After a series of great calls at Darlington, the RNG machine that is superspeedway racing caught up to us at Atlanta. Although my strategy of stacking Fords could’ve worked, a lot hinged on which Fords you got. All three Team Penske drivers, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney delivered, but accidents took out several other cars and strategy ruined the days of a few others. Can we bounce back this weekend? Let’s dive into our top NASCAR DFS picks for the 2024 Go Bowling at the Glen, including Kyle Larson.
NASCAR DFS Picks: Top Drivers for the 2024 Go Bowling at the Glen | Watkins Glen
2024 Go Bowling at the Glen NASCAR DFS Picks & Strategy | Watkins Glen International
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NASCAR DFS strategy often comes down to stacking the back for place differential versus stacking the front for dominator points. Short tracks, due to the volume of laps to lead and the importance of starting at the front due to passing difficulties, are great for stacking the front. But road courses like Watkins Glen, due to the smaller number of laps, don’t offer as much upside in that department.
That said, of the two races at Watkins Glen in the NextGen era (2022-), both were won by a driver starting on the front row. A driver starting on the front row led the most laps in both events, too. However, unlike previous years, this Watkins Glen race is being held in September as part of the playoffs. That may produce some additional strategy wrinkles, as playoff drivers hunting for points will go for good stage results at the expense of final placement.
Meanwhile, drivers who are out of the playoffs have nothing to drive for except the win. A few notable names in this category are Shane Van Gisbergen, Chris Buescher and even polesitter Ross Chastain. Since we don’t get NASCAR DFS points for stages, the best lineups will likely feature multiple non-playoff drivers.
Other necessary NASCAR DFS strategy notes involve the track and the tire. New curbing in the bus stop will slow things down slightly in a way that probably favors drivers with backgrounds in road course racing. The new tire compound will increase tire wear, meaning drivers will have to navigate significant fall-off over longer runs. Both of these changes should reward technical road course drivers. They could also cause more on-track cautions, benefiting drivers in the back.
Tyler Reddick & Kyle Larson
With qualifying in the books, two spend-up options stand out as crucial parts of your NASCAR DFS lineup for Watkins Glen. While it’s possible that one of these guys runs into trouble, Kyle Larson ($10,500) starting in 20th and Tyler Reddick ($9,500) starting in 16th should rack up place differential points throughout the day. The strategy calls they might make to secure stage points would cost them some progress, but they should end up well ahead of where they start by the end of the day.
Despite his poor qualifying result, Reddick recorded the fastest single lap and 10-lap average in practice. The 10-lap average is crucial due to the increased fall-off; if Reddick can pace the field when on worn tires, he should easily finish well ahead of where he starts. Larson posted the third-fastest individual lap and the sixth-fastest average. Both drivers should absolutely be in your cash game lineups.
It’s tempting to pivot away from one or both of these guys in tournaments, but with neither driver locked into the Round of 12, I suspect they’ll approach things a bit more conservatively than they may have otherwise done. The ceiling both of these drivers have this week is nuts.
Kaz Grala
If you’re going to find a way to fit both Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson into your NASCAR DFS lineup, you’ll also have to find at least one spend-down option. Fortunately, DraftKings has made it very easy for us: Kaz Grala ($5,200) is the cheapest driver in the field. While Grala isn’t a realistic contender to win or even finish in the top 10, he’ll start in 38th, giving him all day to improve his track position.
Grala’s No. 15 Ford won’t be that fast, but it won’t be the slowest car in the field, either. For one, Grala posted the 31st-fastest single-lap time in qualifying. He did not run 10 consecutive laps. For another, Grala is historically decent at road courses. He finished seventh in his Cup Series debut here at the Glen while substituting for Austin Dillon in 2020.
This year, Grala has made three starts on road and street courses. He started 23rd before finishing 27th at COTA, started 36th before finishing 23rd at Sonoma and started 40th before finishing 26th at Chicago Street. If Grala can stay out of trouble and on the lead lap, he should complete all the laps at the Glen, which is more than a handful of other drivers will be able to say. Grala is a fantastic punt play with lots of floor.
