1 day agoJoe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin will start 15th for Sunday's race at Las Vegas, the Pennzoil 400. Hamlin's starting position for this week's race matches his starting position from the October 2023 Cup event at the Nevada track. In 26 races at Las Vegas, Hamlin has one win and 14 top-10 finishes, including each of the last three Cup events at the site. Through four races this season, Hamlin has two top-10 finishes, highlighted by a runner-up finish during last week's race at Phoenix to his teammate, Christopher Bell. In practice for this week's race, Hamlin was 24th in overall lap averages but only displayed speed on the longer runs as he ranked 12th in 25 consecutive lap averages and fifth in 30 consecutive lap averages. Although Hamlin's practice speeds may not be the best compared to other top-priced DFS options, he is still worth consideration as an alternative pivot play due to his favorable Las Vegas history and his equipment, which will compete for a top-10 finish.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day agoWashington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin tallied two points during their victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Ovechkin tallied the primary helper on Dylan Strome's opening goal. Later in the third period, Ovechkin would find the back of the net, which put him just eight goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's record. During this contest, Ovechkin logged four total shots on goal with two hits. Over his previous 11 contests, the future Hall of Famer has found the back of the net eight times and added four helpers. During this stretch he averaged an impressive 4.1 shots on goal per game. Through 51 total games this season, Ovechkin has scored 34 goals and 21 helpers with nine of his goals coming on the power play. He remains a must-start player and a top option in DFS as he continues to chase history.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com
1 day agoPittsburgh Penguins center Connor Dewar found the back of the net twice during their victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon. Dewar scored his first goal in the opening frame on a wrist shot. Later in the third period, Dewar would score the empty-netter to put the game out of reach. Dewar has found the back of the net at least once in each of his previous two games. The Penguins acquired Dewar at the trade deadline, and he has performed quite well during his first four contests in Pittsburgh. During these games, he has tallied three goals with eight hits, three blocks, and a +4 rating. The 25-year-old has been deployed on the third offensive line, which has provided him with scoring opportunities. He could be worth a look in deeper formats as he continues this productive stretch,
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: NHL.com
1 day ago23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace will start 20th for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Wallace continues his streak of starting races inside the top 20 at Las Vegas since 2022 with his qualifying result this week. In 14 previous races at Vegas, Wallace has five top-20 finishes, including three finishes of 13th or better in the last four Cup events at the Nevada track. After four races this season, Wallace has two DNFs but also two top-20 finishes while sitting 12th in regular season points. In practice, Wallace ranked 11th in overall lap averages and showcased top-10 speeds in all other categories. Expect Wallace to compete for a top-10 finish this week, indicating that he is worth rostering in all DFS formats.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day agoRFK Racing's Brad Keselowski will start 27th for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Keselowski was the worst qualifier of the three RFK entries for this week's race. In 23 starts at Las Vegas, Keselowski has three wins and 17 top-20 finishes, including four since joining RFK for the 2022 Cup Series season. With four races completed so far in the 2025 season, Keselowski has one top-20 finish and two DNFs. In practice for this week's race at Vegas, Keselowski ranked 10th in overall lap averages but displayed speeds outside of the top 20 in all other categories. Keselowski's track history at Vegas makes him worth consideration for cash game lineups, especially with a high DFS ceiling, but his practice speeds and 2025 performance to date make him difficult to recommend for tournaments.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day agoErik Jones of Legacy Motor Club acquired a starting position of fifth for this week's Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Pennzoil 400. This is the first time that Jones will start inside the top 10 at Las Vegas since he earned his last pole at the site in 2018. In 15 races at Vegas, Jones has four top-10 finishes, with only one of them being scored since 2022. After four races so far this year, Jones has two top-20 finishes and a best finish of 12th at Daytona. In practice, Jones ranked 13th in overall lap averages and displayed top-10 speeds in the 10, 15, and 20 consecutive lap average categories. Although Jones has a cheap salary ($6,300 on DraftKings) and relatively solid practice speeds, his Vegas track history and low upside make him difficult to recommend for DFS outside of the occasional tournament lineup.