NASCAR DFS Xfinity 500, 2026 | DraftKings Drivers, Dominators & Place Differential

And we will absolutely want to target those numbers. Why? Dominator points matter as the laps get higher. So five hundred laps is the most we have in NASCAR. Six hundred for the six. No, we don't have six hundred miles for the Coke six hundred. Five hundred laps, I believe, is the most laps we have in a NASCAR race period. We want those dominator points. I'm recommending at least two. Potential dominatorsDominatorsDominators are NASCAR drivers who earn a large share of fantasy points from leading laps or recording fastest laps, meaning the quickest time among drivers on a particular lap. Before a race, the term describes candidates for that role.Compare practice averages over several consecutive laps and performance at similar tracks. Then identify how each candidate could reach the lead instead of assuming the pole sitter will control the race.Read the full definition of Dominators per lineup. Let me go ahead and pull up the NASCAR stoned version of the stoned.

And the stoned version is just the ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Read the full definition of Ownership and projectionsProjectionsDFS projections estimate a player's fantasy points for an upcoming slate using expected opportunities, performance and the contest's scoring rules. They describe an expected result, not a guaranteed score.Check the projection's update time and assumed role before using it. If news is already included, adjusting again for that same news can double-count its effect.Read the full definition of Projections blocked out. I also blocked out the odds this morning, and I don't know why. Truthfully, folks, no real surprises. The major points... Hold on. I'm having some hat and headphone difficulties here. The major points I want to touch on are a few things. One is the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Points Battle. And why am I talking about that as far as DFS is concerned? Well, it kind of plays into this, in my opinion.

For all seriousness, this points battle is fairly... Done Tyler larson unless something ridiculously awful happens today and he finishes like dead last uh will be your $2,000 and twenty six NASCAR cup series champion I believe he has like a seventy seven point uh hold on I can look at this real quickly I have the power of the He has a seventy three point lead over Danny Hamlin, and he needs a seventy seven point lead to lock this up.

So if he scores four more points than Danny Hamlin today, assuming in a perfect world, he wins this title. I think I read if he scores like fifty four points, regardless of whatever happens today. Excuse me. He locks up this championship. Why does that matter to us? Well, because his closest competitor is Denny Hamlin in second place. Technically, Christopher Bell is there as well in third place. Denny Hamlin is amazing at.

Martinsville amazing you'll see there in the stone he has a pluses for track rank and track typeTrack TypeTrack type groups NASCAR tracks by shared features such as length, layout, banking (the slope of the turns) and surface. In DFS research, the grouping may also consider tire combinations or how the cars are configured.Before trusting a track-type ranking, check which races it includes, its date range and whether the tire combination or car rules have changed. The same label can hide very different comparison groups.Read the full definition of Track Type rank that means he's great here at martinsville and he's great at tracks this year that are similar to martinsville now there aren't many flat paper clips around the circuit in fact there's just one it's martinsville but short flat tracks that use the same you know tire type situation denny has crushed at this season uh denny absolutely positively needs a smash day today he needs a something to happen to Larson which if you look at practice doesn't look the best but he's still qualified third right Danny Hamlin needs to a have something happen to Larson terrible day bad finish wreck whatever he needs Larson to shed the bed today but he also needs to have a maximum points day today.

He needs to score as many points as possible. That includes leading lapsLaps LedLaps led is the number of race laps a driver is officially credited with completing in first place. You earn points for those laps separately from finishing position in NASCAR DFS.Compare practice speed over consecutive laps with leadership history at similar tracks. Check whether past laps led came from sustained speed or a brief lead gained by delaying a pit stop.Read the full definition of Laps Led and includes winning stages. Okay. Danny Hamlin needs to dominate this race today. That's why when you go look at the stone and you go look at SaberSim, you'll see how disgusting his projected ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Read the full definition of Ownership is. It's kind of gross. He's at like plus two, twenty on the Vegas odds, I think, and projected over eighty percent. It's disgusting. I hate it.

