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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for the NASCAR Truck Series from Texas! Unfortunately, Texas is traditionally not an exciting track. Last season only four trucks failed to finish the race, which sounds good but the more trucks out the better chance of our value plays moving up and picking up more points. Also, only 12 trucks finished on the lead lap and ten more finished between 1 and 3 laps down. All this usually makes for a very boring race and Friday night should be no different.
In 2021, two drivers led 74.1% of the laps in this race. This is not a one-off event either, in the first race here in 2020, two drivers led 74.2%. In the second 2020 race, Sheldon Creed led 86.2% of the laps. Looking at these stats over the previous three races, it will be pertinent to get 1-2 of the dominators correct.
Roster Construction
Similar to last week, there is a group of drivers that are in a class of their own. I will want to roster two of those drivers and then fill in with a lower-priced top-tier driver. Lastly, we should look to round out with 2 values and a mid-tier depending on salary. Unfortunately, this article is being written pre-practice and qualifying so things may change after we see how that shakes out.
NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)
Zane Smith ($10,600)
Starting Position: 15th
If you haven’t been paying attention then you may not realize that Zane Smith is the best driver in the Truck Series in 2022. So far this season, Smith has three wins, has finished top 10 in EVERY race, and is top five in five races. Smith is averaging 59 DKFP per race, nearly 17 points more than the next driver ( Ben Rhodes), and has 117 more total points than Rhodes as well. Texas has been a good track for Smith in his short truck career. In three races, Smith has led 38 laps here and has finished 6th and 3rd in the last two races. It’s probably safe to assume that Smith will qualify towards the front and will be a threat to dominate this race and lead a lot of laps.
Ryan Preece ($9,200)
Starting Position: 5th
Preece has run three races in this number 17 DGR truck in 2022 and has not finished any worse than 7th. This truck has three top 10’s in 2022, and all three were when Preece was behind the wheel. Preece is my favorite option in the low $9K tier, but depending on how qualifying finishes there are two other great options in this range.
Ben Rhodes ($10,100)
Starting Position: 8th
As you already saw, the only driver who has been better than Rhodes is Smith in 2022. Rhodes hasn’t been great at Texas, but he has shown speed in every race this season and similar to Smith, has five top-fives in eight races. One thing that puts Rhodes ahead of someone like John Hunter Nemechek is his propensity for qualifying poorly. In eight races this season, Rhodes has qualified 13th or worse in five races and has finished top 5 three times and top 10 four times.
Other Options: John Hunter Nemechek ($10,900 – P1) – Will potentially be low owned starting from the pole. JHN has the potential to lead a lot of laps on Frida., Carson Hocevar ($9,400 – P20) – I expect Hocevar to carry some ownership, but the upside here is almost too good to pass up. Corey Heim ($9,000 P2) – Like last week Heim is risky, but if he can avoid the carnage he could threaten for his second win on the season. Chandler Smith ($10,000 – P7) – Smith is fast every week and will be again on Friday.
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K-$8.9K)
Chase Purdy ($7,300)
Starting Position: 19th
Purdy has been good in his two races at Texas in the Truck Series. In two career races here, Purdy has finishes of 12th and 17th. In eight races this season, Purdy has never qualified better than 14th and qualified 28th in both of his Texas races. I expect Purdy to be a mid to low-teens driver after qualifying in the low 20’s (my guess).
Stewart Friesen ($8,500)
Starting Position: 3rd
Friesen seems to be up and down when it comes to Texas. In his career in the Truck Series, Friesen has raced here nine times but has wrecked in four of those races. If you take out his wrecks, Friesen has never finished lower than 14th and has an average finish of 6th. If you have the salary or want to go two mid-tier plays over a low $9K driver then Friesen is my favorite play.
Other Options: Matt Crafton ($8,700 – P21), Ty Majeski ($8,900 – P10), Todd Bodine ($7,700 – P24), Matt DiBenedetto ($8,000 – P33) – I do not, I repeat DO NOT like Matty D as he has not been good this season, but it’s hard to pass on an $8K truck starting 33rd with top 20 practice speed.
Value Tier (Under $7K)
- Colby Howard ($6,900) – P34: Howard was putting up top 10 speed in practice, I know he will be highly owned but the upside is crazy here.
- Lawless Alan ($6,100 ) – P35: Alan has top 25 potential here, so like Howard he is hard to pass up with +10 PD upside
- Timmy Hill ($5,400) – P32
- Austin Wayne Self ($6,800) – P23
- Tyler Hill ($5,000) – P30
- Tate Fogleman ($6,500) – P29
- Jesse Little ($5,100) – P22
Make sure you head to the Win Daily Sports Discord for up-to-date info and help directly 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 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/)
