Welcome to the Cup Series Setup for Fanduel. Here we will be breaking down the best plays for Fanduel purposes. My name is RyanLarkin88 and you can follow me @Larkin8 on twitter. This week the Cup Series is at Darlington. The VIP Member Research Station and Domination Station will be ready to go for you to help create your lineups so be sure to check that out. Also, jump in the NASCAR VIP Slack and get some great insight into this weeks race.
Top Tier Plays
Kyle Larson
Larson has been unreal the last two years leading 124 and 284 laps the last two Darlington races. His team has one of the top 5 cars in speed over the last couple months and have made this style track a focus for 2019. He starts 3rd so some risk but I expect him to be a threat to win. If the high amount of laps he has some killer upside if he can dominate this race again. $11,500 is a great price as well.
Kyle Busch
Kyle Busch is really strong here. Worst finish in his last nine Darlington races is 11th and he has an average finish of 6.78 during that stretch. Considering he starts 33rd he offers tons of place differential upside place is also a legit threat to win. Busch was 2nd in 10, 15, and 20 lap average in final practice
Martin Truex Jr
Truex won here in 2016 and followed it up with a couple strong runs in 2017 and 2018. His career average here is 11.31 which is 5th best of all active drivers. He is a fantastic long run driver and is great at taking care of tires which is really important this week. He starts 22nd so offers some really good place differential upside. Another reason I like Truex is the fact he cost $2,500 less than Kyle Busch. He can certainly get close to matching the place diff of KB but at a cheaper price that can set up for a better overall lineup.
Denny Hamlin
Can not talk about Darlington without talking about Denny Hamlin. Dude is unreal here with two career wins and an average finish of 6.15 all time. He was 3rd in both 10 and 15 lap averages in final practice. Starts 9th and will cost $14,000. He is a legit threat for the win.
Value Plays
Aric Almirola
This is by no means Almirola’s best track but starting 30th he has some fairly obvious place differential that can not be ignored. He finshed 14th here last season which was his first at SHR. I see him as a 12th-15th place car with top 10 upside if a couple things break his way. Elite cash play and very good gpp play.
Erik Jones
Jones had the 4th best 15 lap average and the 3rd best 20 lap average in practice. He finished 8th last year and 5th in 2017. He is a legit top 5 threat. He starts 15th so there is a little place differential upside to add to his strong finishing position upside.
Ryan Newman
Yet another track Newman is ridiculously solid at. He comes into this weeks race with an all time average finish of 12.05. He has finished top 10 in 65% of the races here. While his upside is a top 10 finish I expect we will see him finishing in that 12th-15th range this week. That would be a fantastic run though especially starting 24th at $8,400. Love Newman here.
Low Tier/Punts
Chris Buescher
Buescher starting 12th raises a little concern but he has been a top 15 car most of 2019. Looking at his history here adds some confidence as well. 17th, 17th and 13th in his 3 career starts is encouraging. Due to his high starting position I expect much lower ownership than usual which is fantastic for gpps. At $7,200 he is a sneaky good play.
Ty Dillon
Dillon comes in at $6000 and starts 29th. He has raced two cup series races here with finishes of 13th in 2017 and 21st last year. He is simply an affordable play who can possibly score a top 20 with some solid place differential to add to it.
This will conclude this edition of The Monster Energy Cup Series Setup for Fanduel. If you would like to reach out and talk NASCAR Follow me on twitter @Larkin8 and join me as well as our other DFS Army NASCAR contributors (Brady Miller, Taco, and NillyJay) in the NASCAR coaching channels.