Matt Vecchio 
Welcome to the final NASCAR DFS Truck Series for the 2022 season!
Championship weekend is finally upon us and the first of the three major series to crown a champion will be the Camping World Truck Series.
Phoenix is a unique track but is in theory a short track “oval”. Friday night’s race will be a 150-laps so dominators will be a priority. There is a more significant number of dominator points to chase, 105 to be exact, so when building your lineups those drivers will need to be the first you put in. I will designate potential dominators in the article to help.
NASCAR DFS: Championship 4
*** All four are potential dominators ***
Ty Majeski ($10,600)
Starting Position: 8th
Majeski blew the field away in practice on Thursday night and is my pick to win this race and the title. In his short truck career, Majeski has only raced at Phoenix one time, an 11th-place finish in 2019. Earlier this season at Richmond (a similar track), Majeski won the pole, led 73 laps, and finished 3rd. Majeski will need to be better than that to win the title on Friday, and I think he will.
Chandler Smith ($11,000)
Starting Position: 12th
Friday’s race will be Smith’s last one as a full-time Truck Series driver as he moves to the Xfinity Series in 2023 for Kaulig Racing. No matter what happens Friday, Smith had an exceptional season in the #18 truck with three wins and 15 top 10s in 22 races coming into the season Finale. Phoenix is one of Smith’s best tracks and if it’s not Majeski lifting the trophy on Friday it will be Smith. In three career races at Phoenix, Smith’s worst finish is 3rd (twice). Smith also has a win here, in fact, he is the defending champion of this race.
Other Options: Zane Smith ($10,800 – P1), Ben Rhodes ($9,900 – P6) – I will have plenty of exposure to all four of these drivers and will most likely have at least 2 in every one of my lineups.
NASCAR DFS: Top Tier
Corey Heim ($10,200) (Potential Dominator)
Starting Position: 3rd
Corey Heim has never run a Truck Series race at Phoenix, but earlier this season at Richmond the 20-year-old started 16th but came home in 5th. Heim does have an ARCA race under his belt here where he finished 2nd. In Thursday’s practice, Heim posted the fourth-best single-lap speed.
Christian Eckes ($9,300)
Starting Position: 7th
Eckes, like his teammate Chandler Smith, has run exceptionally well at this track. In his three career races here, Eckes has finished no worse than 9th and has finishes of 6th and 4th in his other two races. In Thursday’s practice session, Eckes was fast as he posted the 7th quickest single-lap time.
Other Options: John Hunter Nemechek ($10,400 – P10), Grant Enfinger ($9,700 – P13), Carson Hocevar ($9,100 – P22)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Derek Kraus ($8,300)
Starting Position: 23rd
Kraus has a top 10 truck for Friday’s race after running the 8th quickest lap in Thursday’s practice. Now, Kraus doesn’t have the best history here at Phoenix, but he did finish 15th here last season and in 2018 he had his best finish here of 8th. Earlier in 2022, Kraus finished 12th at Richmond.
Tanner Gray ($7,700) (GPP ONLY)
Starting Position: 4th
Gray had a fast Ford truck on Thursday night and should be a contender in Friday’s race for a 3rd top 5 in 2022. In that practice session, Gray was the 6th fastest in single-lap and had the best 5-lap average speed as well. Last season in this race, Gray had a rear gear issue which resulted in an early exit. In the prior two seasons, Gray finished 17th and 15th. I think a top 5 is the ceiling for this truck and a top 10 is the expectation.
Taylor Gray ($7,200)
Starting Position: 21st
Taylor Gray is the safer of the two brothers and will probably be the higher owned of the two as well. In Thursday’s practice, Gray had a top 20 truck as well as the 13th best 10-lap average. While he doesn’t have the upside of leading laps and finishing top 5, Gray is a safe bet for a top 15 if he can avoid the usual chaos of a Truck Series race late.
Other Options: Layne Riggs ($8,100 – P2) – I love Riggs on Friday night for two reasons. First, no one will be playing him and second he has a fast truck with nothing to lose. Riggs ran well at Ricmond this season and I think he has a top in him on Friday. Tyler Ankrum ($8,700 – P24), Johnny Sauter ($7,800 – P27)
NASCAR Value Rankings
- Timmy Hill ($6,500) – P29
- Dean Thompson ($6,200) – P26
- Lawless Alan ($5,200) – P32
- Tyler Hill ($6,300) – P31
- Blaine Perkins ($5,000) – P25
- Armani Williams ($4,900) – P35
- Chris Hacker ($5,600) – P28
Make sure you head to the Win Daily Sports Discord for up-to-date info and help from our pros! Head over to Twitter and give the @WinDailySports account and me (@MVecchio81) a follow for all things Fantasy Sports! You can find more FREE NASCAR content over at WinDailySports.com!
Make sure to 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/)