However, you pair the fact that how good he is at martinsville and you pair that with the fact that he absolutely positively needs to have a smash day today it's kind of hard to ignore like it's really really like if if this was you know like watkins glenn and it was this situation this wouldn't even be a talking point but it's Martinsville. He's on the poleStarting PositionStarting position is a driver's assigned spot in the NASCAR starting order. In DFS, the official starting position used for scoring determines place differential, the number of positions gained or lost between the start and finish.Before lock, check both the starting position listed for scoring and any penalties sending a driver to the rear. They may describe different spots.Read the full definition of Starting Position. By far, the leader of the pole sitter by far has the best pit stop.

It's not as an advantage as it is in Phoenix, but it is still a pretty damn big advantage at Martinsville. Clean air is king. We know he has speed, and you can't tell me that his teammates are going to be beaten down the door to get past him if that situation arrives, right? So in my opinion, this is Denny, at least as far as stage one goes, this is Denny Hamlin stage one to lose.

I think Denny Hamlin by far needs to lead over half of this race. He needs to win each stage to have any possible chance of winning this point championship. So, Pair that with the fact of how good he is here. That's why he is far and away my favorite dominatorDominatorsDominators are NASCAR drivers who earn a large share of fantasy points from leading laps or recording fastest laps, meaning the quickest time among drivers on a particular lap. Before a race, the term describes candidates for that role.Compare practice averages over several consecutive laps and performance at similar tracks. Then identify how each candidate could reach the lead instead of assuming the pole sitter will control the race.Read the full definition of Dominators pick of the day. Ryan Blaney is the only driver who has A pluses across all three power rankings. He's also fantastic at Martinsville. I think he has two wins since twenty twenty three and he starts thirteenth.

So he gives you some PD upsidePlace DifferentialPlace differential is a driver’s scored starting position minus their finishing position. You gain fantasy points when the driver finishes ahead of that starting spot and lose points when they finish behind it.Check why a driver starts deep. An unusually poor qualifying result can create an opportunity, while weak race pace or an unresolved mechanical problem can undermine it.Read the full definition of Place Differential as well as some dominating, obviously dominating upside with fast lapsFastest LapsA fastest lap goes to the driver who posts the quickest time on a given lap of the race. DraftKings awards 0.45 points for each one, and any car in the field can earn it.Trust long-run practice speed over single-lap qualifying speed. Cars that hold their pace as the tires wear tend to post fastest laps all race long.Read the full definition of Fastest Laps and stuff going up through the field. I love the idea of pairing Denny and Blaney together. You get your leader, your odds-on favorite to win as far as the Vegas books, you get the second favorite to win in Blaney, and you get some PD upside. They are very expensive, and a lot of people will do that. That's going to be a very popular play.

There's no sugarcoating that. That's a very popular, obvious play. I will probably have...

At least forty percent of my lineups that way if not more starting with those two guys probably more well I'm not haven't run anything yet but probably more so I think denny and blaney are by far and away your favorite and top dominant options today but you can't sleep on gibbs legano and oh chase elliott yo chase elliott has been fantastic here over the last five races uh a way better than I thought he's been when I looked at the driver averages this morning uh if something happens to denny in the beginning and he muffs the start

Uh old ty gibbs is in the catbird seat and for a lot of the practice rankings ty gibbs ranked better than denny hamlin so You know, however, what sucks for Ty Gibbs is he started on the outside and that has been hard to get down to the bottom of the racetrack where there will want to be when this race starts. So if if Denny stumbles this start, I would not be surprised to see Ty take advantage.

But it could be one of those things where you play Ty Gibbs in hopes that something happens to Denny. Right. Lugano has been it's amazing at the beginning of the season, myself included, mind you, myself included, kind of wrote Lugano off.

