Welcome to my NASCAR DFS Breakdown for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway! In this article, I will preview the race, lineup construction, and offer some of my favorite drivers to target for tonight’s race! You can find all of our Core Plays throughout the NASCAR Premium Package. By signing up, you’ll get access to our Final Thoughts, all our Core Plays for DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft, as well as our Prop Plays for MonkeyKnifeFight and PrizePicks! Remember, our NASCAR Premium content extends to ALL series (Trucks, Xfinity, Cup).
Race Preview/Lineup Construction
The Cup Series will be heading to Martinsville tonight which is better-known as “The Paperclip” because the track is shaped like one. This race is 400 laps like last week which means dominator points will play a significant role once again. It’s very hard to pass here so exepct to see some pushing and shoving throughout the race. Laps go by very quickly at Martinsville which means lapped traffic will definitely play a factor as well. In terms of lineup construction, it makes sense to play a stars and scrubs approach as dominator points are so valuable this weekend. Place differential is stilll important obviously, but they don’t offer the upside that the lap leaders have. Track history and recent form are very important to look at for a track like this. With all of that out of the way, here are some drivers I’ll be targeting on DraftKings and FanDuel tonight.
Chase Elliott (DK $11,200 FD $13,500)
Elliott showed great speed in practice as he was 1st overall, 1st in the 5-lap, 5th in the 10-lap, 4th in the 15-lap, and 1st in the 20-lap. Long run speed is very important at Martinsville, and Chase and his Hendrick teammates clearly have that. He’s also starting on the pole tonight, so it’s hard not to see him scoring a ton of dominator points in this race. He also has great track history here and has led 200+ laps in two of the last three races. I expect him to be one of the highest owned drivers tonight, but he has the highest ceiling on the slate and is a tough driver to fade.
Ryan Blaney (DK $10,900 FD $13,000)
Blaney wasn’t the fastest in practice, but he does have solid track history with five top 5’s over the last eight races here and led 100+ laps in two of those as well. He’s been running very well this season and offers place differential and starting 12th. It’s not a guarantee that he scores dominator points tonight, so I probably wouldn’t play him in cash games. For GPPs, I think Truex and Hamlin will be higher owned starting further back which makes Blaney a great pivot with a ton of upside. He’s going to win one of these races here very soon.
William Byron (DK $9,500 FD $10,500)
Byron won the Truck Series race at Martinsville on Thursday and was another driver that was very fast in practice. He was 7th overall, 4th in the 5-lap, 2nd in the 10-lap, and 1st in the 15-lap, so I expect this #24 car to have great speed throughout the race tonight. He also finished top 5 in both races here last season and is underpriced on DraftKings and FanDuel for his upside. Byron has a lot of momentum right now with a win at Atlanta a few weeks back and a 3rd at Richmond. I think he’s playable in all formats and looks like one of the best drivers to target.
Daniel Suarez (DK $6,800 FD $6,300)
Suarez has finished 27th or worse in his last five races at Martinsville, but he did have two top 10’s here in back when he was driving the #41 car for Stewart-Haas Racing. This Trackhouse team continues to impress and bring a lot of speed to the track every week. Suarez was top 20 in practice so starting 30th, he looks like a great place differential play. I’m hoping his track history scares people away, but I think he’ll still have some ownership with how well he’s been this season.
Harrison Burton (DK $5,600 FD $3,000)
Burton won at Martinsville in the Xfinity Series and is coming off a solid 18th place finish at Richmond last week. Starting 29th, he offers place differential and doesn’t have to do a ton to pay off his salary here. All we need from him is a finish around 20th which he’s certainly capable of doing. With how important dominator points are here, we’re going to need target multiple of these cheap drivers, and Burton looks like a solid option for all formats.
Ty Dillon (DK $5,500 FD $3,500)
I don’t think there’s been a driver I’ve played more this season than Ty Dillon. He always qualifies poorly and is always underpriced on DraftKings and FanDuel every week. Martinsville has been a solid track for Ty as he has an average finish of 20.5 over his eight Cup Series starts here. He showed top 25 speed in practice and offers a lot of place differential starting 34th. I expect him to be very popular once again, but it’s hard for this play to go wrong unless he wrecks or makes some mistakes.
NASCAR Martinsville Quick Picks:
Winner: Ryan Blaney
Favorite Play: Chase Elliott
Favorite Low Owned Play: Kyle Busch
Fade: Denny Hamlin
Guy I’m playing you shouldn’t: Austin Cindric
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my free article for Martinsville 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 or ask any questions! I’ll be live streaming on the DFS Karma YouTube channel, so make sure to come in there and ask your questions as well! If you want access to our final thoughts, core plays, prop plays, and betting card, make sure to sign up for the NASCAR Core Plays Package! Good luck and let’s see those winning screenshots!