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day agoTrackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez will start 23rd for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This will be the second consecutive Las Vegas race where Suarez will start from the 23rd position. In 15 races at Vegas, Suarez has 10 top-20 finishes, including four straight top-15 results in the last four Cup events at the site. The No. 99 Chevrolet driver does not have the strongest start to the year with only one top-20 finish in the first four races of the 2025 Cup season. In practice, Suarez ranked 21st in overall lap averages while displaying top-20 speeds in all other categories. Considering his relatively inexpensive salary ($7,100 on DraftKings), recent Vegas history, and his practice speeds, Suarez is worth rostering in all formats.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day agoSpire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar will start 25th after qualifying for this week's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hocevar's starting position for this week matches the lowest of his Cup career at Las Vegas. In three previous races at the site, Hocevar has just one top-15 finish and never collected positive Place Differential in his Cup career at the site. With four races completed so far this season, Hocevar has two top-20 finishes and two DNFs. In practice, Hocevar ranked third in overall lap averages while displaying top-10 speeds in all other categories. Hocevar's upside, practice speeds, and 2025 performance so far all make him worth rostering in all formats this week at Las Vegas.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day agoRFK Racing's Ryan Preece obtained a starting position of 12th for this week's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the Pennzoil 400. Preece's starting position will be the highest ever of his Cup career at Las Vegas. In 10 Cup starts in his career at Vegas, Preece has two top-20 finishes. The No. 60 Ford driver also nabbed positive Place Differential in all four of his appearances in the Next-Gen car since 2022. Through four races this year, Preece has two top-20 finishes, with his 15th-place finish in last week's race at Phoenix being his best of the season yet. In practice, Preece ranked 28th in overall lap averages while displaying top-20 speeds in the 20 and 25 consecutive lap average categories. Compared to most in his salary range ($6,200 on DraftKings), Preece offers little upside based on his starting position. Preece can only be worth recommending for tournament games, but his practice speeds suggest that he may not be worth the gamble. Fantasy players are recommended to fade Preece this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day agoEven though Joey Logano is very expensive at $9,500, last fall's Las Vegas winner seems potentially poised to lead early and often since he qualified second directly outside Michael McDowell. Considering he is a vastly better intermediate driver and one of Las Vegas' foremost masters, he stands a good chance of earning a lot of points for leading and fastest laps, but he's still had a significant downturn in speed as his speed percentiles of 59.42 and 60.62 the last two years were his slowest ever as a Penske driver, and Ryan Blaney is routinely faster of late. However, he definitely seems faster than he was last year, and despite no top-10 finishes, he already has half of last year's laps-led total after four races. If you think Logano is going to dominate the race, he's a very valuable DFS option. But if you don't, he becomes avoidable.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoMichael McDowell pulled a big surprise by delivering Spire Motorsports' first pole position for Sunday's Pennzoil 400, while his teammates Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley only qualified 25th and 33rd, respectively. Although McDowell won the most poles last year, that came for a Front Row Motorsports team that was dominating on drafting tracks, and one does not normally expect him to do much on intermediates. Since he only costs $6,100, he might be a tempting DFS selection if you think he's going to hold the lead and score a lot of lap-leader points, but it seems far more likely that outside pole-sitter Joey Logano will pass him immediately, so he will likely lose more points based on place differential than he gains from leading.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoAustin Cindric tends to qualify well on flat intermediates, and Las Vegas is no exception, as he has now qualified third here for the third time, including three of the last four winter Las Vegas races. However, he also has a history of sliding back through the pack when he qualifies well on an intermediate and he has lost positions in every Las Vegas start, except for the 2023 winter race, when he started ninth and finished sixth, but he ran significantly worse in that race since his average running position was 18th. Despite having four top-10 qualifying runs at Las Vegas, he has never had an ARP better than 13th in six previous starts, so starting from third, he is almost certain to lose positions. While he could lead a few laps in the beginning, there's not enough value to start him, even at $7,200.