NASCAR Daily Fantasy Helper: EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix

If you are looking for an action-packed way to consume sports on the weekend, 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, though!

numberFire is always your home for fantasy NASCAR advice. In addition to this helper, Jim Sannes takes a look at the best bets of the weekend in his betting guide. For driver picks and a full preview of the event, he also discussed this weekend's race on the latest NASCAR episode of The Heat Check Daily Fantasy Podcast.

With all of this in mind, let's preview the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at The Circuit of the Americas on FanDuel.

Weekend Primer

Apologies, west coasters.

Practice and qualifying will take place early Saturday morning back-to-back before the Gander Outdoors Truck Series and Xfinity Series events at The Circuit of the Americas (or COTA, for short).

The good news? We'll have plenty of time to dissect the results.

Unfortunately, COTA is so long (3.4 miles) that we're not likely to get quality lap-time data spanning 5, 10, or 15 laps. But road course acumen has historically been "stickier" year-to-year and between car models than at other configurations. After all, 9 of the last 12 road course races have been won by Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson. In the three exceptions, one also led the most laps each time.

Therefore, based on recent history, we have a really good idea of who is going to be fast this weekend already. We'll just use qualifying as a gauge for which drivers may bring place-differential upside in addition to finishing-spot potential.

General Lineup Strategy

There are only 68 laps in Sunday's race, and drivers will often pit or cede the lead for strategy purposes between stages.

In that case, I'm really focused on who can win the race. Elliott and Larson were the clear dominant cars at COTA last year, and both led a combined nine laps. It's just not a huge deal to chase the two-or-three FanDuel points a dominant car would score for laps led when that's just six spots of place differential.

My rankings are ones I'm likely going to stick to unless something in practice totally stands out. As mentioned, the length of COTA allows for plenty of chances to make a mistake in qualifying. If Chase Elliott makes one and starts 27th, he's not going to be slow.

This is a new-generation car making its first appearance on a road course. The new sequential shifting mechanism does add a slightly new wrinkle to the series' best road racers. As a result, I didn't include median lap time data from the old car, but this car should also be a bit edgier to drive -- only further playing into the best drivers' hands.

As a result, I'll be looking to pair a high-salaried driver as an "assumed winner" of the race with the best place-differential options that present themselves in Saturday's qualifying session.

Driver Rankings

Below are my pre-qualifying rankings for each driver based on equipment, track history, recent form, and overall talent level in that order. Only drivers from Jim Sannes' win simulations above a 0% probability were included.

For dominator viability, the driver is ranked 1-10 on a scale to potentially lead laps and win the race if they start upfront. A "10" is amongst the favorites to win the race, and a "1" is a total, unforeseen longshot.

For flex play viability, the driver is ranked 1-10 on a scale to finish in terms of potential to finish inside the top-15 spots. These drivers will be better daily fantasy plays the further back in the field they start for optimal place-differential points.

There's no mistaking where to start this weekend -- Chase Elliott ($14,000) and Kyle Larson ($13,500).

The pair dominated all seven road course races last season, and they would have won all seven if not for poor luck. An untimely spin derailed Elliott at Daytona, and a series of late cautions damaged Larson's car at Indianapolis.

I'm extremely tempted to allocate 50% exposure to each as assumed winners in tournaments. That's especially evident when I rank William Byron ($10,000) third to start the next tier down from his teammates, and Byron has never won a road course race.

I'll absolutely be lower on Martin Truex Jr. ($13,000) as a result. Truex was NASCAR's "Road Course Ace" before Elliott snatched that label, but since his last win (Sonoma 2019), he's led just 50 laps in 11 road course events. 34 of those laps came last year at Watkins Glen during a strategy play that cost him the race. He hasn't had nearly the speed of the former two, and his salary isn't really different.

There are a group of four intriguing drivers I'm watching like a hawk -- Chase Briscoe ($11,500), Austin Cindric ($11,000), Ross Chastain ($9,200), and Tyler Reddick ($9,000).

These four are either 2022 winners or have multiple top-three finishes this season, coming up just short. The upstart stars of this season -- with speed -- were also tremendous at road courses last year. They combined for 12 top-10 finishes on road courses, and each had at top-10 finishes in at least 28.5% of their events (Cindric only made three starts).

Given their 2022 speed, it would not be shocking to see any one of those four unseat Larson or Elliott, personally. They're must-have flex plays as a result.

A.J. Allmendinger ($10,800) had three top-10 finishes last year on road courses. I'm a little less optimistic about his chances to win the race, so a lower starting spot would be better. The same could be said for Christopher Bell ($8,800), who posted two top-five finishes on tracks with lefts and rights.

The RFK Racing teammates couldn't be on further ends of the spectrum at nearly-identical salaries. Chris Buescher ($7,500) had a top-20 finish on every 2021 road course -- including a top-5 finish in the last. Brad Keselowski ($7,300) spoiled Penske equipment to an average finish of 21.0 on road courses last season. Now in downgraded equipment, he's totally out of my driver pool.

Erik Jones ($6,800) has a good chance to continue his Cinderella season at COTA. He posted a top-20 finish in six of the seven road course events last year without showing nearly as much speed at other tracks between them.

FanDuel has placed a higher salary on most road-course-capable options, but for value, keep an eye on Justin Haley ($6,000) and Kaz Grala ($4,500). Haley scored a top-10 finish in every Xfinity Series road course race in 2021, adding three top-fives along the way. Grala finished 2nd, 8th, and 12th while leading a combined 11 laps in three 2021 Truck Series starts at road courses. Both are hopefully capable in practice and qualify closer to the back.