1 week agoAfter a promising fourth-place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500, it has been a bit of a struggle for Chase Briscoe and his new No. 19 team at Joe Gibbs Racing, as they haven't finished better than 14th in the month of racing since then. This week at Homestead, though, there appears to be a little hope, as Briscoe qualified fourth for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 on Sunday. This qualifying effort wasn't a fluke, either, as the No. 19 Toyota was sixth-fastest in practice as well. As far as track record goes, Briscoe has struggled at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with zero top-10 finishes in four career starts at the track. His 12th-place effort here last fall has been his best thus far. Expectations-wise, it's hard to trust Briscoe and his new team this weekend, especially considering he's still getting used to how the Toyotas drive. At $8,400 on DraftKings, you should probably use him sparingly (if at all) with your DFS lineups this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Autoweek
1 week agoEven though he qualified back in 30th for this weekend's Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Austin Dillon should be on your radar for a solid finish on Sunday. There are a few tracks on the schedule where Austin really excels, and Homestead is one of them. In 11 career starts here, he notched four top-10 finishes and just two results worse than 14th. Additionally, his average finish of 12.6 at this track ranks fifth-best among active drivers with more than one start at the track. In practice on Saturday, the No. 3 Chevrolet looked to be about a mid-pack or better car. Dillon ended up 18th-fastest on the single-lap speed chart and was 17th-best when it came to 30-lap average. In terms of DFS this weekend, Austin Dillon makes an excellent pick on DraftKings, as he is relatively cheap (at $6,300) and has a ton of Place Differential upside at one of his best tracks.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Speedway Media
1 week agoThe last time the NASCAR Cup Series was at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Justin Haley had a day to forget. After having a solid qualifying effort and starting 10th, Haley got spun on the first lap of the race (while running in sixth) and ultimately ended up finishing 34th when it was all said and done and spinning again later in the race. Don't let those mishaps stop you from considering Haley in your DraftKings lineups this time around, though. At $6,400 on the DFS site, Haley is a pretty cheap option with decent upside. He qualified 21st for Sunday's Straight Talk Wireless 400 and showed good speed in practice, ending up sixth-quickest in 25-lap average. Last weekend at Las Vegas, Haley rebounded from a 33rd-place starting spot to finish 14th at Las Vegas, and if the No. 7 Chevrolet has the same speed during the race as it did in practice, it wouldn't be overly surprising to see Haley contend for a top-10 finish. He's a tournament option to consider being overweight on in DraftKings this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: NBC Sports
1 week agoOne driver who had better-than-expected speed during practice at Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend was Zane Smith, who ranked between ninth- and 11th-fastest in all lap average categories, including 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, and 30-lap average. His single fastest lap was 17th-fastest on the board. Zane then qualified 17th for this weekend's Straight Talk Wireless 400, which forces the question, does he have upside on Sunday--particularly in DFS? Smith had a day to forget here at Homestead last season, as he qualified up in 19th but ended up finishing 30th when it was all said and done. The No. 38 team also struggled to find speed during the race last week at Las Vegas despite qualifying ninth, as Smith ended up 23rd out in the desert. There's always some sneaky potential for Zane Smith on race days--he does have a second-place finish to his credit at Homestead in the Truck Series--but more than likely, he's going to slip back a bit this weekend. Use him sparingly, if at all, in your DraftKings lineups this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Racing-Reference
1 week agoTodd Gilliland and his No. 34 Ford will roll off the starting grid from 29th place for this weekend's Straight Talk Wireless 400 after the Front Row Motorsports driver posted a time of 32.445 seconds in qualifying on Saturday afternoon. This is par for the course for Gilliland at Homestead-Miami, as he has started from 31st, 32nd, and 29th place in his three career Cup Series starts at the track thus far. Finish-wise, Gilliland has walked away with 20th-, 25th-, and 31st-place results, respectively. In practice this weekend, Gilliland ranked 26th-fastest on the single-lap speed chart and was 23rd-fastest when it came to 30-lap average. There's some upside for him this weekend, but you should definitely temper your expectations. A top-20 finish out of Gilliland would be considered a good day out of the No. 34 team on Sunday.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: ifantasyrace
1 week agoDon't be afraid to roster Ty Dillon on DraftKings this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. There are several high-priced drivers on the slate this weekend that are very good at Homestead, so you're going to need to find salary cap relief somewhere. Ty Dillon is an excellent option. Although he's not going to blaze through the field and challenge for a top-10 finish on Sunday, Ty should be able to keep his fenders clean and challenge for a mid-20s result. At just $5,200 on DraftKings, that would be an incredible value considering he qualified back in 34th for this weekend's Straight Talk Wireless 400. Ty has finished between 22nd and 28th in each of his last six races at this track. Sometimes in DFS, all you need is a reliable and cheap option to fill out a lineup. That is Ty Dillon this weekend at Homestead-Miami.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Driver Averages
