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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday’s Truck Series from Sonoma! This week the Truck Series heads to wine country for the second road course race of the season. The field for Saturday’s race is loaded with talent, including five Cup regulars looking for some seat time before their race on Sunday. Kyle Busch is driving his #51 truck for the fifth and final time in 2022. If Busch is unsuccessful in trying to win this race, it will be the first time since 2004 that he didn’t win at least one race in the series. Both Austin Dillon and Alex Bowman will be making their second Truck Series appearance in 2022, while Ross Chastain will be making his fifth and final start. Finally, Harrison Burton is in the 17 truck for DGR which has been solid all season.
This is the first time the series has been to Sonoma since 1998, so no one in the field has driven a truck at this track. For analysis purposes, I will be using practice times from Friday and past history at road courses. This article is being written pre-qualifying but I will try and update it after qualifying is complete on Saturday afternoon.
Roster Construction
With there being so much value in the lower level of the top tier and mid tier’s I think we can be confident with a 2×3 build of two top tier drivers and three $7K or low $8K driver builds. Originally I was leaning towards a three top-tier build, but after seeing how those drivers qualified we can get good PD upside with a driver who could lead laps.
NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)
Alex Bowman ($10,000)
Starting Position: 6th
Bowman had the second-fastest lap in practice on Friday and should be a factored Saturday night. Bowman only has one other road course race under his belt in the Truck Series and that was a poor showing at COTA earlier this season, but his truck had issues all day there. Since 2019, Bowman has seven top 10’s in thirteen Cup Series road-course races and an average finish of 11.4. Since joining Hendrick in 2018, Bowman has two top 10’s and a 14th place finish in three Sonoma races.
Christian Eckes ($9,300)
Starting Position: 18th
Eckes is one of the hottest drivers in the Truck Series but may go completely overlooked in this race Saturday night. In Friday’s practice session, Eckes put up the best single lap time. Eckes is riding a four-race top 5 streak including two 2nd place finishes and leading 54 laps during this streak. As for his road course record, Eckes has been good, not great. In four races at this track type since 2021, Eckes has one top ten and three finishes of 13th or better. Last season at COTA, Eckes has suspension issues that left him finishing 35th, but if remove that race, Eckes has an average finish of 9.7 in the remaining three races.
Parker Kligerman ($9,100)
Starting Position: 11th
Kligerman is another driver who can hold his own on road courses and should be a factor for another top 10. In four road course races since 2019, Kligerman has two top 10’s and a top 5. Kligerman’s worst finish since 2019 is a 19th place finish in 2021 at COTA. In Friday’s practice, Kligerman posted top 5 laps continually throughout the session.
I think both Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain are top plays as well and will fight for the win at the end of the day. I can see them leading the majority of the laps for this race, but with them probably carrying the most ownership in this tier I decided against writing them up. The three drivers above are great drivers to pair with Busch or Chastain but can also be great lower-owned pivots.
Other Options: Zane Smith ($10,300 – P13), Ben Rhodes ($9,800 – P17), Other Options: Zane Smith ($10,300 – P13), Ben Rhodes ($9,800 – P17), Chandler Smith ($9,600 – P14), – Yes, I know I included all of the top-tier drivers here, but they are all solid plays and the best plays on this slate.
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K-$8.9K)
Derek Kraus ($7,200)
Starting Position: 15th
If we want to pay up for the tippy top of the top tier, we need some good value in the mid-tier, and Derek Kraus is where I will look first. Kraus is not a road course expert, but he is able to hold his own on this track type. Earlier this season at COTA, Kraus started 14th and came home 12th earning 33 DKFP in that race. This week, Kraus is priced $400 less than he was in that race and is coming off back-to-back finishes of 12th or better. In fact, Kraus has seven finishes of 19th or better in his last nine races including three top 10’s, and was posting top 10 laps in practice on Friday.
Matt DiBenedetto ($7,400)
Starting Position: 12th
Earlier this season you couldn’t pay me to recommend Matt DiBenedetto but things have improved for this team and he is actually underpriced for this race. At the start of 2022, DiBenedetto had three finishes of 30th or worse in six races, but since then they have turned things around at Wrackley W.A.R. In the five races since that poor start, DiBenedetto has three top 10’s and his worse finish is 17th during this span. In Friday’s practice, Matty D put up the fourth-best lap time.
Kaz Grala ($8,100)
Starting Position: 20th
Grala is a road course ringer and a very good one at that. Since 2021, Grala has run four RC races in the 02 for Youngs Motorsports and has an average finish of 9th. In those four races, Grala’s worst finish was 14th and his best finish was 2nd last year at COTA. At this price, Grala is one of the better plays on the slate with top 5 upside.
Other Options: Matt Crafton ($7,700 – P24 – Also, another Bday boy narrative), Harrison Burton ($7,900), Tyler Ankrum ($7,800 – P5), Tanner Gray ($7,000 – P27)
Value Tier (Under $7K)
- Chase Purdy ($6,900) – P25
- Todd Bodine ($6,700) – P31
- Kris Wright ($4,800) – P30
- Spencer Boyd ($5,900) – P36
- Jack Wood ($6,200) – P28
- Dean Thompson ($5,800) – P33
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Make sure to check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial to make sure you are ready and understand how I break down the races and build lineups (https://windailysports.com/nascar-dfs-pit-stop-2021-introduction-to-nascar-dfs/).
There were a lot of changes in the cars and what driver is in what car/truck in 2022, check out my What’s new in 2022 article (https://windailysports.com/nascar-dfs-whats-new-in-2022/)
