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The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway this weekend for the Xfinity 500. This is the final race of the Round of 8, the final playoff round before the title is decided at Phoenix.
Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick have already clinched spots in the Championship 4, but two more are up for grabs. Christopher Bell and William Byron are currently in those transfer spots, but Kyle Larson isn't far behind Byron. Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Elliott still have a chance to advance as well.
Below are my NASCAR DFS lineup picks for the Xfinity 500 on DraftKings and FanDuel this week. This slate locks on 11/3/2024 at 2:01 p.m. EST. If you have any questions or want to talk about NASCAR, you can find me on X at @juscarts.
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Denny Hamlin
Starts 37th - DK: $11.3K, FD: $14.0K
Chalk alert! Denny Hamlin was unable to turn a qualifying lap because of this:
Denny Hamlin will not turn a qualifying lap after crashing in practice.
He'll face an uphill battle in the elimination race at Martinsville. #NASCARPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/4hN85BH6dS
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) November 2, 2024
That means the No. 11 car will start all the way back in 37th on Sunday. That's five-time Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin that we're talking about. There's very clear place differential upside.
Since the Gen 7 car debuted, Hamlin had three top-5s in five starts here and has led laps in four consecutive starts here. In two of those races, he's led over 150 laps. He might not challenge for a win from this starting spot, but Hamlin can certainly get you +30 in place differential.
William Byron
Starts Third - DK: $10.8K, FD: $12.0K
A funny thing happened this weekend. The Truck Series race? Won by the same driver who won at Martinsville earlier this year. The Xfinity Series race? Won by the same driver who won at Martinsville earlier this year.
The Cup Series race? We'll see.
William Byron won here in April, leading 88 laps. Most of that came in a row as he worked his way forward all race from his 18th-place starting spot and took the lead on Lap 327. From there, he would lead 88 of the final 89 laps.
Byron has now won here twice in the Gen 7 car and in fairly dominant fashion the first time as he led 212 of 403 laps. Can Byron clinch a spot in the Championship 4 in walk-off fashion?
Bubba Wallace
Starts 19th - DK: $7.8K, FD: $10.0K
This wasn't one of Bubba Wallace's best tracks earlier in his career, but that's really changed over the last three seasons. Wallace comes into the weekend with four finishes in a row of 11th or better at this track.
A bit of room to move forward tomorrow. 🔛🔝🔜
Qualifying from @MartinsvilleSwy:@bubbawallace P19@tylerreddick P31#TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/pBTIZbPz3l
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) November 2, 2024
That includes his fourth-place finish earlier this season. While he didn't lead any laps in that race, he was in the top 15 for 99.3% of the race and had an average running position of fourth. He was up there in the top five all day but just never managed to stick the nose of the No. 23 Toyota ahead of the pack.
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Chris Buescher
Starts 26th - DK: $7.5K, FD: $7.2K
RFK Racing had a disappointing qualifying effort, with Brad Keselowski starting 18th and Chris Buescher back in 26th.
Buying a shovel for tomorrow so we can get to diggin' 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/Yn0K0k3gdK
— RFK Racing (@RFKracing) November 2, 2024
This isn't Buescher's best track or even one of his better tracks, but he has four top 15s in five races here in the Gen 7 car. He's not consistently contending for top 10s, but if Buescher can just keep the car clean and finish +10 or so on his starting spot, that'll be a solid DFS day for the No. 17 car.
Carson Hocevar
Starts 27th - DK: $6.7K, FD: $6.0K
Another solid place differential option here is Carson Hocevar, who comes into this race with top 15s in three of the last four races, including a ninth at Homestead, his first top 10 since Watkins Glen.
Hocevar has made six starts here across the Truck Series and Cup Series and has never recorded a top 10, so that's definitely a worrisome sign, but he led laps in three of his four Truck Series starts and ran a solid 17th here in April, finishing +8 in place differential in that one.
Zane Smith
Starts 36th - DK: $5.8K, FD: $3.5K
We can take a pretty big place differential swing with Zane Smith this weekend as he starts way back in 36th. The car just had no speed on Saturday.
But I'm willing to take a chance on Smith this weekend because he's got a pretty solid track record here in the lower series, winning the 2021 Truck Series race here and never finishing outside the top 10 in four starts in that series.
That's not translated to Cup yet, as he was 34th and 31st in two starts here, but that doesn't mean Smith can't put together a decent run here if he stays out of trouble. He was top-20 at Bristol not long ago and last week's 30th at Homestead ended a streak of seven finishes of 21st or better.
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