This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Drive for the Cure 250
Location: Concord, N.C.
Course: Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL
Format: 2.28-mile road course
Laps: 67
Race Preview
Brandon Brown scored his first series victory one week ago at Talladega. The win made it two races in a row without a playoff driver visiting Victory Lane. As a result, this week's final race in the round of 12 will determine all but one of the eight playoff contenders for the next round of championship eliminations. Austin Cindric is the only driver safe this week after locking himself in on points. This week's trip to the Charlotte ROVAL will be the third visit to the track, and championship contender AJ Allmendinger won the last two. He will line up 14th this week after having trouble at Talladega, while Cindric and Justin Allgaier will share the front row and lead the field to green. Both drivers have won on road courses already this season along with Ty Gibbs, who will start 12th this week.
Key Stats at Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL
- Number of races: 3
- Winners from pole: 0
- Winners from top-5 starters: 1
- Winners from top-10 starters: 2
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 1
- Fastest race: 81.267 mph
Previous Charlotte ROVAL Winners
2020 - AJ Allmendinger
2019 - AJ Allmendinger
2018 - Chase Briscoe
Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL was built inside the 1.5-mile quad-oval in 2017 and joined the schedule in 2018. The circuit, while similar to Daytona and Indianapolis road courses in some respects, is a unique challenge. Charlotte's oval is tighter and less flowing, whereas Daytona and Indianapolis have long straights with heavier braking points. The course is also known for its elevation changes, which are unique for infield circuits. The track has a total of 35 feet of elevation change throughout the 2.28-mile lap distance, which makes braking and turning points more difficult to get perfectly over the course of 67 laps. As with all road courses, track position remains one of the most important factors. Planning pit strategy from the finish backward is how teams will determine their pit windows, but every decision will be optimized to give drivers clean areas in traffic to turn as many fast laps as possible without the hinderance of slower cars ahead.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
AJ Allmendinger - $10,700
Ty Gibbs - $10,500
Austin Cindric - $10,300
Noah Gragson - $10,000
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Harrison Burton - $9,800
Justin Haley - $9,600
Justin Allgaier - $9,400
Daniel Hemric - $9,100
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Josh Berry - $8,900
Riley Herbst - $8,400
Jeb Burton - $8,300
Brandon Jones - $8,100
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Myatt Snider - $7,900
Austin Hill - $7,700
Alex Labbe - $7,300
Sage Karam - $5,800
MY PICKS THIS WEEK
Lower-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
Ty Gibbs - $10,500
Austin Cindric - $10,300
Daniel Hemric - $9,100
Alex Labbe - $7,300
Sage Karam - $6,800
Brandon Brown - $6,000
With two road course wins already this season, Gibbs is rapidly establishing himself as one of the best in the series on these types of tracks. He will make his 16th start of the season this week at Charlotte in the 12th position. Cindric is another of the top road-course drivers this year. He won at Indianapolis earlier this season and is the only driver already locked into the next playoff round. He can afford to simply race for the win this week. Starting third is Daniel Hemric. He has two top-10s and an average finish of 6.5 from two series starts at Charlotte. Road courses are places where Alex Labbe can outperform, too. He finished fourth in this race last season and has two top-10s from his three starts at the track. Part-time driver Sage Karam made his series debut on the Indianapolis road course earlier this year. He was forced to retire with an electrical issue but will get another chance this week. This will be his third series start. He finished 16th at Bristol despite starting 32nd. Last week's winner Brandon Brown rounds out the safer selections. He will start 16th this week and finished 17th in his first Charlotte ROVAL visit.
Higher-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
AJ Allmendinger - $10,700
Harrison Burton - $9,800
Justin Allgaier - $9,400
Brandon Jones - $8,100
Jeremy Clements - $7,100
Ryan Vargas - $4,900
Allmendinger enters this week's race having won the last two visits to the track. He also has road course wins this season in both the Xfinity and Cup Series, too. Allmendinger is one of the top road course racers in NASCAR and will start 14th this week, last among the championship contenders. Harrison Burton finished 13th at Charlotte in his track debut, and missed out on improving upon that last season with transmission issues. He will line up eighth this week and has five top-10s on road courses this season so far. Allgaier has a best ROVAL finish of fourth from 2019. He also has two top-fives on road courses this season. Brandon Jones will start this weekend's race sixth and scored his best finish at this track last season with a 10th-place run. Another driver hoping to advance his championship goals this week is Jeremy Clements. He enters the weekend last among the playoff contenders and faces a must-win situation. His average Charlotte finish from three starts is 15th, and his best was 11th in 2019. Finally, Ryan Vargas takes the last spot in the higher-risk lineup. He will start this race 27th and has one prior ROVAL start, which ended in a 17th-place finish.
