Matt Vecchio 
Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop Cup Series breakdown for the Federated Auto Parts 400 from Richmond Raceway! Richmond is a short flat track so this means we are going to be stacking dominators. With there being 400 laps in this race on Sunday we will have 280 dominator points. Because of this, there will be some extremely high scores on DraftKings.
Roster Construction:
This week some expensive drivers will be chalk but offer everything we want. There are two drivers in particular that I believe will give us place differential, potential dominators, and finishing position. In cash and single entry builds it will be stars and scrubs. In GPP you can decide to fade one of the chalk drivers and hope they don’t lead laps and only pick up 10-15 places so they don’t pay off their exurbanite salaries.
NASCAR DFS: High Salary Place Differential Plays
I mentioned that there were two potentially chalky place differential plays in the top tier and if you’ve looked at the qualifying results you know that I’m talking about Kyle Busch ($11,400 – P29) and Chase Elliott ($10,800 – P23). Both Elliott and Busch were fast in practice putting up top 10 rankings in every speed category. If you are playing cash games these two drivers are locks for any build.
Joey Logano ($9,300 – P17) is another driver with some good place differential upside at a significantly lower cost. Logano has been successful at Richmond in his career (2 wins) and at this track type in 2022. Since 2017 (10 races) Logano has had seven top 5’s and his lowest finish was 17 (2022). In four races at similar tracks in 2022, Logano has three top 10’s including his win at Gateway.
Other Options: Christopher Bell ($9,600 – P21)
NASCAR DFS: Potential Dominators
Martin Truex Jr. ($10,600 – P6) needs to win to secure his place in the playoffs so we know he will be doing everything he can to make that happen on Sunday. Richmond is one of Truex’s best tracks, especially over the last four seasons. Truex’s worst finish is 5th since this race in 2018 and he has seven straight top 5 finishes including his 4th place finish this spring. During this same time frame, Truex has led at least 80 laps in every race except for one (Summer 2020). Truex was top 5 in every speed category between 10 and 30-lap average in Saturday’s practice.
Another driver who needs a good performance is Sunday’s polesitter, Kyle Larson ($10,300 – P1). Unlike Truex, Larson is locked into the playoffs, but this team is nowhere near as dominant as they were in 2021 and if they could get some of that dominance back on Sunday it’ll go a long way to repeating as champion. Larson’s #5 Chevy was not fast in practice, well he was a top 10 car, but at his price, he will need a top 5 finish with a lot of dominator points to make value. Larson is a GPP play only.
Another driver who needs to win is Ryan Blaney ($9,900 – P10). Blaney has been the best driver at this track type in 2022 but is yet to earn that much important win. Blaney has three top 5’s in four races at this track type which is matched only by Kyle Busch and he only trails Busch in avg DKFP per race. In Saturday’s practice session, Blaney’s car improved immensely over the long run which there could be a lot of on Sunday.
Other Options: Denny Hamlin ($11,100 – P3), Ross Chastain ($10,100 – P2)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Akin to the top tier, the mid-tier is also filled with PD plays and drivers who could put up some dominator points while finishing well. Austin Cindric ($7,500 – P33) is the cash option in this tier for me. Cindric had some good speed in practice on Saturday. Tyler Reddick ($8,800 – P26) is another solid option in this tier, but you cannot build a good lineup with Elliott and Kyle in cash so I prefer Cindric. Reddick is a great GPP option, especially if you fade one of the two previously mentioned drivers. Using either Busch or Elliot with Logano and Reddick makes for a good build in GPP’s.
Reddick didn’t make a log run in practice but he was fast, posting the 2nd best 5-lap average. Earlier this season at Richmond, Reddick finished 12th and ran inside the top 15 for over 50% of the race and running as high as 6th place. The last driver in this tier with some huge place differential is Daniel Suarez ($8,200 – P24). Suarez had a great 5-lap average and then his car just fell off and he ran speeds around where he qualified. I am not worried about the 99 because of how well Trackhouse has been at getting their cars right come race day this season. Out of the drivers I’ve mentioned in this tier, I think Suarez is also going to be the lowest owned, well except for one certain subscriber who will have him in every lineup he builds.
Other Options: Bubba Wallace ($8,000 – P11), Ty Gibbs ($7,600 – P14), William Byron ($8,600 – P4)
Value Tier ($6.9K and under)
- Aric Almirola ($6,800 – P32) – Almirola is good on this track type and his car came out flying on Saturday. Almirola was 2nd in 10-lap avg and then he was atop the charts in all categories from 15 to 30-lap avg.
- Michael McDowell ($6,200 – P34) – McDowell was not as fast as Almirola but is another great play from this tier with huge PD upside.
- Harrison Burton ($5,800 – P30) – Burton was another Ford that was fast in Saturday’s practice session. In that session, Burton was putting down top 10 laps in every speed category.
- Justin Haley ($6,000 – P27) – Haley was running around the top 10 in practice but then he reported that his left front was tight. I view Haley as a top 20 car with top 15 upside.
- Chris Buescher ($6,600 – P18)
- Corey Lajoie ($5,200 – P31)
Driving I’m playing that you shouldn’t:
Chase Briscoe ($7,700 – P15)
Cash Core:
Busch/Elliott/Cindric/Almirola will leave you $6,750 left per driver for your final two spots.
Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial to 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/)