Kind of wrote him off and then uh boy howdy did he spring to life he's been great at the short flats uh I think he won bristol and I think he won wolfsboro off top of my head um I think he finished third at martinsville in the march I know he had a bad stretch of races leading up to martinsville in the springtime and then martinsville kind of brought him out of that funk uh so don't sleep on logano he look uh hamlin and blaney are by far my favorite but gibson lagano should be slept on and neither should chase elliott uh chase elliott starting ninth I should be looking at the stone on my monitor and not on the stream yard um elliott

Starting ninth I want to say his worst finish in the last five races here at martinsville is like a fourth his worst finish worst is a fourth Like that surprised me because I know he's kind of been ho-hum all season, right? But when you see that kind of stat and you have ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Read the full definition of Ownership huge, like, you know, Hamlin has, you know, you need to get different somewhere and, you know, some of your lineups, right?

So, hey, Chase Elliott, worst finish of fourth here in the past five races should not be slept on. Anyway, back to practice. No real surprises of practice. They had an hour of practice. It was great. It was great. A lot of teams ran over a hundred laps. We only have the averages for thirty of them. Maybe for next season. I'll see if I can somehow. Not somehow. I know I can get said data.

If I could pull all the data and incorporate that in the Stone 2.0 point oh with. So that way, if you want to look at the, you know, like the eighty five lap average or however many people ran that many laps, whatever, you're able to do that. You're not locked into the just this thirty. But, yeah, it was glorious, glorious, glorious practice yesterday. I kind of felt like old school NASCAR with just, you know, everyone out there at one time. It just it was great.

Great. Thank God they got rid of that stupid group practice stuff. Nothing really exciting to report, though. No accidents, no rubs, no nothing. Right. No, no, no dramas to be found in practice. So practice data, specifically the the long lap, thirty lap average is what I will be using to help me craft my lineups today. So I think that's all I have for practice qualifying and just general information. So let's go ahead and break down this slateSlateIn NASCAR DFS, a slate usually covers one race rather than several team matchups. You select from the drivers listed in that contest's eligible pool, not every driver racing across the weekend.Before building, open the contest details and check the included events, scoring period and lock rules. Do not assume two sites offer identical slates just because both call them the main slate.Read the full definition of Slate.

Because once I said earlier, this is the penultimate slate of the season, second to last race of the NASCAR Cup Series, second to last NASCAR video I'm making for the year. I'm not smiling. However, I am ready for a NASCAR vacation. That's for sure. Starting on the poleStarting PositionStarting position is a driver's assigned spot in the NASCAR starting order. In DFS, the official starting position used for scoring determines place differential, the number of positions gained or lost between the start and finish.Before lock, check both the starting position listed for scoring and any penalties sending a driver to the rear. They may describe different spots.Read the full definition of Starting Position, second in the points is Denny Hamlin. We already spent a minute talking about him. Outside pole is Ty Gibbs. I like both of these drivers.

Denny Hamlin is far and away my favorite play for all of the reasons I said earlier. If he stumbles, don't be surprised if Ty Gibbs takes advantage. Ty Gibbs has really taken a step up in his competition level this season. So... If something happens to Denny, do not at all be surprised if Ty Gibbs sets sail. Row two, Tyler Larson and Austin Sindrick. Larson, like I mentioned, looked awful in practice, but this race or this championship is practically his. He just needs a ho-hum day.

And I think he's going to make sure he has that nice, quiet ho-hum day. I would be stunned if he's up there beating and banging for the lead to lead lapsLaps LedLaps led is the number of race laps a driver is officially credited with completing in first place. You earn points for those laps separately from finishing position in NASCAR DFS.Compare practice speed over consecutive laps with leadership history at similar tracks. Check whether past laps led came from sustained speed or a brief lead gained by delaying a pit stop.Read the full definition of Laps Led and putting himself in, you know, precarious positions just because of of his spot currently in the championship. But we have seen young money, quote unquote, step on it before. So maybe we should be surprised that that happens. But yeah. It's a championship, you know, it's a little bit different. Cendric, hey, great.

