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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for the Xfinity Series race from Texas! Traditionally Texas is not a fun track, it is one of the least exciting mile and a half tracks on the circuit. That being said, we could still get a good DFS day out of Texas on Saturday. There are decisions to be made at the top with William Byron and Tyler Reddick running in this race. Last season we saw Kyle Busch dominate this race leading over 50% of the laps. There is a possibility that this happens again with one of these drivers. At the same time, we could have a full-time Xfinity driver dominate this race ahead of them.
Last season in the fall race at Texas, every driver who started inside the top 10 finished inside the top 10. That is something extremely rare for racing, especially in this series. There were no Cup drivers in this race (Cup drivers can not drop down in playoff races) so that was not a reason. John Hunter Nemechek did lead 92 of 200 laps in that race on his way to winning in the #54 car that Ty Gibbs will be in on Saturday.
Roster Construction
This week we go with two dominator builds. Looking at previous races here, two drivers seem to dominate the LL and FL points. You can go with 2-3 mid-tier options, especially with the two chalk drivers we have in this tier. There are some good value plays this week to round out our builds
NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)
Ty Gibbs ($10,700)
Starting Position: 7th
Gibbs is in the same car that JHN dominated the fall race at Texas with and Gibbs should be in a similar spot on Saturday. In practice on Friday, Gibbs posted the 8th best single lap time and had the best 10-lap average speed. With other drivers garnering much of the ownership in this tier, Gibbs could go overlooked on his way to victory lane on Saturday.
William Byron ($11,000)
Starting Position: 15th
Byron is going to be the chalk play of this race and with good reason. Even though he is in a JRM car, Byron will have his Cup Series HMS pit crew for this race (one of the best in the series) and JRM cars get their engines from Hendrick. Essentially, Byron is driving a Hendrick car (it literally says so on his hood) and could dominate this race. There is a good amount of value where you can take Gibbs/Byron as your dominators and build comfortably.
Justin Allgaier ($10,300)
Starting Position: 6th
Allgaier is the more popular play among the Xfinity regulars in this tier and with good reason. In practice, Allgaier was the second-fastest in single-lap speed and has a great track record here in Texas. In eight races since 2018, Allgaier has finished 12th or better six times (he has issues in the other two races) and has led a series-best 193 laps in those races. Allgaier is one of the hottest drivers in the Xfinity Series and if you are playing cash games he is a lock, but in GPP’s you can go here if you want to fade Byron.
Noah Gragson ($10,500)
Starting Position: 1st
Gragson is your pole-sitter for Saturday’s race, but could still see some ownership. I think people are starting to realize that in the lower series, playing pole-sitters is just fine. Usually, the top teams start near the front and finish there as well and Gragson is no exception. Gragson has started top five in two of the last three races in 2022 and finishes top 5 in all three. Gragson was top 5 in practice on Friday and even though I don’t think he wins this race, a fourth straight top 5 is a relatively safe bet. In his last three races at Texas, Gragson has finishes of 2nd, 7th, and 3rd.
Other Options: Tyler Reddick ($10,000 – P2), Josh Berry ($9,600 – P8), AJ Allmendinger ($9,700 – P13), Ryan Truex ($9,200 – P5)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K – $8.9K)
Landon Cassill ($8,300)
Starting Position: 38th
Cassill will be the chalkiest of chalk plays, but I don’t know if you can get a takedown without him. Cassill is in the Kaulig #10 car this season and has shown speed each week in 2022. This car has top 10 upside and if he reaches that potential, you probably won’t be in contention for a big day without him. In 11 races this season, Cassill has only finished a race outside the top 15 once (31st at COTA) if you don’t count Fontana where his car went up in flames 6 laps in. I am not looking back at track history here because Cassill has never had a car that is this good while racing here.
Anthony Alfredo ($7,600)
Starting Position: 37th
Another super chalky play will be Alfredo. Now, if you wanted to fade one of the chalkiest plays on the slate, Alfredo would be my pick. His upside is not as great as Cassill’s, but his ownership could be 10-12% lower. I will take the higher score over the lower ownership because you can be different in other ways. With all this being said, Alfredo is still one of the top Fpt/$ plays on this slate. In the fall 2020 race here, Alfredo did finish 3rd in the RCR #21.
Riley Herbst ($8,700)
Starting Position: 10th
There is another chalk play in this tier, but I will save him for the “other options” section and instead give you a pivot off the chalkier plays in this tier. Herbst could be in the low teens to single-digit ownership for this race and could be the difference in a chalky race like this. Herbst finishes 12th in both races at Texas last season, but more importantly, he has been on a roll recently in the 2022 season. Coming into the weekend, Herbst has finished 9th or better in five straight races and six of the last season. Included in those races are three top 5 finishes at well. With him being completely overlooked today, Herbst is my favorite mid-tier pivot for Saturday.
Other Options: Jeffrey Earnhardt ($7,900 – P35) – Earnhardt is the other chalky play I mentioned above. This car has top 20 upside as shown in practice. Sheldon Creed ($8,100 – P21), Daniel Hemric ($8,900 – P11), Brandon Brown ($7,000 – P23)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier (Under $7K)
- JJ Yeley ($6,500) – P14: JJ Yeley starting P14 in the Carl Long #66 is the top value play? Surely this is a typo you must be saying, but hear me out. Yeley ran the 5th fastest lap in practice on Friday so there is speed in this car. Why is there speed in this car? I am glad you asked, this car is an Xfinity car Carl Long purchased from Penske and was used by Austin Cindric in 2021 where he finished top 5 in both races.
- CJ McLaughlin ($4,700) – P36: McLaughlin is in the second Sieg car this week which has been running well this season. Combine the low price and PD upside and it’s hard to pass on this play.
- Alex Labbe ($6,800) – P32
- Jeremy Clements ($6,200) – P19
- Timmy Hill ($5,500) – P33
- Ryan Vargas ($5,700) – P31
- Ryan Ellis ($6,700) – P28
- David Starr ($5,200) – P29
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/)
