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Watkins Glen kicks off the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series season as we have the Go Bowling at The Glen scheduled for Sunday afternoon. There will only be 90 laps in this race for a total of 220.5 miles, so one minor mistake could completely derail a driver’s day on Sunday. Chase Elliott has been absolutely dominant at road courses over the past couple of years and he’s also won the last two races here at Watkins Glen. Can he make it three in a row? We’ll find out soon enough! The Penske cars of Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney will start 1-2-3 on Sunday with Kyle Larson starting up in 4th.

It should surprise nobody that the Fantasy Racing Online algorithm predicts that Chase Elliott is going to win on Sunday with Kyle Larson being in the mix as well. You can click here to see full predicted finishing order for the Go Bowling at The Glen. Now let’s get to the FanDuel projections!

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Optimal Lineup According to Jordan’s Projections

The optimal FanDuel lineup for Watkins Glen according to my Projections is:

  • Chase Elliott
  • Kyle Busch
  • Kurt Busch
  • Chris Buescher
  • Erik Jones

Confidence Rating = 7.5/10. This is a strong lineup to work with, in my opinion. Chase Elliott and the Busch Brothers are all very strong on road courses, and Chase should be one of the few with a chance to lead the most laps on Sunday. My only concern is whether Kyle Larson can be the main dominator. For what it’s worth, the top lineup with Larson in it according to my projections is: Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon, and Erik Jones.

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FanDuel “Safe” DFS Picks for The Glen (Cash Lineups)

Chase Elliott racing Anthony Alfredo at Pocono 2021
Photo Credit: James Gilbert/Getty Images

Chase Elliott ($14,500) – The guy is just unstoppable at road courses. There’s obviously a strategy play opening this weekend to going underweight on Chase Elliott in tournaments, but in cash games on FanDuel, he’s a must play on Sunday. Not only has Chase won the last two Watkins Glen races (in dominating fashion) but he’s also finished 1st or 2nd in seven of the last eight road course races overall. It’s borderline ridiculous at this point and there’s no reason to bet against the defending Cup Series champion this weekend at what might be his best road course track.

Kurt Busch ($10,500) – Both of the Busch Brothers are strong FanDuel plays this weekend, and with FanDuel, you have to love the price point of just $10,500 for Kurt Busch on Sunday. He’s starting back in 17th, so there’s pretty solid place differential potential there, and the #1 Chevrolet has came home 6th or better in three of the four road course races in 2021. Additionally, in 25 of his 46 career Cup Series starts at this track type, Kurt has finished inside the top 10 (with 14 of those being top 5s as well). Finally, Busch hasn’t finished worse than 11th in his last seven Watkins Glen starts. He has top 5 upside this weekend according to the algorithm, and that’s why I bet him to finish there as well.

FanDuel “Risky” DFS Picks for The Glen (Tournament Lineups)

Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Kyle Larson ($13,500) – Kyle Larson’s DFS value on Sunday is going to depend a lot on how the beginning of this race plays out. He’s got three Penske cars starting in front of and/or beside him to start out the Go Bowling at The Glen, but if Larson can get ahead of those guys in the opening laps, we could see another dominating afternoon by the #5 Chevrolet. If Larson doesn’t have the strongest car to start out the race on Sunday, though, it’s going to really hurt his potential in FanDuel, because he needs those laps led with his $13,500 salary (and it won’t take his teammate, Chase Elliott, too long to get to the front). Larson is a great tournament play in both FanDuel and DraftKings on Sunday.

Ross Chastain ($8,500) – My projections actually like Ross Chastain quite a bit for Sunday’s race at The Glen, but I still think a lot of FanDuel players will go a different route due to Chastain’s $8,500 salary. That price will be well worth it, though, if this #1 team has a similar race to what we’ve seen from them at the road courses this year. After finishing 4th in that rainy COTA race in May, Chastain went to Sonoma and finished 7th, and then did the same thing at Road America last month. Top 10 and possible top 5 potential makes Chastain a strong tournament option in FanDuel for Watkins Glen. When it comes to average running position on road courses this year, Ross is the 10th-best in the series.

FanDuel Driver Projections for the Go Bowling at The Glen

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.

DriverFanDuel SalaryAvg Proj PtsStarting PositionCeiling Proj PtsDollar Per Pt
Chase Elliott$14,50057.071162.40$254
Kyle Larson$13,50051.48459.50$262
Kyle Busch$12,50050.602063.00$247
Martin Truex Jr.$13,00049.12957.80$265
Denny Hamlin$12,00047.00656.10$255
Kurt Busch$10,50045.501751.40$231
William Byron$10,80043.251553.20$250
Joey Logano$11,50042.57251.10$270
Alex Bowman$10,00040.751046.10$245
Christopher Bell$11,20040.65756.10$276
Kevin Harvick$9,00039.25543.80$229
Ross Chastain$8,50038.251248.80$222
Tyler Reddick$8,80036.751341.50$239
Ryan Blaney$10,30036.45344.50$283
Chase Briscoe$8,00036.002750.00$222
Brad Keselowski$9,50035.65146.10$266
Chris Buescher$6,80035.502441.00$192
Erik Jones$5,50031.752240.00$173
Austin Dillon$6,00031.251643.00$192
Matt DiBenedetto$8,30031.001434.50$268
Michael McDowell$7,30030.002538.50$243
Daniel Suarez$7,50029.502139.50$254
Cole Custer$6,50029.501937.00$220
Ryan Newman$4,50026.502834.00$170
Bubba Wallace$4,00026.002637.50$154
Aric Almirola$7,00025.75831.50$272
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.$5,00025.751835.00$194
Corey LaJoie$4,00022.752930.00$176
Anthony Alfredo$3,50022.253128.00$157
Ryan Preece$5,00021.752325.50$230
James Davison$2,50021.503630.50$116
Justin Haley$3,00019.753024.50$152
RC Enerson$2,00017.903723.50$112
Kyle Tilley$2,00017.253327.50$116
Garrett Smithley$2,00016.403225.50$122
Quin Houff$2,50015.803524.00$158
Josh Bilicki$2,00014.803417.50$135
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As someone who has always been obsessed with numbers, Fantasy NASCAR has been the perfect fit with me. I pride myself on the quality of my analysis for each race, and am glad that I have been able to help others along the way. I've been a serious Fantasy NASCAR player for over 10 years now, and I'm just getting started.