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.
FanDuel “Safe” DFS Picks for The Glen (Cash Lineups)
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)
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.
| Driver | FanDuel Salary | Avg Proj Pts | Starting Position | Ceiling Proj Pts | Dollar Per Pt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Elliott | $14,500 | 57.07 | 11 | 62.40 | $254 |
| Kyle Larson | $13,500 | 51.48 | 4 | 59.50 | $262 |
| Kyle Busch | $12,500 | 50.60 | 20 | 63.00 | $247 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | $13,000 | 49.12 | 9 | 57.80 | $265 |
| Denny Hamlin | $12,000 | 47.00 | 6 | 56.10 | $255 |
| Kurt Busch | $10,500 | 45.50 | 17 | 51.40 | $231 |
| William Byron | $10,800 | 43.25 | 15 | 53.20 | $250 |
| Joey Logano | $11,500 | 42.57 | 2 | 51.10 | $270 |
| Alex Bowman | $10,000 | 40.75 | 10 | 46.10 | $245 |
| Christopher Bell | $11,200 | 40.65 | 7 | 56.10 | $276 |
| Kevin Harvick | $9,000 | 39.25 | 5 | 43.80 | $229 |
| Ross Chastain | $8,500 | 38.25 | 12 | 48.80 | $222 |
| Tyler Reddick | $8,800 | 36.75 | 13 | 41.50 | $239 |
| Ryan Blaney | $10,300 | 36.45 | 3 | 44.50 | $283 |
| Chase Briscoe | $8,000 | 36.00 | 27 | 50.00 | $222 |
| Brad Keselowski | $9,500 | 35.65 | 1 | 46.10 | $266 |
| Chris Buescher | $6,800 | 35.50 | 24 | 41.00 | $192 |
| Erik Jones | $5,500 | 31.75 | 22 | 40.00 | $173 |
| Austin Dillon | $6,000 | 31.25 | 16 | 43.00 | $192 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | $8,300 | 31.00 | 14 | 34.50 | $268 |
| Michael McDowell | $7,300 | 30.00 | 25 | 38.50 | $243 |
| Daniel Suarez | $7,500 | 29.50 | 21 | 39.50 | $254 |
| Cole Custer | $6,500 | 29.50 | 19 | 37.00 | $220 |
| Ryan Newman | $4,500 | 26.50 | 28 | 34.00 | $170 |
| Bubba Wallace | $4,000 | 26.00 | 26 | 37.50 | $154 |
| Aric Almirola | $7,000 | 25.75 | 8 | 31.50 | $272 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | $5,000 | 25.75 | 18 | 35.00 | $194 |
| Corey LaJoie | $4,000 | 22.75 | 29 | 30.00 | $176 |
| Anthony Alfredo | $3,500 | 22.25 | 31 | 28.00 | $157 |
| Ryan Preece | $5,000 | 21.75 | 23 | 25.50 | $230 |
| James Davison | $2,500 | 21.50 | 36 | 30.50 | $116 |
| Justin Haley | $3,000 | 19.75 | 30 | 24.50 | $152 |
| RC Enerson | $2,000 | 17.90 | 37 | 23.50 | $112 |
| Kyle Tilley | $2,000 | 17.25 | 33 | 27.50 | $116 |
| Garrett Smithley | $2,000 | 16.40 | 32 | 25.50 | $122 |
| Quin Houff | $2,500 | 15.80 | 35 | 24.00 | $158 |
| Josh Bilicki | $2,000 | 14.80 | 34 | 17.50 | $135 |
