Ah yes, another gorgeous NASCAR DFS season is upon us. Obviously, Daytona doesn’t count because who can possibly predict the outcome of any single superspeedway race?
This weekend at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, thanks to mother nature, we have a TON of chalky plays starting at the back and an equal number of easy fades (if you play Cody Ware starting 11th, you deserve to lose). Drivers who are going to be easy PD plays include Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and William Byron. But, you don’t need an analyst to tell you that. Here, we will be talking about three of my favorite plays for Fontana, and someone who I wouldn’t touch with a nine-foot pole.
*All listed salaries are DraftKings (DK) salaries
KYLE BUSCH – $10,300
You might be saying to yourself, how is Kyle Busch a hidden play? Well, he is in the same tier as a few of those chalky plays we talked about earlier, but starting 21st. Pair that with the fact that Kyle Larson is going to get big ownership by virtue of being last year’s winner, and Busch may surprisingly be lower-owned than expected. People might forget, Busch went five laps down last year and battled all the way back to get a 14th-place lead lap finish. Now, he’s in the RCR #8, and at this race last year, one RCR car finished second and the other dominated the race before blowing a tire. Speaking of RCR cars…
AUSTIN DILLON – $8,100
Austin Dillon was bad fast last year at Fontana. He was inside the top fifteen for the majority of the race. By the end, he found his way through some of the late race chaos to work his way to second. After being wrecked last week at Daytona, he is starting way back in 28th and is cheap enough to pair with some of those other big guns that are a little more expensive. Again, RCR is coming into its own, and I expect a nice boost to the program thanks to the addition of KFB. Hop on the train.
TY GIBBS – $6,100
The whole POINT of this article is to give you plays you might look over. Gibbs is in a Joe Gibbs Toyota, starting 23rd, and is priced at just over six grand? That’s insanity. Over the past 9 seasons, a Gibbs Toyota has won here four times. As a team, they are neck and neck with HMS for the best average finish at Fontana. They are nerfing his price because he is a rookie. I get it there is going to be a learning curve, but you are going to need some differentiating plays, and Ty Gibbs is a great cheap option, and with so few this week, you should absolutely find the cash to get Gibbs into your lineup.
DO NOT TOUCH
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – $7,100
A lot of new DFS players will be tempted to click on RSJ because of his win at Daytona. But you have to understand one thing: It was Daytona. Stenhouse has an average finish at Fontana of 17.5 with just seven laps led over nine starts. That isn’t horrible, but starting second, he is almost guaranteed to move backward. He did finish 10th here last year, but with the number of better plays at that price point, there’s no reason to touch RSJ despite the upset Daytona win last week.
