NASCAR

NASCAR Daily Fantasy Helper: Federated Auto Parts 400

William Byron is running well of late, and a starting spot deep in the field gives him place-differential upside. Who else should be on your radar for Saturday night's race?

Joe Gibbs Racing followed one of the most dominant regular seasons in the modern era for a single NASCAR team with a spark in the playoffs, as well. Last week, Martin Truex Jr. captured his second win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which clinches the 2017 champion's spot in the next round, and that leaves 11 places up for grabs in NASCAR's next round. On the other side, massive trouble for Kurt Busch and Erik Jones has them in a hole heading to Round 2.

The series heads to Richmond International Raceway this weekend, where Truex Jr. won in the spring, as well. This 0.75-mile multi-groove short track is a drivers' favorite with so many options and enough contact to keep things interesting. With 400 laps on the docket for Saturday night, in daily fantasy, we will once again want to prioritize laps led and laps completed points on FanDuel -- although if a fast car ends up in the back due to a Saturday afternoon inspection failure, there is plenty of room to pass.

Here at numberFire, we've always got you covered for everything NASCAR DFS. Our track preview gives you more information about the history of the track, our driver preview helps bring you up to speed on recent driver history, and our Heat Check Podcast with Jim Sannes gives you insight to how he is approaching this weekend's slate.

With this weekend's lineup tentatively set pending pre-race inspection, and with practices one and two complete, let's preview the Federated Auto Parts 400:

High-Priced Drivers

Denny Hamlin ($13,200): The stud tier is stacked with viable options on the weekend. Kevin Harvick ($14,500) is red hot and has four top-five finishes in his last five races at Richmond, but he comes at a higher price with fewer laps led than these next two gentlemen. Denny Hamlin appears to have the car of the weekend, as he posted sixth and fourth on the single-lap charts in practice, and third and first over a 10-lap average. In fact, the last time the Cup Series was on a short track, Hamlin dominated the night at Bristol Motor Speedway. At his home track where he owns three wins, Hamlin appears to have a strong chance to give Gibbs another victory in what's been a dominant 2019.

Joey Logano ($13,000): Joey Logano has two wins himself at this track and has the best average finish of anyone here in the last five races at a 4.60. Logano was knocking on Martin Truex's door back in April but could not close the deal for the win. Joey may not have the machine Hamlin appears to this weekend, but starting 28th as one of the best active drivers at Richmond, Logano will be popular and viable in any format. He stacks as a safe option alongside your dominant car of choice.

Mid-Priced Drivers

Clint Bowyer ($10,200): The mid-tier usually has several options, but this week is fairly devoid -- for now. With post-qualifying inspection possibly forcing a car to forfeit their starting spot, they would immediately shoot to the top of the viability on a FanDuel roster. There are several options to keep an eye on for that type of situation -- like Chase Elliott ($11,500), Kurt Busch ($11,000), or Ryan Blaney ($10,000) -- but regardless of inspection, I wanted to shine some light on Clint Bowyer. He needs a great run to make up ground in the playoffs, and he had just that in April event. He finished top-five here in all three stages, including a solid third place for the race.

William Byron ($9,500): Byron is heating up at the right time, with consecutive top-10 showings in his last two races. With four poles on the season, Byron is one of the best qualifiers in the sport, but the last two weeks, he started outside the top 10 and ascended throughout the race. Starting 25th tonight, he will look to do so again, and after posting third in first practice, it appears the raw speed is in the car to do so.

Low-Priced Drivers

Paul Menard ($6,700): Looking back at the April race, Paul Menard actually finished 10th in one of his better runs of the season. Menard quietly has four top-15 finishes in his last five races, and he appears to be hitting his prime right after he announced he was retiring at year's end. Menard starts a deep 24th, and unless several cars fail, Menard would be as solid of a value that can be found at this price tag. With so many viable studs, complimentary cheap options are a must, and Menard and Chris Buescher ($6,800) are just that.

Ty Dillon ($5,500): If you want to dig deep into the bargain bin, Ty Dillon might be as far as I would go. Dillon finished 21st in the spring race, so starting 31st, he would gain substantial pass-differential points by repeating that. Dillon is quietly having his best season in the Monster Energy Cup Series, with 13 top-20 finishes, and another is a possibility at Richmond, especially considering he posted 14th in final practice.



Austin Swaim is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austin Swaim also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username ASwaim3. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.