NASCAR DFS Contest Selection
How to read this page
Every contest is graded A+ to F on whether it is worth your entry today, then ranked best first. The numbers come from each contest's real payout structure — here is what each one means.
- GradeA+ to F
- Our rating of how good a contest is for the typical player. It is driven mostly by rake, then payout structure, how beatable it is, and field size. Contests are ranked best grade first. Open a row's Insight for the full breakdown.
- Typecolumn
- Cash (50-50 / double-up: about half the field roughly doubles its money — low risk). GPP (tournament: top-heavy, high variance). Multiplier, Showdown, and Satellite (the prize is a ticket to another contest, not cash).
- Entry / Field / Prize Poolcolumns
- The buy-in, the maximum number of entries, and the total prize money.
- Rake %column
- The house's cut: 1 − prizes ÷ (entry × field). It is the built-in cost everyone pays — an average player's expected return is exactly minus the rake. Lower is better; roughly 8–12% is normal.
- Paid %column
- The share of the field that wins any money. Around 45% in a 50-50, around 20% in a typical tournament.
- Top-Heavycolumn
- How much of the prize pool goes to the very top (the top 1% of finishers). High = lottery-like, you need to chase 1st. Low = flatter, rewards steady cashing.
- Sharp ROIcolumn
- Modeled long-run ROI for a strong player (a top-40%-finish skill level) — a fixed benchmark for comparing contests. Positive / green means soft and beatable for a skilled player; negative means even strong players are fighting the rake. Your own ROI depends on your edge; the full ladder of skill levels is in the Insight panel.
- Projected ROI by your skillInsight
- Modeled long-run return at four player skill levels, each labeled by its typical finishing place over many nights (these are deliberately realistic — a top-35% median finish is already elite). An average player returns minus the rake; stronger players cash — and spike the top — more often. In cash games a higher finish rate is the whole game; in tournaments the profit comes from rare deep runs, so the same ROI carries far more variance.
- Edge to profitInsight
- The same idea as Break-even, written in plain English: the finish you must average, and the share of the field you must beat, to turn a profit.
- Structure chipsInsight
- 1st prize (and how many times your entry it is), 1st % of pool, min cash (what just sneaking into the money pays, as a multiple of entry), places paid, and a variance rating.
- Grade breakdownInsight
- How the grade was built from four ingredients: Rake (45%), Beatability (10%), Structure (30%) and Field / overlay (15%).
- Fit for youInsight
- Compares the contest to your saved play style and bankroll (set on your account page). Only appears when you are logged in.
Method: projected ROI is modeled from each contest's real payout curve using a finishing-skill model — it is a decision guide, not a guarantee. When a contest has no published payout table, the curve is estimated (a flat curve for cash games, a power-law curve for tournaments) and the row notes it.
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