The Fantasy NASCAR season starts this week with the 68th running of the Daytona 500. The best places to play Fantasy NASCAR in 2026 are on the Driver Group Game, the Speedway Collective and FanTrax websites. I will once again be posting picks for these games. Some of your leagues require you to post your lineup before qualifying, so I will post my picks before qualifying each week and then update them after the field is set for the race.
Here are my picks for the Daytona 500….
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS FOR DAYTONA 500
GROUP A DRIVERS
(START) WILLIAM BYRON (9): Byron won the last two Daytona 500 races and he has the best average finishing position on the drafting tracks over the last two seasons. I know he is going to be the most popular pick in our leagues. That is a good thing. I am not worried about winning my league in the first race of the season. I am more concerned about being in a hole after the Daytona 500. If Byron crashes Sunday, it will not hurt us much if everyone else has him too. I am not worried about burning an allocation with Byron, because there is plenty of talent in Group A to get us through the season.
(BENCH) RYAN BLANEY (9): If you want to zig when everyone else zags in your league, Blaney is your driver. He likes to run up front, score Stage Points and he has been good at finishing up front too. Blaney dominated the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona last year. You cannot go wrong with Blaney or Byron in your lineup Sunday.
GROUP B DRIVERS
START: CHRIS BUESCHER (9): I need drivers who can avoid “The Big One” in my lineup Sunday and it is hard to find anyone as good (or as lucky) as Buescher. He has finished five of his last six races at Daytona in the top-10. That includes a win in 2023 and a 7th-place finish in the Daytona 500 last year. Buescher typically scores only 1 or 2 Stage Points, but his ability to finish up front makes him a good pick Sunday.
START: ALEX BOWMAN (9): I mapped out my allocations with Bowman and I had two left. I decided to use one of those two allocations Sunday…. Bowman finished 6th in the Daytona 500 last year, 2nd in 2024, and 5th in 2025. He is much better at Daytona in February than he is in August. Bowman has also averaged the 9th most Stage Points in the last three Daytona 500 races. Bowman should be your driver if you are not concerned with allocations this week.
(BENCH) KYLE BUSCH (9): When will Busch win his first Daytona 500? He has to win at least one in his career right? Busch finished 2nd in the Daytona 500 in 2024. He is really good at running up front and scoring Stage Points too. I trust Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman more, but Busch is a good driver to take a chance on if you are feeling lucky this week.
(BENCH) ERIK JONES (9): Jones is one of the more underrated Superspeedway racers in the Cup Series. Jones won the Coke Zero 400 before and he has been pretty good in the February race too. Jones finished 12th in the Daytona 500 last year and 8th in 2024. Jones will have “The Boss Man” in the race to help him Sunday. This might not sound that important, but Jimmie Johnson helped Legacy Motor Club finish 3rd (Jimmie Johnson), 5th (John H. Nemechek) and 12th (Erik Jones) last year. This is a good race to take a chance with Jones in your lineups if you really want to save your allocations with Chris Buescher or Alex Bowman.
GROUP C DRIVERS
(START) JOHN H. NEMECHCK (9): Nemechek is one of the safest picks in the field this week. He has competed in six races at Daytona in the Cup Series and he has finished on the lead lap every time. Nemecheck finished 5th in the Daytona 500 last year and 7th in 2024. The apple does not fall far from the tree in the Nemechek family. His father (Joe) was good on the Superspeedway tracks and so is JHN.
(BENCH) RICKY STENHOUSE JR. (9): Stenhouse is going to be a popular pick Sunday. He won the Daytona 500 2023 and he won at Talladega in 2024. There is no doubt that Stenhouse is one of the better Superspeedway racers in the Cup Series. He is just a little too much of a “boom or bust” pick for me. I will play it safe and use John H. Nemechek, but I have no problem signing off on Stenhouse in your lineups Sunday.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
SPEEDWAY COLLECTIVE PICKS
* The Speedway Collective game has four groups (Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D). You can look at the driver’s from the Driver Group Game if you want to know why I selected these drivers. Most of the races will have the same picks in the Speedway Collective game and the Driver Group Game. I will make my picks for this game based on 6 allocations for each driver.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
FANTRAX PICKS
* Each league in Fantrax is different. Some leagues have bench drivers and award qualifying points and others do not. The two leagues that I am playing in do not have bench drivers. Also, most leagues (including mine), do not require your lineup to be set until minutes before the race starts. My picks will change after practice and qualifying for most races. If you need bench drivers, you can use my picks from the Driver Group Game.
** If you need bench drivers for qualifying points, I would use Group A: RYAN BLANEY, Group B: AUSTIN CINDRIC, KYLE BUSCH, Group C: RICKY STENHOUSE JR.
* Be sure to check back Sunday morning for my starting lineup.
Good Luck Sunday!
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