Stock car racing’s premier series makes it to the beaches of Homestead, Fla. Make the most of the 2024 Straight Talk Wireless 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 Straight Talk Wireless 400
Driver As | The Elites
The duo of Kyle Larson ($11,000) and Christopher Bell ($10,800) are excellent at what Homestead is known for: running the top lane. Larson has the best Next-Gen Homestead total speed ranking, courtesy of ifantasyrace.com, but he has a horrible NASCAR DFS points average here, as he wrecked last year. Bell’s speed is not in the elite tier, but he has a better fantasy points average at Homestead and other similar tracks. William Byron ($10,300) is a sneaky good driver at mile-and-half tracks. His Homestead Next-Gen total speed ranking is the fourth-highest, and he carries a 46.7 fantasy-point average at Homestead in that span.
Driver Bs | Point-Getters
Ryan Blaney ($10,000) is a driver who needs a bounce back after last week’s crash at Las Vegas. He is seventh in the playoff standings at 47 points back and will need to make up some ground at Homestead. The 2023 Cup Series champion has little momentum, as he’s finished 30th or worst in two of the last three races. Still, the 30-year-old has shown tremendous speed on this track. He is third in the Homestead Next-Gen total speed rankings and has one of the best NASCAR DFS points averages at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His 2022 performance is misleading, as he finished poorly due to a mistake on pit road when he was shifted and spun.
The other four Toyota drivers rank in the top fifteen in speed and have had at least one top-10-speed race. Last week at Vegas, we saw tremendous speed from all of the Toyotas with the exception of Ty Gibbs. Martin Truex Jr ($9,000), Denny Hamlin ($9,800) and Tyler Reddick ($10,500) all have speed and skill at Homestead but have had one bad race here recently. Truex Jr. (engine) and Hamlin (steering) had some mechanical issues last year, while Reddick – who was still with Richard Childress Racing (RCR) at the time – crashed in 2022. Hamlin and Reddick also have the added pressure of being under the cutline and will try to bounce back this week. Truex Jr.’s race is more sentimental, with this being his last season and him running his 2017 NASCAR Cup Series Championship paint scheme.
Driver Cs | In the Mix
This is a home-state race for Ross Chastain ($8,800). The “Melon Man” is fifth in the Homestead Next-Gen total speed rankings and has scored at least 40 NASCAR DFS points in one of the two Homestead races and recent similar tracks in 2024. Last year’s performance was not indicative of how good he was, as he ran fifth before an untimely caution caught him, and he got involved in a wreck at the back of the field.
Bubba Wallace ($7,800) and Alex Bowman ($8,000) are my favorite plays in that $7-8K range. Both have shown how well they can run on mile-and-half tracks this year, scoring over 40 points last week and just a shade lower at the Coca-Cola 600. Wallace showed potential last year with a superb second-place finish after starting sixth. However, Bowman did not finish well; he finished 19th and didn’t have top-20 speed.
Driver Ds | Could Do Worse
Austin Dillon ($6,700), A.J. Allmendinger ($7,300), Daniel Suarez ($7,200) and Austin Cindric ($7,000) have surprisingly consistent fantasy points at Homestead, with an average of over 30 points between the two Next-Gen races here. Of these four drivers, only Suarez has shown speed on mile-and-a-half tracks this year. These wacky point averages either tell you how unpredictable Homestead is or how unique of a track it truly is.
Ryan Preece ($5,900) and Corey Lajoie ($5,700) are my favorite cheap plays. Both have scored around 40 NASCAR DFS points on the two recent similar tracks. Last year, Preece scored 46 points here, finishing 13th after starting 29th. Lajoie didn’t do anything spectacular but finished 20th last year. Both can work as place-differential plays but they are no longer a play if they qualify well.
Driver Fs | The Junk Drawer
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($6,200) and Chase Briscoe ($7,500) are two drivers who have been sneaky good on mile-and-a-half tracks that could fit into your lineup. Each has had one Next-Gen race where they scored more than 30 NASCAR DFS points, and Briscoe is a winner at a similar high-tire wear track, Darlington. Briscoe’s price tag might be steep, but Stenhouse Jr. is cheaper and runs around where Briscoe does most weeks.
Spire Motorsports are on the up and up, and after trading for Justin Haley, they seem to have legit top-15 speed week-in and week-out on non-drafting tracks. The issue with Spire for DFS purposes is that they tend to qualify higher than where they run in the race, which puts their fantasy performance at a disadvantage. If Spire can qualify a bit lower, Carson Hocevar ($6,900), Zane Smith($6,100) and even Justin Haley ($6,400) are ones to look out for.
Check out all of our content for the NASCAR weekend at Homestead-Miami:
- NASCAR DFS Picks, Tiers & Rankings: 2024 Straight Talk Wireless 400
- Between Bets: 2024 Straight Talk Wireless 400 Outrights
- PropKings: 2024 Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300
Thanks for reading our NASCAR DFS picks and tiers for the 2024 Straight Talk Wireless 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: Peter Casey – USA TODAY Sports*
