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Welcome back to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s race from The Track too Tough to Tame, Darlington! This race is going to be a fun one and it will be interesting to see if the veteran top-tier drivers starting at the back can get through the field clean and contend for the win. For a further track preview, you can check out my weekend preview.
Roster construction
Like it has been all weekend, the best approach for building this week is a stars and scrubs style approach. While building remember what type of contest you’re playing. In GPPs you need to look for two of the chalky plays with four lower owned plays. In cash or SE you can use the opposite approach with 3-4 chalk plays and the remaining plays being lower owned.
NASCAR DFS: Top Tier (Dominators) ($9K +)
Chase Elliott ($10,600) – [ Proj. Ownership: 47%]
Starting Position: 34th
Elliott will be in a backup car on Sunday so it may take some time to get the car right but he should be a top 10 car at the end of the day. Last Sunday at Dover, Elliott earned his first win of 2022 and while Darlington is not one of his better tracks, Elliott has huge upside because of his place differential upside.
Kyle Larson ($11,000) – [ Proj. Ownership: 31%]
Starting Position: 2nd
Larson has never won at Darlington, but he does have three straight 2nd place finishes here and led an average of 66.7 laps per race and 45.7 fastest laps. In practice on Saturday, Larson had the 6th best 5-lap average and 5th best 10-lap average. Based on his history at Darlington and how his car looked Saturday, Larson is my pick to win and be the top dominator in this race.
Denny Hamlin ($10,300) – [Proj. Ownership: 30%]
Starting Position: 22nd
Hamlin has been one of the best drivers at The Lady in Black over the past two seasons. Hamlin is the only driver with multiple wins (2) in that span. We all know that Hamlin has been having a terrible season so there is a lot of risk in this play. Hamlin MAY need to start at the rear because of an issue that the team found after practice, this won’t change my opinion on him but could lower his ownership.
Ross Chastain ($9,700) – [Proj. Ownership: 22%]
Starting Position: 8th
Chastain is having a career year and will be rocking one of the best throwback paint schemes this weekend. In the last nine races of the 2022 season, Chastain has two wins, six finishes of 3rd or better, and only two finishes outside the top 5. Chastain finished third here in the fall last season after starting 23rd and was the fastest car on the track in the last stage. Last week at Dover, Chastain led 86 laps and came home third.
Martin Truex Jr. ($10,500) – [ Proj. Ownership: 19%]
Starting Position: 4th
Truex won this race in 2021 and has three top 10 finishes in the last four Darlington races. Since 2020 (4 races), no driver has led more laps here than Truex. In those four races, Truex is averaging 115.3 laps led per race and 47.5 fastest laps. Using Truex with Larson as the two top dominators in this race with a chalky Hamlin or Elliott could be a great way to build on Sunday.
Other Options: William Byron ($10,100 – P9), Joey Logano ($9,200 – P1), Kyle Busch ($9,900 – P5), Tyler Reddick ($9,000 – P10)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K – $8.9K)
Kevin Harvick ($8,800) – [Proj. Ownership: 56%]
Starting Position: 35th
Harvick had an issue in practice with a flat tire and a damaged diffuser. Because of this, Harvick did not get to attempt a qualifying lap while his team was fixing the car. Harvick is another driver who runs exceptionally well so I am not concerned with the issues and feel that Harvick will get back up near the front early on. In the last five races here, Harvick has won twice, has finished in the top 6 every race, and has the best average finish among drivers who raced in all five (3.2).
Christopher Bell ($8,300) – [ Proj. Ownership: 17%]
Starting Position: 3rd
Bell was good here in both races last season, but he had issues in both that led to misleading results. In the fall race, in particular, Bell was running right outside the top 5, but he had a tire issue on la 252 that put him down a lap and he only managed to get back up to 20th. Bell has five top 10s in the last seven (non-superspeedway) races this season.
Kurt Busch ($7,300) [Proj. Ownership: 12%]
Starting Position: 6th
Kurt is not safe by any means, and I honestly expect him to have a negative place differential on Sunday. Busch’s car did look fast in practice with the 12th best 5-lap average and 10th best 10-lap average. Busch has finished 8th or better in six of the last eight Darlington races.
Other Options: Austin Dillon ($8,500 – P14), Chase Briscoe ($8,100 – P13), Daniel Suarez ($7,800 – P20)
Value Tier (Under $7K)
- Chris Buescher ($6,900) – P18
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($6,700) – P26
- Cole Custer ($6,300) – P28
- Justin Haley ($5,900) – P29
- Bubba Wallace ($6,500 ) – P17
- Corey Lajoie ($4,900) – P30
- Ty Dillon ($5,100) – P21
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/)
