FanDuel NASCAR Driver Projections & Picks for Charlotte (Coca-Cola 600)

The NASCAR Cup Series continues on this weekend with the longest race of the season: the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Charlotte is a 1.5-mile “low-wear” race track that compares well the Las Vegas and Kansas, where we have already raced at in 2021. You can also throw in the Homestead and Atlanta races if you’d like, even though they’re “high-wear” tracks, but they are also 1.5-mile venues and used the 550hp intermediate package.

My algorithm predicted finishing order is a great tool to check out as well. Click here to look at that. And, as always, there’s a lot of crossover with these DFS articles, so be sure to click here and read my DraftKings write-up for Charlotte.

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Driver Loop Data Averages at Charlotte

Again, Charlotte Motor Speedway is a low-wear 1.5-mile track, and we’re running the 550hp package this weekend. Included below are three charts to take a look at: 550hp statistics from this year,, low-wear 1.5-mile track statistics from this year, and recent Charlotte statistics (over the last two years).

2021 Driver Averages Under 550hp Intermediate Package

2021 Driver Averages At Low-Wear 1.5-mile Tracks

2019-2020 Driver Averages At Charlotte

Driver-by-Driver Breakdown Video

Now for the video breakdown! Be sure to go here and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already.

Optimal Lineup According to Jordan’s Projections

The optimal FanDuel lineup for Charlotte according to my Projections is:

• Kyle Larson
• Kyle Busch
• Brad Keselowski
• Chris Buescher
• Ryan Preece

Confidence Rating = 6.6/10. I can’t say I’m loving this lineup for FanDuel. I think there are some better plays this weekend where you don’t have to try and stuff three studs into one lineup. Also, with FanDuel not awarding points for fastest laps, I’m not opposed to being underweight on Kyle Larson. Even with a significant amount of laps led assumed, my projections only him at 91.95 fantasy points. The top FanDuel lineup without Larson according to my projections is: Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher, and Ryan Newman.

FanDuel “Safe” DFS Picks for Charlotte (Cash Lineups)

Denny Hamlin ($12,500) – Most FanDuel players will shove in Kyle Busch ($13,500) into their lineup due to him starting back in 20th, but I’d rather save $1,000 in cap space and roll with Denny Hamlin. The #11 Toyota still has place differential upside (Hamlin qualified 14th) and they should both be top 5 contenders. I don’t give either Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin a significant edge in dominating potential this weekend, so I’ll definitely take the cheaper option here. Hamlin has six top 5s in his last nine Charlotte starts and has the 3rd-best average running position on the low-wear 1.5-mile tracks this season.

Chris Buescher ($6,500) – Yeah, I’m pretty much going all in on Chris Buescher this weekend, at least in terms of fantasy contests that award points for place differential. With the 550hp intermediate package this weekend, Buescher has an average running position of 13.5 and an average finish of 12.0, and here at Charlotte he has been a mid-teens finisher several times with a career average result of right around 18th. My projections love Chris Buescher this weekend all around.

FanDuel “Risky” DFS Picks for Charlotte (Tournament Lineups)

Tyler Reddick ($8,700) – This #8 team is really putting up some good finishes here lately, and looking back at Charlotte last season, Reddick came home 8th and 14th in the two races last season. Add in the fact that he had one of the faster cars on the long runs during practice this weekend and I’m really liking him as a DFS play overall, especially here on FanDuel. Reddick rolls off the grid from 15th here on Sunday night but has top 10 potential, if not maybe even top 5 potential depending on how the race plays out. He finished 7th at Kansas earlier this month.

Michael McDowell ($6,500) – Most FanDuel players are going to default to Chris Buescher ($6,500) at this price, and it makes sense with how that #17 team is running on intermediates this year. But if I had to make any case against Buescher on Sunday, it’d be this: they really fell off at Homestead once the lights went down. Michael McDowell and his #34 Ford, however, found speed once it got dark. Additionally, my algorithm likes McDowell more than usual this weekend, and with the 550hp package this season, he has an average finish of 13.8 and an average running position of 17.9. Definitely a pivot off of the Buescher chalk.

Charlotte Coca-Cola 600 FanDuel Driver Projections

The following chart takes into account the very basics: the starting position and the projected finish of each driver. The projected finishes are averaged from six different ranking systems. Also factored in are projected laps led for each driver. You can click the headers below to sort the chart by that attribute. By default it is sorted by average projected FPTS.