As the drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series prepare for their longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR DFS gamers should be getting ready as well. There’s a huge asterisk to note with this year’s field as superstar Kyle Larson is scheduled to run the double, completing the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, but the sketchy Indianapolis weather forecast could rain on his parade. Still, even with that loose end, we can predict a few sharp NASCAR DFS angles for this weekend’s action. Let’s dive into our top NASCAR DFS picks for the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, including Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
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NASCAR DFS Picks: Top Drivers for the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 2024 Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR DFS Picks | Charlotte
This article was written before our NASCAR DFS projections run. Check back on Sunday morning for Stokastic’s industry-leading NASCAR DFS projections, including our top drivers tool!
Since NASCAR Cup Series qualifying isn’t scheduled until late on Saturday afternoon, we won’t know the starting lineup until later than usual. That means I’m adding an asterisk to this NASCAR DFS pick for this year’s action at Charlotte — if Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($6,600 at DraftKings) qualifies too high in the field, we’d be risking too much negative place differential. But if he starts from 16th or worse, he should be a screaming value.
Treating the Coke 600 as any other race on a high-speed, 1.5-mile intermediate is a mistake. The additional length and transition from day to night will reward drivers who can (a) stay patient and (b) provide their crew chiefs with meaningful in-race feedback to improve their car as the track changes. Historically, no active driver has benefited more from the unique nature of this race than Stenhouse.
Stenhouse debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series during the 2011 Coca-Cola 600, scoring an 11th-place finish in the No. 21 Ford. He has now made 13 career starts in this event with an average finish of 14.4 that includes two top-5s, five top-10s and 10 top-15s — all while driving less-than-stellar equipment.
While some may be concerned about Stenhouse’s lack of speed on intermediate tracks this year, he wasn’t much better at them last year, but he still reeled off a seventh-place finish. I don’t think he can win this race, but he stands out as a value play — just hope he doesn’t qualify too high up in the field.
Tyler Reddick
If you’re looking to rack up dominator points, Tyler Reddick ($9,700 at DraftKings) could be a good bet. The 23XI Racing driver is more affordable than several other dominant drivers like Larson ($11,000) and Hamlin ($10,700) but has looked just as good — if not better — on high-speed intermediates this season.
We’ve already seen three races on tracks very similar to Charlotte, with Las Vegas, Texas and Kansas already in the books. Reddick led a lap in Vegas before finishing P2 behind an unbeatable Larson, scoring the second-best driver rating in the process. He then led 37 laps in Texas before finishing fourth — but importantly, he also scored the best driver rating in the process. Kansas was forgettable for Reddick and the rest of 23XI Racing, but Charlotte could see them bounce back.
A few other factors point to value here. For one, Reddick has the second-best average finish at Charlotte since 2021 with a 6.7. That sample includes one top-5 and three top-10s over three starts, making Larson and Kyle Busch the only driver to score top-10s in all three of those events.
Honorable mention: Alex Bowman ($7,800) — led the most laps in the 2020 Coca-Cola 600 and has an average finish of 9 over his last three attempts.
