rmferenc@gmail.com 
Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race from Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin! This course is one of my favorite road courses on the NASCAR circuit because it usually has a competitive and fun race to watch. Road America is a 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course and one of NASCAR’s fastest courses.
I believe I have a good feel for the field in this race after watching practice and qualifying on Friday. There are some really good cars starting at the back, especially the car starting 38th. There is also some good value in this field which is what I really was hoping for because stacking the cars at the top of the salary range is where I want to load up. With this race only being 45 laps, do not focus on dominator points. I would rank that as the third most important stat after place differential and finishing position. Last season in this race no driver led more than 12 laps and the winner (Kyle Busch) led only 5 laps.
Roster Construction
I briefly mentioned it above, but like with most weeks in the Xfinity Series, I want to build around drivers in the top pricing tier this week. There are some good plays in the mid-tier, but with the drivers at the top of the salary chart this week we might only be rostering one per lineup. Stars and scrubs will probably be the popular approach so getting a mid-tier driver into your lineups might be the best chance at differentiating your lineup from the field.
NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)
Aj Allmendinger ($11,300 – P28)
Allmendinger is the top overall play on this slate and should be in all contest builds. He will be in the 50-60% range in tournaments and probably over 75% in cash games. I don’t see a reason to fade the best driver on this track type in the field no matter what contest you’re in. Allmendinger put up top 5 laps in practice but had brake issues and could not make a qualifying attempt. On Saturday, Allmendinger will drive through the field, he will finish in the top 5, and could even pick up some dominator points in the process.
Cup drivers in the field:
Kyle Larson ($11,800 – P1):
Larson is my pick to win this race after seeing the dominance he displayed in practice and qualifying. Larson will be in the #17 car for HMS on Saturday but this isn’t just any Xfinity car. This car is a Cup car that Larson drove last season in road course races. I don’t see anyone beating Larson, other than Larson himself, on Saturday.
Tyler Reddick ($9,700 – P9) & Cole Custer ($10,000 – P4)
Both Reddick and Custer have fast cars and put up great times in both practice and qualifying. Custer actually had the fastest time in practice on Friday meanwhile, Reddick was 5th. Both of these drivers have earned their respective teams their first-ever Xfinity wins in 2022 and will be in contention on Saturday. With Allmendinger and Larson both projecting to be extremely high owned, both Reddick and Custer should come in at low ownership and make for outstanding GPP plays.
Best remaining top-tier plays:
Ty Gibbs ($11,100 – P2): Gibbs is excellent on road courses and could be the one driver to overtake Larson for the win. In practice, Gibbs was 3rd fastest.
Justin Allgaier ($10,200 – P15): Allgaier was not exceptionally fast in practice and is starting mid-pack but I am not concerned because this team usually makes the right adjustments in race to fix his car. Allgaier is not a top-tier road course driver, but he does have six top 10’s in the last three seasons.
Noah Gragson ($10,300 – P7): Gragson is another driver who might go under the radar because of the drivers in this tier, but make no mistake this is a good road course driver in top equipment. Gragson has six top 10’s and two top 5’s in 9 career Xfinity road course races. In between practice and qualifying, Gragson spent time discussing the track and his car with Larson, or at least that’s what one can assume as they were sitting together. Picking the brain of one of the top drivers in all of NASCAR can never be a bad thing and I expect a top 5 from Gragson on Saturday.
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K – $8.9K)
Daniel Hemric ($8,800)
Starting Position: 22nd
Hemric is a great play on Saturday, and I would actually rank him ahead of Gibbs, Allgaier, and Gragson. In practice, Hemric was running near the front all session and ended up with the sixth-best lap time. Unfortunately, qualifying didn’t go his way. While tracking as the 5th best time, Hemric got loose and went a little off track, but that completely ruined his lap and did not have time to run another lap and is stuck starting towards the back. Last season at RA, Hemric finished 2nd and he has been good on road courses in 2022. In Portland a few weeks ago, Hemric finished 6th, his second-best finish in 2022.
Myatt Snider ($7,800)
Starting Position: 32nd
Snider was in the mid-20s in practice so on the surface there doesn’t appear to be much upside with him. In two road course races in 2022, Snider finished 6th at COTA after starting 21st, and in Portland, he finished 2nd after starting 25th. Snider could pick up some ownership, but at his salary, I don’t think he will be unplayable in GPPs.
Ty Dillon ($7,700)
Starting Position: 26th
Dillon is in the #6 car for Johnny Davis, but similar to Larson this isn’t just any old car. The chassis for this car is an old RCR chassis and it is being assumed that RCR helped prepare this car. Dillon was right around the top 15 in practice on Friday but had a slip-up in qualifying that left him starting much further back. Dillon is a top 15 car in my eyes and with attrition, could steal a top 10.
Play at your own risk:
John Hunter Nemechek ($8,600 – P35) – JHN should be better than this on Saturday, but with him starting so far back he will be chalk. If you are playing cash games, then lock in Nemechek but in GPP’s I will be fading him. He was not fast in practice and could bust and end up as bad chalk.
Other Options: Alex Labbe ($7,000 – P18), Andy Lally ($7,900 – P23), Ryan Sieg ($7,400 – P27), Landon Cassill ($8,100 – P20)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier (Under $7K)
- Jeb Burton ($5,800) – P34: Burton was running laps in practice that were on the fringe of being in the top 10, but he had a poor qualifying effort. This is a top 20 car for me and is a great play to put with Dinger/Larson/Hemric lineups in cash and SE.
- Brandon Brown ($5,900) – P36: Brown was not exceptionally fast in practice, but he is cheap and there is some upside here. Brown has an average finish of 16.8 in nine road course races since 2021 and last season at Road America, Brown finished 11th.
- Preston Pardus ($6,600) – P21: Pardus is a road course ringer and has raced here three times with back-to-back finishes of 16th or better. Another reason to like Pardus is the fact he has Boris Said as his spotter for this race. When you have one of the best road course drivers ever spotting for you, it has to improve your chances.
- Brett Moffitt ($6,800) – P17
- Josh Bilicki ($5,400) – P13
- Josh Williams ($4,500) – P31
- Patrick Gallagher ($4,600) – P33
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/)
