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AustYn

The NASCAR Cup Series is ready for another weekend of racing as they head to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Quaker State 400. As most, if not all of you know, Atlanta Motor Speedway has been reconfigured since last season and now drives more like a superspeedway, so keep that in mind while making your lineup today. Chase Elliott still has a rather comfortable 33-point cushion over Ryan Blaney for the Cup Series points lead and Elliott was awarded the Pole because of qualifying being rained out. There is rain in the forecast today and the weather looks to be in the mid-80’s…which is cooler than I expected it to be. Tyler Reddick captured his first victory at Road America last week, which increased his chances of making the playoffs. There may be more than 16 winners before playoff time, so points are crucial.

As I mentioned earlier, Atlanta is now a high-banked and narrow speedway, and the cars will be using the lower horsepower package with a higher spoiler. William Byron won the last event. In my opinion, it is very difficult to direct you in the right direction for Atlanta. I watched the calm Xfinity race yesterday and I really hope it is that way today, but the Cup cars are a little wicked on this track. With new pavement, grip should be fairly decent, and the tire wear will be something to watch as well. Just like in any other superspeedway…patience is always a great attribute to have. I will be looking at past performance on the “plate” tracks, as well as the results from Atlanta earlier this season for my selections. One thing I did note to do was to go on TandemDraft…see where drivers finished at Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta…and if they finished all 3 races above where they are starting today, I grouped them in a “safe” category. You do what is best for you, but any strategy will be quirky to be honest with you here.

Top Pick: Denny Hamlin ($9,700) Starting P16

Arguably one of the best superspeedway racers, Denny Hamlin is a no-brainer for me. Starting in the 16th spot, Hamlin has plenty of room to move up and is one of the most patient drivers on the circuit. Denny has not been very consistent this season, but I look for him to start making a climb in the points standings and I think the #11 Coca-Cola machine will be leading over 100 laps today.

Supporting Cast: Bubba Wallace ($8,700) Starting P32 & Aric Almirola ($7,400) Starting P22

When I spoke of my “safe” category drivers…these are 2 that stood out to me. Bubba Wallace is priced insanely high today, but with the #23 Toyota starting in 32nd…its is hard to pass up. Wallace has finished no worse than 17th in all 3 superspeedway races this season, and I like for him to contend today in Atlanta. Aric Almirola is another great option here. The price is absolutely affordable and Almirola’s worst finish on superspeedway’s this season is 22nd…where he is starting. The #10 Ford is sitting in 12th in the point standings and has had a very quiet season, don’t be shocked to see Almirola pull off a victory today.

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Yacs

We’re back at Atlanta and this time we know how the new cars react to the track. It is practically a superspeedway on a 1.5-mile track. It’s chaos and fun to watch, but it is super difficult to play on DFS. Last week, we saw Tyler Reddick get his first Cup Series win and it seems like it has been quite overdue. Look for him to remain strong.

Tires shouldn’t be too big of an issue in today’s race. They had an overkill amount (I believe 13 sets) in the last race here, but they cut it down to 8 sets this time around. That should be more than enough as this is a newly paved track. William Byron took the checkered in the last race here and expect him to be tough again, but they made this track so anything can happen and anyone can win. We could easily see a new winner yet again here, but I guess we’ll see. Here are my FanDuel picks this week.

Upper Tier Drivers: Denny Hamlin ($12,000) Starting 16th; Joey Logano ($10,500) Starting 17th

As is the case in Superspeedways, you shouldn’t feel guilty about leaving a lot of salary on the table in the end. This track will be as unpredictable as Daytona or Talladega. I think you will have a lot of people pick William Byron and Kyle Busch and I wanted to go with an alternate route. Denny and Joey are two of the best superspeedway drivers in the pack and they find success and practically any track. Not having practice hurts us in decision making, but I don’t think you can go wrong with these two at any track.

Mid-Lower Tier: Bubba Wallace ($8,800) Starting 32nd; Michael McDowell ($6,200) Starting 12th

That’s right the theme isn't changing. We’re going with good superspeedway drivers yet again. Bubba Wallace has a great starting spot and I’m curious to see where he’ll be in terms of ownership this week because of it. He’s a great inexpensive option. Same goes for McDowell. McDowell is definitely our riskiest pick, but he has been finishing in and around the Top 10 basically in each race over the last month.

Final Pick: Kurt Busch ($8,000) Starting 21st

I don’t think Kurt will be picked a lot and that is mainly the reason I picked him. His starting spot and price are both great for this track and he’s capable of finishing in the Top 5 at practically any track on the circuit. He finished 3rd here in the last race and I think he’ll have similar success.

NASCAR Quaker State 400 DFS Preview