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Race Preview/Lineup Construction
The NASCAR Cup Series will be heading to Circuit of the Americas this weekend, the first time these drivers will ever race on this road course. We saw Todd Gilliland take home the checkered flag in the Truck Series and Kyle Busch dominate the Xfinity Series race for the two Saturday events. The question is who will be the first Cup Series driver to win at this new track? In terms of the race preview, Circuit of the Americas is a 3.4 mile track that consists of 20 total turns, lots of elevation change, and takes about 160 seconds to complete one lap so lapping shouldn’t be an issue for the most part. According to the forecast, there’s a 60-80% chance of rain, so the drivers might have to race in wet conditions and use their rain tires as well. Usually, we need multiple dominators because of the high lap total, but this race is only 68 laps which means there are less dominator points available (47.6). Looking at road course data from the past, lineup construction will mostly consist of drivers that offer a lot of place differential with a couple starting closer to the front that could lead laps or finish high if you want to have a shot at taking down a tournament. With all of that out of the way, here are some of the drivers I’ll be targeting for Sunday’s race at the Circuit of the Americas.
Martin Truex Jr (DK $10,600 FD $14,000)
Truex is one of the best drivers when it comes to the road course racing with one win, three top 5’s, five top 10’s and 71 laps led over his last six road course starts. He put down a pretty slow lap in qualifying which means he will offer a lot of place differential starting from 16th. He’ll probably be the highest owned driver on the slate, but he offers a lot of upside this weekend and is a great play for cash games and gpps.
Kyle Busch (DK $9,900 FD $12,500)
Kyle Busch dominated the Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas yesterday and probably has the most laps under his belt at this track which could definitely give him an advantage for today. The #18 team have been running well as of late winning at Kansas and finishing 3rd at Darlington, so I would not be surprised to see Kyle dominate today and win this race.
AJ Allmendinger (DK $8,500 FD $8,000)
Allmendinger will be driving the #16 car for Kaulig Racing this weekend and is one of the best road course racers across all three series. He finished 2nd in the Xfinity Series race to Kyle Busch and finished 7th at the Daytona Road Course earlier this season. He doesn’t offer a ton of place differential starting 7th, but I could see him running inside the top 5 for the majority of the race and potentially winning this race.
Michael McDowell (DK $7,400 FD $8,500)
McDowell doesn’t have a win on a road course, but he’s ran very well on the road courses finishing 12th or better in three of his last four starts on these tracks. He offers plenty of place differential starting from 23rd and is definitely a driver that I could see running well and finishing inside the top 10. His consistency makes him a very safe option for cash games and offers the upside we want in gpps.
Chris Buescher (DK $6,900 FD $7,700)
Buescher has one top 10, three top 15’s, and six top 20’s over his last six road course starts and offers a lot of place differential starting from 28th this weekend. He did have a brake issue in qualifying, but he’ll be fine for the race and is underpriced on DraftKings and FanDuel given the upside he has.
Chase Briscoe (DK $6,400 FD $7,000)
Briscoe had success at the road courses in the Xfinity Series with one win, two top 5’s, and six top 10’s over his eight starts at that level. We’re getting him at a very cheap salary on DraftKings and FanDuel, and he offers a lot of place differential starting from 27th. I think he has top 15 upside today and looks like one of the best value plays on the slate.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my free article for the Cup Series COTA 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!
