NASCAR Cup Series Iowa DFS Picks

The NASCAR Cup Series is in Iowa this week for some short track racing on the .88 mile track in corn country. We saw Ryan Blaney dominate last season in the first ever race for the Cup series at Iowa. We are likely to see a few drivers that will have a chance to lead a lot of laps so we are likely to have 1-2 dominators in the race this week. Also with the smaller track it will be important for drivers starting in the back to stay on the lead lap early until they can get track position.

Potential Dominators

William Byron

Kyle Larson

Chase Elliott

Ryan Blaney

Byron once again was good in practice this week as we have seen a lot this season. I think he has a better chance to be a top dominator this week than the last few and should be a solid option for DFS starting in 2nd. His teammate Larson starting right behind him in 3rd looked like he may have the best long run car in practice. Larson has struggled recently but it looks like he could get back on track this week and I would expect him to be a top contender and to lead laps based on how he has loooked this weekend so far. Continuing with the Hendrick cars, Chase Elliott was one of the best cars on lap averages in practice as well. He starts 8th so he may not get through his teammates early but he is a guy who can get fast laps and be a contender at the end. Last years winner Ryan Blaney should be good again this year as this track fits his style and he had good speed again in practice.

Chase Briscoe again got the pole so you can’t rule him out from leading a good chunk of the race to start. I do think this week will be more difficult with better cars starting towards the front, but he is a little cheaper than the main top drivers.

Place Differential Plays

Christopher Bell

Kyle Busch

Tyler Reddick

Ross Chastain

Ty Gibbs

Bell had solid speed in practice but he is one that usually doesn’t stand out on the speed charts. He is good on flat short tracks and I would expect him to be a contender by the end of the race. He starts in 17th so he has some place differential points to get and could end up being one of the high point scorers if he ends up having one of the better cars. Busch wrecked in practice and will go to a backup car for the race this week and will start in the back. With him starting at the rear he has a ton of place differential potential and I would expect him backup to be solid and he should have top 15 upside for the race this week. Another driver that had good lap times but they may be skewed a bit because he was on a fresh track with the slower practice group was Ross Chastain. He starts back in 28th so he has a lot of room to move forward and could be a good place differential play if he can get up to the top 10. Ty Gibbs is one of my favorite plays this week as he had top 10 speed in his practice session and he starts back in 20th. He is cheaper than some other of these plays as well and could be a great value.

Some additional value plays I like this week are Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman, and Bubba Wallace as they were all good in practice and are priced mid range this week.

Cheap Options

John Hunter Nemechek

Erik Jones

Ricky Stenhouse

Justin Haley

Ty Dillon

Nemechek and Jones both seemed to be some of the better cars in practice of the cheap options this week. Nemechek seemed happy with his car and starts 29th. Both should move forward and be great options this week. Stenhouse finished 5th here last season after starting in the back and he starts in the back again this year in 30th. He didn’t show too much in practice but the hope would be he is going to be better in the race and get up and run in the top 20. Haley had really good lap times in practice this week and he starts in 10th for the race which makes him a risky pick. Usually I would stay away but I think his speed could be legitimate this week and end up with a top 15 which would be a solid play at his cheap salary. Another one of the really cheap drivers is Ty Dillon starting back in 32nd at Iowa. His teammate Allmendinger starts in the top 10 and Dillon had solid speed in practice so I think he could run in the low 20s with upside.