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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race from Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Road Course.
Since this is a road course race that means we are not chasing dominator points. I know say that every time we come to a track like this but in case you are new to NASCAR DFS, I wanted to remind everyone. There are only 43.4 dominator points so they won’t play a huge role when it comes down to it, but there are a couple of drivers who should pick up some of those points. There will be six Cup Series regulars in this race on Saturday a few of them will definitely be on our radar, while 1 or 2 will be fades.
Last season only 23 cars finished on the lead lap and 12 cars DNF in this race last season, but there were only 4 caution flags for incident. Most of the issues were mechanical with the cars that did not finish and only two of those twelve cars started in the top 10. Looking at the finishing order, eight of the top eleven cars started inside the top 11.
Roster Construction
The highest-priced driver in this race is only $10.6K (Chase Briscoe) so rostering three drivers in this tier will be easy. There is also a path to using four drivers together in the top tier if you want to really punt the value plays. I don’t love those builds but I may deploy that strategy in one lineup. My preferred build will be a 3 top tier, 1 mid, 2 value type of build.
NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)
AJ Allmendinger ($10,100)
Starting Position: 1st
DraftKings decided to price four drivers higher than the best road course racer in the series for Saturday’s race. Will Allmendinger carry some ownership, sure, but it won’t be as high as some others. Allmendinger was fastest in practice and had the best qualifying lap just outdoing Ty Gibbs. Last season at this track, Allmendinger finishes 2nd and led 8 laps. In 2022, Allmendinger has led 34 laps at road courses on his way to two wins, two top 5’s, and three top 10’s in three races. Allmendinger is my favorite play in this race on Saturday and my pick to win.
Austin Hill ($9,000)
Starting Position: 9th
Can anyone guess what Austin Hill’s WORST finish at a road course is this season? Times up! You’re wrong, it’s 4th place. Yeah, I was pretty surprised too when I looked into his numbers coming into this race. Hill has been spectacular at road courses this season and he may be the second best at this track type in 2022. Hill has finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the three races, so is he due for a win? Maybe, but either way, if he can manage another top 5 on Saturday there’s a good chance Hill will be in the optimal lineup.
Josh Berry ($9,400)
Starting Position: 8th
Another driver who has been impressive on road courses in 2022 is Josh Berry. Coming into 2022, Berry only had one career road course race under his belt in an Xfinity car but in three races this season he has quietly become a road course expert. Berry did not have a good run at COTA in the first race of the season, but in the next two Berry has an average finish of 3.5 and an average place differential of +14. While it’s not easy to pass at this track type, Berry has shown he is capable of doing so and should be a threat for a third straight top 5 on road courses.
Other Options: Ty Gibbs ($10,400 – P2): Gibbs has been outstanding on this track type since 2021 and he should be in your player pool on Saturday. I did not spotlight him above because I feel that he is a known commodity in this series and I wanted to give you other options to pair with $10K drivers. Chase Briscoe ($10,600 – P6): Another road course specialist that will be popular. Briscoe is in the #07 car for Joe Graf that Cole Custer has driven successfully this season. Alex Bowman ($10,300 – P4): Bowman is in the HMS car that Larson finished 2nd in at Road America. Noah Gragson ($9,800 – P7): Gragson has a 7th place average finish and finished top 10 in all three RC races this season.
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K – $8.9K)
Kaz Grala ($7,500)
Starting Position: 24th
Grala is a road course specialist and he is in a really good car this weekend. This will be the first time Grala runs a road course race in 2022 in the Xfinity Series, but it will be his 9th career. In his previous 8, Grala has two top 5’s, three top 10′, and a career average finish of 14.9. With there not being a lot to like in the mid-tier this week, Grala has one of the better upsides.
Austin Dillon ($8,600)
Starting Position: 20th
Dillon will be driving the #68 Chevy for Brandonbuilt Motors this week as they try and get drivers with sponsors to help bring money to the team. In Friday’s practice, Dillon was not too fast, but I think he was trying to get a feel for the car. Dillon has been good in road courses in the Cup Series with two finishes of 11th or better in three races this season. For me, Dillon is a good play in place of a third or fourth top-tier driver.
Other Options: Brandon Jones ($7,600 – P36 – Cash game play), Sheldon Creed ($8,200 – P15), Parker Kligerman ($7,300 – P37)
Value Tier (Under $7K)
- Alex Labbe ($6,100 – P14)
- Andy Lally ($6,900 – P22)
- Preston Pardus ($5,800 – P23)
- Santino Ferrucci ($6,300 – P30)
- Jeremy Clements ($6,200 – P29)
- Scott Heckert ($4,800 – P32)
- Kyle Weatherman ($5,200 – P28)
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/)
