RADIO
The greatest day in motorsports is this Sunday. It opens with Formula 1 in Monaco, then features the Indianapolis 500, and then finds NASCAR running its longest race of the year, the Coca-Cola 600.
The biggest story of the weekend is that Kyle Larson, the Cup Series points leader, is planning to run in the Indianapolis 500. Possible rain could change that plan, but the goal is for Larson to run all 1,100 miles of the two races on Sunday.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Coca-Cola 600 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 5/26/2024 at 6:20 p.m. EDT. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on Twitter at @juscarts.
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DFS Lineup Picks - DraftKings, FanDuel
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William Byron
Starts Second - DK: $10.0K, FD: $12.5K
Ty Gibbs is on the pole for this year's Coca-Cola 600 and has a good shot to get his first Cup Series win considering the pole sitter has run well here lately, but I view outside polesitter William Byron as the more likely driver to come away with the victory on Sunday night.
.@WilliamByron advances to the final round of qualifying. pic.twitter.com/Gux6cTE2bi
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) May 25, 2024
Byron has never won here, but he came close in 2023. Byron won the pole for the 2023 running of the Coca-Cola 600, leading 91 laps and ultimately finishing second to Ryan Blaney. Byron was in the lead as late as Lap 374, but Blaney grabbed the lead for the final 26 laps of the race.
The No. 24 car has three wins this season already and has a great chance to get the fourth win of the year this weekend.
Joey Logano
Starts 28th - DK: $8.8K, FD: $8.0K
There are a lot of really enticing place differential options in the field on Sunday night, so let's talk about them, starting with Joey Logano. The No. 22 car will fire off from way back in 28th on Sunday.
Logano has struggled lately, though he delivered a huge fantasy score last week with his win in the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro. Before that, Logano went five races in a row without a top 10 as Penske just hasn't had a ton of speed this season.
In 25 starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Logano has 11 top 10s but has finished outside the top 10 in three consecutive races here. If he started in the top 20 or so spot, I'd probably be hesitant to play him, but starting in 28th is deep enough for Logano to have a strong place differential upside.
Brad Keselowski
Starts 30th - DK: $8.7K, FD: $11.0K
Two weeks ago at Darlington, Brad Keselowski broke a long losing streak to earn his first win since he moved to the No. 6 car and bought into RFK Racing. This week, his quest for a second win in a row hit a major snag when he qualified just 30th for the Coca-Cola 600.
With two wins by Ford the past two weeks, Brad Keselowski says that the Ford teams have done a better job in terms of executing with the Dark Horse
He says he's proud of the work RFK Racing has done, but stopped short of saying they've become Ford's standard-bearer pic.twitter.com/eb1wXLk6f4
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) May 26, 2024
Still, a starting spot that deep offers a lot of opportunity for place differential. Keselowski has run well at intermediate tracks this year, including posting a runner-up finish at Texas after starting back in 22nd. At Kansas, he started 30th and finished 11th, which would be a really good result for DFS purposes this weekend.
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Chris Buescher
Starts 39th - DK: $8.5K, FD: $10.0K
Chris Buescher blew a tire and smacked the wall during practice. That made him unable to run a qualifying lap, which is why the No. 17 car is starting way back in 39th on Sunday night.
Trouble for @Chris_Buescher! pic.twitter.com/SmYJJsTlZ5
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 25, 2024
Bad for Buescher, but good for those of us playing DFS this weekend because of the place differential upside for this RFK Racing team. The last time the Cup Series was at an intermediate track was at Kansas, where Buescher led 54 laps and finished in second place after starting 12th. He probably starts too far back to really contend for a top-five finish on Sunday night, but maybe not since we have an extra 100 miles on Sunday for him to get there.
Noah Gragson
Starts 19th - DK: $7.5K, FD: $7.2K
Stewart-Haas Racing is in turmoil right now, with rumors swirling that the team will be selling all four charters in the offseason. Still, those rumors haven't seemed to impact the team's on-track performance much yet.
Noah Gragson has run particularly well lately. He has seven consecutive finishes in the top 20, which includes three top 10s in the last four races. This No. 10 car is consistently running near the front and I don't see any reason to think that won't be the case on Sunday since Gragson has two top 10s in three intermediate races so far this season.
Todd Gilliland
Starts 35th - DK: $6.5K, FD: $5.2K
Front Row Motorsports is in the news because Michael McDowell is leaving the team next season for Spire Motorsports. However, it sounds like Todd Gilliland will be back in the No. 38 car next season for FRM.
Gilliland has an average finish of 22.1 this season and comes into this race with three top-15 finishes in the past four races. That includes a 14th-place finish at Kansas, another mile-and-a-half track. Gilliland has a chance for 10-15 place differential points on Sunday night, which is solid considering how cheap he is on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
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