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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the Straight Talk Wireless 400. This is the second race of the Round of 8, the final playoff round before the title is decided at Phoenix.
Last year, Christopher Bell won here, leading 26 of 267 laps, including the final 16 laps of the race after he took the lead from William Byron, who ultimately finished fourth.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 10/27/2024 at 2:33 p.m. EDT. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on X at @juscarts.
DFS Lineup Picks - DraftKings, FanDuel
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Kyle Larson
Starts Second - DK: $11.0K, FD: $14.0K
Kyle Larson's recorded a top 10 in just half of his Cup Series starts at Homestead, which obscures the fact that he's been really, really good here. He's led over 100 laps three times at this track and has finished in the top three in each race, including a 2022 victory where Larson led 199 of 267 laps.
Tony Stewart: "Every generation has that one guy that stands out above the rest. Kyle Larson is that guy." pic.twitter.com/AWjwr7RRQu
— HarvickHappyHour (@HarvickHappyPod) October 25, 2024
Larson and this No. 5 team have won six times already this season, including twice in the last five races. He's the betting favorite for this race at +300 and the betting favorite for the championship at +260. There's good reason for both of those things.
His biggest competition is probably Tyler Reddick, who has three top-fives here in four Cup starts and two Xfinity Series victories. Both are strong plays, but Larson feels safer.
William Byron
Starts 25th - DK: $10.3K, FD: $13.0K
There's definitely some strong place differential upside for this No. 24 car this weekend as William Byron fires off 25th, the second lowest of the remaining playoff drivers and ahead of only Joey Logano, who is one spot back in 26th.
Byron, who has three wins and an average finish of 13.7 this season, is a pretty obvious play, right? It shouldn't take a whole lot of convincing here to get him in your lineup. I will add that Byron won here in 2021, leading 102 of 267 laps and that he led double-digit laps at this track in 2022 and 2023 as well.
Ross Chastain
Starts 22nd - DK: $8.8K, FD: $10.0K
Ross Chastain missed the playoffs, but that hasn't stopped him from being competitive. Not only did he win at Kansas, but he finished seventh at Las Vegas last weekend.
Look how close @RossChastain was to being fastest. 🤏 https://t.co/KwJIvLDwko pic.twitter.com/GzSAEtvvSH
— Trackhouse Racing (@TeamTrackhouse) October 26, 2024
Homestead hasn't been Chastain's best track, but it's hard to blame him too much for that. He's finished outside the top 30 in three of his five Cup starts here, but two of those were back when he was in backmarker equipment and the other was when he crashed last year.
In the other two races here, Chastain started 32nd and finished 17th in 2021, then started 20th and finished second in 2022. He's shown he can produce strong place differential results here.
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Austin Cindric
Starts 36th - DK: $7.0K, FD: $6.5K
Austin Cindric and this new No. 2 just had no speed on Saturday as he qualified all the way back in 36th. All the Penske cars struggled, with Ryan Blaney qualifying 20th, Joey Logano 26th, and Harrison Burton 34th.
Cindric has finished in the top 20 in both of his Cup Series starts here. His average finish at the track is 15.5, while his overall average finish in the Cup Series is 19.6.
I don't know if I trust this car to pick up the pace, but a driver who was in the playoffs this season starting 36th is one of those plays you have to hammer, even if he's had some bad luck lately.
Austin Dillon
Starts 30th - DK: $6.7K, FD: $6.0K
Let's just stick with the drivers starting near the back of the field. Austin Dillon will start in 30th on Sunday. This team spent much of the season showing zero speed, but there were some flashes in the second half, including a controversial win at Richmond.
Do we think Austin Dillon is bringing the same car as the last two year at Homestead?
Austin Dillon back to back years was a Top 5.
Austin finished 4th in 2022 & was running Top 10 all day until the Larson caution & drove back to a 10th place finish with a drive of a lifetime!
— Eric (@furlongeric__) October 23, 2024
Dillon's also run shockingly well at Homestead during his career. In 10 starts here, he's only finished outside the top 15 once, and that was way back in his first start here in 2014.
Since then, the No. 3 car has had four top 10s here, all in his past five Homestead starts. And he's done it from poor starting positions, starting higher than 16th just twice here. He even went from 32nd to fourth in 2022.
Todd Gilliland
Starts 31st - DK: $5.8K, FD: $3.2K
There are very good track-based reasons to love Cindric and Dillon. There isn't really for Todd Gilliland, whose average Cup finish here is 28.0. In the Truck Series, he was better but hasn't recorded a top-five at the track.
At this price, there's an obvious appeal for someone whose average finish is 10.2 spots better than where he starts. Not an exciting play, but the value makes it easier to build a lineup with multiple top drivers.
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