Overview

The Circuit of the Americas or COTA is a 3.426-mile Formula 1 road course that features 20 turns. The drivers will turn just 68 laps translating to 231.88 miles making dominator points more important than the Truck and XFINITY races but still not something we should run to seek out, specifically the “laps led” metric.

Strategy

Place differential and finishing position. These two factors are paramount in this race, especially with some of the surprising qualifying positions for Sunday. This track is huge with plenty of room to move around so expecting the big wreck or two that we’ve seen to this point isn’t a sound strategy.

Most comparable tracks: Watkins Glen International, Sonoma Raceway, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Daytona Road Course, Charlotte ROVAL

*Note: all pricing is DraftKings focused

Top Drivers

Kyle Larson ($10,400), Starting 13th

Larson is one of the better road course racers on the slate and he’ll get some place differential available starting 13th. In 27 career starts on a road course Larson has four wins, eight top-five, and 11 top-10’s. In his first trip to COTA he finished third and last season, only because of a wreck he finished 35th. With one of the best road course racers out (Chase Elliott) there’s a path to a good run for Larson here.

Ryan Blaney ($9,100), Starting 38th

Blaney should be the highest owned driver on Sunday starting way back at 38th, so if you’re looking for  snaeky play in a big tournament lineup, Blaney is not your guy. He should, however be locked in for cash due to the incredibly high floor. In 25 road course races Blaney has 12 top-10’s, five top-fives, a win, and an average finish of 13.8. He has a second place finish at COTA in 2021 and despite having a poor qualifying effort, he’ll be in line for a good day.

Martin Truex, Jr. ($8,200), Starting 25th

Truex is another high floor option on Sunday starting back at 25th with a ton of road course history to work with. In 45 road course races he has 21 21 top-10’s, 13 top-fives, and four wins. In those 45 races he has an average finish of 14th so there’s room to gain for MTJ as far as place differential goes.

Tyler Reddick ($9,900), Starting 2nd

When looking for a potential winner and dominator Reddick is a great road course driver starting at the front of the field. Reddick has nine top-10’s in 15 road course races including winning at COTA last year. Reddick’s aggressive driving style lends itself perfectly to this environment and don’t be shocked if he goes back to back and crosses the finish line first.

Also Consider:

AJ Allmendinger ($9,700), Starting 7th

Denny Hamlin ($8,500), Starting 21st

Chase Briscoe ($8,300), Starting 19th

Brad Keselowski ($7,900), Starting 30th

Chris Buescher ($7,700), Starting 32nd

Aric Almirola ($5,800), Starting 39th

GOOD LUCK!!