2 weeks agoTyler Reddick of 23XI Racing finished 24th in Sunday's Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the first stage, Reddick began the race from the 14th position and eventually made it as high as second before fading to 11th by the end of the stage. In the second stage, Reddick looked competitive as he ran most of the stage in the top five, even as others were using differing strategies. The No. 45 Toyota driver would get passed by a couple of drivers by the end of the second stage, as he ended it in ninth and barely scored stage points. In the final stage, Reddick made it to the lead for the first time in the race on lap 201. Reddick led a total of 34 laps for the race until he lost the lead to Daniel Suarez, and then when he went to pit road under green, the No. 45 team had trouble changing the left rear tire. Reddick would be unable to recover from this issue and finished 24th as a result.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 weeks agoRyan Blaney's performance on Sunday was defined by struggle and disappointment. Starting from the rear of the field due to having to his team having to repair his car due to a practice crash, Blaney began the first stage, making moves through the field. Blaney intended to split the first stage into two green flag runs but had issues during his pit stop, causing him to go two laps down. It wouldn't be until lap 109 in the middle of the second stage when Blaney returned to the lead lap, and he made the most of it as he got to sixth by the end of the stage. In the final stage, Blaney ran around the top five before getting caught in contact with Noah Gragson and Bubba Wallace, causing his car to spin and get massive damage. The No. 12 Ford driver would be unable to continue the race, being scored 35th for the day.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 weeks agoJosh Berry is officially a NASCAR Cup Series winner--and it wasn't a fluke victory. Although he only led 18 of the 267 laps at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, Berry was strong from start to finish, boasting the third-best average running position during the Pennzoil 400 and having the fourth-fastest Green Flag Speed. This win comes in Berry's 53rd career Cup Series starts and a strong indicator that Wood Brothers Racing made the correct decision in signing him this year. Berry now sits 13th in the points standings after five races and is one of just five drivers to have multiple top-five finishes this year.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: NASCAR.com
2 weeks agoLas Vegas Motor Speedway has always been a relatively good race track for AJ Allmendinger, especially considering he isn't known for his oval racing, and the gamble paid off for fantasy managers that backed him this weekend, as the Kaulig Racing driver scored his first top-10 finish of the season on Sunday afternoon in the Pennzoil 400. In addition to crossing the finish line in eighth place at the conclusion, Allmendinger also ended up with a sixth-place result in the first stage. He now sits 23rd in the points standings after five races. Good news for Allmendinger fans: the Cup Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway next, where The Dinger has been strong at recently with finishes of eighth or better in each of the last three races there.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Frontstretch
2
weeks
agoHendrick
Motorsports
driver
Kyle
Larson
raced
well
at
Las
Vegas
and
ran
inside
the
top
10
for
most
of
the
race
on
Sunday,
finishing
in
the
ninth
position.
Beginning
the
race
from
10th,
Larson
had
one
of
the
faster
cars
in
the
earlier
portion
of
Sunday's
event.
The
read more...
2
weeks
agoTrackhouse
Racing's
Ross
Chastain
continued
to
show
why
Las
Vegas
is
one
of
his
better
tracks
by
finishing
fifth
during
Sunday's
race.
Starting
from
the
19th
position,
Chastain
spent
awhile
figuring
out
how
to
navigate
to
the
front
and
during
the
first
stage,
Chastain
did
not
get
very
read more...
2 weeks agoAfter a couple of races of failing to score a great finish, Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing finished second. Starting from the 23rd position, Suarez progressively made his way through the field over the course of the race through moves on track or pit strategy. He was 14th by the end of the first stage, making him unable to score stage points, but he did place seventh at the end of the second stage, and scored a few there. Suarez made his way to the lead in the latter portions of the race by taking advantage of two tire strategies to maintain track position, gaining the lead and ultimately leading 12 laps before battling with Josh Berry. By lap 254, Suarez lost the lead for the final time thanks to his car getting loose, allowing Berry to slip by while Suarez settled for being the runner-up to this week's race. This is a new career-best finish for Suarez in the Cup Series at Las Vegas in 16 starts.
--Sean Engel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 weeks ago23XI Racing has always been fast on flat 1.5-mile ovals, and Sunday's Las Vegas race was no exception, even though neither Bubba Wallace nor his teammate Tyler Reddick ended up with good finishes. Despite starting 20th, Wallace drove up to fourth at the end of Stage 1 and then took the lead twice before being passed by both Kyle Larson and William Byron. However, while attempting to make a four-wide pass on Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, and Noah Gragson for sixth in the outside lane on a restart, Blaney, Wallace, and Gragson came together and Wallace ended up finishing 28th and a lap down, which was not representative of how he ran. Nonetheless, he definitely had improved speed this year, likely thanks to his new crew chief Charles Denike, who led over 1,000 laps with Christian Eckes in the Craftsman Truck Series last year. The fact that he's been pretty unlucky and is still 11th in points is a great sign.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoAlex Bowman started sixth and finished seventh at Las Vegas, so you might figure he had his typical run-of-the-mill run where he ran in the back half of the top 10 of the race without really contending, but his run was actually a lot stronger than that. Bowman led two laps early after passing Austin Cindric after the first restart before Cindric repassed him, but then while running fifth on Lap 90, he pitted for a loose wheel and fell to 35th. He gained considerably after staying out of the pits on the eighth caution and quickly re-entered the top 10 for good after that, running as high as fourth in the latter stages. It remains to be seen whether he will have the speed to dominate a race again (which he hasn't for a while), but Sunday was an encouraging sign.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
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