NASCAR Cup Series Sonoma DFS Picks
- RoundersKyle
- Jul 12
- 4 min read
NASCAR heads to another road course this week as the Cup Series is out west racing at Sonoma. Sonoma is a little bit of a different road course than last week as there is more room throughout the track and track position is even more important as things tend to get spread out. I expect the best cars and drivers to rise to the occasion this week and be really good and place differential may not be as important this week as a lot of the drivers starting towards the back may have more trouble getting to the front.
Potential Dominators
Shane Van Gisbergen
AJ Allmendinger
Ty Gibbs
The drivers will once again try to take down SVG this week and it will be a tough task as he is on the pole once again this week. SVG was not too happy with his car in practice but then he went out and got the pole so maybe even a bad car won't slow him down and let others beat him. However, Draftkings has priced him up 2k more than the next driver, so I do think there is opportunity to fade SVG and use more of the top drivers to have a more balanced lineup and not have to rely on more of the cheap drivers and SVG getting all the dominator points.
With that mindset, I think Allmendinger is a great option this week as he had the best 5 lap average in practice and by a good margin. I expect him to be really strong this week and I think he will be a top option on Sunday. Gibbs has been really good on road courses this season as they have been the one bright spot for him this year. He had great speed in practice and should have top 5 potential and be one of the threats to SVG this weekend.
Place Differential Plays
Chris Buescher
Michael McDowell
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
Sonoma is one of Buescher's best road courses and has been one of the better drivers here in the last several years. He had good lap times in practice and needs a good race to make up for last week's issues. He starts in 14th and should make his way forward and have top 5 potential in the race. McDowell is another that is good here but he didn't have the best lap times in practice. I am trusting he will be good in the race and will move forward from his 15th place starting spot making him a good option. Bell is a good option if you are fading SVG and need some other drivers that have the upside to be a top contender. He starts in 10th so he doesn't have big place differential potential but he is someone that I would not be surprised to run top 3 and he is usually on a good strategy. Logano I think is one that will go under the radar as he starts 22nd and is not someone you think of when they race at road courses. But he had top 10 speed in practice and I think he has that potential in the race.
Cheap Options
Bubba Wallace
Ryan Preece
Todd Gilliland
John Hunter Nemechek
Erik Jones
Riley Herbst
Not many of the cheap drivers stood out in practice with their lap times and speed, so the focus is going to be on the drivers who have had some good runs this season on road courses and have the upside. Bubba Wallace was fast at the last few road courses and starts back in 30th so he has a lot of place differential potential. Preece has finished top 15 in both recent road courses and has looked good. He starts in 20th so he won't have as much track position to gain but that may not be a bad thing if there aren't many cautions. Gilliland will be a popular play as he is a solid road course driver with some top 10s and he starts way back in 35th. He has huge place differential potential but wasn't great in practice so we will have to see how he races. Nemechek was one of the few drivers that did show speed in practice as he was 12th in 5 lap averages. He starts 18th and could be a low owned option this week for DFS.
Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, and Ricky Stenhouse are all solid flier options as they start in the back and have huge place differential upside. None of them are great road racers but if they can get track position they can be great options for DFS.
My riskier play I really like this week is Riley Herbst. He has run well on the road courses in the top 20 but hasn't gotten the finishes he deserved. If he stays out of trouble I would not be surprised to see a top 20 out of him.
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