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoChase Briscoe was typically very slow in his previous races at Las Vegas, with a fourth place in the 2022 fall event serving as his sole highlight, but even in that race he only had an average running position of 17th. Admittedly, a large part of that was the fact that the Stewart-Haas Racing cars tended to badly struggle on intermediates after 2020. Now Briscoe is driving for a Joe Gibbs Racing team that is traditionally much faster on them, but it didn't seem to help much as he still qualified only 24th and perhaps surprisingly, none of the JGR cars placed in the top ten. Briscoe is one of the biggest question marks for this race since he'll likely run better for JGR than SHR in theory but James Small isn't a great crew chief and bad luck continues to follow the No. 19 car whever it goes. Briscoe is likely too overpriced at $8,500 to be very valuable.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoAfter looking like he would inevitably win his first NASCAR Cup Series race soon in the first half of last year, Ty Gibbs has had an inexplicable falloff. He has only posted a single top ten in the last 15 races despite having theoretically championship-caliber Joe Gibbs Racing equipment and it's not like he's even been running well and is merely unlucky. In the last seven races, his best average running position is 21st and he qualified 29th yesterday. His weekend went from bad to worse when he flipped his High Limit sprint car last night. Considering how dominant Gibbs's teammate Christopher Bell was in last fall's race here, Gibbs should be good for Place Differential in theory, but since he seems to be running badly on a regular basis now and somewhat unlucky, he's probably not a top-tier option.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoEven though Shane van Gisbergen's teammate Ross Chastain was the fastest driver in Saturday's practice at Las Vegas, don't expect SVG to utilize his Trackhouse Racing cars to the same extent. Although it might be tempting to draft him because he is starting 28th and because of Chastain's speed, he is still a rookie who has only raced at this track once before in the Cup Series, finishing 29th in last fall's event. He didn't have much experience there in the Xfinity Series, either, as he had mechanical DNFs in both Las Vegas races last year before they were half over. It takes a while for even the world's best drivers to figure out the Next Gen car, and even though he is one of the world's best drivers, he isn't yet on ovals. It is probably advisable to stay away for DFS lineups.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoAlthough Noah Gragson crashed out last week at Phoenix when he seemed to be the best underdog DFS choice, the hometown native seems to have a little value at Las Vegas since last year he drove from 30th to sixth on a track type where the Stewart-Haas Racing cars usually struggle. However, even though he finished far ahead of his fellow SHR cars, his average running position of 17th suggests he was very lucky and won't repeat that performance. Additionally, he qualified a lot better this time (21st) for a Front Row Motorsports team generally regarded as worse, although his teammate Zane Smith did qualify in the top 10. Gragson probably isn't one of your best options this time, but at $6,900, he's a relatively cheap option who might be suitable to fill a DFS lineup.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoAustin Dillon has a decent record at Las Vegas, even though he hardly ever leads there. In 19 starts, he has finished in the top twenty 14 times and has been reliably consistent on a very low level, which suggests he will probably improve somewhat from his 22nd place starting position. However, he has only led 12 laps there (all before the advent of the Next Gen car), so it seems highly improbable that he will score much in the way of points for leading laps or fastest laps. Furthermore, Justin Alexander isn't his crew chief this year and he always runs worse without him than with him. He'll probably gain a couple positions, but not enough to make him a valuable pick for DFS especially since he costs closer to $7,000 than $6,000.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoJosh Berry qualifying well is starting to become rather routine, and his seventh-place starting position for Sunday's race at Las Vegas is consistent with that. However, he tends to be very slow on unrestricted intermediate tracks, and he only finished 20th and 24th in last year's Las Vegas races. Admittedly, he was a rookie, but the track hasn't really suited him to begin with -- in his Hendrick Motorsports debut at Las Vegas two years ago, he only finished 29th, while his three regular teammates swept the top three. For all the speed Berry had at Atlanta and Phoenix, he's almost guaranteed to lose positions here, making him clearly one of the worst options unless you think he'll lead laps in Stage 1 when most of the better drivers are starting behind him. Given his recent form, it's certainly not inconceivable, but don't bet on it.