests! Make sure to follow me on Twitter if you haven’t already @DFS_NASCAR_Zone, so you can see when I post NASCAR DFS content!
