NASCAR DFS Picks – Food City 500 Projections, Lineup & Strategy

• DraftKings is offering $100,000 to first place on a $20 entry for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway
• Ryan Blaney starts from pole and headlines a lineup built around dominator points and back-of-the-grid place differential
• Below, see our NASCAR DFS picks, projections, lineup, and strategy for the Food City 500

---

There’s a $20 entry contest with $100,000 to first on DraftKings for Bristol, and somehow this slate is competing with The Masters for attention.

Which means two things.

One, a large portion of the betting public is currently locked in on polite applause and leaderboard watching.

Two, there’s a very real chance this contest doesn’t fill while everyone is glued to Augusta. We call that an overlay in the biz.

That’s where we come in.

While the golf world is debating green speeds and back-nine pressure, we’ll be watching 37 cars rip around a half-mile concrete bowl where tempers don’t last long and neither do brake pads.

It’s loud, it’s chaotic, and it’s about as far from a gentleman’s sport as you can get.

But it does pay $100K.

Back in action at @ItsBristolBaby. pic.twitter.com/D4h9OPXPLh

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 7, 2026

Food City 500 Expert DFS Lineup and Projections

DraftKings salaries as of race week. Build your Food City 500 NASCAR DFS lineup at the top daily fantasy sports apps before the green flag drops at Bristol.

Food City 500 DFS Strategy: Driver Breakdown

Ryan Blaney ($10,700) – Starting 1st

Let’s not overthink this.

Blaney is on the pole and may not be caught until they’re unloading haulers in Kansas. His long-run practice data was borderline offensive. We ran it through the model, checked it again, then briefly considered whether the spreadsheet had developed sentience.

Even if NASCAR throws a late caution because they simply cannot help themselves, Blaney should have already vacuumed up so many laps led and fast laps that it won’t matter.

He’s your primary dominator. Full stop.

With a fourth-place qualifying effort, @rileyherbst earns his career best Cup Series start. pic.twitter.com/ZUb8HBqles

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 11, 2026

William Byron ($10,000) – Starting 34th

Ah yes, the “please don’t go a lap down immediately” play.

Byron starting 34th is the kind of DFS gift that usually comes with fine print. But this isn’t some back marker…this is a Hendrick rocket ship buried in traffic.

Yes, there’s risk at Bristol. If he gets trapped early, it just might be curtains. But if he survives the opening chaos, the position-differential ceiling is massive, and that’s how you break a slate.

We’re betting on talent over traffic. Pray accordingly.

Ryan Preece ($7,500) – Starting 17th

Short track guy. Grinder. Professional nuisance.

Preece tends to show up at places where tire wear and driver input actually matter. Bristol isn’t exactly his bread-and-butter flat track, but the skillset translates.

He’s your mid-range stability play who won’t kill you…which, at Bristol, is a glowing endorsement.

Bubba Wallace ($7,300) – Starting 12th

Bubba Wallace experience:

Step 1: Show legitimate speed.
Step 2: Make you believe.
Step 3: Do something that makes you question how we ended up here.

That said, the 23XI cars have real speed this year. Wallace had a top-10 practice session, and both models have him flirting with the top 10.

If he keeps the fenders on it, this is a smash value.

If not…well…you knew what you signed up for.

Josh Berry ($7,100) – Starting 25th

Short track ace. Period.

Berry is one of those guys who just understands how to get around places like this. He’s not flashy, but he’s efficient, and at Bristol that matters more than whatever highlight reel nonsense is happening up front.

He’s here for position differential and sneaky top-15 upside.

Alex Bowman ($7,000) – Starting 27th

Bowman is back after dealing with vertigo, which is…not ideal when your job involves flying into corners at Bristol.

But here’s the thing. The model loves him. Like, uncomfortably loves him.

Concrete tracks like Bristol and Dover? That’s his lane. The car should be fast, the starting spot gives him place-differential upside, and ownership should be low because people are understandably nervous.

Let’s run it back:

Fast car
Position differential upside
Track history
Low ownership

“Fo. Fo. Fo.”

If that joke missed, so be it. Bowman won’t.

Final Thoughts on Food City 500 DFS Strategy

At some point Sunday afternoon, this race is going to unravel.

It always does.

A mistimed lap down, a guy running out of patience, a restart that turns into a parking lot…something flips, and suddenly the entire slate is hanging by a thread.

That’s Bristol, baby.

So our goal isn’t perfection, it’s survival with upside.

Blaney controls the front. Byron claws forward. The middle holds steady. And Bowman…just quietly reminds everyone he’s really good at this place.

If that happens, we’re not just live.

We’re dangerous.

Now, let’s go see if anyone bothered to enter this contest while they were watching golf.

Want to bet the Food City 500 outright? Head to the best betting sites for the latest NASCAR odds and futures.