This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
USA TODAY 301
Location: Loudon, N.H.
Course: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Format: 1.06-mile oval
Laps: 301
NASCAR USA TODAY 301 Race Preview
Defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney finally secured his first victory of the 2024 campaign in the series debut at Iowa Speedway. The Team Penske driver started on the front row and was one of the fastest cars all afternoon as a two-tire stop on his final trip to pit road sealed the deal. The win assures him of a spot in the playoffs and leaves six more of those positions to be filled by first time season winners. With nine races remaining in the regular season, the rush to secure those spots will only heat up. The next stop on that journey comes this week with the annual visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Martin Truex Jr. dominated the race there last season, leading 254 of 301 laps. It will be the 53rd series race at the track, and Chevrolet are hunting their first win there since 2016.
Key Stats at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
- Number of races: 52
- Winners from pole: 6
- Winners from top-5 starters: 16
- Winners from top-10 starters: 28
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 10
- Fastest race: 117.134 mph
Previous 10 New Hampshire Winners
2023 - Martin Truex Jr.
2022 - Christopher Bell
2021 - Aric Almirola
2020 - Brad Keselowski
2019 - Kevin Harvick
2018 - Kevin Harvick
2017 fall - Kyle Busch
2017 spring - Denny Hamlin
2016 fall - Kevin Harvick
2016 spring - Matt Kenseth
New Hampshire Motor Speedway features long straights and relatively shallow progressive banking in the turns. The progressive banking offers drivers some room to change grooves, and this week that will be a necessity with the softer tire Goodyear is bringing to the circuit. The compound is designed to hold more heat to produce greater wear. Drivers will have to manage their tires accordingly and having the wrong setup can make that job infinitely more difficult. New Hampshire's straightaways require heavy braking into the tight turns, and that also puts strain on equipment. While most New Hampshire winners have started inside the top 10, the track does have a tendency to produce winners from deeper in the field. Those wins tend to come from late cautions or weather disruptions, though. The chance of rain this weekend could bring those factors into play, too.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the USA TODAY 301 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Christopher Bell - $11,000
Denny Hamlin - $10,800
Martin Truex Jr. - $10,500
Kyle Larson - $10,000
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Joey Logano - $9,800
William Byron - $9,500
Chase Elliott - $9,200
Brad Keselowski - $9,000
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Tyler Reddick - $8,800
Ty Gibbs - $8,700
Ross Chastain - $8,500
Alex Bowman - $8,200
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Bubba Wallace - $7,500
Noah Gragson - $7,300
Michael McDowell - $6,700
Carson Hocevar - $6,300
NASCAR DFS Picks for the USA TODAY 301
Lower-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
Denny Hamlin - $10,800
Chase Elliott - $9,800
Tyler Reddick - $8,800
Bubba Wallace - $7,500
Noah Gragson - $7,300
Carson Hocevar - $6,300
The past few races have not been Denny Hamlin's (DK $10,800, FD $13,000) best of the season, but he remains a stout competitor. After a two-race run of finishes outside of the top 20, he will be driving hard to get back to the front. New Hampshire is a place he can do that, too. In 30 New Hampshire starts, he won three times and hasn't finished outside of the top 15 in the past 12 races. Chase Elliott (DK $9,800, FD $10,500) has been finishing well every week. He is the current points leader and hasn't finished outside of the top 15 since March. Elliott has never won at New Hampshire, but he finished second in 2022 and was 12th last season. His current trajectory suggests another potential top-10 outing for him this week. Another top-10 contender might be Tyler Reddick (DK $8,800, FD $9,000). He is driving a Toyota, which tends to perform well at this track, and has two top-10s from four New Hampshire starts. Reddick also finished 10th at Phoenix and Richmond this year, two tracks which are similar to New Hampshire. Like Reddick, teammate Bubba Wallace (DK $7,500, FD $7,800) could outperform at New Hampshire. He enters the race 16th in points and in the final playoff position with a six-point margin over Joey Logano. At New Hampshire, the 23XI Racing driver has exceeded expectations since the introduction of the new car in 2022. With the old car, his best New Hampshire finish was 22nd. In 2022 with the new car, he finished third. Wallace then backed up that top-five with an eighth-place New Hampshire finish in 2023. Those are great statistics considering Wallace's price point this weekend.
Relative newcomers Noah Gragson (DK $7,300, FD $7,000) and Carson Hocevar (DK $6,300, FD $5,500) finish the lower-risk lineup for New Hampshire. The pair have just one series start at the track between them, but they have combined for seven top-10 finishes so far this season. They sit 23rd and 24th in points and both finished well inside the top 20 last week at Iowa. When looking at how they did at Phoenix earlier this season, fantasy players will see they both finished inside the top 15 there, too. New Hampshire is a track that is similar to the ones these two have excelled on this season, which should make them fine choices for standard fantasy formats this week.
Higher-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
Christopher Bell - $11,000
Brad Keselowski - $9,000
Ross Chastain - $8,500
Kyle Busch - $7,700
Chase Briscoe - $7,200
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. - $6,000
Christopher Bell (DK $11,000, FD $13,500) should justly be considered a favorite to win this week. He hasn't finished lower than ninth since winning at Charlotte and is also a former New Hampshire winner in both Cup and Xfinity. He started on pole in this race last season, too. Brad Keselowski (DK $9,000, FD $10,000) also has the potential to outperform other choices this week. He is a two-time New Hampshire winner who hasn't finished outside of the top 10 there in the last five races. His finishes in the new generation of car were seventh and fifth at New Hampshire, and he hasn't finished lower than 13th since the All-Star weekend. That momentum combined with his New Hampshire record makes him one for fantasy players to keep in mind. Ross Chastain (DK $8,500, FD $8,500) may be worth a look as well. He has been more competitive in recent weeks and he has two prior top-10 finishes from his five New Hampshire starts. He hasn't finished lower than 12th in the last four races leading up to this weekend, and he brings a pair of eighth-place New Hampshire finishes from his last three starts. Chastain is starting to turn up the intensity and fantasy players may want to take advantage of that step forward.
The risks of choosing Kyle Busch (DK $7,700, FD $7,500) are well known. Contact has taken him out of two of the last three races and a mechanical failure was his issue last week. He is 31 points out of the playoff positions without a win and needs to turn things around this week. However, Busch is a three-time winner at New Hampshire and half of his 32 finishes at the track have resulted in top-10s. Contact is a big risk, though. Busch crashed out of three of the last four New Hampshire races and finished 12th in the other. Chase Briscoe (DK $7,200, FD $6,800) makes the list, too. He has one top-10 finish from three New Hampshire tries and that 10th-place finish came just last season. He is 44 points out of the playoff positions and is getting close to needing a win to be part of the championship battle, but more stage points and another top finish this weekend could help close the gap. Finally, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (DK $6,000, FD $4,500) grabbed one of his best results of the year last week. He drove to his second top-five after using his Iowa experience to make up ground in the final stage. Is that a turnaround? He has struggled much of the season, but there may be reason for optimism. He has two top-10s at New Hampshire and finished 18th there last season.
