Stock car racing’s premiere series settles in Martinsville, Va., this weekend. Make the most of the 2024 Cook Out 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 and Fantrax)
NASCAR DFS Picks, Tiers & Rankings: 2024 Cook Out 400
Driver As | The Elites
Another week, another race with Denny Hamlin being the 1.01 of NASCAR DFS lineups. The No. 11 has already found victory lane this season at Bristol, Richmond and the Los Angeles Coliseum, our most recent comp track. The 43-year-old has the most wins among active drivers (five) and the third-best Martinsville Next-Gen total speed ranking (courtesy of ifantasyrace.com). You can also take a shot on his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates, Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell, for a discounted price. But you get what you pay for, so I’ll most heavily roster the No. 11 car again this week.
Kyle Larson is clearly the best Chevy in the field, having won this race last spring and averaging 47.5 points per race this season. The same can be said for the Team Penske Fords; they are the clear top ponies in the stable this week. Joey Logano has nine straight T10s at “The Paperclip,” while Ryan Blaney has four straight of his own, including a win last fall.
Driver Bs | Point-Getters
There’s a lot of love on the Internet for Brad Keselowski this week, including from my colleagues, who pulled him up higher in our consensus ranks higher than I would’ve liked. His finishes at Martinsville in the Next-Gen era include P33, P24, P36 and P17 (all running). Instead, I prefer his Roush Fenway Keselowski (RFK) Racing teammate Chris Buecher. The driver of the No. 17 car made it four straight T10s with a P9 run at Richmond last week. Buescher doesn’t crush the advanced metrics at Martinsville, but he did finish eighth in the fall. The upside is limited, but he’s worth the safe investment at $8,600 on DraftKings specifically.
It may be chalky, but I’ll eat it on Chase Briscoe at $7,500 on DraftKings and $16.16 on Fantrax. He’s No. 5 on the Martinville Next-Gen total speed rankings and has four straight T10s here.
Driver Cs | In the Mix
Welcome to the C-Tier, better known as the Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR)-Tier this week. Right underneath their teammate Briscoe on DraftKings are Josh Berry ($7,400), Ryan Preece ($7,200) and Noah Gragson ($7,100). All three are also great values on Fantrax. I prefer Berry, who finished 11th at Richmond and 12th at Bristol and led laps in both races. Still, Preece was on the pole here a year ago and led 135 laps.
While Bubba Wallace is No. 11 in the Martinsville Next-Gen total speed rankings, it’s hard to trust his pit crew enough to play him in NASCAR DFS lineups this week. Ross Chastain would be my favorite non-SHR in our C-Tier. The No. 1 car has finished no worse than P14 and has two T5s at Martinsville in the Next-Gen era.
Driver Ds | Could Do Worse
I have some rare love for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. this week. He has yet to score negative points on DraftKings and finished eighth in this race a year ago. You can do a lot worse for an even $6,000 on the platform. I mention his name every week, but John Hunter Nemechek is averaging the 12th-most NASCAR DFS points per race. He led 198 laps, swept both stages and won at Martinsville last spring in the Xfinity Series. Im once again all in on the No. 42 car at just $6,500 on DraftKings and $6.76 on Fantrax.
Driver Fs | The Junk Drawer
There are honestly some solid dart throws this week, and you might need one if you’re stacking top-tier drivers. Both Front Row Motorsports cars of Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland offer some value, specifically on DraftKings, in the low $6,000s.
I’m also willing to scrape the bottom of the barrel and roll out either Rick Ware Racing (RWR) car of Justin Haley ($5,500) or Kaz Grala ($5,300), both of whom have shown speed at Martinsville before in the Xfinity Series. That also leads me to Daniel Hemric, who has five top-eight finishes in the Xfinity Series at Martinsville. He’s worth more than the $5,2000 on DraftKings and $5 minimum on Fantrax.
Check out all of our content for the 2024 Cook Out 400:
- PropKings: 2024 Cook Out 400
- Between Bets: 2024 Cook Out 400 Outrights
- NASCAR DFS Picks, Tiers & Rankings: 2024 Cook Out 400
Thanks for reading our NASCAR DFS picks and tiers for the 2024 Cook Out 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 sports and sports betting content, you can find me on Twitter @Between_SethFF.
*Photo Credit: Randy Sartin – USA TODAY Sports*