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 Charlotte Roval. 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 Busch and Martin Truex Jr.
The two ultra expensive drivers so you will likely be choosing between these two drivers. If you include the #95 of Matt D in the Gibbs bunch which I certainly do the Gibbs cars have been epic on the road courses. All 5 teams finished top 8 at Sonoma and besides Kyle’s 11th at the Glen the other four drivers finishes top 6. These teams have a legit Mechanical grip advantage over everyone else. Truex has been the best road racing driver over the last few years and is a top threat to win this week. Kyle starts 17th and is a legit threat for the win as well with a little added place diff. Both drivers are elite plays.
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin went to a back up car so will start from the back of the pack. No worries though he will have a fast car all the same. Scored from 28th he will have some serious place differential ability. I like Denny to challenge for a top 5. If he does so he should end up the highest scoring driver on the slate.
Chase Elliott
Good road racer which is rather obvious given his back to back wins at Watkins Glen. He starts 19th but is a legit top 5 car. He had the fastest 5 lap average in final practice. Starting 19th there is some place differential to be had. He is perhaps the biggest threat to Hamlin in terms of FD scoring.
Value Plays
William Byron
This track is tough to pass on and I believe Byron could dominate the first stage. If he can accomplish this he will add a couple valuable points to his total. He has a top 10 car outside of that and at $7700 if he can score a top 10 he will do just fine. This is a riskier play than most but is definitely worth a shot.
Kurt Busch
I am stretching the value thing a bit here at $11,200 but thats not too bad of a price overall. He starts 23rd which is perfect considering the worst he has finished in his last 15 road course races is 13th. During that stretch he has 12 top 10s including a 5th here last season. Sounds like good value to me.
Matt Dibenedetto
Matty D is essentially a Gibbs brother this week. He has killed the road course as well as most the flat 750 hp tracks this year. The Gibbs program obviously has something figured out and I expect Dibenedetto to take advantage yet again. Finished 4th and 6th in two road course races this year and actually finished 13th here last year driving the #32. Starts 18th and I expect him to contend for a top 10.
Low Tier/Punts
Parker Kligerman
Not a huge fan of legit punts on FD but Kligerman checks a lot of boxes. He is a solid overall road racer with top 25 ability straight up. With a little carnage he could end up inside the top 20. The important part of this equation is that he will be starting 40th. This means he will have the ability to add some decent place differential points to his total. If he cracks the top 25 he is a great play. Best part is he cost $2,500. Salary that low will allow you to really attack the elite plays this week.
Michael McDowell
McDowell comes from a road racing background. This is definitely his best track type. He can score a top 15 this week if everything breaks well for him. At only $4,500 and starting 22nd that would be a fantastic result.
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.