Welcome to my NASCAR DFS Breakdown for the Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Road Course! In this article, I will preview the race, lineup construction, offer some of my favorite drivers to target. 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
The Cup Series will be heading to the Indy GP this week for the Verizon 200. This race is only 82 laps with the stage breaks falling on laps 15 and 35. We’ve seen how important track position is at the road courses with the Next-Gen cars so mistakes will be costly. I know last year’s race here was chaotic, but I’m expecting it to be more clean and green this time around.
Lineup Construction/Strategy
Place differential and finishing position are the two things we should focus on most this week. Dominator points won’t play much of a factor with only 82 laps in this race. For data, we can look at the three road courses from this season and see which drivers have had the speed in those races. In cash games, it makes sense to target all the place differential plays since there’s so many on this slate. I like building balanced lineups for tournaments because there’s plenty of place differential in the mid tier, and it allows me to get a lot of drivers with high finishing potential. With all of that out of the way, let’s get into some of my favorite plays for today’s race.
Ross Chastain (DK $10,400 FD $13,000)
Chastain has been one of the best drivers on the road courses this season with finishes of 1st, 7th, and 4th. The Trackhouse cars always bring a lot of speed to the road courses, and it looks like they’ve done it again this weekend with both cars top 5 in practice. He offers a ton of place differential starting 21st and has race winning upside. Ross also ran the Xfinity Series race yesterday in mediocre DGM equipment and finished 4th! Maybe those extra laps he did will give him an edge over his competition. I know Chastain burned us last week, but I’d assume his feud between Hamlin is over at least for now.
Daniel Suarez (DK $9,400 FD $12,000)
I already mentioned how Trackhouse Racing has been great at the road courses, so let’s talk about the other driver from the team with Suarez. He finished 24th at COTA but won at Sonoma and finished 5th at Road America. He was 2nd fastest in practice and offers some place differential starting 11th. Also, Suarez has a lot of momentum right now with four straight top 10 finishes. I’m hoping his elevated price keeps people off of him because there’s still a ton of upside here.
AJ Allmendinger (DK $8,200 FD $11,000)
Allmendinger won the race here last year and won the Xfinity Series race on Saturday in a dominating fashion. He’s had terrible luck in the three road course races this season, so I wouldn’t worry about his poor finishes. He’s one of the best road course drivers in the Cup Series, and there’s plenty of place differential upside for him starting 20th. I like him a lot on both sites, but his price on DraftKings is a steal. The only reason I’d consider fading AJ is for his high ownership and hoping his bad luck continues.
Chris Buescher (DK $7,500 FD $7,800)
Buescher has had plenty of success on the road courses this season with a 2nd at Sonoma and a 6th at Road America. Both Roush Fenway cars had good speed in practice with Buescher 6th on the 5-lap averages. He starts 16th is definitely is a driver that’s capable of finishing top 10 on Sunday. I think he’s very affordable on both sites and might go overlooked with some of the drivers priced around him.
Austin Dillon (DK $6,700 FD $6,200)
Dillon has finished top 15 in seven of the last nine road course races which is a solid sample size. He had a poor qualifying effort but was 12th fastest in practice and 10th on the 5-lap averages. I like the place differential upside he offers starting from 29th and think he’s one of the safer value options on both sites. Austin is another driver that ran the Xfinity Series race for extra practice, so we’ll see if those laps help him out here today.
Justin Haley (DK $6,200 FD $6,000)
Haley has two top 15’s over the three road course races this season and had great speed in practice putting down the 9th fastest lap. Kaulig Racing knows how to build fast cars for the road courses as both were top 10 in practice. I’m sure Allmendinger is giving plenty of advice to his teammate which could help him out big time. All we’re looking for from Haley is a top 15 finish, but I think he has top 10 upside too. I’m hoping his starting spot scares people away because he’s one of my favorite value options and is a great pivot off of Stenhouse for tournaments.
NASCAR Indy GP Quick Picks:
Winner: Chase Elliott
Favorite Play: Ross Chastain
Favorite Low Owned Play: Justin Haley
Fade: Erik Jones
Guy I’m playing you shouldn’t: Cole Custer
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my free article for the Indianapolis Road Course, 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, 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!
