4
weeks
agoKeep
an
eye
on
Ross
Chastain
in
this
weekend's
South
Point
400
at
Las
Vegas
Motor
Speedway.
Although
Chastain
didn't
make
the
playoffs
this
year,
he
has
been
strong
in
the
postseason,
showing
race-winning
potential
at
Watkins
Glen
before
getting
the
victory
at
Kansas
a
few
weeks
ago.read more...
4 weeks agoJoe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell won the pole for Sunday's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This is the third career pole position for Bell in the Cup Series at the site. In nine races at Las Vegas, Bell has four top-10 finishes, including two top-5 finishes in the last three Cup events at the site. Through 32 races so far this season, Bell has three wins, a Cup-series-leading 20 top-10 finishes, and 844 laps led, the third-most of all drivers. The No. 20 Toyota driver has been hot at 1.5-mile Intermediate tracks, as he finished in the Top 10 in each of the last three races at the track type, including a win at Charlotte. In practice, Bell ranked 14th of all drivers in overall lap averages. Considering his equipment and recent performances through the playoffs, Bell is one of the top drivers to compete for the win and lead laps early on, making him worth rostering for DFS lineups.Source: DriverAverages.com
4 weeks agoFor whatever reason, Chris Buescher has a relatively underwhelming track record at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In 15 career starts at the 1.5-mile track, Buescher has only been able to crack the top 10 once, which he did back in 2020 with a ninth-place finish. With that being said, in the five Next Gen races in Sin City, Buescher has finished between 11th and 18th three times, so he's not awful here--kind of just "meh." This weekend, the No. 17 Ford has looked pretty average thus far. Buescher was 14th-fastest during practice on Saturday and qualified in 22nd-place for Sunday's race. At $7,700 on DraftKings, Buescher is an interesting mid-tier option on the DFS site despite his disappointing track record. His driver price and Place Differential upside are a pretty good combination, plus he finished second and 11th in the two Kansas races this season, which is the sister track to Las Vegas.Source: Driver Averages
4 weeks agoCarson Hocevar definitely has upside for Sunday's South Point 400 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Back in the first race at this track this season, Hocevar's No. 77 Chevrolet had good speed all weekend, and he ended up with a 15th-place finish when it was all said and done. This weekend, Hocevar was fifth-fastest in practice on Saturday and then ended up sixth-fastest in qualifying. At $6,400 on DraftKings, Hocevar would be a decent low-dollar driver option if he didn't qualify so high. Even a top-10 finish may not be enough for Hocevar to his value in DFS. It's worth noting that the No. 77 Chevrolet had top-10 speed at Kansas a few weeks ago before running into issues, and Kansas is the sister track to Las Vegas.Source: ifantasyrace
4 weeks agoNoah Gragson is definitely a mid-tier driver to keep an eye on in this weekend's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the first race here this season, Gragson's No. 10 Ford was one of the fastest in the field by the end of the race, and Noah was able to rally to an eighth-place finish despite starting way back in the field in 30th. Additionally, Gragson finished ninth at Kansas back in May, which is the sister track to Las Vegas. As far as this weekend goes, Noah qualified 21st for Sunday afternoon's race, which gives him some upside for Place Differential points. The No. 10 Ford was 28th-fastest in practice. When asked about the race earlier this week, Gragson noted, "It [Las Vegas Motor Speedway] suits my driving style. I've run pretty good here in Xfinity and Truck Series, and in the Cup car, we had a really fast car in the spring and want to keep building off it."Source: Las Vegas Review Journal
4 weeks agoLas Vegas Motor Speedway is an interesting race track for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. In 18 career starts at the track, Ricky has been able to put up two top-10 finishes, which includes a career-best third-place finish here back in 2020. However, Stenhouse has seemingly regressed in the Next Gen era at Las Vegas; in the five races with this new car, he has just one top-20 finish and a less-than-stellar average driver rating of 55.4. With that being said, Stenhouse did walk away with a 17th-place finish at Las Vegas in the first race this season, and he finished 16th in the first Kansas race this year (which is the sister track to Vegas). In DFS this weekend, Stenhouse is a decent low-dollar option at $6,000, considering he has some Place Differential upside due to his 25th-place starting spot.Source: Driver Averages
4 weeks agoOne driver that has quite a bit of potential this weekend is Justin Haley, who will be making his fourth start of the season with Spire Motorsports on Sunday afternoon after the mid-season drive trade went down with Rick Ware Racing and Corey Lajoie a few weeks ago. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway specifically, Haley has actually been pretty solid in the Next Gen era, with four finishes between eighth and 22nd in the five races with this new car. When you add in the fact that Spire Motorsports has seen an increase in speed as of late, there is definitely sleeper potential for Justin Haley this weekend, especially since he is priced at just $5,900 on DraftKings for the South Point 400. Haley qualified 16th for this weekend's race, though, so he has relatively low Place Differential upside, but a top-10 finish could get him into the optimal lineup.Source: Jayski
4 weeks agoDon't be surprised if Daniel Hemric walks away with a respectable finish after this weekend's South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It has been a season of struggles for Hemric and his Kaulig Racing team, but the No. 31 Chevrolet actually has been a little better than normal at intermediate race tracks. Hemric finished 19th in the first Las Vegas race this season and followed that up with a 20th-place finish at Texas, an 18th-place finish at Charlotte, and a 20th-place finish at Kansas a few weeks ago. At $5,100 on DraftKings this weekend, Hemric makes for an interesting punt play on the DFS site, as another top-20 finish from him on Sunday would be a pretty good return on one of the cheapest drivers on the slate, while also allowing you to grab a couple of the high-dollar guys. Hemric was 27th-fastest in practice on Saturday.Source: Jayski
1
month
agoTyler
Reddick
placed
11th
at
the
Charlotte
Roval
for
the
Bank
of
America
ROVAL
400
after
a
hard-fought
day.
