This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
NOCO 400
Location: Martinsville, Va.
Course: Martinsville Speedway
Format: 0.53-mile oval
Laps: 400
Race Preview
Martinsville Speedway at the NOCO 400 will bring a three-race stretch of short-track visits for the NASCAR Cup Series to a close this weekend. Christopher Bell enters the weekend as the most recent winner this season as well as the most recent winner at Martinsville. He scored the victory last fall to earn the right to race for the series championship at Phoenix and will be aiming to go back to back this week. His win last week at Bristol means there have now been seven different winners in the first eight races of the 2023 season and William Byron remains the only driver with multiple victories. Byron is also the defending winner of this week's event. However, it is Bell that leads the championship standings with 281 points. Winless Ross Chastain holds down the second spot in the standings with 268 points. To add even more intrigue to the championship picture, Kevin Harvick sits third in points and joins Chastain as two of the top three drivers in points to still not have a 2023 win in the bag. A win this week could help to secure playoff aspirations, but it would also offer some relief as teams turn their attention to Talladega's unpredictable high banks in another week's time.
Key Stats at Martinsville Speedway
- Number of races: 148
- Winners from pole: 21
- Winners from top-5 starters: 76
- Winners from top-10 starters: 107
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 7
- Fastest race: 82.223 mph
Previous 10 Martinsville Winners
2022 fall - Christopher Bell
2022 spring - William Byron
2021 fall - Alex Bowman
2021 spring - Martin Truex Jr.
2020 fall - Chase Elliott
2020 spring - Martin Truex Jr.
2019 fall - Martin Truex Jr.
2019 spring - Brad Keselowski
2018 fall - Joey Logano
2018 spring - Clint Bowyer
The third stop on the current short-track jaunt is Martinsville Speedway, a historic, flat half-mile oval with tight turns and fast straights. A total of 57 different drivers have won in the track's 148 appearances on the schedule with the first race being held all the way back in 1949. Martinsville's paperclip shaped configuration helps distinguish it from other short tracks, and that shape encourages the type of aggressive racing that fans and drivers both enjoy. Martinsville is very much a single-groove racetrack, and drivers caught on the outside line often find themselves shuffled backward before they can find a gap wide enough between cars to move back to the preferred inside line. Tire grip, efficient braking, and throttle control enable drivers to stick their car to the bottom of the turns, and taking care of equipment throughout fuel runs is critical to keeping them there. Track position and the choose rule on restarts can make or break a driver's day. Teams will plan their pit strategies around the stage breaks, but cautions could open the door for teams to gamble on gaining track position with two-tire or fuel-only stops. Late restarts often jumble the expected finishing order and that is just one more variable that teams will have to anticipate.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the NOCO 400 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
William Byron - $10,800
Kyle Larson - $10,600
Christopher Bell - $10,500
Martin Truex Jr. - $10,300
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Joey Logano - $9,900
Kyle Busch - $9,700
Ryan Blaney- $9,500
Tyler Reddick - $9,100
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Ross Chastain - $8,800
Chase Briscoe - $8,600
Kevin Harvick - $8,400
Alex Bowman - $8,200
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Brad Keselowski - $7,700
Ty Gibbs - $6,900
Erik Jones - $6,500
Todd Gilliland - $5,500
NASCAR DFS Picks for the NOCO 400
Lower-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
William Byron - $10,800
Ross Chastain - $8,800
Chase Briscoe - $8,600
Kevin Harvick - $8,400
Ty Gibbs - $6,900
Erik Jones - $6,500
Defending race winner William Byron (DK $10,800, FD $14,000) has a lot going for him this week. He is driving at his highest level since joining the series and led laps in four of the last six races. Two of those times he led more than 100 laps, too. With four Martinsville finishes of seventh or better in his last four visits he is rightfully a favorite this week. Ross Chastain (DK $8,800, FD $10,000) will forever be on Martinsville's highlight reels following his banzai move last fall to earn a spot in the championship finale. He can't do that again to salvage a top finish, but he learned from it and has been running at the front all season so far. He finished fifth and fourth in last year's races at the track and should be a confident top-10 selection this week, too. Fantasy players may also want to take advantage of Chase Briscoe's (DK $8,600, FD $7,800) building momentum. He scored his first two top-10s of the season in the last five races and hasn't finished lower than 15th in the last three. He tends to outperform on short tracks, too. Ninth-place finishes in last year's Martinsville races add to the attraction.
Fantasy players looking for consistency in a driver shouldn't look further than Kevin Harvick (DK $8,400, FD $9,000). The veteran is solidly in the playoff positions with five top-10s and three top-fives, and he has two top-10s from the two short track races run already. He won at Martinsville in 2011 and should be a top-10 contender there again this week. Another driver racking up the top finishes is rookie Ty Gibbs (DK $6,900, FD $5,500). Gibbs enters this weekend on streak of four straight top-10s and appears to be finding his footing in the series. He won the Xfinity Series race at Martinsville last October, but that victory came at the expense of his teammate. A repeat of that scenario shouldn't be expected this week as he continues to climb the Cup learning curve, though. Erik Jones (DK $6,500, FD $4,800) rounds off the lower-risk options with a top-20 finish pedigree at the track. Jones only has one finish outside of the top 20 at Martinsville in his last seven starts and finished 13th and 18th in last season's races.
Higher-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
Denny Hamlin - $10,100
Chase Elliott - $9,300
Tyler Reddick - $9,100
Alex Bowman - $8,200
Brad Keselowski - $7,700
Todd Gilliland - $5,500
Denny Hamlin (DK $10,100, FD $12,500) still seeks his first 2023 victory, and this week's trip to Martinsville could be the place he gets it done. He is a five-time winner at the track and led 203 laps last fall before finishing fifth. That was the race he was eliminated from the 2022 playoffs, but perhaps this week's race is the one that will secure his playoff return with a win. Another driver looking to make a big return is Chase Elliott (DK $9,300, FD $11,800). The former champion has been sidelined since February with a broken tibia, but will return to the cockpit this week. He admitted this week will be a tough one for him, which could be too much risk for some fantasy players to accept. However, Elliott finished 10th in both Martinsville races last season and led more than 50 laps in three of his last four races there.
Another calculated gamble this week would be Tyler Reddick (DK $9,100, FD $8,200). Reddick has been quick this season, but Martinsville hasn't been the best track for him. He has just one top-10 from his six starts there, but his four top-five finishes in the last five weeks makes him tough to sleep on this week. A quieter option this week would be Alex Bowman (DK $8,200, FD $9,500). He has been delivering frequent top-10 finishes in 2023, but hasn't hit the heights of teammates Byron and Larson yet. Bowman won the fall Martinsville race in 2022 and finished 12th last spring. His DraftKings price appears to be a great value this week given his top-10 potential. Fantasy players should also give Brad Keselowski (DK $7,700, FD $8,500) a good look. He had a rough outing on the dirt last week, but has many other bright spots so far this season. He is a two-time Martinsville winner with 17 top-10s from 26 races at the track. He should be able to add to that total this week. Todd Gilliland (DK $5,500, FD $3,000) finishes this week's picks by virtue of his 13th-place Martinsville finish last fall, which was his second series start there. The Front Row Motorsports driver already has two top-10 finishes this season and comes to this week's race with a full head of steam after four consecutive top-15 finishes.
