NASCAR

NASCAR Daily Fantasy Helper: Go Bowling at the Glen

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 who crash out of the race is a must, of course!

numberFire is always your home for fantasy NASCAR advice. In addition to this helper, Jim Sannes has you covered with his current form and odds breakdown as well as his track preview to spotlight this week's venue. For driver picks and a full preview of the event, I also discussed this weekend's race on the latest NASCAR episode of The Heat Check Daily Fantasy Podcast.

After a thrilling race in New Hampshire on July 18th, the two-week hiatus for the Cup Series ends at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, NY this weekend. This is the fifth road course event of 2021, and will take place on the "short course" format that is the traditional, 2.45-mile layout that NASCAR has raced on since 1986.

With the course format unchanged, there is no practice or qualifying for this weekend's event. That means that the starting lineup was already set for the event using the traditional NASCAR lineup method that factors in the driver's finishing position in New Hampshire, their fastest lap in that event, and overall owner points. The formula awarded the pole to Penske's Brad Keselowski, and his teammate Joey Logano will line up outside Row 1.

With all of this in mind, let's preview the Go Bowling at the Glen on FanDuel.

High-Salaried Drivers

Chase Elliott ($14,500): There truly is no place to start other than Elliott, whose July win at Road America was his seventh win in the last 12 road course events. Elliott's recent history at Watkins Glen manages to outperform that mark with a 1.0 average finish in the last two races at the track, leading 132 of the 180 laps across those two events. Obviously, he is in a great position to again be fast and contend for a win at the road course. But Elliott will be extraordinarily popular in tournaments, so it's worth considering fading him in that format. He is a must in cash-game formats.

Kyle Larson ($13,500): When trying to find challengers to Elliott, both Larson and Kyle Busch ($12,500) stand out. There is more room for error with Busch to not lead laps since he's starting 20th, compared to Larson's starting spot of 4th, but Larson also may have the better chance to actually win. Larson was dominant at the one road course run this year where he had a prior Cup Series start, leading 59 of 90 laps at Sonoma. Larson's history at Watkins Glen is even better than his pre-2021 history at Sonoma, as he posted back-to-back top-10 average running positions in 2018 and 2019 at this track. With the same equipment at Elliott, Larson will look to best his teammate and is an interesting pivot off the surely chalky No. 9 car.

Others to Consider: Kyle Busch ($12,500)

Mid-Salaried Drivers

Joey Logano ($11,500): Logano trails only Larson and Elliott in terms of averaging running position on road courses this year (9.33), and the Penske driver starts on Row 1 with a chance to lead early. He likely will not be super popular in this spot because of his starting position, but he should be -- even with really no emphasis on laps led with just nine FanDuel points available for them. Logano has a legitimate chance to win this race with great starting track position, and only Larson and Elliott can make the same claim Logano can of a top-10 average running position in each of the last six races using the 750-horsepower aerodynamics package.

Kurt Busch ($10,500): The general strategy of the weekend should be to find place-differential points where you can, and Kurt Busch starting 17th is the first true opportunity to do that when you're scanning the drivers salaried below $11,000. Busch has been phenomenal at road courses, as he is the only driver besides Elliott with a top-10 average running position at every road course race that has been run since the start of 2020. Busch has three top-six finishes on road courses this year, and a replication of that prowess would be more than enough at this salary.

Others to Consider: William Byron ($10,800), Tyler Reddick ($8,800), Ross Chastain ($8,500)

Low-Salaried Drivers

Chase Briscoe ($8,000): Dollar for dollar, the Stewart-Haas Racing rookie may be the best play on the slate. Briscoe's rookie season has been equal parts unlucky and slow, but his bright spots have come on road courses, which includes a career-best averaging running position (eighth) and finish (sixth) at the last road course in Road America. Briscoe's Xfinity Series stats at Watkins Glen suggest that may be too high of expectations for this week, but he still has definitive top-10 upside from a starting spot of 27th on the grid. With Aric Almirola's win in New Hampshire, SHR is finally turning the corner on speed in this aerodynamic package, and that is good news for Briscoe, who likely needs a road course win here or at Indianapolis to make NASCAR's playoffs.

Michael McDowell ($7,300): There is a potential buy-low situation this weekend for McDowell given his recent road course results. McDowell had on-track incidents at both Sonoma and Road America, but he still has a claim to the 15th-best average running position this season on road courses despite those woes, which left him with a pair of finishes outside the top-25 spots. McDowell will likely carry some popularity in this spot -- and he should, because he makes a lot of sense as a value target. He had top-10 road course finishes at both Daytona and COTA earlier this year, and he is starting 25th at a track where he holds five consecutive top-20 finishes in this same equipment.

Others to Consider: Daniel Suarez ($7,500), Chris Buescher ($6,800), Erik Jones ($5,500), Ryan Preece ($5,000)



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.