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoIn a puzzling qualifying session, Michael McDowell won the pole while his Spire Motorsports teammates Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley only qualified 25th and 33rd, respectively. Nonetheless, based on qualifying, Spire has seemed to have an uptick in speed this year and Spire at least is a Hendrick Motorsports satellite at a track where HMS frequently dominates. Even though Haley has generally underachieved since he took over the No. 7 Spire car late last year, it seems he likely has a lot of value since he earned top-20 finishes in four of the five Next Gen-era races in which he didn't have a Rick Ware car. In three of those, he had top-20 average running positions. When you also consider that Corey LaJoie had a 13th-place ARP last year, Haley is likely one of the best DFS underdog plays.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoAlthough Cole Custer's career-defining moment in the Cup Series came when he made a four-wide pass for the win as a rookie at Kentucky Speedway in 2020 and Las Vegas is likewise a flat 1.5-mile track, he hasn't been too strong at Las Vegas, as his best finish is 16th and he has never led a lap there. He has also only posted an average running position of better than 25th once. To some extent, Stewart-Haas Racing really struggled on intermediates after his rookie season, so this isn't surprising, but even though Custer was solid on this track type in the Xfinity Series, the fact that Haas has now dropped from four cars to one suggests that they probably aren't very likely to run well on intermediates where horsepower is paramount. Custer might be worth a slight look if you think he'll have speed since he only costs $5,300 and is starting 26th, but it seems unlikely he will have speed.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoCody Ware qualified 35th for Sunday's race at Las Vegas. After missing the fall 2023 and winter 2024 races at Las Vegas after his arrest and suspension by NASCAR, he earned a career-best finish at the track when he finished 21st, and it wasn't that unrepresentative of a result as his average running position of 24th matched his best on a non-drafting oval in his career. Having said that, even though he is the cheapest DFS driver on DraftKings at $5,000, he is still unlikely to gain enough positions in terms of place differential to be a worthwhile pick to start for DFS lineups.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
1 day agoKeep an eye on Kyle Busch in this weekend's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Richard Childress Racing has had better-than-expected speed to start out the 2025 season, and "Rowdy" has an excellent track record at his home venue. In six of the last nine races at this track, Busch has finished sixth or better, so the talent is definitely there if his equipment is up to par. The No. 8 Chevrolet wasn't overly competitive in the two Las Vegas races last year--Busch finished 26th and 13th--but, as mentioned before, the RCR Chevrolets could have more speed this time around. Busch also finished eighth at Kansas last season, which is the sister track to Las Vegas. This weekend, the No. 8 Chevrolet was 11th-fastest in practice. Kyle will roll off the starting grid from fourth-place when the Pennzoil 400 goes green on Sunday. He could end up leading some laps early and makes for an interesting tournament play in DFS contests on DraftKings.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 day agoDon't sleep on Alex Bowman this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Statistically, this has been one of the best tracks on the schedule for Bowman since the Next Gen car was introduced, as he has an average finish of 12.4 here over the last five races and an average driver rating of 98.5. Including his win here in Sin City back in 2022, Bowman finished third here in 2023 and ended up finishing fifth in the fall Playoff race last October. Additionally, the Hendrick Motorsports driver has been strong at Kansas Speedway as well, which is the sister track to Las Vegas. Over at Kansas, Bowman has five straight top-10 finishes. This weekend, the No. 48 Chevrolet was among the fastest in practice when it came to long-run lap averages, and Bowman qualified sixth for Sunday's Pennzoil 400. He's a risky tournament/pivot option in DFS contests at $8,000 on DraftKings.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 day agoAlthough he's more known for his road course prowess, don't overlook AJ Allmendinger in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend. Allmendinger has a knack for pulling out respectable finishes in the desert, as he has posted a top-15 result in four of his 13 career starts at the track. Allmendinger last raced in the Cup Series here back in 2023 and walked away with 18th- and 21st-place results in the two races with Kaulig Racing. This weekend, the No. 16 Chevrolet was 17th-fastest in practice and ended up qualifying in 18th-place for Sunday's race. On DraftKings, Allmendinger is priced at $6,600, and that relatively high salary combined with AJ's high starting position should keep his ownership pretty low on this slate. With decent overall upside, Allmendinger could be a viable option for tournament builds in DFS on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
