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AustYn

Are you ready for some more short-track racing?!?! Martinsville Speedway is the site of the next NASCAR Cup Series event. The season continues to produce new winners (not in terms of career) for the 2022 season. Denny Hamlin took home the checkered flag last week and it is highly likely another driver will get their first of 2022 this weekend. Chase Elliott is sitting on the pole and is hungry for a win. Last night, the Xfinity Series had an exciting finish with Brandon Jones winning on a great pass on teammate Ty Gibbs, and proceeding that pass, Sam Mayer moves Ty Gibbs out of the way to try and get the $100k bonus Dash4Cash…Allmendinger ended up getting the bonus, but the #1 JR Motorsports driver was searching to win it in consecutive weeks. If you are even semi-active in watching the sport, you also saw Ty Gibbs throw a punch at Sam Mayer. It will be interesting to see how NASCAR handles this situation. Brad Keselowski got the death penalty for using tampered parts on his race car…what will Ty Gibbs get for assault? Yes, I said it…I like rivalries and tension in the sport, but last night was pathetic. Hit us up with your reaction to it!

Martinsville is under the lights! 400 laps, 8 sets of tires and a grandfather clock...this race is one of my personal favorites. The ability to stay calm and locked-in is the main attribute to have here. You must save tires, even though the wear is not serious, a tenth of a second is crucial here. Starting position is insanely big here, laps led will be major as well. They aren’t driving 500 laps, but 400 is enough to matter in making a lineup. The strategy we used at Richmond will be similar here. I will also be looking at track history, because even though they are in new cars, the skill it takes to drive at the “paper-clip” remains. William Byron won the truck race and looked so strong; I feel like you have to consider him. Martinsville is very much a rhythm track, and he is in a good one. According to CBS Sports, Martin Truex Jr. is the favorite to win at 9/2.

Top Pick: Chase Elliott ($11,200) Starting P1

I am not going to sugarcoat it…I think the #9 Chevy will easily lead 250 laps today. Elliott was the best in long-runs in practice and by quite a bit. Elliott has won here before and this was the site of his first career start (I was there). Hendrick Motorsports has been dominant this year and Chase is the only one without a win, that ends this weekend. Take him at 7/1.

Supporting Cast: Bubba Wallace ($6,400) Starting P21 & Harrison Burton ($5,900) Starting P29

The great thing about Martinsville DFS is that you can be aggressive at the top-end and get some field-fillers that could potentially get you positive EV. I am relying on Elliott to lead a lot of laps, and for Bubba Wallace to get me a top-15. Bubba has won in the truck series here and was P6 in 10 lap runs. Harrison Burton has also won here in the Xfinity series, and even though he wasn’t all that fast in practice, Team Penske was fast enough to let me know that the Penske alliance that the Wood Brothers have will produce a top-20. Pick drivers who run well here, and the results will show, no need to be fancy here.

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Yacs

We had a pretty boring race last week to be quite honest, but Martinsville lends itself to some entertaining, jam-packed action, so we’ll be in for a treat tonight. There are few drivers that are truly great at this track, but there are a decent number of drivers that are pretty good. It’s gonna be a tough week for DFS.

The Paperclip is one of the most iconic tracks on the NASCAR circuit and it wasn’t until a couple years that the track started hosting night racing. I haven’t looked into stats if night drivers thrive, but I can’t imagine it being a big issue. I don’t feel like there is a lot to say about this track. We’re gonna see some action-packed racing and it should be fun. It’s going to be a 400-lapper and like last week, you want guys that can lead some laps and pass cars. Passing will be much, much easier here at Martinsville though. You can easily take someone in the 20-35 starting positions and feel confident that they can climb. With that being said, you want guys that can stay clean towards the top or can get there quickly and stay there. Keep reading to see the drivers that I am picking this week.

Engine Engine Number Nine: Chase Elliott ($13,500), Starting 1st

It’s not always the best strategy to pick the pole sitter, but in this case, I think it’s perfectly fine. Elliott was fastest in practice and qualifying and he has a great history at this track. What more could you ask for? Hopefully he will lead a lot of laps and possibly get the win. Also, the song here doesn’t have anything to do with Chase Elliott other than the number of his car. I just thought I’d treat y’all with a good classic country tune.

No Brainer: Martin Truex Jr. ($14,000), Starting 20th

Truex has an excellent recent history here and he’s the most expensive driver this week. I’m hoping DFS players won’t reach for him this week. He’ll be owned quite a bit, but I think players will be chasing after Hamlin more with the 5 extra spots to potentially gain and the cheaper price. Truex has won 3 of the last 5, so look for him to be strong again tonight. He didn’t practice well, but it’s a long race. A lot can happen.

The Climbers: AJ Allmendinger ($5,000), Starting 36th; Ross Chastain ($9,000), Starting 27th

At a track like this, you want guys that can move up the leaderboard and hopefully these drivers will do just that. Allmendinger has a fast car as evident in practice. He put down the 11th fastest time. Allmendinger has a solid history here and he has nowhere to go put up. The only thing that I’m worried about is the pass-through penalty that he will have to serve at the start. He’ll definitely start a lap down, but hopefully he can get that lap back pretty quickly He’s got a car capable of a good finish for sure.

Next, we have possibly the driver who has had the most surprising run of anyone this year. Chastain is on a great run lately and he didn’t do particularly well in the Ganassi car last year here, but I think he’s definitely capable of putting on another Top 10 performance. I don’t think he’ll be picked a lot due to his career history here, but hopefully he can continue the hot streak.

Last Pick: Tyler Reddick ($8,500), Starting 22nd

We’re going to spend every dollar of that remaining salary this week and pick one of the most underrated drivers in the pack. Reddick is definitely capable of a Top 5 finish here and he had a fast car in practice. Reddick has a limited history at Martinsville, but he’s shown that he can run well here. He has a Top 10 in 4 races. I think he’ll have a good race today, so hopefully he won’t be chosen too much in lineups.

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