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 Richmond. 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.
This week is yet another impound race with inspection being done Saturday early afternoon. If a team fails inspection their qualifying time will be disallowed and they will start from rear of the field. They will also be scored from rear of the field as well. These picks are made before the inspection process was done. Obviously if a good driver starts in the back they are a great play!!
Top Tier Plays
Kyle Busch
Kyle has six wins here at Richmond and has finished top 5 in 17 of 28 career starts here. Those stats speak for themselves. He is a top pick for the win and to score a bunch of those laps led dominator points. He will start from the 4th position this week. KB also holds the best average finish here at 6.96.
Denny Hamlin
Hamlin comes in with the 2nd best average finish here and three wins. He has finished 6th or better in seven of the last eight races at Richmond. 2019 has been perhaps the best in Denny Hamlin’s career especially on the tracks where the higher horsepower package has been used. I expect him to run up front and contend for the win.
Brad Keselowski
Not a play I love but he is definitely worth a look. He is really good here at Richmond having led 100+ laps four times in his last 12 starts. More importantly the reason why I felt he had to be mentioned is the last time he qualified on the pole here he went on to lead 383 laps in a win.
Martin Truex Jr.
Truex is probably the top pick to dominate and win this week. Dude has led over 100 laps in five of the last six races here at Richmond for a total of 861 laps led in those races. He led 186 en route to the victory in the spring this year. Starting 8th he even adds a couple place diff points more than his contemporaries.
Joey Logano
Logano is a simple place differential play. He is slated to start 28th but is almost a lock for a top 10. Top 10 finishes in 10 of the last 11 Richmond races with a random 14th place finish in there. In those 11 races he has 2 wins and 7 top 5s. Simply too good to be ignored.
Value Plays
William Byron
Byron is set up to start 25th this week. It has been so nice having him not qualify up front and be a viable option. He has finished 13th, 20th and 12th in his three Richmond races for an average finish of 15th. His $9500 price tag is a little high but still in a good spot. A top 15 is a decent run but if he can grab a third straight top ten this week he will be a great play.
Ryan Newman
Drops to $7500 this week which is a fantastic price tag. Starting 19th so a little place diff possibility to go with the normal Ryan Newman top 10 upside. He has an all time average finish here at 12.54. This is largely due to his 19 top tens in 35 starts. He finished 9th in the spring race and that is exactly where his upside is again for this week. When going to tracks where it is hard to pass I will always trust Newman.
Jimmie Johnson
I expect this pick to get a few eye rolls but that is the point. Johnson starts 10th if lineup holds and I expect low ownership. That is exactly what we need to take down a gpp. In his last 10 races at Richmond he has an average finish of 7.18. His worst finish during that stretch is 12th. I expect Jimmie to hang out around the top ten all night and collect a solid finish. Only $8,300
Low Tier/Punts
Ryan Newman
Drops to $7500 this week which is a fantastic price tag. Starting 19th so a little place diff possibility to go with the normal Ryan Newman top 10 upside. He has an all time average finish here at 12.54. This is largely due to his 19 top tens in 35 starts. He finished 9th in the spring race and that is exactly where his upside is again for this week. When going to tracks where it is hard to pass I will always trust Newman.
Ty Dillon
I don’t love anyone in a bottom tier team here at Richmond but Ty checks enough boxes to be worth a play. He only cost $5500 so he has the correct price point to help offset the big money drivers. As far as track history he has finishes of 22nd, 21st and 20th in three of his last four races here. He starts 31st so if he can replicate those performances he can get a decent finish with a few place diff points and potentially lineup well with a lineup featuring a couple high priced doms.
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.