NASCAR

NASCAR Daily Fantasy Helper: Alsco Uniforms 500K

If you are looking for an action-packed way to get your sports fix, NASCAR may be a great avenue to explore. Far from just driving in circles, some of the world's best compete nearly every weekend from February to November on tracks across America. NASCAR drivers are scored ultimately based on how they finish in the race, how many spots they advance from their starting position, and how many laps they finish and lead. Avoiding drivers that crash out of the race is a must, of course!

Here at numberFire, we've always got you covered for everything NASCAR DFS. Every week, in addition to this helper, we have a current form, stats, and track history breakdown to dive deeper into this weekend's action. We also have The Heat Check Fantasy Podcast, where Jim Sannes breaks down his favorite slate for this rare Wednesday night NASCAR Cup Series event.

After NASCAR's longest night on Sunday, Brad Keselowski came away with his first career Coca-Cola 600 win. Chase Elliott was heartbroken, as he was dominating with five to go before a caution came out. Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr. also dominated parts of this event, and it's incredibly helpful information considering this same race will be run at night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where this event will take place as well.

The starting grid was once again set using the Wednesday invert format, which means 20th place finisher William Byron will start on the pole, as positions 1-20 inverted to start the race. Like last week, positions 21-40 are starting the exact spots they finished Sunday night, which will create some obvious value spots on pass differential just as it did last week.

With that, let's break down the Alsco Uniforms 500K at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

Higher-Priced Drivers

Chase Elliott ($13,000): These invert formats will lead to plenty of back stacking, between the drivers who found trouble in the first race, and the fastest cars being inverted to the back. After a heartbreaking caution forced him to pit road in a lose-lose scenario, Elliott was scored officially 2nd in a heartbreaking defeat, so he starts 19th. However, Chase really was in a position to win that race for a reason. Elliott has led laps in five of seven races this year, and has three top-5s in his last four at this track. So many tough options, like Martin Truex Jr. ($15,000) that had the best running position of the night, and Alex Bowman ($12,000), who led a race-high 164 laps in the event, but Elliott stands out for me.

Denny Hamlin ($12,000): Hamlin's night was essentially cut short before the event started. A tungsten weight inside his car fell onto the race track, which set him back eight laps after repair and penalties. It cost this Joe Gibbs team dearly, as crew chief Chris Gabehart and other key members were suspended for four races after the infraction. That no doubt hurts Hamlin, but the 11 has had plenty of speed in 2020, winning twice so far, including one week ago at Darlington. He starts 29th after all his issues, so he has an incredibly high pass differential floor, but recent form indicates he may be a threat to lead as well.

Mid-Priced Drivers

Jimmie Johnson ($11,200): Johnson suffered heartbreak as well, but well after his Chevy Camaro ZL1 crossed the line in second place. He was disqualified for a rear-end infraction, which credited him with a dead last 40th place finish. He will start there, which makes him a corner piece of the roster construction, even at one of his highest price tags in a while. Johnson showed great speed Saturday too, as he had an average running position inside the Top 10 after starting 2nd and crossing the line there. He has really translated that speed everywhere thus far, but will be able to showcase it from the back in this one.

Clint Bowyer ($9,000): Clint Bowyer pounded the wall in Stage One on Sunday, which left him in last before the Johnson DQ. He has had hit-and-miss results at Charlotte (25th place average finish in the last three races), so the argument is there for a fade at this price tag that is not cheap. However, he was running 11th before that part failure and flexed a lot of speed at Darlington one week ago, leading 71 laps. Bowyer may not challenge for a win at a race track that is not his strongest, but is a solid building block from 39th on the grid.

Lower-Priced Drivers

Ryan Newman ($7,000): Newman also had several tire issues on Sunday, which netted him a 27th place spot, but he earned points in Stage One for finishing 10th, so he showed some substantial speed to work with from this far back in the pack. Value is a little scarce with many drivers who run outside the Top 20 starting towards the front, so he is a safe and reliable option as someone who finished Top 15 in both races at Darlington. Matt Kenseth ($7,600) is another fantastic option for the exact same reasons, but is a little more expensive. Both deserve healthy exposure.

Bubba Wallace ($5,000): Bubba's brake woes had an unfortunate second act from Pocono in 2018, where he had a horrible crash that was due to a failure at nearly 200mph. This one just left him unable to continue the race after making contact with the safer barrier, so he starts 38th. In this spot, Wallace may have more good finish potential, and certainly, laps completed potential than your traditional $5,000 option, as he has finished Top 20 in four of his first seven races of 2020, and Sunday was his very first DNF of 2020, and only his third since the start of 2019. A top-20 finish would be great value in this spot for the young Alabama native.


Austin Swaim is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austin Swaim also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username ASwaim3. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.