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/Lineup Construction
The Cup Series will be heading to Las Vegas this weekend for the first race of the round of 12. Almirola, Kurt Busch, McDowell, and Reddick were the four drivers eliminated from the playoffs last week. We saw Harvick and Elliott get into it at Bristol, so who knows what we’ll see here. This race is 400 miles and 267 laps, so dominator points will play a big role like they usually do. Kyle Larson is the defending winner here which shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. For data, I would mostly look at the 1.5’s throughout this season because drivers that tend to do well at these tracks should be fast this weekend. In terms of lineup construction, we should try to target 2-3 dominators in our lineups. I think it’ll be pretty easy with all of the value in the mid tier. DraftKings locks at 7:17 ET and FanDuel locks at 7:00 ET! Get your lines in and then work on your Sunday Night Football! With all of that out of the way, here are some of the drivers that I’ll be targeting this weekend!
Kyle Larson (DK $11,100 FD $14,500)
He’s the defending winner at Vegas and has been dominant on the 1.5’s this season. Larson has led 100+ laps in four out of the six races on intermediates in 2021. It’s hard to see him failing unless he has an issue or wrecks. I would 100% play him in cash games and looks like a tough fade in GPPs. The only reason to fade Larson would be because of the massive ownership he’ll have.
Denny Hamlin (DK $10,500 FD $13,000)
Hamlin has really turned it on the last three races, so I could see that continuing here at Vegas. The only thing to note is that the last three races were in the 750 horsepower package, not the 550 like this week. He finished 4th here earlier this season and led 47 laps but didn’t have speed to compete with Larson. I probably wouldn’t go here in cash games, but I like Denny a lot in GPPs for the upside he has.
William Byron (DK $8,900 FD $11,000)
Byron isn’t a driver I play often in DFS, but he always looks like a great option at these 1.5’s. The Hendrick cars are always fast at these tracks, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see him be a dominator this weekend. He won at Homestead earlier this season and has been a consistent top 10 driver on the intermediates. Byron is risky because he starts 3rd, but the cheap price and dominator potential he has is worth targeting in GPPs.
Chris Buescher (DK $7,300 FD $7,000)
Buescher has ran very well at the intermediates this season with three top 10’s and top 20 finishes in all six races. Some of his recent finishes might scare people, but those races were in the 750 hp like I said earlier. He offers plenty of place differential starting 25th and is very affordable on both sites. I’m sure he’ll be popular, so I’d definitely play him in cash games. Some pivots you could use in GPPs are Suarez, Reddick, and Custer.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr (DK $6,800 FD $6,700)
I know who we’re talking about here, but Ricky has four top 15’s over the six races on the 1.5’s this season. One of those was a 12th place finish at Las Vegas earlier in the year. I like the speed they’ve shown at these tracks and that they have an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports. I think he’s affordable on both sites and should be able to compete for a top 15 this weekend.
Michael McDowell (DK $5,900 FD $5,000)
McDowell is now out of the playoffs, but that doesn’t matter looking at how this team has ran in the 550 horsepower package. He’s been a consistent top 20 driver and at his price, that’ll make him a great value option to target. His teammate Anthony Alfredo will probably be the chalky value option, so I don’t pivoting off of him to McDowell in GPPs who has more upside honestly.
NASCAR Las Vegas Picks:
Winner: Ryan Blaney
Favorite Play: Kyle Larson
Favorite Low Owned Play: Ross Chastain
Fade: Kyle Busch (Underweight in GPPs)
Guy I’m playing you shouldn’t: Cole Custer
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my free article for the Cup Series Las Vegas 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!
