Stock car racing’s premiere series makes its way to the sandy beaches of Daytona, Florida. Make the most of the Coke Zero Sugar 400 with our NASCAR DFS picks and tiers.
We reveal our “Tire Tiers” and betting cards live every Thursday at 8:30 p.m. EST on our YouTube series, “The Backroad.” Be sure to tune in, enjoy the race, and reach out if you have any questions.
(DFS prices are courtesy of DraftKings)
NASCAR DFS Picks, Tiers & Rankings: 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400
Author’s note: With superspeedways, the main objective is to stack in the back. Most of your lineup should be drivers who start from the 15th or 20th on back, with maybe one or two drivers within the nine-15 starting position. Positions first from nine do not matter as much, and they are unlikely to still finish in the top 10. With these rankings, I took a mix of the salaries and how well they ran at Daytona between 2022-23.
Driver As | The Eites
All drivers in this tier are $9K or below, which is perfect for saving you a bit of funds. These four drivers have the best average finish at Daytona among those who have driven all five Next-gen Daytona races. Kyle Busch ($8,800) is probably my favorite play if he qualifies out back; Busch has shown how fast his Richard Childress Racing (RCR) car has been and is trying to go for a win to make it into the playoffs. Bubba Wallace ($9,000) is my favorite of the group if qualifying is rained out since he would start in the 21st position. The Alabama native has shown his ability on superspeedway with the finishes, but his fantasy scores have not been too good, as his average fantasy score is 24.9 in the last 10 plate races in the Next-Gen car. However, if his starting spot is further back than the top 15, he is a must-play for your lineup.
Driver Bs | Point-Getters
If qualifying is rained out, Joey Logano ($9,300) would be my favorite NASCAR DFS pick in the B-Tier. He has a streak of Daytona races, scoring more than 23 points up until the last Daytona 500 in February. Logano’s poor performance at Michigan has him lined up 29th or 30th based on the metric, which would provide a lot of place differential points. Martin Truex Jr. ($8,500) and Ross Chastain ($8,200) feel a bit cheap in the $8K range, as they could qualify poorly and find their way to the front. Both are racing for their spot in the playoffs, so they need good finishes and no DNFs for the remaining two races of the regular season.
Driver Cs | In the Mix
Ryan Blaney ($9,800) and Chase Elliott ($9,600) seem like obvious elite plate racers, but both have had trouble in recent Daytona races. The main issue is their price tag and the need to spend up for them when you can fill your lineup with other cheaper drivers who could easily outscore them. Elliott could be worth more, as his qualifying effort at Daytona has not been great and could slide into being a place differential play. The $7K range has some risky drivers, but two that stand out are the bottom two drivers of Noah Gragson ($6,900) and Erik Jones ($7,000). Both have done well at plate tracks and could quickly race their way up front and be contenders for the win if not a T10, after qualifying in the back.
Driver Ds | Could Do Worse
The $5,600-$6,300- range has probably some of the best plays of the slate. Yes, Corey Lajoie ($6,300) flipped at Michigan last week, but look for the No. 7 car to motor his way from the back into the top 20 this week. He has done that in the past two Daytona races and scored over 60 NASCAR DFS points. Lajoie is not returning to Spire Motorsports next year, so this is his best opportunity to do well out of the remaining tracks. Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill ($5,800-$5,600) are the other three in this range, and I think they can also come from the back and do well at plate tracks. All three could also be risky, but I trust most drivers to hit value, if not exceed their value.
Driver Fs | The Junk Drawer
The first seven drivers in this tier are risky plays but could boom if they finish well. Typically, they wreck out before the end of the race or have mechanical issues. Da($6,700) is the cheapest and could pull off a magical performance like his win at Atlanta in February. Michael Mcdowell ($7,700) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,900) are also decent plate racers, but their price tag scares me a bit, as they have had just one magical performance each in the last five Daytona races. Of the cheapest drivers, both Rick Ware Racing drivers – Cody Ware ($5,100) and Justin Haley ($5,500) – and B.J. Mcleod ($4,800) are the ones I trust the most. All three could luck their way into a good performance if they don’t pull off some fantastic strategy to get to the front.
Check out all of our content for the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400:
- PropKings: 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400
- Between Bets: 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 Outrights
- NASCAR DFS Picks, Tiers & Rankings: 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400
Thanks for reading our NASCAR DFS picks and tiers for the Coke Zero Sugar 400. Check out more of our racing content and other written work here at In-Between Media, or head over to our YouTube channel to get your fix via video.
For more fantasy NASCAR content, find me on Twitter @NASINF1Fantasy.
*Photo Credit: Eric Canha – USA TODAY Sports*
