Daytona 500 Fantasy NASCAR Preview
Jason Karlavige
We are just days away from kicking off the 2026 fantasy NASCAR season in Daytona for the Daytona 500!
It has been a difficult offseason for NASCAR, between a number of tragedies, and a lawsuit which saw NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps ultimately resign. NASCAR also announced a new championship format with the return of The Chase.
Through all the ups and downs, another NASCAR season quickly approaches. Soon, the sounds of engines will roar to life in Daytona, and we will watch our fantasy NASCAR teams either rise to victory, or get caught up in the big one.
Building Your Fantasy NASCAR Lineup
Looking back at last year’s Daytona 500 results, our optimal fantasy NASCAR lineup earned 167 total points:
A: Ryan Blaney
B: Alex Bowman
C: Austin Cindric
D: Jimmie Johnson
The Ford dominated much of the early racing, and gained valuable stage points. However, Daytona is always unpredictable and we never know who will rise to the lead at the end of the race. Ultimately, William Byron won the Daytona 500 for a second straight time.
With our default fantasy NASCAR league settings, you can start each driver 6 times throughout the season. While it is tempting to start the favorites for Daytona, this track is known for first time and unexpected winners. If you start a top driver, and they get caught up in a wreck, you are already down to 5 starts for the rest of the 2026 NASCAR season.
For building your fantasy NASCAR lineups, the website ifantasyrace.com has a number of Cup Series driver statistics available. The Big Superspeedways Average Finishes Since 2024 Heat Chart is a great reference for viewing the best finishing drivers on Superspeedways in the past couple years.
Fantasy Racing Tips also has individual fantasy NASCAR driver previews for the upcoming season, along with lineup recommendations.
2026 Fantasy Roster Preview
For those unfamiliar with our fantasy NASCAR format, we place drivers into four separate tiers, or “classes”, based on past performance and expectations going into the new season.
If you played Yahoo’s fantasy NASCAR game years ago, our format is similar, building a roster of drivers from each class, and having a limited number of starts for each driver.
A Class
This season, Chase Briscoe replaces Joey Logano in the A class. All other A class drivers remain the same as last season, and are considered championship favorites going into the 2026 NASCAR season.
Briscoe shined last season, breaking out for 3 wins and 15 Top 5s, earning his spot in the A class this season after competing in the B class last season.
B Class
Along with Briscoe, Kyle Busch has moved out of the B class. However, the 2-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has been moved to the C class. It’s been an disappointing few years for Busch in the #8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Unless RCR has worked some magic over the offseason, we expect more of the same out of Busch for the 2026 Cup Series season.
Joey Logano, an A class driver last season, is expected to be competitive and should be a top pick in the B class this season. Connor Zilisch lands in the B class in his rookie full-time Cup season, after a dominant performance in last year’s Xfinity Series.
C Class
The C class has a number of drivers who nearly missed out on the B class. Carson Hocevar, Ryan Preece, and Josh Berry all looked strong at times throughout last season. Berry won at Vegas early in the season, while Preece and Hocevar were top-10 contenders week in and week out.
SVG is a C class lock for road courses as usual this season. Austin Cindric found victory lane last season and has potential for being considered in fantasy rosters each week.
D Class
Todd Gilliland and Daniel Suarez have been moved from the C class to D class, and both will be popular picks throughout the season. Suarez moves from Trackhouse Racing to Spire Motorsports in 2026. A number of drivers in the D class have the opportunity to take the leap this season and becoming fixtures in fantasy NASCAR lineups.
The 2026 fantasy Driver Classes for the NASCAR Cup SeriesJoin A Fantasy NASCAR League
Get started today by signing up and joining a Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, or Craftsman Truck Series fantasy NASCAR league. Build your lineup and compete against the best fantasy competition. Watch the fantasy leaderboard live during the race, and track season-long points and stats.
