Coming off two straight Cup victories, Kyle Larson continues to pour it on. While this latest All-Star victory does Larson no good in terms of Series points, it was still impressive to see him work through a completely different format from the rest of the cup schedule. He did have a late challenger in Penske driver Brad Keselowski, who gave Larson all he could handle in those waning laps. Ultimately Larson just had the quicker car at the end of the day. While it is a bitter pill to swallow losing out on a cool million, it was good to see Keselowski returning to competitive form. All three Penske drivers finished within the top-five.
We now leave behind Fort Worth and head 10 hours east to Nashville, Tennessee. For the first time in NASCAR Cup history, they will run an event at the Nashville Superspeedway. However, there are a handful of current cup drivers that do have prior history here, both through the Xfinity and Truck Series. Looking at the track specs for the Nashville Superspeedway, it is a 1.33-mile, concrete oval track.
When considering names to invest in for a reasonably new track like Nashville, go with successful oval track drivers. Harvick, for example, has had plenty of success on oval-style tracks. He has not been performing as a dominator this season but can still be a quality selection given the starting position. Your also going to want to circle a pair of capable lap leaders. Keep in mind this event is 300 laps long, which works out to 75 DK points.
We will have qualifying and practice scheduled for this weekend. And with qualifying beginning mere hours before race time, it’s going to be a tough squeeze in terms of sorting out the race order.
This week, the Money Train delves into the DFS options for Sunday’s Cup Series event in Nashville, TN. I’ve broken down the selections between high salary, mid-range, and value play. Included are player salaries from both FanDuel and DraftKings. Best of luck to everyone with their lineups this weekend.
High Salary
Kyle Busch (12,000 FD | 9,900 DK)
When deciphering through a field of drivers, many of which have never visited this Superspeedway, it is comforting to have someone that has not just raced at that track several times but has two wins under their belt. Many will remember his smashing of the Les Paul Guitar in 2009. Since his win at Kansas, he has continued to perform admirably. Busch did have the lone hiccup at Dover, but outside that he’s been top 10 or better. Although his lap leading ability this season has left much to be desired, Busch has shown signs of a driver that is on the cusp of breaking through at some point. Keep in mind, Busch has run the second-most quality passes behind only Chase Elliott. A starting position among the top 12 drivers should offer value.
Kyle Larson (14,000 FD | 11,800 DK)
Right now, Larson is undeniably the dominant driver in the cup series. And until other teams manage to catch up to the No. 5 car, it’s wise to continue riding the hot hand. Over the last three cup races, Larson has either qualified pole or, at worst, runner-up. In two of those instances, Larson could not rely on a random draw; he earned his positions instead. I do expect to see Larson qualify within those top-four slots. Regardless you’re going to want to pair him with another driver that can lead laps at Nashville. Just on the off-chance, Larson does drop numerous positions through qualifying. Currently his odds for race winner sit at 3/1.
Mid-Range
Tyler Reddick (8,800 FD | 8,600 DK)
Reddicks sophomore season didn’t get off to the best of footings (averaging a finishing position of 26.0 in the first six races). Despite this early setback, his season eventually started to improve. It began with a pair of top eight runs at Bristol and Martinsville and has since picked up. The fact that Reddicks is one top 10 shy of shattering his rookie record from last year is certainly worth considering. Even though Reddick doesn’t have any history at Nashville to draw from, Darlington is the only other track to have used the 750-horsepower, low-downforce package in 2021. He did not have a bad performance in that event either, finishing high as 12th.
Value Play
Matt DiBenedetto (7,500 FD | 7,900 DK)
Unlike many of the current cup drivers, DiBenedetto does have some race experience at Nashville from his time in Xfinity. In 2010, DiBenedetto finished 10th at this track, after rolling off the line 15th. Although he has the single event to hang his hat on, the performance was convincing nonetheless. For a string of three weeks through Richmond into the race at Kansas, DiBenedetto recorded top 9 or better results in each of those events. Although he’s not been able to replicate those numbers since then, he has had some fast race cars.
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