He was actually ranked first in long run practice. We already know Blaney, Lugano, and Josh Berry can get it done.

Cendric has had a really big uptick recently, so I don't mind taking a shot on Cendric at all, especially at the uh logano we touched on him uh really good at short flats this season finished third here in spring I wish he wasn't $10,700 but when you have a good stretch of races that will happen uh ryan priest is really good here don't sleep on priest man he was good here uh before um roush fenway keselowski racing he was good here in stuart haas and when you were good here at stuart haas That means you're good here, period.

Those Stuart Hoss colors were garbage. So don't sleep on it, Priest. Alex Bowman, I have no interest. Bowman, shut me up. Shut me up. Bowman, go win this race today. Shut me up. Shut me up. But I got to be honest with you. I ain't playing you. A seventh starting Alex Bowman.

Uh no that's gross I I prove me wrong prove me wrong I'm not playing you uh willie byron uh I ain't probably gonna play you either willie b if I'm being honest uh he just he hasn't had it this season could it be found today maybe I'm not putting my american currency on it though uh chase elliott I will though hey chase how are you he's starting ninth josh berry uh Really struggled to start this season. Got on fire late. Got fired from his ride.

Then he went on a run and got John Hunter fired from his ride to take over the legacy seat next season. Don't be surprised to see another good day for Josh Berry because this is his style of racetrack. And Penske puts good cars on the track here. And that is... A Penske car. So don't be surprised to see a good Josh Berry day. Briscoe and Reddick Briscoe. I love much like Ryan Priest. Briscoe was good here in Stuart Haas days.

And once I said earlier for Briscoe or for Priest, if you're a good here at Stuart Haas. That means you're good here, period, because those cars were trash. Yes to Chase Briscoe. I remember my brother and I, Briscoe lost a race late a couple years ago, next-gen era. I've been to a lot of races. I don't remember which one it was.

But we were in the fancy parking lot getting ready to leave, and we saw Briscoe on the golf cart going to the RV, and he looked absolutely devastated. Yeah. And I think he was in the Stuart Haas car then. So don't sleep on Briscoe. Reddick looked good here. I just he's not a short. Actually, no, he didn't. He looked real slow in practice, right? Yeah. Yes, he did. I'm actually surprised he qualified as good as he did. A red dog is a no for me.

It's hard to believe that he won so many races to start this season. Like that was, that was a crazy stretch. He was on hard to believe. Uh, Ryan Blaney. Yep. Uh, if Hamlin's my one, a Blaney, you're my one B baby. Uh, C bell. Uh, yeah. I'm not a lot of people are talking about C bell. Uh, Good option as well. In fact, he's cheaper than Blaney by a lot and had better practice speeds.

He doesn't have as great track history as Blaney. That's why Blaney gets the nod. But if you're looking for a pivotPivotA pivot in DFS is an alternative player or lineup combination you choose instead of another option. Tournament pivots usually seek comparable scoring upside at lower ownership, meaning fewer competing lineups use them.Before swapping, check what the replacement changes around it: your remaining salary, teammates, opposing players and available later-starting options.Read the full definition of Pivot off of Blaney for whatever reason, Maybe give old C Bell a click. Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain. Bubba, yep, he didn't look the best in practice, but I'll take those Bs, and he should be insulated from going a lap down, which we want. Melon Man has looked decent lately. Decent? Maybe I shouldn't even say that, but they were, like, super slow to start the year.

They're still kind of super slow, but they're getting better. They're getting better. I normally don't report this kind of thing, but I'm just looking at my phone, and Bob Hockrus tweeted his Martinsville picks for today. And we all know that Bob Hockrus is the GOAT of NASCAR reporters. His pick, Ty Gibbs with Denny Hamlin second, Tyler Larson third, Christopher Bell in fourth.

