NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series from Atlanta 3/19

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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop breakdown for Atlanta! I am not going to lie, I have no idea what to expect from this track. If anyone out there in the industry tells you they know how Atlanta will race this weekend they are lying. Nobody really knows what to expect from this track (not even NASCAR and their drivers) after it was completely ripped up and a new track was installed. Speedway motorsports repaved and reconfigured this track after the July 2021 race here. The 1.5 oval was reconfigured to have 28-degree banking from 24 degrees, which is higher than any other 1.5-mile track. The front stretch was widened as well. These changes were done to promote a superspeedway style of racing similar to Daytona and Talladega.

Kurt Busch stated that “Once we got out there in a group the pace picked up by over a second having the cars draft together… things were amplified way more than what we expected when we had just three cars drafting with each other”. Ross Chastain also said that you will “need friends to navigate the draft”. Both of these drivers tested tires for Goodyear at Atlanta back in January.

Roster Construction

My suggestion for this weekend will be to play light and build multiple lineups. If you are not an avid NASCAR DFS player, maybe sit this weekend out. There are two schools of thought here, one being that the drivers will race like Daytona and it could turn into a wreck fest where we need to stack the back. The second one is that the drivers will just drive around single file trying not to wreck and maybe push for a win in the late stages of the race.

Roster construction looks to be different than in the Truck Series race. In that race we had a lot of solid PD plays, there are very few in this race. For the Xfinity race, I think we need to build a more balanced lineup.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)

Noah Gragson ($10,700)

Starting Position: 1st

Gragson has been the best driver in this series all season. In four races, Gragson’s lowest finish is 3rd and he is coming off a victory at Phoenix last week. Gragson is on the pole, so of course, there is some risk there, but he has led at last 12 laps in every race this season and led 114 last week.

Landon Cassill ($9,300)

Starting Position: 10th

Cassill has run well for Kauling in his four races this season, outside of California where he wrecked and turned his car into a ball of fire on wheels. Since then, Cassill has finished top 10 in back-to-back races and it appears he is settling in nicely with his new team. This week will be hard to predict, but I see Cassill finishing with another top 10 alongside teammate AJ Allmendinger.

Trevor Bayne ($9,900)

Starting Position: 5th

Bayne was really fast at Phoenix and could have won that race. In two races in the 18 for JGR this season, Bayne has started top 5 and finished top 5. With how fast this car was last week and with the showing Bayne has had in 2022 I expect another top 5 on Saturday.

Other Options: Daniel Hemric ($9,700 – P8), AJ Allmendinger ($10,300 – P7), Ty Gibbs ($10,100 – P4)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K – $8.9K)

Riley Herbst ($8,300)

Starting Position: 24th

I know Herbst hurt a lot of us last week with his wreck early in the race. This was all too common for Herbst in 2021, but such is not the case this season. In four races, that was Herbst’s first wreck on this young season, prior to that wreck Herbst has two top 10s and three top 15s. I am going back to the well with Riley Herbst and the #98 this week.

JJ Yeley ($7,000)

Starting Position: 21st

Yeley is a consistently middle-of-the-pack driver in lower-tier equipment this season. So far in 2022, Yeley has finished anywhere from 13th to 25th. This is the highest his salary has been this season, so there is a lot of risk involved with using Yeley on Saturday but he is a high reward play that will certainly carry very little ownership.

Brett Moffitt ($7,800)

Starting Position: 16th

Moffitt is a driver I rarely play, but I really don’t know why. This season, Moffitt has been a very serviceable driver for DFS purposes. Outside of Daytona where he started 5th and finished 34th after an early wreck, he has been fairly consistent. Moffitt’s best finish came at Las Vegas when he finished 8th and he has back-to-back top 15s.

Other Options: Anthony Alfredo ($8,100 – P27), Sage Karam ($7,100 -P29), Sheldon Creed ($8,900 – P13)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier (Under $7K)

1. Jade Buford ($6,300) – P30: Buford’s DFS status has been done in by his own good qualifying efforts this season. With Buford starting from P30, he will be in play again on Saturday and I expect him to be a mid-20s driver in this race
2. Tommy Joe Martins ($6,500) – P37: Martins starts 37th on Saturday and will have some of the best PD upside in this race.
3. Mason Massey ($6,100) – P26: We will need some cheaper value plays on this slate to make our builds work and Massey fits that bill. Massey is a consistent presence in the mid-20’s and that is most likely where he will end up this week again unless there is some attrition and he isn’t involved.
4. Shane Lee ($5,100) – P35: I’m not the biggest fan of this play, BUT he starts at the back and if it’s a SS wreck fest then we could see a top 15 from Lee
5. Bayley Currey ($5,300) – P20: I don’t love playing Currey starting this high, but in GPP’s I don’t see him being highly owned. Currey has driven well in 2022 and has three top 20 fnishes.
6. Kyle Sieg ($6,600) – P31: Sieg has been a surprise DFS darling early on this season. Coming into the race at Phoenix last week, Sieg had three straight finishes of 21st or better. Unfortunately that streak ended when Sieg wrecked at Phoenix, but that just means he can start a new one on Saturday.
7. Matt Mills ($5,600) – P33: Mills’ numbers would be better, if not for his 36th place finish at Vegas. Prior to that, Mills had back-to-back top 25s.
8. Josh Williams ($5,400) – P36: See Shane Lee.

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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/)