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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Las Vegas on Sunday to open the Round of 8. With just four races left in the season, the battle to win the NASCAR title is heating up. Only eight drivers remain in the chase for a spot in the Championship 4.
Sunday marks the second visit of the season to Las Vegas for the Cup Series. Back in March, William Byron dominated the Pennzoil 400, leading 176 of 271 laps. Hendrick Motorsports drivers took the top three spots, with Bubba Wallace in fourth as the highest-finishing non-Hendrick driver.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the AutoTrader South Point 400 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 10/15/23 at 2:48 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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Kyle Larson
Starts Second - DK: $11,000, FD: $14,000
Kyle Larson will fire off second, but he's my pick to win Sunday's race. He's yet to win on a 1.5-mile track this season, but it's not for lack of trying. He led 63 laps in the first Vegas race and finished second, led 85 at the first Kansas race and finished second again, and led 99 laps in both the second Kansas race and the Texas race.
He's won once at Vegas in the Cup Series, driving to victory in the 2021 spring race. He led 103 laps in that one, the most he's led at the track. Overall, he has six top-five finishes here plus four other top 10s. Simply put, Larson's been very fast this weekend at a track where he's historically run really well.
Chase Elliott
Starts 35th - DK: $9,200, FD: $10,000
Lot of place differential upside for Chase Elliott, who wrecked in practice and had to go to a backup car. He'll start way back in 35th because of that.
Eliott's yet to win this year, but he's shown good speed lately, finishing 11th or better in seven consecutive races, including two 1.5-mile tracks. And while he missed the first Vegas race this year after an off-track injury, his Hendrick teammates were fast, finishing first, second, and third.
While he's never won here, Elliott does have three top fives, including a runner-up finish in the 2021 fall race. He should be able to gain 20-plus spots on Sunday if he keeps the car clean.
Kevin Harvick
Starts 24th - DK: $8,000, FD: $7,200
Time is running out for Kevin Harvick to win in his final full-time season, as the 60-time Cup Series winner is set to retire after this year. And while it'd be a major long shot for him to win on Sunday, I do like his chances to get a good result at Vegas on Sunday, as he's won twice here and was ninth in the spring race this year.
He's also shown some good speed on 1.5-mile tracks this season, as he was sixth at Texas a few weeks ago and 11th at Kansas two weeks before that. He started 22nd and 24th, respectively, in those races. He starts 24th on Sunday, putting him in line to score some place differential points.
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Alex Bowman
Starts 14th - DK: $7,700, FD: $7,500
Alex Bowman has just four top 10s through 29 races this season for Hendrick Motorsports, but one of those came back at Vegas in the spring, when he led two laps and finished third behind teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson.
Before that, Bowman actually won in his previous start at Las Vegas, the 2022 spring race. He led 16 laps in that one, claiming what is his most recent win in NASCAR's premier series. He starts 14th on Sunday and has 10-ish place differential points available if he runs as well as he did back in March.
Daniel Suarez
Starts 36th - DK: $7,300, FD: $6,800
Like Chase Elliott, a crash in practice has relegated Daniel Suarez to a backup car. He'll bring up the rear on Sunday as he launches from the 36th position.
It likely goes without saying that there isn't as much upside for Suarez as there is with Elliott. This Trackhouse car is unlikely to be as fast as Elliott's Hendrick Motorsports machine will be.
Still, he's run well in his past two starts here. In the 2022 fall race, he led 31 laps before finishing 16th, and then earlier this year he finished 10th. And he was eighth a few weeks back at another 1.5-mile track, Texas.
Suarez is a must-play in Cash games because of the place differential upside. If he can get to the top 15, bottom half of the top 10 maybe, he'll end up with a strong showing.
Carson Hocevar
Starts 25th - DK: $6,500, FD: $6,000
Carson Hocevar continues to run well in this Legacy Motor Club 42 car. While he crashed out at Talladega, he was 16th previous race at Texas, one of four consecutive top-20 finishes for Hocevar.
He also got some added track experience here earlier this year, when he finished seventh in March in the Truck Series race at the track. He led 19 laps of that race. In fact, he's led in three straight Truck Series starts here. Hocevar's a cheap source of five to 10 place differential points.
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