NASCAR Cup Series DFS: Toyota 500

Brandon Braasch | May 19th, 2020

Don’t worry, we didn’t have to wait too long for some more NASCAR DFS. NASCAR’s new schedule due to COVID-19 has allowed them to experiment with some mid-week races. The cars and drivers are right back to Darlington for the second cup race in four days. Sunday’s race was great and we saw Kevin Harvick ultimately end up winning the race. Just like Sunday’s race, there will be no practice or qualifying. Instead, the lineup will be set by having drivers who finished 1-20 in Sunday’s race inverted. Followed by drivers 21-40 who will start where they finished Sunday. Let’s dive right into my top drivers for Wednesday night’s race.

Dominator

Martin Truex Jr. ($11,100 DK and $11,500 FD)

Truex started off Sunday’s race and looked absolutely brutal. I was surprised to see that until Truex’s former crew chief Cole Pearn tweeted that he got some damage during the Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wreck. Truex bounced back and finished in sixth place. He also had 14 fast laps so once he made some adjustments and fixed the damage he showed some speed. He will be starting 15th but I expect him to find his way to the front early in the race and stay up there all night.

Mid-Salary Drivers

Kurt Busch ($8,700 DK and $9,400 FD)

Busch had a really good but quiet race Sunday. He never got to the lead but he ran up front a good chunk of the race. Busch and new teammate Matt Kenseth showed that Ganassi had some speed. I like Busch’s upside because of his success at Darlington. He is coming off a third-place finish. Busch has finished in the top seven in five of his last six races at Darlington. Look for him to continue his success at Darlington and have another strong run.

Jimmie Johnson ($9,100 DK and $10,000 FD)

Johnson was off to a heck of a start on Sunday. Then on the last lap of stage one, he got into Chris Buescher. That caused Johnson to wreck and ended his day. Johnson led nine laps and was on his way to winning stage one before the wreck. Johnson will be starting in 37th on Wednesday and will have plenty of time to improve his position. If his car is as strong as it was Sunday he will among the top scorers on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Value Drivers

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,900 DK and $6,400 FD)

Stenhouse wrecked out of Sunday’s race on lap one. Because he finished 40th on Sunday, he will be starting in last place Wednesday night. That puts him in a prime spot to get a lot of place differential points. He will likely be very chalky due to his potential to finish in the top 20 and score a lot of place differential points. However, he may be avoided since he wrecked on the first lap and ruined many lineups. Look for Stenhouse to bounce back and run a solid race tomorrow night.

Cole Custer ($6,600 DK and $6,800 FD)

Custer ran his first Cup Series race at Darlington on Sunday. He started 14th and was in the top ten within ten laps. His car then got tight and he was fighting it the rest of the race. Custer finished the race 22nd so that’s where he will be starting Wednesday night. Custer drives for Stewart-Hass and we know those cars have speed. Harvick, who is Custer’s teammate, led 159 laps and won the race Sunday. Look for Custer to lean on his teammates for advice and use what he learned Sunday to get a solid top 15 finish.

Questions and comments?
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