2023 NOCO 400 at Martinsville

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway for some short track racing at the Paperclip. Read on for some daily fantasy NASCAR DraftKings advice for the NOCO 400, airing Sunday, April 16 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

Martinsville is a 0.526-mile flat oval track that’s shaped like a paperclip, which is how it got its nickname. It’s quite similar in shape to the quarter-mile racetrack at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Last spring’s event was run at night, and let’s face it: it was a dud. Two drivers — William Byron and Chase Elliott — led the most laps, with Byron coming out on top. But there was hardly any passing, especially for the lead. It was probably this race that caused NASCAR to start thinking about making some adjustments to the Next Gen car for the short tracks.

Now with the new package, the racing seems a little bit better this year, at least at Phoenix Raceway and Richmond Raceway.

However, what might throw a wrench into the plans on Sunday is a chance of rain. It appears that most of it might come at night but if it does get damp on the track, NASCAR can utilize wet weather tires for those conditions.

With this in mind, how should you prepare your DraftKings contests for this race? Well, first off, track position will be key to know who might dominate the event. Take a look at the practice times (especially 10-lap averages) to determine which of the top 10 qualifiers you should choose.

You can also look at the recent results at tracks 1 mile or less, especially from this year at Phoenix and Richmond. Lastly, study the drivers’ historic stats at Martinsville, as drivers who generally do well there will likely perform well this weekend.

Before I share my picks for Martinsville, here’s a look at the results from the Bristol Motor Speedway dirt track race:

Daniel Suarez struggled quite a bit during this race, while Kyle Larson and Joey Logano had early exits after several run-ins with other cars. At least Larson’s score was in the positive after he led 75 laps and recorded 32 fastest laps.

But the other four drivers did well, with Tyler Reddick finishing second once again and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley and Todd Gilliland earning top 10s.

Here’s a closer look at the…