NASCAR DFS Playbook: Drive For The Cure 250

It’s time to go road racing one last time! The ROVAL is a bit of a hybrid at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but it usually provides for some very entertaining races, including last year’s race that was run in a monsoon. They are not exempt from some weather concerns in Saturday’s race either, but the forecast is looking better compared to earlier in the week.

Now we only have 67 laps on tap for today’s race. That’s 42 fewer than the Cup race so dominator points aren’t as abundant. Accounting for cautions we’re likely looking at 40-43 dominator points. The stages will be broken into 20-20-27 lap segments and there is NO competition caution today. So those running up front early can contend for the limited dominator points with no interruption for the caution. 

Driver Pool 

A.J. Allmendinger ($10,700; Starting P14) There are so many great options to pay up for in this race. Dinger is at the top by far. Dinger has run two races here and appropriately won both. He’s led 32 laps combined with 22 fastest laps between both races. Similar to the last couple races, he offers PD and is an obvious contender to win. He won Mid-Ohio and the Cup Series race at IRC while finishing as the runner-up at COTA, Watkins Glen, and IRC for the Xfinity Series race. He knows what he’s doing at these tracks.

Ty Gibbs ($10,500; Starting P12) Starting one row in front of Dinger at a $200 discount is Ty Gibbs. Gibbs may not have a ton of experience at the ROVAL, but he did win in his debut at Daytona’s road course and he won at Watkins Glen. The results the last few races have been surprisingly underwhelming if we’re being honest. He doesn’t have a top five in his last five races and he has just one top ten in that span. It’s a little baffling truly, but maybe that drives ownership down a little bit. I still think he’s eligible in Cash games and GPP’s.

Austin Cindric ($10,300; Starting P1) Starting on the pole, Cindric has an opportunity to collect some of the dominator points available on this race. Big deal though, right? Cindric naturally tends to lead leads at road courses with solid finishes:

• Daytona Road Course: Started 2nd, Finished 2nd, 29 laps led
• COTA: Started 8th, Finished 5th, 2 laps led (The weather was crap all weekend in Austin)
• Mid-Ohio: Started 1st, Finished 14th, 30 laps led
• Road America: Started 2nd, Finished 8th, 10 laps led
• Watkins Glen: Started 2nd, Finished 3rd, 22 laps led
• Indy Road Course: Started 2nd, Finished 1st, 29 laps led

Despite there not being many laps in these races, he’s led at least 22 laps in four of the six races this season. The weird thing is that DraftKings is begging you to play Allmendinger over Cindric this week. Dinger’s only $400 more and offering 13 more spots of PD and is the easy favorite to win the race. Allmendinger’s a lock for Cash games. Now Cindric carries obvious risk because he’s over $10K and if he goes backward without many dominator points, his value is diminished. But he’s a great leverage play with DraftKings trying to serve Allmendinger to you on a platter.

Noah Gragson ($10,000; Starting P10) Gragson is starting tenth and obviously offers easy PD. In two races, he’s finished 2nd and 5th while leading 16 laps a year ago. His numbers this year on road courses are a little concerning, but it is worth remind ourselves of the awful start he had to the year. At DRC he had issues getting the car going. If I remember correctly, he started two laps down and clawed his way back onto the lead lap and even into the top 12 before spinning late and finishing outside the top 20. He had an engine issue at COTA, then wrecked at Mid-Ohio before registering a top ten at Road America where he started 36th. He would then finish 7th and 5th at IRC and Watkins Glen. I think he’s worth exposure in all formats this weekend. 

Ty Dillon ($9,300; Starting P25) This is a pretty obvious PD target. Dillon has Cup series experience on this track and he’s in the 23-car for Our Motorsports. My lone concern is that he hasn’t run any road courses for Xfinity this year, but he’s been a reliable source of PD in the races he’s run this car in. I prefer him more in Cash games, but may try to be lighter than the field for GPP’s given how chalky he could be at his price tag.

