Welcome to my NASCAR DFS Breakdown! In this article, I will preview the race, lineup construction, and offer some of my favorite drivers to target for Sunday’s night race at Darlington Raceway! You can find all of our Core Plays throughout the NASCAR Premium Package, or you can click here to join our free Discord!
Race Preview
NASCAR is heading to Darlington Raceway this weekend for the opening race of the 2021 playoffs! It’s a pretty unique track but is most comparable to Homestead as both require drivers to run against the wall. For data, I would look at the race here from earlier this season because they ran the 750 hp package. The Southern 500 is a very long event with 367 laps and an average race time of 3:47:02. The stages are 115-230-367, and there’s a competition caution on lap 25 which is something to keep in mind. DraftKings locks at 6:16 ET and FanDuel locks at 6:00 ET, so make sure you get your lineups in! Now, let’s get into what lineup construction will look like!
Lineup Construction
Like I said, this race is 367 laps, so dominator points are going to play a huge role this weekend! Thus, we should be targeting 2-3 of them in our lineups. There are plenty of place differential options as well, so it’s all about balancing the leaders with the right drivers starting from the back. For cash games, I like targeting 2 dominators with the place differential options and for GPPs, I want 3 to maximize my upside. With that out of the way, here are some of the drivers I’ll be targeting for tonight’s race!
Kyle Larson (DK $11,500 FD $14,000)
Larson doesn’t have a win at Darlington, but don’t be surprised if he’s the driver in victory lane tonight. He’s put up some strong numbers here with four top 5’s, six top 10’s, 500 laps led, and an AvFn of 6th over his seven Cup starts at this track. I know he didn’t lead any laps here earlier this season, but he did start from the back and had a speeding penalty on pit road. Larson has been dominant all season and is the favorite to win the championship for a reason. I expect them to start the playoffs with a lot of momentum starting this weekend at Darlington.
Martin Truex Jr (DK $11,000 FD $13,500)
Truex dominated the Darlington race earlier this season leading 248 of the 293 laps. I know this team hasn’t ran well as of late, but they’ve been great in the 750 horsepower package. The Joe Gibbs Racing cars are always fast when they race here. He offers some place differential starting 10th and has a ton of upside with the dominator potential he has. I think this race will be Hendrick vs JGR for who wins tonight.
Christopher Bell (DK $8,700 FD $9,200)
Bell doesn’t have any top 10’s at Darlington in the Cup Series, but he was running inside the top 5 here earlier this season before hitting the wall which led to his 14th place finish. Jones had a lot of success in the #20 when he was with Joe Gibbs Racing, so I expect Bell to put up some strong results as well. I’m not saying he’ll dominate, but I think there’s potential for him to finish top 5 and score some fast laps as well.
Chris Buescher (DK $7,800 FD $7,500)
The Roush Fenway drivers have performed very well in the 750 horsepower package this season which includes a top 10 finish at Darlington earlier this season. He’s one of the drivers in the mid tier that offers a ton of place differential starting 34th. This makes him a very safe option for cash games and GPPs tonight. I think he’ll be a popular play for good reason.
Chase Briscoe (DK $6,300 FD $5,500)
Briscoe is another driver that has ran a lot better in the 750 horsepower package. He’s ran well at the high tire wear tracks finishing 11th at Darlington, 15th at Atlanta, and 18th at Homestead in 2021. He’s been a lot better as of late than how he started the season which makes sense for a rookie Cup Series driver. Briscoe is very affordable on DK and FD this weekend and should be able to finish top 20 here.
Ryan Newman (DK $5,700 FD $5,000)
Newman has a great track history at Darlington with eight top 15’s over the last ten races here. He also has finishes of 7th at Homestead, 10th at Darlington, and 13th at Atlanta which are all tracks with tire falloff. I know he hasn’t been the greatest this season, but this is a track I could definitely see Newman running well at. He’s way too cheap on DraftKings and FanDuel for the upside he has. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into the Ryan Truex Truck Series play.
NASCAR Darlington Picks:
Winner: Martin Truex Jr
Favorite Play: Kyle Larson
Favorite Low Owned Play: Kurt Busch
Fade: Penske drivers
Guy I’m playing you shouldn’t: Ricky Stenhouse Jr
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my free article for the Cup Series Darlington 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 or ask any questions! If you want access to our final thoughts with all of the drivers we like today, core plays, prop plays, and betting card, make sure to sign up for the NASCAR Core Plays Package! You can click here to join our free Discord! Good luck and we hope to see those winning screenshots!
