SportsLine’s Mike McClure gives his top NASCAR Fantasy picks for Sunday’s 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway
SportsLine’s Mike McClure gives his top NASCAR Fantasy picks for Sunday’s 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway
The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season continues on Sunday with the 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 and a return to the traditional raceway after last week’s first road race of the NASCAR season. Christopher Bell has been the most dominant name in the NASCAR driver pool early in the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season regardless of surface after wins last week and at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He is the +450 favorite to win NASCAR at Phoenix, so is he a must-add to 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 NASCAR Fantasy lineups and how high should he be in the 2025 Phoenix NASCAR Fantasy rankings?
The green flag drops at 3:30 p.m. ET for the 312-lap race. Ryan Blaney (+500) follows Bell and Kyle Larson is +750 in the latest 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 odds. Before locking in your NASCAR Fantasy picks for the 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway, be sure to check out the optimal NASCAR at Phoenix Fantasy strategy and advice from SportsLine’s Mike McClure.
McClure has won over $2 million in his career as a daily Fantasy pro, and his NASCAR DFS driver pool, projections and advice can help you score a big win on Sunday on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings.
McClure’s model began the 2025 season by calling Chase Elliott’s win in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray for a +300 payout. Then at Daytona, it was also high on William Byron despite +2000 odds. In 2024, it nailed Kyle Larson to win in Las Vegas for a 21-5 betting payout and predicted Denny Hamlin’s wins in Bristol at 5-1 and Richmond at 17-4.
It also impressively nailed five of Larson’s wins during his historic season in 2021. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 19 winners since 2021, including nine in 2023 and three in the first seven races last season. Anyone who followed its lead on betting apps and sportsbooks on those NASCAR picks could have seen huge returns.
Now, he’s turned his attention to Sunday’s 2025 Shriners Children’s 500. He’s only sharing his picks and NASCAR Fantasy rankings here.
Top 2025 Shriners Children’s NASCAR Fantasy picks
One of McClure’s top 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 Fantasy picks is Ross Chastain, even though he’s a longshot at 14-1. Chastain finished 12th last week after a crash resulted in a 40th-place finish at the Daytona 500. But Phoenix Raceway brings memories of solid results for Chastain, who has three top-three finishes over his last six races there. He won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway to cap off the 2023 season and finish ninth in the final standings that year.
The 32-year-old didn’t have a strong 2024 campaign with just six top-five finishes over 37 starts after back-to-back years with at least 10 top-five results. But given his success in Phoenix and with five top-12 finishes over his last six 1-mile intermediate track races like Sunday’s format, he’s a longshot who can return value to NASCAR Fantasy lineups. See which other drivers to back here.
Another curveball: Joey Logano, one of the top betting favorites and last year’s NASCAR Cup Series champion, barely cracks the top 10 of McClure’s Fantasy NASCAR rankings. Logano has finished outside the top 10 in each of his first three races this year and is coming off a 24th-place result last week. The 34-year-old placed 35th at the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late accident and received blame from NASCAR legends for being the reason for the crash.
He was also involved in a crash at last year’s Shriners Children’s 500. Logano finished outside the top 10 in back-to-back spring races at Phoenix Raceway. Although it’s only been three NASCAR Cup Series races, his 23.7 average finish would be his worst since his debut season in 2008. McClure expects Logano to be a popular option in NASCAR Fantasy picks off his Cup Series title, but he doesn’t project a strong result on Sunday. See which other drivers to avoid here.
How to make 2025 NASCAR at Phoenix Fantasy rankings
McClure is also targeting an undervalued driver set to return plenty of value for his NASCAR Fantasy picks. This driver is in a prime position to make a run at the checkered flag for the ultimate Shriners Children’s 500 sleeper. You can see who it is, and every other pick, right here.
So what are the top NASCAR Fantasy picks for the 2025 NASCAR at Phoenix race, and which value driver is a must-roster? Visit SportsLine now to see DFS millionaire Mike McClure’s complete Shriners Children’s 500 Fantasy rankings, for a chance to cash in big on NASCAR Fantasy.