Overview

The Cup drivers will turn 400 laps totaling 300 miles in a race where dominator points will be at the forefront. On top of dominator points and the ever-common place differential points, this is a place where track position is key and thus performance from the pit crews on pit road will be imperative.

Strategy

This race has the most dominator points available to this point meaning that we’ll need to make a point to have multiple drivers in our lineups that will lead a good chunk of laps. Last year at the first race here Ryan Blaney (128), William Byron (122), Martin Truex, Jr (80), and Christopher Bell (63) led the chunk of the laps at Richmond with none of the four winning, that title went to Denny Hamlin. In the second race, Joey Logano (222) owned this race en route to a 6th place finish. The race at Richmond before that two drivers (Martin Truex, Jr, the eventual winner, and Denny Hamlin) led 80 or more laps. The race prior, the same two drivers led 107 or more laps with Truex leading the 107 and Hamlin leading a staggering 207 laps. There is a lot of clear-cut chalk in this race due to qualifying being cancelled making the P.D. plays very attractive, however, to win a tournament you’ll need dominators and drivers that finish well on top of someplace differential mixed in. I’ll have a minimum of two potential dominators in my lineups with the majority of my entries featuring three such drivers.

Most comparable tracks: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Phoenix Raceway

*Note: all pricing is DraftKings focused

Top Drivers

Joey Logano ($9,400), Starting 18th, Place Differential and Potential Dominator

Likely one of the more popular plays will be Logano starting at 18th and you can look no further than last year to see why he’s in play here. Logano In the August race here last year Logano led a staggering 222 laps while starting from the 17th position. He eventually ended up seventh with the lion-share of the dominator points. Logano has won twice at Richmond, three times at Phoenix, and twice at New Hampshire; all similar tracks. Love Joey on Sunday.

Alex Bowman ($9,200), Starting on the Pole, Potential Dominator

Bowman will be on the pole and has one career win at Richmond. This will be his best starting position here with his fourth place start in 2020 being his previous best. Bowman’s win here came in the first 2021 race when he started 24th and was able to make up a ton of ground at a track where that is not easy to do. I’ll be interested to see if starting upfront will proper him to early dominator points at a track where track position is so vital.

Christopher Bell ($10,300), Starting 21st, Place Differential

Bell has performed well at Richmond despite not having a win in five attempts. His sixth-place average finish is magnified by a second-place mark in last year’s August race. He started 21st in that race. In the race prior to that Bell started ninth, led 63 laps, and finished sixth. All in all, this type of track has suited the driver of the 20 car well, including a win at New Hampshire.

Martin Truex, Jr, ($9,900), Starting 12th, Potential Dominator

This is one of Truex’s best track as he’s posted three wins here and nine top-fives in 33 trips to Richmond. Truex has led 80 or more laps in nine of his last 12 races here with six top-three finishes over that span. At similar track Phoenix, Truex has a win and six top-five’s in his career.

Denny Hamlin ($10,100), Starting 11th, Potential Dominator

If Truex is very good here, his teammate Hamlin is great here. Hamlin has four wins and 17 top-five’s here in 32 races. Hamlin has led 148 or more laps here eight times and over 200 laps here five times (also led 181 once and 197 another time). The driver of the 11 car started 13th here last April and wound up winning despite not posting a dominant effort. There are many ways for Hamlin to be successful here as he’s shown throughout his career and I expect him to be right there in contention to win once again.

Aric Almirola ($7,600), Starting 32nd, Place Differential

The top place differential play I’ll be looking at is Almirola who rolls off 32nd and has always been solid at these types of tracks. His avaerage finishes of 14.9 at Richmond, 15.1 at Phoenix, and 18.7 at New Hampshire suggest that we’re in store for a solid floor performance from AA. Mixed into those three tracks are seven top-five finishes and a win at New Hampshire. A Mid-range p.d. play is what we should consider here with a good chance at a top-15 finish.

Other Dominator Plays:

William Byron ($11,000), Starting 3rd

Kyle Busch ($9,700), Starting 2nd

Kevin Harvick ($10,800)

Other Place Differential Plays:

Brad Keselowski ($8,300), Starting 24th

Josh Berry ($7,900), Starting 30th

Ryan Preece ($6,400), Starting 33rd

Austin Dillon ($7,200), Starting 27th

Ryan Blaney ($8,800), Starting 17th

GOOD LUCK!!