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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s South Point 400 from Las Vegas!
This week the Cup Series begins the third round of the NASCAR playoffs with 400 miles of high-speed 1.5 oval racing! We saw on Saturday in the Xfinity race that drivers could pass on both the top and bottom lanes. We also saw that tires were key and drivers on old tires were sitting ducks on the track.
While this is a race we can look to roster dominators, there are a lot of great place differential plays in all tiers of this race. Kansas is the most similar track to Vegas so I will be looking closely at how that race went when breaking down this race.
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
Denny Hamlin ($11,100)
Starting Position: 31st
Hamlin won this race last fall and will look to clinch his spot in the championship finale with another win here. Recently at Kansas, Hamlin started 25th and came home 2nd in that race which makes me believe he can do the same on Sunday. In Saturday’s practice session, Hamlin was 13th quickest in single-lap speed.
Ross Chastain ($9,900)
Starting Position: 11th
Chastain is someone that has been dominant on this track type in 2022. In five races on high-speed 1.5-mile ovals, Chastain has the best speed ranking among all drivers. Chastain was also extremely fast in practice on Saturday, posting the 2nd fastest single-lap, 5-lap, and 10-lap speeds. Chastain is by no means safe when it comes to making it to Phoenix, and he will definitely be a factor in winning this race and clinching his spot in the finale.
Martin Truex Jr. ($9,100)
Starting Position: 27th
Truex has been nearly as fast as Chastain has on this track type in 2022. Looking at the same speed rankings, Truex has been top 6 in speed in four of the five races for an average rank of 5.8. The last time Truex had a top 5 finish was at Kansas earlier this season. I don’t love the fact that Truex didn’t show great speed in practice, but I do think he and the 19 team will figure out what kept them from running well.
Other Options: Ryan Blaney ($9,500 – P4) – Blaney is my favorite potential dominator in this race. Kyle Busch ($9,300 – P18), Chase Elliott ($10,700 – P20)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Erik Jones ($7,100)
Starting Position: 22nd
Jones was posting top 5 laps in practice and ended up with the third best single-lap speed. Not only did Jones post the third best single, he also had the third best 5-lap average. Jones has finished 11th or better in three straight races and I would not be surprised if he makes it four straight on Sunday.
Bubba Wallace ($8,700)
Starting Position: 9th
Wallace and the Toyota’s were fast at Kansas and have been fast this weekend. Back at Kansas, Wallace won that race while leading the last 58 laps. Wallace said today that the car they brought to Vegas was the one the won that race. I don’t know if Wallace can win this race, but he should be a threat for a top 5 on Sunday.
Other Options: Chase Briscoe ($8,100 – P16), Joey Logano ($8,900 – P5), Noah Gragson ($7,300 – P17)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings
- Ty Dillon ($5,600) – P33
- Corey Lajoie ($4,900) – P30
- Justin Haley ($5,800) – P28
- AJ Allmendinger ($6,400) – P21
- Ricky Stenhouse ($6,000) – P29
- Todd Gilliland ($5,200) -P35
- Brad Keselowski ($6,900) – P25
Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)
