NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Truck Series from COTA 3/26

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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop breakdown for Circuit of the Americas (aka COTA)! This track is a 3.4-mile road track that produces some exciting racing. COTA is a 20-turn track with a large 133-foot hill in turn one. Last season in this race four of the drivers starting inside the top 5 finished there. Only six drivers finished off the lead lap and only two failed to finish the race altogether.

Roster Construction

COTA, as it at all road courses, is not a place to go hunting for dominator points. At this race on Saturday, there are only 41 laps so that means there are only 28.7 dominator points available. When building lineups for road courses you generally look to finishing position and place differential plays. Last season in this race it was a more balanced build that was the optimal lineup, but with Kyle Busch in the field for Saturday’s race, I think you will need more than one value play to fit him in. This will be one race where you can consider fading Busch at his $13K salary because he will need to lead all laps and win to make value. Now, that is certainly a possibility and something I think can happen but it’s not a guarantee.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)

Kyle Busch ($13,000)

Starting Position: 5th

This will be Kyle’s first-ever road course race in the Truck Series, but that isn’t really an issue. We know KB has a good truck and will be running up front all day. The real question is, can he pay off his salary in such few laps in this race? I believe he can, but it will be difficult.

Sheldon Creed ($10,600)

Starting Position: 1st

Creed is a road course expert. In five career races on this track type, Creed has never finished outside the top 5 and has an average finish of 3rd. In practice on Friday, Creed put down the single best lap time, which is not surprising to me. If you want to fade KB, then I think Creed is the best option to use as your potential dominator.

Kaz Grala ($9,900)

Starting Position: 18th

Kaz Grala will be in the Young’s Motorsports 02 on Saturday and he should be a contender for a top 10. This truck has fared well this season, unfortunately, the one time Grala was in it the engine went. Grala has run five road course races in his Truck Series career and has three top 10’s and an average finish of 10.2. Grala ran exceptionally well in this race last season starting from the front row finishing right where he started in second place putting him in the optimal lineup.

Other Options: John Hunter Nemechek ($10,400 – P11): Nemechek has one win in 8 career RC races and has an avg finish of 9.3. I think there is value in JHN on Saturday, but I just like the upside of the three drivers above more. I also believe that Creed will carry far less ownership than Nemechek. Grant Enfinger ($9,300 – P16th): Enfinger was fast in practice and was one of the few drivers to run 8 laps. Last season in this race Enfinger started 23rd but finished 4th. I anticipate a similar performance on Saturday, but I think Grala comes in at lower ownership in this price range. Ben Rhodes ($9,500 – P13), Alex Bowman ($10,100 – P3)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K-$8.9K)

Tyler Ankrum ($8,300)

Starting Position:10th

Last season Ankrum started this race from the pole and would end up finishing 3rd. Ankrum was in the top 10 in DKFP for that race as well. In his career at road courses (5 races), Ankrum is averaging 37 DKFP per race which is second most of all drivers in this race (Creed – 44.4). I know there are better PD plays in this tier, but they will be much higher owned and I anticipate Ankrum carrying extremely low ownership.

Matt DiBenedetto ($8,900)

Starting Position: 36th

Speaking of high-owned drivers, here’s Matt DiBenedetto. Listen, I don’t care for DiBenedetto as a driver but he has done ok in the Truck Series this season. Last week was a rough week for the 25 team, but DiBenedetto looks to have a better truck this week. In practice on Friday, Matty D was 7th in single lap and he has the best place differential upside in the race. The only downside to rostering DiBenedetto will be his incredibly high ownership. If you are playing SE contests, then I will implore you to roster him.

Parker Kligerman ($8,500)

Starting Position: 4th

Kligerman is a fantastic road course racer and showed some good speed and handling in practice on Friday afternoon. In four career Truck Series road course races, Kligerman has three top 10’s and a top 5 leading to an 8.5 avg finish. Going back to practice, Kligerman was the fourth fastest truck in single lap time and will be a low-owned pivot off the obvious chalk of DiBenedetto.

Other Options: Ty Majeski ($7,700 – P19), Matt Crafton ($8,100 P20), Tanner Gray ($7,400 – P28)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier (Under $7K)

1. Austin Wayne Self ($6,900) – P15
2. Hailie Deegan ($6,600) – P23
3. Tate Fogleman ($5,700) – P31
4. Dean Thompson ($5,500) – P33
5. Timmy Hill ($5,200) – P25
6. Jack Wood ($6,000) – P27
7. Will Rodgers ($5,800) – P34
8. Matt Jaskol (4,900) – P35

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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/)