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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Richmond this weekend for the Cook Out 400. Last weekend, Toyota had a strong race at Pocono, with five of the top six finishers being from the manufacturer, led by winner Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin's win has him third in points, behind teammate Martin Truex Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron. But this weekend could be a tough one for him, as controversy about an incident with Kyle Larson could mean Larson's looking for some payback on Sunday.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Cook Out 400 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 7/30/23 at 3:00 PM ET. 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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Kyle Larson
Starts 14th - DK: $10,800, FD: $13,500
Kyle Larson only starts 14th, but I expect him to be in the mix to win Sunday's race. One reason I expect that is Larson won here in the spring, of course. Back in April, he started ninth. He got the lead for the first time just past the quarter point of the race, leading the first of his 93 laps on lap 124.
That was his second Richmond win in the Cup Series, with the other coming in 2017 when he ran for Chip Ganassi. Since moving to Hendrick in 2021, he's had three top 10s in five starts here. He led 11 laps in this race last year before he finished 14th.
Also worth noting: how good Hendrick was here in the spring race. In addition to Larson winning, Josh Berry was second subbing for Chase Elliott in the 9 car, and Alex Bowman won the pole and finished eighth. William Byron finished 24th, but he led 117 laps and had a shot to win until he was involved in a late caution.
Christopher Bell
Starts 29th - DK: $10,200, FD: $12,000
There are a lot of place differential plays that I really love on this slate. Qualifying just kind of shook out in a way that really works for targeting PD this weekend.
Christopher Bell (who struggled in qualifying here in the spring as well), starting 21st, has run well on race day in Richmond. He was fourth in the spring race, the highest-finishing Toyota on the day, and he has five top 10s in six starts. Notably, since moving to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2021, his worst finish in five races here is a sixth-place run last year. He's led double-digit laps in three of the last four Richmond races.
Daniel Suarez
Starts 33rd - DK: $7,800, FD: $6,800
Daniel Suarez is another good driver who'll open this race mired back in traffic. If he can keep the car clean, I expect him to gain a ton of laps on Sunday afternoon.
This 99 car turned a poor qualifying lap. But he was a top-10 car in practice, turning a 23.334-second lap there before running just a 24.264 on his qualifying lap.
Richmond isn't Suarez's best track, and his last top 10 here was back in 2019 with Stewart Haas Racing. Since moving to Trackhouse, his best finish here is 16th. But I think it's notable that four of his five runs with the team have resulted in top-20s. Maybe Suarez won't be a contender, but he can deliver a solid 15th-ish place run here and a double-digit place differential.
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Chris Buescher
Starts 26th - DK: $7,700, FD: $7,500
Let's just stick with the place differential guys, since there are so many of them. Up next, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing's Chris Buescher, who'll fire off 26th on Sunday afternoon.
Buescher qualified well in the spring race here but finished 30th, as he had to make an extra pit stop for a loose wheel that ended his hopes of competing. It was a shame because Richmond was a good track for Buescher in 2022. With this new Cup Series car evening the playing field some, Buescher was 15th in the fall race and then third in this race. He should have a good shot at getting another top-15 finish on Sunday.
Aric Almirola
Starts 24th - DK: $7,300, FD: $7,800
Aric Almirola has struggled this year, with just one top 10 all year and an average finish of 22.3, his lowest since 2016 when he was driving for Richard Petty Motorsports.
But things have improved lately. Almirola was 12th at Chicago, then won the pole at Atlanta and led 46 laps before fading to 18th. At Loudon, he led four laps and looked like a contender, but crashed while running near the front. He was 12th last week at Pocono. Maybe things are coming together finally?
Almirola has eight top 10s at Richmond, with four of those coming since his move to SHR in 2018. That includes an eighth-place result in this race last year.
Michael McDowell
Starts 18th - DK: $5,900, FD: $5,500
Michael McDowell doesn't have a huge amount of PD upside. But at under $6,000 on both sites, I think there's some good value here. McDowell was sixth here in the spring race.
His overall track record here is poor, as that spring result is his only top 10 at Richmond. But a lot of that is from circumstances, as he didn't really drive a car that could have solid results at non-superspeedway races until 2022.
Also of note: FRM teammate Todd Gilliland was 15th here in the spring, finishing ahead of drivers like Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin. Strong run overall for this race team.
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