NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Toyota Owners 400 – Cup Series

Welcome to NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday nights Toyota Owners 400 from Richmond International Raceway. Rain, rain, go away seems to be the motto of the weekend. Weather washed away both qualifying efforts for the Xfinity series and Cup series and “Happy Hour” (final practice) for the Cup series as well. We only have one practice to go on for our speeds and then past driver history as well. 

Martin Truex Jr. has dominated at Richmond in the last 5 races here, but he has finished in the top 10 in four of the last six races and combined to lead 675 laps in the last five. The pole position has produced the most race winners (24) at Richmond, so that puts Kevin Harvick in a great spot tonight. Denny Hamlin was the last driver to win from the pole in the 2016 September race. Of course Kyle Busch is in a great spot, again, because well, he’s Kyle Busch, but also because he swept both races here last season.  These three are going to be the favorites as well as a couple of others

Vegas odds for Saturday’s Toyota Owners 400

Kyle Busch 2/1
Brad Keselowski 6/1
Kevin Harvick 6/1
Joey Logano 7/1
Martin Truex Jr. 7/1
Denny Hamlin 8/1
Chase Elliott 12/1
Ryan Blaney 12/1
Aric Almirola 20/1
Clint Bowyer 20/1
Kurt Busch 20/1
Kyle Larson 20/1

NASCAR DFS: Leaders of the Pack

I’m going to level with you guys, you don’t need me to go over Kyle Busch’s accomplishments this season for you to know he is a top play this week. If you can build a lineup with him and his $13,000 price tag this week and feel good about it, do it. Don’t force him in because he’s Kyle, there are other great options and in the Cup series you don’t need the winner of the race to cash.

Kevin Harvick ($12,300)

Qualifying Position: 1st

Harvick had a whirlwind weekend but managed a great finish considering the circumstances he and his team put him in. Starting on the pole is a tricky spot because there is a good chance you are taking a driver who will get negative place differential points and can’t get you positive points, but Harvick is different because he has a really good chance to win this race. Harvick has only led 59 laps over the last 5 races here, he has run 107 fastest laps.  I will take a driver who generally has a fast car and is on the pole to lead a bunch of laps.

Martin Truex Jr. ($9,800)

Qualifying Position: 6th

Like I mentioned in the open, Martin Truex has dominated Richmond, but has found was to not win over the last 5 races. Leading a whopping 675 laps during that span,over 400 more laps than the next best driver, but cannot seem to find victory lane. Truex and the #19 team ran the 7th fastest lap in practice.

Others options: Brad Keselowski ($10,600), Kurt Busch ($10,200)

NASCAR DFS: Middle of the Pack

Kyle Larson ($9,200)

Qualifying Position: 14th

While Larson hasn’t had a great season thus far, he did have a fast car in practice, actually he had the fastest car. Larson does have some great recent history at Richmond averaging the second best finish of all drivers, 6.2 (tied with Logano). If you want to only take one of the top-tier drivers, I would definitely pair him with Larson.

Denny Hamlin ($8,900)

Qualifying Position: 18th

Denny Hamlin is on fire right now! Hamlin has picked up 3 straight top 5’s and 4 of the last 5, as well as the win in Texas 2 weeks ago. In practice only one driver was faster than Hamlin, see above if you forgot, and Hamlin had the 6th best 10 lap average. Hamlin has one win here at Richmond in his last 5 races here.

Aric Almirola ($7,700)

Qualifying Position: 15th

If not for the jack stand mishap last week at Bristol after the first lap dust-up, Almirola would have possibly kept his 6 races streak of 10 finishes active. Almirola ran 13th fastest in practice as well as the 13th best 10 lap average. Over the last 5 Almirola doesn’t have a win, but does have a top 5, and 4 top 10’s. For his lowest price of the season, it’s almost mandatory to roster Almirola tonight.

Daniel Suarez ($7,500)

Qualifying Position: 9th

Suarez, like Almirola, is underpriced this week at just $7,500, and this will probably make him extremely chalky tonight like Blaney and Almirola. Suarez has a fast car again this weekend, running 6th in practice and the 10th best 10 lap average. Over his last 5 races here at Richmond, Suarez has a top 5, and 3 top 10’s.

NASCAR DFS: Back of the Pack

Ryan Newman ($6,900)

Qualifying Position: 31st

Ryan Newman and the #6 Roush-Fenway Ford team have been having a great season, sort of renaissance for the veteran driver. Newman comes in off his best finish of the season, 9th place in Bristol last week. In the last 5 races at Richmond Newman has a top 10, and 3 top 15’s.

Chris Buescher ($6,500)

Qualifying Position: 11th

Buescher ran in the top 10 all race at Bristol last week, but out late and took a 22nd place finish. This week Buescher will look to run up front again, but stay there and he looks to have the car to do it. Buescher ran the 3rd fastest lap in practice as well as the 3rd best 10 lap average.

David Ragan ($5,800)

Qualifying Position: 22nd

Quietly David Ragan has driven his car to a 23rd place average finish, but only 19DKFP per race average, but at his price he can help you lock in two of the top drivers. Ragan ran a 5th place lap in practice, so he looks to have a fast car this week and may actually pull in a top 20 this week.

Other Options: Matt DiBenedetto ($6,800), Ryan Preece ($6,400), Quin Houff ($5,100)

NASCAR DFS: Place Differential Driver

Ryan Blaney ($11,100)

Qualifying Position: 29th

Well hello there Mr. Chalk! Blaney is going to be THE chalk driver of this race because of his starting position. Blaney will also, if all goes well, be the driver with the highest DK point total as well. While he didn’t have a great practice speed, he did run 11th in practice on Friday. Blaney is the only driver from Team Penske without a win and you know it’s eating him up inside as he has been so close all season and has had a car that was good enough to win but some mishaps and a blown engine have cost him.

NASCAR DFS : Lineup Build

There are a bunch of ways to go this week, but I know I want to start with Ryan Blaney. After paying up for Blaney, for salary relief I want to use Ryan Newman and Aric Almirola. This start will leave you with $8,100 left per driver for your last 3 drivers.

Thank you for reading my NASCAR DFS Pit Stop article this week and make sure you look for my Xfinity Series and Truck Series articles each week they race as well. Be sure to check out Fantasy CPR daily for all your DFS needs, and remember all content is ALWAYS FREE here!