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AustYn

NASCAR Cup Series points leader Chase Elliott pulled away with the victory at Nashville and hopes to carry that momentum into Road America where he won last season. Road course racing has grown on me in the past years and with the new car, I really hope to see a great event on this July 4th weekend. Chase continues to pull away from the rest of the field in terms of the points standings, as he is currently 30 points ahead of 2nd place Ross Chastain and 31 in front of 3rd place Ryan Blaney. The Xfinity race ended in lots of carnage, but I am not so sure this one will be like that. Selecting drivers who have evident road course success is vital to a winning lineup. There are a lot of drivers with attractive starting positions this week, and I do believe that many DFS players will pick the chalk…I on the other hand will be going after the ones starting towards the front of the field because frankly…I think they will stay there. You are more than welcome to punt this week and pick those high EV drivers, but if that is your strategy, hopefully this article will make you think.

Road America is in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin and is a large road course. At 4.048 miles, the Cup Series are scheduled to complete 62 laps today. Teams will have 6 sets of tires and conservation will be crucial. The weather appears to be okay and a non-factor with a high of 80 degrees Fahrenheit. The only other track that is comparable and only in size, would be COTA. I will be looking at overall performance on road courses, but more importantly, starting position. Do not be afraid to select the cheaper drivers who are starting in the top-10, because I think they will stay there. Toyota has looked slow this weekend and Ford appears to be competitive. Last season, a lot of drivers who started towards the back made their way to the front quickly, but this event will be different. Passing is difficult here and consistency will always prevail.

Top Pick: Chase Briscoe ($8,300) Starting 2nd

This is probably not the Chase you had in mind…Briscoe was lightning fast in practice at P1 and put down a blistering lap in the first round of qualifying. Chase Elliott happened to unseat him in the final round, but I do not see the #9 staying out front for very long. Stewart-Haas is in a better place this season, especially since Briscoe has already won this season, and I look for the #14 High Point driver to be the best driver today.

Supporting Cast: Daniel Suarez ($7,700) Starting 17th & Chris Buescher ($6,300) Starting 7th

I am not being risky with my overall choices this week, I am not going after the high starting spot, but I wanted to pick 6 drivers who could win today. Daniel Suarez won at Sonoma and is a capable road course driver. Trackhouse Racing has proven that they are a championship contending team and with Suarez stating in 17th, his value and likelihood of finishing in the top-15 are crazy high. Chris Buescher is a driver that I have always liked picking on road course, even when he was at Front Row years ago. Buescher won an Arca race here in 2013 and hasn’t finished outside of the top-25 in his last 18 Cup road course starts. If that insanely large sample size isn’t convincing enough for you, than I don’t know what to say. Starting in 7th and selecting him is risky, but I think he could win today as well.

FanDuel Preview

Yacs

This race will mark the halfway point for the season and it should be a fun one. Road America has hosted only 2 races in the big series and only one of them in the modern era. Last year, Chase Elliott took the checkered and that was no surprise to anyone. Some drivers just have a knack for driving road courses and some don’t. The key to a winning lineup is getting the guys that drive it well. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong. Not only that, but they have to stay on the track and avoid trouble and that is asking a lot at a track with a lot of braking and turning.

Track position is the most important thing here and I don’t think it’s too important to get a bunch of drivers that will climb. I think getting a solid set of drivers that can maintain their position and potentially lead laps will be crucial today. With that being said, here are my FanDuel picks.

Top Tier: Chase Elliott ($14,000) Starting 1st; Ross Chastain ($13,000) Starting 12th

Chase Elliott feels like a no-brainer regardless of the starting spot. He has nowhere to go but down, however, unless he gets turned, he’s not going anywhere. If his car is able to withstand the whole race, he’ll be around the lead spot the entire race. With that being said, don’t expect him to fall outside of the top 5. As for Chastain, he has been really solid at road races over the last couple of season. I expect a top 10 from him today and possibly a top 5.

Mid/Lower Tier: Christopher Bell ($8,500) Starting 16th; Ty Dillon ($3,500) Starting 30th

With the starting spot and price, Bell seems like a sure thing. He is a solid road driver and it seems to work in our favor this week. He finished 2nd at this race last year and he could be around the same yet again easily. Toyotas didn’t perform too well in general at practice, but practice at a road course isn't exactly the best indicator of how they’ll perform on race day. Speaking of practice though, I hope it is a good indicator for Ty Dillon. Dillon had the 9th fastest time and he’s starting 30th. Dillon is ok at road races, but not great. At his price, if I get a Top 20, I would be perfectly content.

Final Pick: Austin Cindric ($10,500) Starting 5th

This is my winner for the race. Cindric has had a good run over the last 3 weeks and it seems that he is finding his groove after struggling to get good finishes after his Daytona 500 win. Road courses are his bread and butter and he should remain in the Top 5 for most of the race.

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