NASCAR DFS Picks – Dollar Tree 301 at New Hampshire (August 23, 2026) DraftKings & FanDuel

NASCAR Cup Series · DFS Picks

Dollar Tree 301 DFS Picks: New Hampshire DraftKings and FanDuel

The flat Magic Mile rewards track position and laps led, but the best value starts deep. Here is how to build it on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Track: New Hampshire (1.058 mi)Race: 301 lapsGreen: Sun, Aug 23, 2:00 PM ET, USAPole: Tyler Reddick

The Cup Series visits the Magic Mile for the penultimate race of the regular season. New Hampshire is a flat, low-banked one-mile oval, just two to seven degrees of banking in the turns, so track position is at a premium and long green-flag runs reward tire management and raw speed. One note before you build: the start time was moved up an hour to beat incoming weather, so a shortened race is on the table, which only makes starting up front more valuable.

The structure: this is a dual-lever slate. Laps led matters on a 301-lap flat mile, and several dominators start up front. But a group of elite cars, led by Chase Elliott, qualified deep enough to offer real place-differential. The winning build pairs a laps-led base with the deep climbers.

The all-around anchor

TOP PLAY

Joey LoganoDK $10,500 · FD $12,500 · P21
52.4 proj+10 place diff36% owned

The best play on the board. Logano won the pole and led 147 laps here last year, and now he starts 21st with the top projection on the slate. That deep start turns his New Hampshire speed into a place-differential bonus on top of the laps-led upside. Elite Magic Mile pedigree from a value-friendly spot.

The dominators

On a flat one-mile track, leading laps and fastest laps are worth a fortune, and the fastest cars all qualified up front.

DOMINATOR

Christopher BellDK $10,700 · FD $14,000 · P6
21 laps led projbest 10-lap avg30% owned

A two-time New Hampshire winner who posted the best ten-lap average in practice, the long-run speed that matters most here. He starts sixth with a field-high 21 projected laps led. The purest dominator play on the board.

DOMINATOR

Ryan BlaneyDK $11,200 · FD $13,500 · P8
19 laps led projdefending winner25% owned

Blaney won this race last year, leading 116 laps including the final 39 to hold off Josh Berry. He starts eighth with 19 projected laps led and a proven closing kick at the Magic Mile. A dominator with a winning track record.

LEVERAGE DOMINATOR

Denny HamlinDK $11,000 · FD $13,000 · P4
20 laps led proj3-time NH winner18% owned

Nobody active has won here more than Hamlin’s three victories, and he famously won from 32nd in 2012. He starts fourth with 20 projected laps led, yet comes in at just 18 percent owned. The best track record in the field at a leverage price.

The deep place-differential core

CORE VALUE

Chase ElliottDK $8,500 · FD $9,500 · P29
+13 place diff45.3 proj5.33x

The top place-differential play with real speed. Elliott is a former New Hampshire pole-sitter starting 29th with a +13 projection and a board-best 5.33x value. He anchors the value tier and lets you afford the dominators up top.

VALUE

Austin CindricDK $7,900 · FD $9,000 · P26
+10 place diff40.5 proj5.12x

A cheaper climber from 26th with a +10 place-differential and a strong value. Cindric frees up salary for the top of the board and offers a projectable finish from deep.

CHALK TRAP

Austin DillonDK $6,800 · FD $7,000 · P34
+15 place diff6.18x50% owned

Dillon has the highest raw value on the board from 34th, but he is the chalk of the slate at 50 percent owned. The points may be there, but with half the field on him, there is no leverage. Fine in cash, a leverage sink in tournaments.

Leverage and darts

LEVERAGE

Kyle LarsonDK $9,500 · FD $11,500 · P9
P912% owned35.0 proj

Elite talent at the lowest ownership among the contenders. Larson’s projection is modest and his place-differential is slightly negative from ninth, but at 12 percent owned he is a pure leverage swing if the speed materializes over a long run.

CHEAP LAPS

Josh BerryDK $8,200 · FD $8,500 · P2
24 laps led projP220% owned

Runner-up here last year, Berry qualified second and projects 24 laps led. A cheap front-row laps-led dominator at $8,200 with real upside if he can lead early from the outside pole.

How to build it

Cash game core

Logano + Bell + Blaney + Elliott + Cindric + a value climber
Logano and two front-running dominators for the laps-led floor, plus Elliott and Cindric climbing from deep. This banks track position at a track where it matters and stacks projectable finishes underneath. High floor, weather-proof structure.

Tournament build

Logano + Hamlin + Bell + Larson + Elliott + Berry
Swap in Hamlin as the low-owned dominator with the best New Hampshire pedigree and Larson as the 12 percent leverage swing. Fade the Dillon chalk and take your value from Elliott and the cheap laps-led Berry instead. Same upside, far lower ownership.

Contrarian angle

Overweight Hamlin and Larson, underweight Austin Dillon
The field is piling onto Dillon at 50 percent for the value. If he does not deliver, the leverage sits with the low-owned stars: Hamlin at 18 percent has the best track record in the race, and Larson at 12 percent has championship speed. That is how you separate from the field.

The bottom line

New Hampshire gives you two ways to score, and the best lineups use both: a laps-led base from the front and elite cars climbing from deep. Logano is the top play, the dominators are Bell, Blaney, and the underowned Hamlin, and the value runs through Elliott rather than the Dillon chalk. Keep an eye on the forecast, because a shortened race would reward the drivers up front even more, and leave a little room for the late-race chaos a flat mile always produces.

Want the full driver board?
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All numbers are FTA projections built from the DraftKings and FanDuel salary files, pulled 8/23/26. Starting positions reflect Saturday qualifying at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Projections are estimates, not guarantees. Always confirm the final lineup and any late driver or crew changes before locking. Fantasy Team Advisors, RotoBraden.