DraftKings NASCAR DFS Picks for Richmond: Fantasy NASCAR DFS Strategy and Picks for the Toyota Owners 400

NASCAR heads to Richmond Raceway for the second short flat-track race of the season.

The series visited Phoenix Raceway less than a month ago, which produced more tire wear than normal thanks to the new tire compound that was used there. This same tire is being taken to Richmond, and with the higher tire wear at Phoenix than in years past, it becomes more comparable to Richmond than ever.

We also got plenty of practice laps in to judge long-run speed, so overall we can feel pretty confident about which cars should shine here at Richmond.

Before we jump into my picks, don’t forget all my NASCAR projections can be found in the NASCAR Models on FantasyLabs, complete with floor, ceiling, median, and ownership projections.

Let’s not skip the best part — my Perfect% metric — a metric that tells you how often certain racers appear in the optimal lineup when running 10,000 race simulations.

And don’t forget about the tools that FantasyLabs has to offer, like our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 300 lineups, or our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your lineups.

Here are my NASCAR DFS picks for the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway.

Richmond DraftKings DFS Cash Game Strategy

For cash games, we’ll definitely want to roster the drivers that dominate this race, and with multiple pit strategies likely to play out, it makes sense to pick the most likely early dominator.

That’s why I’m starting with polesitter Kyle Larson ($10,200), who I project to lead the early laps and who had a strong car in practice. After that, the dominator pool gets a bit murky.

There are several drivers who could fit the bill as the second dominator, but my model’s next most likely is Martin Truex, Jr. ($10,800), who practiced better than teammate Denny Hamlin, starts farther ahead, and comes at a discount to Hamlin.

From there, it makes sense to dip down to Brad Keselowski ($8200). Richmond has been one of his best tracks during his time as owner-driver for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, and his 23rd-place starting spot is far enough back that we’ll grab plenty of place differential, barring a disaster for Keselowski.

From there, we’ll need salary relief, likely in the form of Michael McDowell ($7000), who claimed a top-10 finish at Phoenix and also a top-10 finish at this very race last year.

Richmond DraftKings DFS Tournament Strategy

In tournaments, it’ll be important to look at who else could dominate, because we could see two or even three dominators with the various strategies that may play out. Aside from Larson and Truex, Here are my favorite tournament dominators, in order:

1. William Byron
2. Joey Logano
3. Chris Buescher
4. Chase Elliott
5. Ross Chastain

You’ll notice I didn’t list Denny Hamlin. While I like him here, I don’t like him enough relative to his ownership after a mediocre practice and with so many other strong cars, so he makes an interesting underweight play for me.

Another great tournament option is Bubba Wallace ($7700), who arguably had the strongest car in Group B. If we can get a driver at this price tag with dominator potential, we have to take it.

I also like Noah Gragson ($7100), who posted solid long-run times in Group B, but he may go unnoticed because that group took to the track when the track was slower.

In the cheapo tier, Carson Hocevar ($5900) stands out to me as a driver who is always solid at high tire-wear tracks from his days in the Truck Series. He has a win at Richmond in Trucks, and he had a 15th-place run at Phoenix earlier this year.

Richmond DraftKings DFS Paul Menard Pick of the Week

I’ll stick my neck out a bit for Daniel Suarez, who hasn’t been great at Richmond in his career and should draw relatively little usage.

Suarez went out late in his practice group, and as a result his practice times will look slow compared to his group.

However, Suarez himself tweeted that he was happy with the balance of his car, and he starts far enough back in 20th that as long as he keeps it clean, there’s a decent enough chance he ends up with a top-10 finish at low ownership.