1 day agoTodd Gilliland is always one of the most popular lower-tier drivers, but does he have the upside at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend to roll the dice with the No. 34 Ford again? You may have to temper your expectations. Gilliland has historically struggled at the 1.5-mile tracks, and Las Vegas is no exception. In six career starts at this track, Gilliland has yet to finish better than 23rd, and his driver rating at this track in the Next Gen era (39.7) is down with the likes of bottom feeders such as Cody Ware and BJ McLeod. Todd did wind up with a 14th-place finish at Kansas last season, which is the sister track of Las Vegas, but that was more of an anomaly than anything else. As far as DFS lineups go, though, you still need to have some Gilliland exposure this weekend. He qualified back in 32nd and is only priced at $5,900, so it won't take much for Todd to hit value on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 day agoFresh off of his top-10 finish at Phoenix last weekend, Zane Smith may be able to make it back-to-back at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday. Smith walked away with a 16th-place here at Las Vegas ast fall, and he was able to grab top-10 results at both Kansas and Michigan last season. Kansas is the sister track to Las Vegas, and Michigan is often added into the comparisons for Vegas and Kansas, for what that's worth. As always, rolling the dice with Zane Smith is always a pretty big gamble due to his major inconsistencies. However, he has shown promise early this season, and if he can keep his fenders clean on Sunday, we could see another strong performance from the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team. With that being said, because of his high starting position this weekend at Las Vegas (ninth), you should probably look elsewhere when building your DFS lineups, even with Zane's low salary ($5,800). The potential for negative Place Differential is too high.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: BVM Sports
1 day agoJohn Hunter Nemechek has gotten off to a fast start through the first four races of the 2025 Cup Series season, as the Legacy Motor Club driver currently sits 13th in the points standings and has just one finish worse than 14th this year: a 22nd-place result at COTA. Now the series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway and iconic boyband Backstreet Boys is on the hood for Nemechek's No. 42 Toyota. And honestly, this track hasn't been awful for John Hunter--relatively speaking. In addition to his ninth-place finish here last fall, Nemechek has three other results between 20th and 24th in his other Cup Series starts at this track. That makes Las Vegas his third-best track on the schedule when it comes to average finish. This weekend, the No. 42 Toyota was just 30th-fastest in both practice and qualifying, but Nemechek's Legacy Motor Club teammate, Erik Jones, showed good speed. As a low-dollar ($5,500) Place Differential play, John Hunter is a decent option at Las Vegas this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 day agoRicky Stenhouse Jr. earned a starting position of 31st for this week's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This will mark the third time this season that Stenhouse will start lower than 30th in the Cup Series. In 19 starts at Las Vegas in his Cup career, Stenhouse has eight top-20 finishes, including last year's March race at the site. After four races so far this season, Stenhouse has four finishes of 21st or better and gained positive Place Differential every time. In practice, Stenhouse ranked 22nd in overall lap averages and displayed top-20 speeds in comparison to the field in the 15 and 20-consecutive-lap average categories. Considering his extremely high upside and practice speeds, Stenhouse is one of the top value options of the week and will compete for a top-20 finish.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day ago23XI Racing's Riley Herbst will start 34th after qualifying for this week's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It will be his first time racing at the site in the Cup Series. In 11 previous Xfinity Series starts at Las Vegas, Herbst has one win and six top-10 finishes while scoring positive Place Differential seven times. Through four races so far this season, Herbst has three top-20 finishes with positive PD earned. In practice, Herbst ranked 27th in 10 consecutive lap averages and 25th in overall lap averages. Based on his enormous upside, Xfinity history, and equipment, Herbst can be a sneaky DFS value play, especially as one of the cheapest drivers to add to lineups this week.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: DriverAverages.com
1 day agoOne of the surprises during qualifying for this weekend's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was Ty Dillon, who will roll off the starting grid from 17th place when the fifth Cup Series race of the season goes green on Sunday. It was especially surprising because Dillon's No. 10 Chevrolet was one of the slowest cars in practice, ranking 35th-fastest out of 36 cars and over a second off the pace of the fastest driver, Ross Chastain. Now DFS managers have to ask themselves, is Ty Dillon worth the risk on Sunday due to his good track position to start the race? At just $5,100 on DraftKings, he may seem like a compelling dirt-cheap option, but considering he's never finished better than 20th in the Next Gen car at Las Vegas makes it hard to think that Dillon won't have a negative place differential on Sunday. You should use Dillon sparingly in your DFS lineups, if at all this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Jayski
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