The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Bristol Motor Speedway — and it’s not covered in dirt this time. Let’s get started with our top NASCAR DFS picks for the Food City 500 at Bristol, including Chase Elliott. Subscribe today for access to our industry-leading resources, including our lineup generator (available for NFL, NBA, MLB and PGA), our DFS simulation tools (available for NFL, NBA, MLB, PGA, MMA and NASCAR) and our industry-leading projections for every sport.
NASCAR DFS Picks: Top Drivers for the Food City 500 at Bristol
Chase Elliott | Food City 500 NASCAR DFS Picks
This article was written before qualifying. Make sure to check back after qualifying for Stokastic’s industry-leading NASCAR DFS projections, including our top drivers tool!
Last season was a rough one for Chase Elliott, but he should start putting together some better results soon. The good news for NASCAR DFS players is that his shaky start to the season is opening up some value for him, as he’ll cost you only $8,300 at DraftKings and $9,500 at FanDuel. That paltry salary doesn’t align with his past performance on concrete or his outright betting odds for this race.
It wasn’t long ago that Elliott was talked about as the best driver on concrete surfaces like Bristol’s. Further, he was impressive in the 2022 Cup Series race here, scoring a runner-up finish after failing to catch Chris Buescher in the closing laps.
From 2018 to 2021, Elliott competed in six points-paying Bristol races, through which he led a whopping 483 laps, good for 80.5 per race. He also won his lone non-points-paying race here, the 2020 All-Star Race, in which he recorded the top driver rating (138.7).
Elliott offers legitimate top-driver upside despite his low price point. Two of his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Kyle Larson and William Byron, have far higher price points — $11,500 and $10,700 at DraftKings, respectively, which underscores just how great of a deal we’re getting with him at his price this week.
Elliott’s price is a bit stale, too — the betting odds have moved in his favor substantially. He opened at 20-1 but is now trading at 12-1 on DraftKings Sportsbook, which isn’t as short as Larson (5-1), but it’s just as short as Byron (12-1). I suspect most in the field will have plenty of exposure to Elliott, but he is good chalk in this spot.
Ty Gibbs | Food City 500 NASCAR DFS Picks
This NASCAR DFS pick shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s a question of when, not if, budding superstar Ty Gibbs will win a NASCAR Cup Series race. While Bristol is a tough track for young drivers, Gibbs’ aggression is an asset on a track this small — just as long as nobody puts him in the wall for his antics. As with Elliott, his NASCAR DFS salary doesn’t reflect his strong past showings at Bristol or his outright betting odds.
Gibbs will cost you only $8,000 at DraftKings and $10,500 at FanDuel. He offers far more value at DraftKings for that reason, but he’s still a great piece to have in your lineups at FanDuel, too.
We’ve seen Gibbs race on Bristol’s concrete surface just twice in the Cup Series. In his debut, he piloted the 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota to an unimpressive 35th-place finish, but in his next start, he steered his new Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota to a fifth-place result, leading 102 laps and recording the third-best driver rating (119.8) in the process.
Gibbs is now trading at only 14-1 at DraftKings Sportsbook to win this race outright, tying him with Chris Buescher ($9,800 at DraftKings) and Tyler Reddick ($9,000). Like Elliott, I expect him to be a popular play, but for some very good reasons.