I gotta look at the whole tweet here Eric uh top five gibbs hamlin larson oh chastain bell so willie uh bob pockris's top five prediction for martinsville gibbs hamlin larson chastain bell with syndrick as his long shot so that remains to be seen but hey speaking of melloman ross chastain they need some kind of positivity to the end of season the track house lost village to hendrick uh uh eight yeah we're in twenty twenty six I gotta be honest with you I wouldn't be surprised in the off season if that gets bumped up in a year like if that happens next year I gotta be I'd I'd be very surprised if bowman's in that tire is in that race car all season next year but I've been wrong before um Chastain looked good in practice.

Looked good in practice. He pulled off the hail melon in twenty twenty two to lock himself into the into the playoff race or the championship race. That's such a cool ass move. So positive vibes for Chastain today. This was is I'll be playing him. He'll be in the player poolPlayer PoolA player pool is the set of players you consider using in your DFS lineups for a slate, the games or events included in a contest. The term can also mean everyone available to select in that contest.Keep a replacement beside each uncertain player, noting the salary and position you need. Recheck those alternatives when news changes so your shortlist still produces usable lineups.Read the full definition of Player Pool. It's hard to ignore. $7,100 price tag with a B minus track rank and those practice beats for sure. Like we're jamming in studs. We need cheap plays. He's one of them.

Austin Hill.

Looked good in practice I I'm still not gonna make the click uh old big country uh fell like I don't know what happened to him at talladega last week I need to follow up on that but uh it seemed like he had a chance to win that race at daga last week he is a super speedway man so that's not too surprising uh his practice freeze at martinsville though a bit surprising so this could be a play um and he's starting seventeenth too so Look, this race is probably going to be boring with a lot of cars going a lap down.

If you can keep as many of your six from going a lap down and having a true shot to win in the end, that's key. And Austin Hill starting seventeenth, that could be a play because I don't think... Denny Hamlin is going to lap up to seventeenth place in stage one. Like, I would be surprised. Of course, stuff can happen and does happen.

But maybe that's a maybe that's a place to get different if that practice speeds relates to to on track race speed on Sunday. Chris Buescher and Connor Zilich. Buescher looked real slow in long run practice. That's a no for me. And that's surprising. I love Buescher. Buescher's in a great car today, though. Connor Zilich, that's a no for me, dog. Austin Dillon, hey, I'll take a shot. Much like old big country Austin Hill, he also looked good in practice.

And he ranked like twenty third in my track rankings, I want to say. And hey, you rank, you know, middle of the road and you're starting middle of the road. If you could just have a middle of the road day and let other people fall behind you. Sometimes that's all you need for a good day. So we're going to see if that happens with Austin Dillon. Cole Custer. He didn't run long runs.

He wasn't slow in his five or ten lap but if we're only focused on long runs I kind of find it hard to play cole custer since we didn't actually see him make one so yeah he's cheap though super cheap uh gilliland yup I love gilly gilly ranked number on my track

Rankings uh this morning I put them in letter form with a raw number but if I just rank the drivers from top to bottom he ranked seventeenth uh which is great for gilly really good right he uh he's what $5,700 ranked seventeenth and had good practice speed yeah we're jamming in studs you will need cheap plays and he's one I want yep to gilly uh brad k I'll take a chance he's a veteran he's raced here since the god dark ages uh he had a press conference yesterday uh that kind of announced nothing he's now uh a minority owner of RFK, I guess, that will still allow him to race for another team, but no new team driving updates for...

Kez so take a shot on kez I'm not going to go over the moon to get to him though mi amigo daniel suarez have no interest sorry bud uh hosavar spire it's interesting how this kind of happens with spire it seems like they always practice and qualify like in groups like suarez didn't look great in practice but hosavar and mcdowell looked really good in practice and then they all qualified Suarez probably won't get no love from me.

Michael McDowell has looked really good in practice, I feel like, a lot this season and has kind of always shit the bed. So that's probably a no for me. Jose Var has had speed everywhere this season, has really become one of the most popular drivers of the sport. I think I saw that they made $10,000 of his Talladega wind car, which is a lot in the year twenty twenty six for a diecast car.

