June 9, 2024

Christopher Bell will start 15th in Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway. In his three Cup starts at this track, Bell has just one top-10, an overall average finish of 20th, and an average DraftKings score of 22.95. While this data may suggest that you should fade the 29-year-old this weekend, he is actually a solid road course racer and one we should not simply dismiss. In his 21 Cup starts at road courses, Bell has the sixth-best average finish (14.2) among active drivers in the series and his two victories rank him second among active drivers with less than 30 starts (Tyler Reddick ranks first with three victories). It is also worth noting that at the COTA race back in March, the Joe Gibbs Racing star led nine laps en route to a second-place finish. So now the question becomes why has this track in particular been such a challenge for the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 champion? Given that his 2021 Cup start marked his first start at this track in any of NASCAR's three main levels, it could be argued that his early shortcomings were the result of inexperience. Considering that this track does have a reputation for being one of the more challenging road courses, it is understandable that a young driver would struggle here. However, despite being a challenging track, Bell finished ninth here last season in what was just his third start in wine country. As a driver who has three top-10 finishes in his last four starts this season and as one of the more consistent road course racers in the series today, you will want to have some exposure to the No. 20 in DFS this weekend, despite the underwhelming track data he has here.--Adam Erhardt - RotoBaller
Source: Racing-Reference.info