Daily Fantasy NASCAR DraftKings Forecast: 2025 Viva Mexico 250

Well, folks, it’s finally here. The NASCAR Cup Series is going to drop the hammer on racing south of the border this weekend for the first time in series history.

And while travel and logistics for these drivers and teams (and Dale Earnhardt Jr. for some reason) has seemed to be an actual nightmare, what won’t be is picking your lineups and filling out your bet slips.

The historic Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez plays host this weekend, and while it’s best known as a Formula 1 track, NASCAR has a history here too. Most notably, the NASCAR Xfinity Series raced there from 2005-08. That doesn’t in any way provide much of a notebook for you to make selections, but using data from all the other road courses on the schedule will be beneficial.

Watkins Glen International, Circuit of the Americas and Sonoma Raceway are your best sources of data for this week. As long as you go with names that run well at those places, you should be in a good position to make some money this weekend.

Follow the stat sheets all the way to the bank on this one folks. Quickly, let’s look at how I fared at Michigan International Speedway last Sunday (June 8).

Fantasy/Betting Breakdown Firekeepers Casino 400

Right On The Money	Lick Your Wounds
Ross Chastain: 52.9 points scored	Carson Hocevar (+500) to finish top five: finished 29th
Bubba Wallace 50.9 points scored	Carson Hocevar: 13.7 points scored
Chris Buescher (+500) to be the top finishing Ford driver: finished second

As you can see, I converted a $10.00 bet on Chris Buescher into a good return. Carson Hocevar walks away the big loser on a team that was full of winners. He was the only driver to score less than 35 points on my roster last week.

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

William Byron ($9,900)

While Byron has had some trouble closing races out with a win, he’s had no trouble consistently finishing in the top five or 10 week after week.

What’s more is he’s quite good on road courses in this Next Gen car. He had a dominant win at Watkins Glen a few years ago, and he had a classic battle with Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch for the top spot at COTA earlier this year. While he didn’t win the latter, he did win at COTA in 2024.

Now, if this thing comes down to fuel mileage or a strategy play like it did at Michigan last Sunday, I don’t feel as comfortable with this being my number one pick.

However, this team has been gut punched so much the last few weeks that they’re due a win.

Chase Elliott ($9,500)

Speaking of gut punches, the No. 9 Chevrolet looked like it was on rails for about a half hour last week before yet another massive let down. So, you might think it’s foolish to pick him this week, but Elliott’s seven road course wins are too hard to ignore.

None of those wins are even in the Next Gen car, but Elliott is still usually a player at places like this. After all, who remembers when he was able to drive back to a fourth-place run at COTA earlier this year after a lap 1 spin?

I’m not saying he’s going to win this week. Heck, I’m starting to wonder if that’ll happen at all this season. But I expect nothing less than a top 10 out of Elliott this week, as long as everyone from the driver to the crew can execute.

Kyle Busch ($8,800)

It’s been awhile since I’ve picked good old KFB, and unlike Morgan Wallen, I don’t think I’m the problem.

This race team is consistently inconsistent, and this living legend pays the price for that far too often. However, the closest Busch has gotten to breaking his winless drought was at COTA this year.

Now, make this pick if you dare because of all the things I said about his inconsistency, but this is still a good pick in my mind.

By the way, he’s the only driver in the field to have won in Mexico City, coming way back in 2008 in Xfinity.

Daniel Suarez ($8,600)

Wouldn’t it be just the coolest homecoming ever if Suarez was able to be in contention on Sunday?

I certainly think he will. After all, he’s very familiar with this track, and he’ll be cheered just as loud, maybe even louder, than Elliott.

Suarez even has a win at Sonoma on his resume to boot. I expect a gassed-up performance from Suarez this week. Ignore the awful runs he’s had so far this year and rack up some points toward your total.

Bubba Wallace ($6,800)

Wallace might just be one of, if not the, hottest drivers in the garage right now.

He’s rolled off three top-10 finishes in his last four starts, and though his road course resume is not quite that impressive, he had speed at COTA this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that he’ll bring home a top five or 10. But I do think you can bank on a solid top-15-20 effort.

Cole Custer ($5,600)

Welcome to the column, “Stone Cole.”

I know for a fact that in the nearly two years I’ve been writing this column that I have never once picked Custer.

He’s really never given me a reason to.

But, this dude is not a bad road course driver. He ran okay enough at COTA for a top-25 finish, and he has a few NASCAR Xfinity Series wins at road courses to his name.

It’s definitely a flier here, but who knows? Maybe he’ll get you the points you need to put you over the top.

Prop Bets and Locks

1. Tyler Reddick (+225) to finish top three: Reddick has been having a weird year so far. Once in awhile, he’ll look like the 2024 version of himself, able to contend up front. Then the next week, he looks like a mid-pack driver at best. I think he shakes the strangeness this week and finishes on the podium. He does have an amazing road course resume after all.
2. Chris Buescher (+1200) to win: Buescher got me some cash last week with his best finish of the season, and he is also really good on road courses. He took the fight to Shane van Gisbergen at Watkins Glen and ended up on top there. The momentum, the confidence and the expertise make this a chef’s kiss of a bet.
3. Chase Elliott (+1100) to win: This is seriously the very last time this season I’m doing this. This team needs major changes that likely won’t happen until the offseason, if they happen at all. But we’ve been talking about how good this driver is on road courses for the better part of the decade. If he can’t get it done here, then I don’t know if he’s going to get one this year folks.