For the second time this season, Gibbs driver Martin Truex Jr worked himself into victory lane. The winning pass would come on lap 485 when he overtook teammate Denny Hamlin. Hamlin himself would run one of the better races at Martinsville to his credit, leading 276 of 500 laps. However, that’s not to discount Penske driver Ryan Blaney who led well over 150 laps. He would, unfortunately, lose out on a potential win due to a late pit road penalty.
We leave Bristol behind and travel three hours east to Richmond, staying in Virginia for one more week of short track racing. Looking at the track specs for Richmond Raceway, it is a 0.7 mile, oval track. However, you could argue Richmond is not your ordinary short track, more like a Superspeedway. Due to the distinctive “D” shaped track outlay, it allows drivers to travel at higher speeds than other short tracks.
This week, the Money Train delves into the DFS options for Sunday’s Cup Series event in Richmond, VA. I’ve broken down the selections between high salary and value plays. Included are player salaries from both FanDuel and DraftKings. Best of luck to everyone with their lineups this weekend.
High Salary
Denny Hamlin (13,000 FD | 11,000 DK)
Having racked up three podium finishes in the last four races, Hamlin has been incredibly sharp as of late. With that said, he is still winless this season and on the hunt for that playoff clincher. Hamlin now comes to a track in Richmond in which he’s gone on to win three separate times. His last victory here was back in 2016 at the Federated Auto Parts 400, in which he led 189 of the laps. So it has been a few years.
For the second straight race, Hamlin starts on the first row and will again be one of the main favorites to rack up numerous laps led. Consider he has hit the 20 plus laps led mark in five of the last six races. That’s not discounting his 181 fastest laps this season which rank third among riders. Although I don’t expect a repeat of last week’s 145 DK points, Hamlin should be able to do enough to keep fantasy owners happy.
Brad Keselowski (13,500 FD | 12,000 DK)
For a moment, it looked like Keselowski might escape the calamity last weekend in Martinsville. However, a hard slam in the back from driver Justin Haley would send him straight into Kyle Busch (ending Keselowski’s day). Expect him to be heavily targeted this Sunday as he makes a highly coveted bounce-back contender. When you factor in the points for both place differential and fastest lap.
While it might be hard to imagine Keselowski leading many laps, given the starting position, he could still end up surprising. Keep in mind that of all the teams last season, when it came to high-horsepower, low-downforce tracks (Penske was the class of the field). After leaving owners high and dry last race, this is an opportunity for Keselowski to repay the disillusioned. I would consider splurging on the Penske wheelman.
Value Play
Daniel Suarez (5,300 FD | 6,600 DK)
When Suarez moved on from Gaunt Brothers to Trackhouse for 2021, I’m sure many racing observers weren’t sure what to expect. This season’s had its peaks and valleys, with the Bristol dirt race being the highlight so far for Suarez. He would have a rough go of it at Martinsville. However, that was not of his doing, to be fair.
With an average finish of 14.7 at Richmond in his cup career, Suarez has been serviceable. He does come off the 29th place stinker here, which can most likely be attributed to his season with Gaunt Brothers. However, considering he has a 32nd place starting position, another unforeseen letdown should be cushioned to an extent. At the bargain basement price, it’ll afford you to build up that top half of the roster.
Austin Cindric (6,000 FD | 8,600 DK)
A solid run here could go a long way towards building up some credence, as Cindric looks to move up to cup in 2022. Starting dead last on Sunday, he should be a gold mine of place differential points. In his two previous cup runs this season, he finished 15th and 22nd respectively. Cindric would qualify last in both instances.
There should be no reason Cindric doesn’t at least challenge for a top 18 type of roll. As stated previously, Penske was the dominant force last season when it came to high-horsepower, low-downforce tracks. Over his six Xfinity races at Richmond, Cindric has an average finish of sixth and lap completion of 100 percent.
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