However, we can't ignore the fact that like ninety seven percent of his fellow drivers hate the ever loving shit out of him. Right. And if anybody is in their fields today, it's very easy to take it out on the seventy seven here at Martinsville because it's a half mile short flat racetrack. It's much easier and safer to slam someone into the wall here at Martinsville than it would be, say, next week at Homestead.

So am I predicting that someone is going to snuff Josevar into the fence today? No. Would I be surprised if Josevar...

Rubs somebody the wrong way and then retaliation comes in droves also no so I will be playing host of r but I won't be going uh over the moon with ownershipOwnershipOwnership is the percentage of lineups in a contest that include a given player. Projected ownership is an estimate made before lock; actual ownership is posted once the contest locks.Ownership isn't something to avoid; it's something to build around. The goal is understanding how the field is likely to build, then finding your edge relative to that.Read the full definition of Ownership on him just because uh mike mack we touched on riley herbst lame duck um you look good in practice and isn't in toyota so yeah I'll take a shot uh ty dylan no uh shane van gisberg yep he's getting a lot of ownership he's done um He's surprised us a lot this season on ovals.

In fact, I have him as a as a cash play. I can't believe I have SVG as a cash play on an oval. But here we are in twenty twenty six at the end of the season. He's looked good, man. He's looked good. I am I'm really optimistic for his oval future. I think he's picked it up a lot faster than I thought he would. So. I'll take a shot on SVG today. Eric Jones and Noah Gregg said no and no.

AJ Allmendinger, no. Zane Smith, I'll take a shot. He's not my favorite by far because Gilly, I think, outranks him and outpaces him and is safer than going a lap down. Zane Smith starts third. Teammate Gilly starts twenty second. So I wouldn't be surprised to see Zane Smith go a lap down. But his thirty lap average was sixteenth. Which is a lot better than those cars around him. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., no. John Hunter Niemicek, I guess.

If you're looking for the deepest player to play or to consider playing, it would be John Hunter because I have no interest at all in Balikian Ware. But even John Hunter is a lame duck, and I don't know, man. It seems like... These past couple of weeks, if he's had a bad situation, it seems like he has no problem calling out, you know, team and car and stuff. And I don't know that that doesn't.

From the from the armchair NASCAR team owner side of me, I don't I don't like that. So is that is that mean he's going to have a bad day today or a great day today? No and no. But his. Twenty thirty lap average did rank twentieth and he's starting thirty fifth. So you would think he should be able to pass cars on the long run.

But like I said, I'm not going to go over the moon to get access to John Hunter Nemechek just because This is Martinsville. It's a short flat track. Cars should be a lap down at the end of stage one. It all depends on how many cautions fall in stage one, et cetera, et cetera. But don't be surprised to see cars a lap down at the end of stage one. How many? That remains to be seen. That's it for me for now.

If you have any questions about the slateSlateIn NASCAR DFS, a slate usually covers one race rather than several team matchups. You select from the drivers listed in that contest's eligible pool, not every driver racing across the weekend.Before building, open the contest details and check the included events, scoring period and lock rules. Do not assume two sites offer identical slates just because both call them the main slate.Read the full definition of Slate at all, please feel free to tag me on Discord. We are recording this at eight twenty seven on Sunday morning. And as of now, no drivers have been sent to the rear. So that could easily happen. I expect the garage to be open.

Soon if not already because it's a two o'clock race today so if any drivers are announced as going to the rear I will as always make sure to tag and alert the channel uh good luck in this penultimate NASCAR slate today uh have yourself a martinsville style hot dog at home if you don't know what that is google it it's a whole bunch of stuff on a hot dog and and as a hot dog you basic kind of guy who just likes you know some ketchup I know that might be taboo to some even I eat a martinsville hot dog so fire up your homemade martinsville hot dogs enjoy the race good

Luck in all your slates today I'll of course be in the NFL streets as well and as always let's ship it