Starting
from
the
second
position,
Reddick
began
the
day
with
one
of
the
fastest
cars,
competing
for
the
top
spot
along
with
Kyle
Larson,
A.J.
Allmendinger,
and
Shane
Vanread more...
1 month agoA mediocre but satisfactory day turned bad for Alex Bowman on Sunday, as his No. 48 Chevrolet was disqualified after post-race inspection following the Bank of America Roval 400. This caused Bowman to be credited with a 38th-place finish instead of the 18th-place finish he originally had. This also caused him to be eliminated from the playoffs, as Joey Logano will now advance to the Round of 8 instead. After the race, Brad Moran, who is managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series stated, "Unfortunately, the 48 had an issue (and) did not meet minimum weight. We backed the car back off the scales, ran it back on and then, unfortunately, it was the same weight. So the car had a weight issue. All the other cars cleared inspection. The 48 didn't, and that ends up in a disqualification." Hendrick Motorsports has not yet decided if they will appeal this penalty.Source: NASCAR.com
1
month
agoChase
Elliott
of
Hendrick
Motorsports
achieved
a
strong
fifth-place
run
at
the
Charlotte
Roval
for
Sunday's
Bank
of
America
ROVAL
400.
The
No.
9
Chevrolet
driver
was
one
of
the
best-performing
drivers
throughout
the
day
since
the
beginning
of
the
race.
In
the
first
stage,
Elliott
drove
fromread more...
1 month agoTeam Penske's Ryan Blaney finished 10th during Sunday's Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval course. Starting from the 14th position, Blaney progressively worked through the field throughout the day and ran inside the Top 10 for the majority of the race. The No. 12 Ford driver scored stage points in the first two stages as he ended the first stage in fourth and the second stage in fifth. During the race's final stage, Blaney started falling back to the tail end of the Top 10 but held on to obtain the fifth top-10 result of his Cup career at the Roval and his first with the Next-Gen car. Blaney also advanced to the Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoffs for 2024, and as the Cup Series heads to Las Vegas, expect him to be highly competitive as he placed in the Top 10 in 10 of his 16 starts at the site. Source: NASCAR.com
1
month
agoJoe
Gibbs
Racing
driver
Christopher
Bell
placed
second
during
Sunday's
Bank
of
America
ROVAL
400
at
the
Charlotte
Motor
Speedway
Roval
Course.
Beginning
the
race
from
the
12th
position,
Bell
quickly
showcased
that
he
had
one
of
the
best
cars
in
the
field
that
could
compete
for
aread more...
1 month agoDaniel Suarez's improbable playoff drive screeched to a grinding halt at the Charlotte roval, a track where he has sometimes had speed but never delivered a good finish. That happened again in yesterday's race as Suarez was in the top ten for most of Stage 2, but his day effectively ended when Bubba Wallace forced him off the track and over the curbing, which may have been the impetus that triggered Suarez to lose his brakes at the end of the stage. Early in Stage 3, he reported a brake fluid leak. Although he remained on track, he finished 30th one lap down and ended up the third-slowest driver in the race. With this race, Suarez's speed percentile dropped below 40% for the season while his teammate Ross Chastain is at 67.43. Considering Suarez's lack of speed this year, it's miraculous he made it even that far.Source: Racing Reference
1 month agoAlthough it initially looked like Joey Logano failed to advance to the Round of 8 after Sunday's Charlotte roval race when Tyler Reddick made a furious charge to secure what seemed to be the last playoff spot, Alex Bowman's post-race disqualification unexpectedly allowed Logano back into the playoffs, thereby continuing his streak of making the Round of 8 in every even-numbered year of the knockout playoff era to remain intact. In all those previous years, he also advanced to the championship round, but it seems unlikely that he will do that this year since all the other drivers in the Round of 8 rank in the top seven in overall points while Logano ranks 15th. Logano generally ran well at Charlotte, where he started fourth, finished eighth, and posted his best average running position and driver rating on a road course since last year's roval event.Source: Racing Reference