NASCAR Cup Series Bristol Night DFS Picks

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Bristol this week for the last race of the first round of the playoffs so 4 drivers will be eliminated from championship contention after this week. Drivers will have 500 laps on the half mile short track so picking the right dominators in your lineups is going to be key this week. Track position will also be important as drivers starting in the back on restarts will be in danger of going a lap down early as the leader catches the tail end of the field quickly at Bristol.

Potential Dominators

Ryan Blaney

Denny Hamlin

Kyle Larson

Blaney looked like he had the best car in practice as he had the best speed in his session and had some of the best lap averages of anyone. He has a great history of being fast at Bristol and starts on the front row. He should be one of the top options this weekend and will have a chance to be one of the dominant cars. Not too far behind him on speed was Denny Hamlin. Hamlin is on a roll lately and has been the fastest car for a lot of the recent races over the last few months. He qualified 6th and will be another one of the top contenders this weekend at Bristol. I feel that Blaney and Hamlin are the best cars and are likely to be the ones to beat this weekend. Kyle Larson is another option as he has been dominant at Bristol in recent races but he has struggled as of late and has not won in several months. Larson will either get back on track and be able to lead laps this week or continue to struggle and just be a top 10 car.

Place Differential Plays

Chase Briscoe

Brad Keselowski

Briscoe had good speed in practice but went out and really did not get a good lap in qualifying as he starts back in 31st. He has huge place differential potential and will be a popular play as he should have top 10 potential for the race. Keselowski had solid speed in practice and felt they were close to having what they needed for the race. He starts 18th so he shouldn't be at risk to get lapped early and I would not be surprised to see him run top 10 this weekend.

There are not a ton of place differential plays I like this week cause some of the top guys that start outside the top 20, like Joey Logano and Kyle Busch, did not look good in practice and have been struggling.

This could be a week to go after some value plays:

Ty Gibbs

Bubba Wallace

I like using both of these drivers this week as they both had really good speed in practice and have had great runs at Bristol in the past. Gibbs has nothing to lose as he is looking for his first career Cup win still and this week should be a decent chance for him. Bubba is going to be looking to have a good run to advance in the playoffs. Gibbs and Wallace both had top 3 speed on lap averages in their practice session and I would not be surprised to see them get a bunch of fast laps and battle in the top 5 this week.

Cheap Options

AJ Allmendinger

Justin Haley

John Hunter Nemechek

Michael McDowell

Noah Gragson

Zane Smith

Corey Heim

Riley Herbst

Allmendinger was the surprise of Saturday getting the pole from all the playoff guys. He is a high risk play as starting on the pole he will need to lead laps and get a good finish. He does have a good history at Bristol and should have top 10 potential in the race so if he can get some dominator points he could be a great play at his salary. Haley had some of the best speed in practice on lap averages and was happy with his car. He starts 17th so he doesn't have huge place differential potential but he could have top 15 potential and be a great value play. Nemechek is another cheap driver that starts in the top 20 and I really liked his speed in practice. He has been really good lately and I could see him have another good run this week.

There are some other cheap drivers that have a lot of place differential potential. Its going to be a little hard to predict who of that group will be the best as they will have to stay on the lead lap early to be able to move forward later. McDowell has a good history at Bristol while Gragson had good speed in his practice session and they both start outside the top 25. Corey Heim and Riley Herbst in their 23XI racing cars have the equipment to run well but are flier options as they are inexperienced but hopefully can have some good runs as they have big place differential potential