🏁 Bank of America 400 Cheat Sheet: Charlotte
NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs DFS · DraftKings & FanDuel
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mi oval)Date: Sun, October 11, 2026Laps: 267Pole: K. Larson (set by metric)
⚠ Rain wiped out qualifying, so the rulebook metric set the field. That puts Larson on the pole projecting a field-high 45 laps led, and it sends several fast cars to the middle of the pack, led by Christopher Bell from P17 and Denny Hamlin from P12. The heaviest chalk is Corey Heim, starting 37th with a board-high +18 place differential at 76 percent owned on DraftKings. The slate turns on whether you eat that chalk or pivot to the mid-pack stars and the leverage front-runners.
🏁 Dominators (laps led)
Kyle LarsonP1 · 45 LL · 46% own
Chase BriscoeP2 · 26 LL · 24% own
Tyler ReddickP3 · 19 LL · 19% own
Larson is the anchor: 45 projected laps led and 25 fastest laps from the pole, and the top projection on DraftKings. He is popular at 46 percent but still has the clearest path to the dominator points. Briscoe starts on the outside pole with 26 projected laps led at 24 percent. Reddick projects 19 laps led from P3 at 19 percent, the cheapest way into the front row.
📈 Leverage front-runners
Ryan BlaneyP4 · 15 LL · 13% own
Joey LoganoP7 · 10 LL · 8% own
Austin CindricP5 · 10 LL · 7% own
Where the tournament edge is. Blaney starts fourth with 15 projected laps led at just 13 percent owned. Logano projects 10 laps led from P7 at 8 percent. Cindric starts fifth with 10 projected laps led at 7 percent. All three have the track position to lead laps while the field is on Larson and Heim.
💰 Deep place-differential
Corey HeimP37 · +18 PD · 76% own
Ross ChastainP28 · +8 PD · 34% own
Connor ZilischP36 · +8 PD · 12% own
The climbers that fund the dominators. Heim is the chalk of the slate from P37 with a board-high place-differential at an $8,000 price, great points but no leverage with three quarters of the field on him. Chastain is a former Charlotte winner climbing from P28. Zilisch is the leverage climber, a similar place-differential profile from P36 at just 12 percent.
🏁 Mid-pack stars and value
Christopher BellP17 · +6 PD · 43% own
Denny HamlinP12 · 13 LL · 28% own
Josh BerryP27 · +7 PD · 4.67x
The metric start is a gift for these two. Bell has the second-best projection on the board from P17, with both laps-led and place-differential upside, and he finished second here in the spring. Hamlin starts 12th with 13 projected laps led and a top-five spring finish. Berry is the value play from P27 with a +7 place differential.
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