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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Phoenix on Sunday to close out the 2023 Cup Series season. Four drivers remain alive in the race for the championship. Whoever finishes highest out of Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, and William Byron will be named the Cup Series champion.
Earlier this season, Byron drove to victory lane here, leading 64 laps. Blaney was second, Larson was fourth after leading 201 laps, and Bell was sixth. Those strong showings portend what could be a close battle on Sunday for the title.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Cup Series Championship on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 11/5/23 at 3:30 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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Ryan Blaney
Starts 15th - DK: $11,300, FD: $14,000
The championship winner has won every final race in this current format, so one thing I want to do this week is build a lineup anchored by two of the title contenders.
Let's start with the contender with the most place differential upside, as Ryan Blaney will fire off 15th on Sunday. Blaney was second here in March.
In fact, he was also second here in the November race, and he comes into this race with four consecutive top fives at this track. If he had qualified better, I'd probably view him as the favorite, but there's one problem.
William Byron
Starts First - DK: $11,200, FD: $13,000
That problem is that winning the pole at Phoenix really matters. In 2020, the finale moved to Phoenix. Chase Elliott won the pole and went on to win the race. In 2021, Kyle Larson won the pole and went on to win the race. In 2022, Joey Logano won the pole, and guess what?
He went on to win the race. Since becoming the finale, Phoenix is 3-for-3 in terms of a Championship 4 driver winning the pole and then going on to win the race. William Byron, who has already won here once this season, is on the pole. Will the trend continue? My bet is yes.
Chase Briscoe
Starts 26th - DK: $7,500, FD: $8,500
Last week, Chase Briscoe had a great run, qualifying third and finishing fourth at Martinsville. It was the second top-20 finish in a row for Briscoe. Has he found some speed here at the end of the season?
Briscoe ran well at Phoenix back in March, finishing seventh in that one after starting 24th, proving he can have a strong race here even when he doesn't qualify well. He's also won here before in the Cup Series, leading 101 laps in the race last March. He's got three top-10 finishes in a row here. At one of his best tracks, I'll bet on the place differential.
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Alex Bowman
Starts 23rd - DK: $7,100, FD: $7,200
While two Hendrick cars will compete for the title this weekend, this 48 team of Alex Bowman is just trying to end the year on a good run. With two finishes of 30th or worse in the last three races, the hope for Bowman finishing 2023 with momentum rests on Phoenix.
Historically, this hasn't been Bowman's best track, but he finished ninth here back in March, his first Phoenix top 10 since a 2017 Xfinity Series race. He did have one really great Cup showing though, back in the Nov. 2016 race. Qualifying on the pole, Bowman led 194 laps and finished sixth.
A.J. Allmendinger
Starts 32nd - DK: $6,200, FD: $4,800
It sounds like A.J. Allmendinger is heading back to the Xfinity Series full-time following this race, so can he end the year on a good note? He had a solid October, winning at the ROVAL and finishing fifth at Homestead.
He starts way back in 32nd for this one, giving Allmendinger some really solid place differential upside. He's got four consecutive top-20 finishes here in the Cup Series and has shown good speed at times at the track. He can get you +15 or so in place differential this weekend.
Justin Haley
Starts 35th - DK: $6,000, FD: $3,000
Justin Haley's long association with Kaulig Racing ends after this race, as he heads over to Rick Ware Racing next season. He's finished outside the top 20 in four straight races this year, but that doesn't really matter a ton when he starts 35th. The place differential upside is hard to ignore considering Haley's average finish this season is 20.8.
This hasn't been a great track for Haley since he went full-time in this 31 car, with finishes of 26th, 17th, 27th, and 27th. Still, he really just needs to keep the car clean and get a good run through attrition to have a solid DFS day.
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