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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop breakdown for Talladega! If you are in discord (if you aren’t you are missing out!) then you already saw my preview looking back at previous races here. For those who aren’t, here is a quick synopsis:
Stacking the back can work, but I view it more as a cash-type build in this race. Most of the drivers in the optimal Xfinity Series have come from the mid-teens and twenties. Looking at how qualifying shook out on Friday, I can see a similar path to those lineups being optimal again on Saturday.
Roster Construction
With only 113 laps equaling 79.1 dominator points for this race we are not chasing those points. Of course, we want to get dominator points, but there aren’t enough laps here that those points will make that big of a difference. Like I said, stacking the back is a great cash strategy, but I believe that stacking the mid may be a better build type. Looking at pricing, 2-3 top-tier drivers might be the best path.
NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)
Noah Gragson ($10,300)
Starting Position: 19th
Just based on my knowledge of the sport I did not think Gragson would be my top driver, but when I looked at how he has fared at Superspeedways I couldn’t go anywhere else. Gragson has run well at this track type, especially Talladega. In six career races on this track, Gragson has five finishes of 11th or better including two top 5’s. With Gragson starting P19, he has the best place differential in this tier.
AJ Allmendinger ($9,700)
Starting Position: 13th
Dinger is the driver I expected to be my number one driver, but number two isn’t bad. In four career races here, Allmendinger has two finishes of 7th or better, but also has two finishes of 24th or worse. Allmendinger has been solid so far in 2022 and if he can navigate through the potential carnage like he has many times before he should be in contention for the win. We know Kaulig has been dominant at Superspeedways and if they can get together they will be touch to pass let alone beat.
Justin Allgaier ($9,500)
Starting Position: 11th
Allgaier is the old(er), wily veteran in this race and should be one of the top considerations at low ownership on Saturday. Before he had a string of bad luck from 2019-21 where he wrecked three times in four races, Allgaier had six straight finishes of 8th or better. Last fall here Allgaier got back on track with a third-place finish after starting on the pole. Allgaier clearly knows how to make his way through these races and if he can do it again a top 5 could be in the cars.
Brandon Jones ($9,000)
Starting Position: 15th
Jones is coming off his first win in 2022 and is at a track he has enjoyed some minimal success at in his Xfinity Series career. In eight career races here at Talladega, Jones has only wrecked twice. If you remove those two 37th place finishes, Jones has an average finish of 10th in the remaining 6 races including three top 5’s. Jones got off to a slow start this season, but he has four top 10s in the last six races and has finished no worse than 18th in any of those races.
Other Options Josh Berry ($10,100 – P16), Ty Gibbs ($10,500 – P3), Sam Mayer ($9,200 – P14), Daniel Hemric ($9,900 – P5)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K – $8.9K)
Jeb Burton ($8,400)
Starting Position: 22nd
Jeb Burton has one career victory and it came here at Talladega, yes it was rain-shortened, but a win is a win. In four career Talladega races, Burton has three top 10s so that win was not a fluke. Now, much of his success came in a Kaulig Chevy, but now Burton is in the #27 Our Motorsports Chevy. While that is somewhat of a downgrade in equipment, Burton has only two finishes outside the top 20 this season including three top 15s in his last five races.
Landon Cassill ($8,800)
Starting Position: 6th
Cassill has historically run well here with three finishes of 11th or better in much lesser equipment. In 2022, Cassill signed with Kaulig and he is in the car that Jeb Burton vacated. There is an outside chance that Cassill wins this race and I can all but guarantee that he will come in somewhere in the teens in ownership as well. Cassill is by no means safe and should only be used in GPP’s.
Alex Labbe ($7,000)
Starting Position: 21st
Labbe is in that sweet spot where he won’t be high owned, but also not super low owned. If you are in discord then you already saw that Labbe was in two of the previous four optimal lineups for this track. Labbe has been consistent at Talladega with four straight finishes of 21st or better including two top 10s.
Other Options: Riley Herbst ($8,500 P20), Myatt Snider ($7,900 – P31): Great cash play, Brandon Brown ($7,300 – P17)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier (Under $7K)
- Jeremy Clements ($6,900) – P34
- JJ Yeley ($6,500) – P28
- Ryan Ellis ($5,400) – P38
- David Starr ($6,000) – P35
- Gray Gaulding ($4,600) – P33
- Joey Gase ($5,900) – P36
- Kyle Sieg ($6,600) – P37
- Chandler Smith ($6,800) – P30
- Shane Lee ($5,500) – P32
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/)