Sam Mayer ($8,700; Starting P15) I feel like Mayer could go under owned this week. His driver profile is pretty wild if you look at it…

When he finishes, the results are usually pretty damn good, but getting to the finish line has been tough for the rookie. I like the top ten potential he has here, but I do wish he was a little cheaper. I’ll still get a little exposure regardless. 

Preston Pardus ($7,800; Starting P37) We’re likely looking at another popular play this week given the price tag and starting spot. Pardus is stepping into the 90-car for DGM Racing and this equipment has been good to him at times this year. He finished 14th at COTA and 16th at Road America. He’s not completely safe by any means as there’s the possibility that he just doesn’t move up enough to justify the price tag, but he’s in play for GPP’s.

Austin Hill ($7,700; Starting P40) Hill is in the 61-car for HRE this week. I like to offer up the 61-car for whenever a good driver is in it or the ride is offering PD. Sure enough this week, both things are true. Hill is a regular in the Truck series but he’s moving up to Xfinity next year and he can get a top 20 out of this car and that would return about 43 points so he’s eligible, but chalky, for all formats. I don’t hate the idea of being lighter than the field since there are good pivot options in this range.

Alex Labbe ($7,300; Starting P20) Labbe is a pretty solid road racer. His best performances tend to come on this style of track. In last year’s race he finished 4th, but also has finishes of 6th and 13th as well. We haven’t seen him run overwhelmingly well on road courses this year but he grabbed top 15 finishes at Mid-Ohio and IRC. I think he’s a little too bold for Cash games, but he’s very much in play for GPP’s.

Sage Karam ($6,800; Starting P28) Karam is someone I like getting exposure to on road courses. Granted, he’s only run one this year in Xfinity and that was IRC back in August. I didn’t play him that weekend which turned out to be the right call, but he was running much better than where he finished and made me look like a dummy until the race ended. There are a handful of good value plays this week so it’s possible we don’t get him at excessive ownership.

Kris Wright ($5,700; Starting P38) Normally I proceed with caution with Kris Wright, but if you’ve been reading up on Twitter this week, the 15-car that Wright will drive today is being prepped by Stewart-Haas Racing. That will likely make him the most popular value play in this price range. He ran the 26-car for Sam Hunt Racing on previous road courses this year and managed to finish 18th at DRC and 17th at Watkins Glen. 

Jade Buford ($5,500; Starting P19) Given the starting position, he’s probably better suited for GPP’s, but Buford is in play this week. He’s a decent road course driver as he grabbed a top ten in last year’s downpour of a race. He managed to grab a couple top 15 finishes at COTA and Mid-Ohio as well. There is a fair chance he goes backwards, hence why I don’t love him for Cash games. But with the news that Big Machine Racing will partner with Richard Childress Racing in 2022, there are some good vibes with this team at the moment.

Josh Williams ($5,300; Starting P17) I guess this deserves the caveat that I tend to play Williams on the wrong weeks. But we got his price back down to where we can stomach playing him starting P17. If he holds his spot he’s returning value. But road courses aren’t so much about returning value as they are about hitting 35-45 points truthfully. Williams has done pretty well on road courses this season. He finished 17th at DRC, 10th at Mid-Ohio, 17th at Road America, 14th at Watkins Glen, and 15th at IRC. So as long as he runs clean he can help us out in GPP’s. The ROVAL hasn’t been kind to him here. He finished 34th here in last year’s race that was finished in heavy rain. Tread with caution, but I like him quite a bit in GPP’s.

Kyle Weatherman ($4,700; Starting P24) Weatherman always gets a little love on road courses. He finished 16th earlier this year at DRC and he also finished 16th at IRC. He didn’t have a great debut at the ROVAL last year where he was caught up in a wreck. But the weather wasn’t on Weatherman’s side a year ago… See what I did there? It could get a little wet on Saturday so no driver is particularly safe and he is starting fairly high. But he’s a nice GPP punt if you need to consider someone in this range.

Core Drivers