RADIO
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Darlington this weekend for the Goodyear 400. This is the first of two visits to the Lady In Black this season, with the series set to return later this season for the Southern 500. This is one of the most historic tracks on the NASCAR schedule.
Last weekend in Kansas, Kyle Larson beat out Chris Buescher in what was the closest finish in Cup Series history. Seriously, if you haven't had a chance to watch the finish yet, go find it on YouTube real quick, then come back here and keep reading.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Goodyear 400 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 5/12/2024 at 3:10 p.m. EST. 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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Martin Truex Jr.
Starts 10th - DK: $10,700, FD: $12,000
After winning three races last season, Martin Truex Jr. is still searching for his first win of the 2024 season. The two-time Darlington winner should be in contention for the victory on Sunday. If he manages to win, he'd earn his third victory at this track.
Truex has had some bad luck here lately, DNFing three of the last four races at this track. However, the finishes haven't reflected how well he ran as he led double-digit laps in all three of those races. He just couldn't keep the car clean.
There's also a smidge of place differential upside here. Not as much as with other drivers, but five to 10 extra points never hurts, right?
Tyler Reddick
Starts First - DK: $10,300, FD: $12,500
Tyler Reddick's already found victory lane once this season, but his pole position on Sunday's start grid offers him a great chance to earn his second win of 2024.
Stache power!! ☝🏻#TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/nkpy27kP5i
— Tyler Reddick (@TylerReddick) May 11, 2024
Reddick led 90s laps when the series was here last fall and ultimately finished second to Kyle Larson. That marked the third time in the last four Darlington races that Reddick has finished either second or third. He doesn't have a win at this track yet, but you can argue he's been the best driver here since NASCAR moved to this new generation of cars.
Also, having clean air will help Reddick lead laps early. Last year in this race, Truex led 137 of the first 138 laps after starting on the pole. Reddick could at least dominate until the first caution, at which point things could get jumbled up.
Brad Keselowski
Starts Second - DK: $9,200, FD: $9,500
While Reddick is the more likely driver to dominate early, I wouldn't count Brad Keselowski out. Like Reddick, he starts on the front row, so if he can get the early jump on the 45 car, he could lead a good chunk of laps.
Keselowski has run well here in this new NASCAR generation, going 3-for-4 in terms of getting top 10s. He was also strong here before 2022, including earning a victory here in 2018 for Roger Penske's team.
Sunday might be the best chance in a while for Keselowski to break his long losing streak. His last Cup Series win came back in 2021.
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Noah Gragson
Starts 36th - DK: $7,200, FD: $7,000
It was a tough qualifying effort for Ford, as the last four spots on the starting grid belong to Ford cars. Two of those belong to Stewart-Haas drivers, with Josh Berry starting 33rd and Noah Gragson 36th.
“We’re not letting the outside noise distract us”
Noah Gragson on staying focused with the uncertainty surrounding the future of Stewart-Haas Racing.
Gragson also spoke about preparing for Darlington coming off of three top 10s in a row.
📹 @stephen_stumpf pic.twitter.com/QGDMy9VOwm
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) May 11, 2024
We'll get to Berry in a minute, but first, let's talk about Gragson. There was a lot of deserved controversy about his move to SHR, both because of on-the-track and off-the-track concerns. Gragson is answering the on-track issues.
Coming into this race, Gragson has five top 10s this season and sits 19th in the point standings. That includes three consecutive top 10s, which have moved Gragson up from 29th in points, where he was after Texas. There is a huge place differential upside for the No. 10 car.
Josh Berry
Starts 33rd - DK: $6,700, FD: $6,800
Josh Berry joins his Stewart-Haas teammate at the rear of the field. I don't love this play as much as I love Gragson since there's less place differential upside and Berry hasn't run as well as Gragson, but I still see a lot of value in the No. 4 car.
Berry has yet to record a top 10 this season, but he's on a three-race span of top 20s, including two consecutive finishes in the top 15. It might not sound impressive, but with Berry starting back in 33rd, a finish of 15th would be great for fantasy because of place differential.
Carson Hocevar
Starts 21st - DK: $5,800, FD: $5,500
Hocevar is a really cheap play here considering how he has outrun the other drivers who are down near him in salary. While it'd be ideal if he started a little deeper than 21st in this field, he's finished in the top 20 in half the races this season. Last year, Hocevar made his second career Cup Series start in the Southern 500 and finished 17th.
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