Daily Fantasy NASCAR DraftKings Forecast: 2025 Coca-Cola 600

This Sunday (May 25) is without a doubt the biggest day in all of motorsports. With the Grand Prix of Monaco and the vaunted Indianapolis 500 rolling off the same day as one of NASCAR’s crown-jewel races in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600, it can be hard to divide your attention between all three and focus enough to get a winning play.

That said, allow me to help you get set for this year’s Coke 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and ease your mind. This is one of the most fun races of the season to bet on, simply because it is so unpredictable and there are so many things that factor into success.

Attrition will be key, as will be handling balance. Strategy has a card to play here too, because there have been many upset winners of this race over the years. With this being such a long race, you have to nail it all to win it, so my advice is to look at the teams and drivers who’ve been known to master all three not just this season but also over the course of their careers.

You will see a lot of the usual guys here, but I would slip an underdog or two into your lineups as well. If this comes down to fuel mileage or tire management, the guy you took a flyer on could be sitting pretty for a huge return.

Bet smart, but take smart chances.

Now quickly, let’s breakdown last weekend’s All-Star Race and how I did with my picks.

Fantasy/Betting Breakdown: 2025 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race

Right on the Money	Lick Your Wounds
Chase Elliott: 46.8 points scored	Bubba Wallace +300 to win the Open: finished eighth
William Byron: 45.9 points scored	Shane van Gisbergen: finished 13th in the Open
	Denny Hamlin, No. 1 overall pick: finished 12th, lowest points scorer in the feature

While I may not have been an All-Star in any sense of the word last week, I definitely feel like I have the potential for an elite Sunday in Charlotte.

2025 DraftKings Rules of the Road

Drivers will be awarded points based on their finishing position, position differential, fastest laps and laps led. The driver who wins the race scores 45 fantasy points, while second place gets 42 points, third gets 41 points and so on, at least through the top 10. The 11th-place finisher scores 32 points, 21st gets 21 and 31st gets 10.

However many spots drivers lose or gain on the track are added or subtracted from their score. If the driver leads a lap, they will earn 0.25 points for each lap led and 0.45 for each fastest lap.

Fantasy Forecast

Christopher Bell ($10,700)

How can I not feel good about Christopher Bell? He was the brightest All-Star of all at North Wilkesboro Speedway last week, and he’s the defending winner of this race.

But trust me, there’s more to it than that.

This No. 20 team just simply passes the eye test. Three wins in the first five races this season? Check. Was of those wins on an intermediate like Charlotte? Check.

Oh, and I think this is the only team in the garage who can take the fight to Kyle Larson on any given Sunday. Lock him up for a top-two finish this week.

Ryan Blaney ($10,200)

I’m going with another heavy hitter here because if you can afford two, get them.

If you look back on this 2025 season so far, you’ll see that there is always a combination of either Bell, Larson or Ryan Blaney at the front. That goes double for the 1.5-mile tracks.

He always has the long-run speed to compete, and it seems that crew chief Johnathan Hassler is adept at adjusting according to track conditions.

The biggest drawback for Blaney is his absolutely inexplicable inability to close the deal this year. Probable wins at Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway that were ruined by bad luck come to mind.

If they can survive, they’ll be on the podium for sure.

Chase Briscoe ($8,700)

Is it possible Chase Briscoe is heating up a bit?

Of course he is, and the stat sheet proves it. He has two top-five finishes in his last four points-paying starts, and one of those was a fourth at Kansas Speedway.

Now, I’m not at all implying that Briscoe is going to win this race. He is going to get another top 10, though. It’s a matter of time until he wins with this equipment, but he’s not ready quite yet.

Brad Keselowski ($7,600)

All right, I can definitely feel the collective eyeroll at this pick, and I can certainly understand the reaction.

I hate sounding like a broken record, but hear me out a sec.

Don’t let the fact that Brad Keselowski hasn’t finished a race on the lead lap since doing so at Las Vegas Motor Speedway back in March fool you: this team has had some pretty good speed as of late. A pole run at the All-Star Race and showing speed at times at Kansas and Texas Motor Speedway make me feel like they’re bringing good stuff to the track.

If — and this is a very big if — they can somehow avoid the terrible luck that has been following them around the country, I think he’s a lock for a top 10 or 15.

Austin Dillon ($6,400)

When I sat down to write, I did not think about picking Austin Dillon at all.

But then I remembered something: he’s a former Coca-Cola 600 winner. Not only that, he’s also got a little bit of unfamiliar momentum in his favor.

He’s finished in the top 25 in the last four points races, with a best of seventh at Texas. Plus, there’s that ever-present opportunity to play strategy and get closer to the front than he would otherwise.

I firmly believe this is a smart pick, and it will net you a good amount of points to keep you in the hunt for a group win.

Michael McDowell ($6,300)

While his teammate Carson Hocevar has a better shot at a win this week, he was too expensive to sign after me making this roster top heavy.

While the salary is a big reason I’m rolling with Michael McDowell this week, I’m also going with him because of what I mentioned with Dillon.

The No. 71 team proved at Texas that it is not afraid to gamble. It very nearly got McDowell a gigantic upset victory, and it would have netted him a good finish if McDowell had accepted that his two tires were only going to get him a top-15 instead.

He’ll learn from that experience, and if the No. 71 gambles again Sunday, it’ll come away with a far better finish than it would get on pure pace alone.

Prop Bets and Locks

1. Jimmie Johnson (+1,400) to finish in the top 10: Johnson is back for his 700th Cup start, and I’d be surprised if it isn’t his last. Given the success that Johnson had here when I was a kid, I want to see him go out in style with a great performance. The oddsmakers don’t like the possibility of that happening, but he has made a career of defying them.

2. Bell/Blaney (+650) to win: I’m copping out a bit here, because try as I might, I can’t choose between them. They’re the two most recent winners of this race, and both are in contention every single week. Since they both have the same odds, you can’t go wrong with either one.

3. Larson (+1,800) to win the Indianapolis 500, (+600) to win the Coca-Cola 600: What Larson is doing is already pretty historic. But imagine, if you will, he not only completes the Double but also wins it? The chances this hits are slim to none — so be advised that this just a fun bet. You’ll be lucky to hit on one of them. But if you hit both? That’s legendary stuff right there.