2 years agoChristopher Bell will be starting inside the top five and will start in fourth place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. In a matter of weeks, Bell went from a fringe playoff driver to firmly in the playoffs after he had had two excellent races back-to-back. A win at New Hampshire and a top-five finish at Pocono moved Bell from 16th in the standings to seventh place in two weeks. Bell has stats of one win, six top-fives and 12 top-10 finishes this year. Bell is one of the hottest drivers in NASCAR as he looks to make a deep run into the playoffs. Bell should be worth a look on Sunday.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoChase Briscoe will be starting inside the top five as he starts in third place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Once again, Briscoe has shown that he is fantastic at road courses, and had another strong showing in qualifications. He is looking for his second win of the season and is showing the NASCAR world that he can win multiple races; his win was not a fluke. Even a top-five finish would be a good showing as he looks to move up in the standings. Briscoe has stats of one win, three top-fives and four top-10 finishes this year, which puts him in 13th place in the standings. Briscoe should be worth a look.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoAustin Cindric will be looking for his second win of the season as he starts on the front row in second place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. Luckily for Cindric, this is a road course, not the normal Brickyard 400. Cindric does shine on road courses, as he finished inside the top 10 at each road course this season. With stats of one win, three top-fives, and six top-10 finishes this year, it's been good enough to put Cindric in 12th place in the standings. Cindric will likely take another top-10 finish, but we all know he will be searching for the win on Sunday. Cindric should be worth a look.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoTyler Reddick completely dominated qualifying and will start on the pole on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Reddick was significantly faster then the field and said he could have been even faster. This could very well be the race that shows us that Reddick is the real deal and can make a run into the postseason. Reddick has stats of one win, six top-fives and eight top-10 finishes this year, which puts him in 11th place in the standings. However, the Indianapolis road course has only been run once by Reddick last season. Reddick finished in 21st place but got two stage wins, which shows he can lead at this track. Reddick should be worth a look in fantasy.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR

2 years agoThis may seem foolhardy, at best, but Erik Jones is at least worth a look at Indianapolis. No one knows how Martin Truex Jr. and some of the other Toyotas will perform on Sunday. The No. 43 driver from Petty GMS Motorsports just re-upped with the team for a couple more seasons. With his racing future all secure, Jones can work on improving from 35th (where he qualified). Again, place differential should help his standing for DFS and on prop sites as well.--Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoKyle Larson starting just 22nd turned a few heads during qualifying on Saturday but do not panic. Look at who is around him. A.J. Allmendinger who won last year is 20th and Ross Chastain is 21st (COTA winner). Other than Chase Elliott, Larson is the only driver to win multiple times on road courses the past three seasons (three times). That includes a half-dozen top-five results and eight top-ten finishes. Larson led the most laps last year which accounted for nearly 30% of the entire race at Indianapolis. That will be less likely this year but expect Larson to contend and lead some laps as well. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoRoss Chastain, like Daniel Suarez, has a fast road racing car for Indianapolis on Sunday. The TrackHouse Racing driver has already won a road race this year at COTA. Chastain was running pretty well last year after starting ninth. He just had some bad luck later in the race which sealed his fate. Again, he is one of just three drivers who has gone three for three when it comes to top ten results in 2022 (1st, 4th, and 7th). That means a good deal with the Next-Gen car. While others search for road racing consistency, TrackHouse racing drivers have a leg up there. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoA.J. Allmendinger had a wild ride at Indianapolis last year en route to a glorious victory. The Kaulig Racing driver begins 20th on Sunday but should be able to move upward track position wise pretty quickly. After all, in seven laps last year, Allmendinger moved up from seventh to first and did win. He can win any road race at any time. Also, the No. 16 Chevy driver has one of the best pass differentials on road courses. There is a lot to like including place differential for DFS purposes. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoKevin Harvick is at a track he did not like all that much in Indianapolis. To be fair, quite a few drivers prepare the Indy race to be an oval like it was once before (Brickyard 400). That being said, Harvick is running out of time. He qualified 17th on Sunday for the race but likely needs a win to get in the playoffs. Those opportunities are few as August approaches. Harvick stands 17th in the points chase when factoring in wins as part of The Chase metric. It also does not help that the Stewart-Haas racing car has three DNF's this year either. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoChris Buescher and his Ford have pretty good racing history the past three seasons. That includes an average finish of 12.7 with three top-five results and four top ten's. The RFK Racing driver begins 16th on Sunday which is four positions behind Brad Keselowski, his teammate. Kind of like Austin Cindric, Buescher's road racing results kind of sneak up on pundits even. He starts from a reasonable position (16th) on Sunday to do well at Indianapolis once again. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoDenny Hamlin qualified third best among Joe Gibbs Racing drivers for The Brickyard. Christopher Bell starts fourth and Kyle Busch is tenth. Those two has slightly better road resumes lately when compared to the No. 11 driver. The last three seasons have seen Hamlin with a 11.5 average finish on courses with left and right turns. That includes seven top-five results despite no victories. Last year offers some hope as Hamlin began 14th and led 27 laps before getting spun out late. He was in a position to win and could be again this time around. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoAric Almirola and his Ford may have some problems at Indianapolis. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has a stronger car than last year but will it last on Sunday? That is a bit of an unknown. He begins 14th with several big names right behind. This could be a good thing for Almirola. He will race with a good deal of pressure. However, as the race goes on, late lap speeds could be an issue especially in the final two sectors where Almirola even lost some tenths in qualifying. That is why even DFS aspirations are not that high for the No. 10 car. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoBrad Keselowski begins Sunday's race at The Brickyard from the 12th position. Now, the RFK Racing driver has not had a very good year and Keselowski has less than stellar road course history. Last year at Indianapolis was more of the same. Keselowski managed to lead a couple of laps but finished 24th (started 31st). It is hard to see him maintain position with the likes of Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, and others breathing down his neck early. Even for DFS purposes, there are better options that are more cost effective. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoDaniel Suarez begins the Verizon 200 at The Brickyard from the inside of Row 6. The 11th place start was not that much of a surprise for the TrackHouse Racing driver. It is a team that will enjoy better speed and performance as the laps start ticking off. Suarez has been running in the top ten the past few road races. Also, he qualified fifth at Indianapolis last year and was a victim of an early accident. Again, the expectation is that there should be less issues with the track this time around. Combine this with a win at Sonoma and a fifth at Road America and one can easily see why Suarez could contend at Indianapolis too. --Chris Wassel - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com

2 years agoTy Gibbs will be making his first career Cup Series start, starting in 10th place at Pocono Raceway on Sunday. Kurt Busch qualified and was supposed to start until he crashed in practice and suffered a concussion, which is why Gibbs is filling in. Gibbs has been a star in the Xfinity Series and has stats of four wins, eight top-fives and 11 top-10 finishes, making Gibbs the points leader. Gibbs will drive full-time in the Cup Series in a few years, but this is a massive step in the right direction. Gibbs raced on Saturday and finished in second place after a fantastic finish with Noah Gragson. Gibbs should not be worth a look in fantasy, though, in his first start.--Maison MaerzSource: NASCAR