Stock car racing’s premiere series throws it back at Darlington this weekend. Make the most of the 2024 Goodyear 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 Goodyear 400
Driver As | The Elites
Kyle Larson is the most recent Cup Series winner at Darlington and also won last year’s spring Xfinity Series race here. After a 76-DraftKings point performance at Kansas last week, Larson now firmly leads the Series in points per race at 54.4. He’s worth the pay-up this week at $11,300 on DraftKings, as is Denny Hamlin at $11,500. The 43-year-old leads all active drivers with four wins at Darlington. He was on his way to a weekend sweep last fall, winning the Xfinity Series race and then winning both Stage No. 1 and No. 2 of the Cup Series race. However, a loose wheel derailed his day late, and Hamlin finished P25.
Martin Truex Jr. has had all sorts of bad luck at “The Lady in Black,” but he remains in the A-Tier with the sixth-best Darlington Next-Gen total speed ranking (courtesy of ifantasyrace.com). The veteran is also still averaging the second-most DraftKings points per race at 52.6.
If you’re looking for leverage in the A-Tier, it’ll likely come by way of William Byron. “Willy B” is coming in off back-to-back stinkers for NASCAR DFS purposes. However, he is No. 1 in the Darlington Next-Gen total speed rankings and won this race last year. Meanwhile, his Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) teammate Chase Elliott represents the best value among the top flight, sitting at $9,800 on DraftKings and $23.11 on Fantrax.
Driver Bs | Point-Getters
Ross Chastain makes the B-Tier on speed alone, sitting fourth in the Darlington Next-Gen total speed rankings. However, his go-for-broke mantra is a risky proposition for NASCAR DFS lineups, especially at the price of $9,600 on DraftKings and $21.86 on Fantrax. Meanwhile, after scoring 100 combined DraftKings points the past two weeks, Kyle Busch is my favorite B-Tier play this week. He sits second in the Darlington Next-Gen total speed rankings and finished fourth at the comp track of Dover two weeks ago.
Brad Keselowski has recent Darlington finishes of P6, P4 and P7. The Rousch Fenway Keselowski (RFK) racing owner and driver hasn’t qualified better than P22 over the past month. If that trend continues, he’s a prime candidate for differential points and should be considered for lineups.
Christopher Bell is another driver who finds himself in the B-Tier, primarily because he has equipment that can win the race. However, he finished P23 and P14 in the past two Dover races and is 16th in the Darlington 2023 total speed rankings. That’s a fade for me, specifically on DraftKings at $10,000. Instead, ride the hot hand of Noah Gragson, who has three straight T10s and is averaging 48 NASCAR DFS points per race in that span. Gragson has two wins and a runner-up at Darlington in the Xfinity Series and has never finished worse than P8 in the lower level here.
Driver Cs | In the Mix
This is a week where I’m strongly avoiding the middle-of-the-road drivers in the C-Tier of my NASCAR DFS rankings. Sure, there is some great equipment in this tier, but each driver has their warts. Alex Bowman offers little to no upside, with his best finish at Darlington the last two years being P10. Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano are 21st and 18th in the Darlington 2023 total speed rankings, respectively. Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick were both T10 cars in the fall here, but they have some disappointing performances as of late on tracks they are better at than Darlington.
Driver Ds | Could Do Worse
Erik Jones is one of three active drivers with multiple wins at Darlington. However, he’s fresh off his back injury and was only averaging 26 DraftKings points per race before suffering it. He’s a pass for me on that platform but can be considered for Fantrax NASCAR DFS lineups at just $13.05.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is 12th in the Darlington 2023 total speed rankings, resulting in finishes of P16 and P13. He’s also scored stage points in three of four stages. Stenhouse Jr. is fresh off inking a new contract extension and could be feeling good heading into the track “Too Tough to Tame.” Color me intrigued at $6,600 on DraftKings and $14.40 on Fantrax. Same with John Hunter Nemechek, who has four-straight T10s and three stage wins at Darlington in the Xfinity Series.
Driver Fs | The Junk Drawer
Daniel Hemric finally wasn’t optimal last week. However, he’s back down at $5,200 on DraftKings and probably deserves to be priced higher, given his 40% T10 rate here in the Xfinity Series. Austin Dillon is also decent at Darlington, as he’s good for the 19th-best Darlington Next-Gen total speed ranking.
There’s not much else of note here in the F-Tier other than Carson Hocevar‘s three T5s in four Truck Series races at Darlington. He finished P17 in his lone Cup Series start here a year ago and is in play for me at $5,800 on Draftkings and $9.95 on Fantrax.
Check out all of our content for the 2024 Goodyear 400:
- PropKings: 2024 Goodyear 400
- Between Bets: 2024 Goodyear 400 Outrights
- NASCAR DFS Picks, Tiers & Rankings: 2024 Goodyear 400
Thanks for reading our NASCAR DFS picks and tiers for the 2024 Goodyear 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: David Yeazell – USA TODAY Sports*