Following Ryan Blaney‘s fifth career Cup victory, NASCAR makes the short jog to Bristol. However, instead of our typical 500 laps around the half-mile banked oval, we get 250 laps of high-banked dirt racing. Let’s recap Atlanta and try to piece together NASCAR DFS information for Sunday’s Food City Dirt Race. We’ll preview the early NASCAR DFS Picks for DraftKings and FanDuel.
Food City Dirt Race DraftKings & FanDuel NASCAR DFS Picks
Late Pass
The short and sweet of Blaney’s young career has been “right place, right time.” Blaney’s first career victory was nothing short of him running down a fading Kyle Busch and passing him — in the Wood Brothers car. Two of his next three victories, Charlotte-Roval and two at Talladega, came on last lap passes. Although, his Roval victory was a product of not being near the leaders when they wrecked in the final chicane.
Finally, yesterday saw Blaney run second to Kyle Larson for the majority of the third segment. If not for Penske teammate Joey Logano forcing Larson to use up what was left of his tires to get around Logano, perhaps Blaney never would have run down Larson. Regardless, once Blaney cleared Larson, he was gone and he cemented his cushion by over two seconds come the checkered flag.
Now Blaney has five career victories, one per season for the last five, and has basically bookmarked his place in the 2021 playoffs.
Latest NASCAR DFS Content
- NASCAR DFS Picks: Top Drivers for the Wurth 400 at Dover (2024)
- DraftKings NASCAR Cheat Sheet: NASCAR DFS Sims Picks for the Würth 400 at Dover
- NASCAR DFS Picks: Top Drivers for the GEICO 500 at Talladega (2024)
- NASCAR DFS Picks: Top Drivers for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas (2024)
- NASCAR DFS Picks: Top Drivers for the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville (2024)
- Stokastic DFS on Youtube
Kyle Larson’s Rise in the Ranks
What Larson did yesterday we really haven’t seen in this package — namely outracing everyone to the lead and just sitting on it for nearly the entire race. Larson led 269 of 325 laps while also registering 100 fastest laps. He sat on the lead so long he nabbed the rare average running position of first. That is a true testament to how well that car was running matched with his skill. Once again, it was Chip Ganassi who gave Larson his shot, yet it was that mid-tier equipment that probably held Larson back for so long.
Now through three intermediate races, Larson is showing that he’s going to be a monster to contend with this season. It doesn’t matter if the venue is high-banked, low-banked, low-tire-wear, high-tire-wear, etc. Larson is going to unload fast and be a contender. Unfortunately for us and Larson, we have to wait until May 2 for our next chance to witness Larson at an intermediate oval: Kansas.
Other Post-Atlanta Thoughts
I think we were on the verge of seeing the Kevin Harvick we all know and love. As soon as the green flag dropped, Harvick was towing that bottom groove and was on the heels of Denny Hamlin. Something awry went down during Harvick’s pit stop, probably a valve stem getting knocked out, and he had to pit for tires while the field was coming to the green flag. That off-sequence pit stop basically ruined Harvick’s day, and he was forced to fight through traffic to get back to the top 10.
The parts-freeze we have spoken of before may be aiding mid-tier teams like Richard Childress and JTG-Daughtery more than we think. Both Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. recorded top-12 finishes, for Stenhouse it marked five straight top-15 finishes through five races. Of course, when drivers are gifted starting position, based on the current starting grid formula, it’s not crazy to see these drivers hold their positions.
Finally, if you’re not a believer in weather affecting outcomes, your bankroll says it’s time. In my betting preview I highlighted what weather outlooks both Blaney and Alex Bowman needed for top-five finishes. The clouds stayed out, the track retained its grip, and both brought home coveted top-five results. On the flip side, if Martin Truex Jr. was ever going to be viable he needed the sun to break through and add some slickness. That unfortunately never happened, and Truex was never a factor despite starting second.
A Conundrum for NASCAR DFS Players
Now we move on to this week’s race, the first Bristol Dirt race. Through months of care and preparation, Bristol has been transformed into a dirt track. This will be the first time since 1970 that the NASCAR Cup Series has raced on dirt. Racing on dirt isn’t unheard of for NASCAR; the Trucks Series has been racing at Eldora Speedway since 2013. In fact, there are six past Eldora Truck winners in this weekend’s field at Bristol. The main thing to remember, if a Cup Series driver has come up through the ranks in the past seven years, they’ve seen a dirt track race at least once before. However, let’s not get carried away. What these drivers are about to see Saturday in the heat races and Sunday in the main race is going to be uncharted territory.
It goes without saying that we will have to consider the dirt history of all of these drivers. For example, if DraftKings and FanDuel don’t price up Larson, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Stewart Friesen and Dillon, then they’re doing us a disservice. However, history in sprint cars, late models, modifieds, etc. on dirt may not be an easy transition into Cup cars on dirt. This is probably going to be a learning experience for everyone involved, with lots of wrecks and backup cars used on Sunday.
NASCAR DFS Lineup Construction Thoughts
As for now, there is a lot we do not know. For example, there will be heat races on Saturday to establish the running order for Sunday, so don’t expect the Gas-N-Go article until the wee hours of Sunday morning. How drivers fare in those sprints, matched with starting order, will go a long way in establishing how we feel about dominators, place differential and our value plays. Plus, more than a handful of Cup drivers will attempt to qualify for the Truck race on Saturday. For those who do qualify, seeing how they compete might give us some insight into their prospects on Sunday. After all, I’ll never discount a driver with more seat time.
What we do know, though, are the laps: 250, to be exact. If everyone minds their manners, then this should be a two-dominator build on both sites. However, this race could be an absolute catastrophe. If the Bristol Dirt Nationals are any indication, there will be tons of wrecks and spinouts from the inexperienced dirt racers until it’s the best drivers going mano-a-mano. Don’t be surprised if restarts don’t lead to pileups. If we finish the race with more than half of the field remaining, I’ll be surprised.
Building lineups for this event, like you would at Talladega, may be the safest path to roster construction.
Early Betting Lines at DraftKings Sportsbook
Something else to help guide our early thoughts is outright favorite betting lines. As of Monday morning, Larson sits at +250 on DraftKings Sportsbook for the Food City Dirt Race. Unsurprisingly, the next two favorites are Bell (+800) and Briscoe (+900). In fact, if you scroll down the list, you’ll see unfamiliar names (Chris Windom, Mike Marlar, Shane Golobic) with better odds than Homestead winner William Byron (+6600). If these odds are any indication of salaries, the drivers with obvious dirt track history are going to see substantial salary bumps.
Keep tabs on these odds and how they adjust once we have actual track time on Friday and Saturday. Furthermore, your best source of information for NASCAR DFS this week is going to be Brandon Cruz. Cruz has already been scouting drivers from this past week’s races at Bristol, and I know he’s been compiling whatever else information he can find. Be sure to give him a follow, as he’s going to be an invaluable source of information this weekend.
I myself will still be compiling information for an abbreviated version of the Race Sheets that I’ll post later this week. However, I’m in the same boat as you. With no track history or any real correlation to point to besides possibly Eldora, this is going to be a tough week for DFS. This has all the makings for an insane week for cash games but a fantastic Sunday for tournaments.
Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.
Looking for more Food City Dirt Race NASCAR DFS picks content? We have loads of articles, data, DraftKings and FanDuel cheat sheets and more on the Awesemo NASCAR home page. Just click HERE.
