NASCAR Cup

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s Championship Finale from Phoenix!

This is it, the last race of the 2022 NASCAR season. There have been some ups and downs, unfortunately way more downs but it comes to an end this evening when a champion is crowned. Phoenix is a short, flat track that runs similar to New Hampshire and Richmond. This is a race with 312 laps meaning there are 218.4 dominator points available. As it was with the Truck race and the Xfinity race, picking dominators will be key. Whether you build one roster or are MME, you should be getting 2 dominators in your lineups.

Now on a personal note, I just want to thank everyone for reading my articles all season. I don’t know what the future holds for me so I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has been with me over the years here and all the people who interacted in discord and made this fun. Thank you!

NASCAR DFS: Championship 4

Joey Logano ($10,500)

Starting Position: 1st

Logano has been looking ahead to this race since he clinched his spot here when he won at Vegas a few weeks back so they may be the most prepared team. Not only that, Logano excels at this race track. Logano is a two-time winner and in the last five Phoenix races, has three top 3 finishes, and has a series-best 5th place average finish. On another note, the polesitter has won the previous two championship races and championships (Elliott in 2020 and Larson in 2021).

Chase Elliott ($10,900)

Starting Position: 5th

Elliott arguably had the best car here in the spring but struggled late and because of late-race spin, he finished 11th. In that race, Elliott led 50 laps, had the best total speed ranking, and had the 2nd best speed late in a run. It looks like Elliott has late run speed again in this car as he posted top 5 rankings in both 10 and 15-lap averages in Friday’s practice.

Both Elliott and Logano look to be the favorites to lead laps in this race and rack up dominator points on Sunday. Ross Chastain ($10,400 – P25) and Christopher Bell ($10,700 – P17) are the place differential plays of the Championship 4 drivers with limited to no dominator potential. Chastain at least showed some good speed in Friday’s practice session, so if he can find his way to the front he could lead laps here. Bell on the other hand was not fast in practice or qualifying and that is worrisome. Bell does have nine top 10s in the last ten races here and he has shown to be clutch when it counts these playoffs.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier/Dominators

Ryan Blaney ($9,100)

Starting Position: 2nd

Ryan Blaney has yet to win a race in 2022 but there is a really good chance he wins in Sunday’s finale. Blaney has been the best car throughout the weekend and could lead 100+ laps in this race. In Friday’s practice session, Blaney had the 2nd best single-lap (Chastain was first) and the best 5,10,15, and 20-lap averages. In the spring race here, Blaney led a race-high 143 laps, had a 4.5 average running position, and finished 4th. If a non-championship driver were to win this race, Blaney will be that guy.

Denny Hamlin ($9,900)

Starting Position: 21st

Hamlin is a solid performer when it comes to Phoenix. Hamlin is a previous winner here and has finished top 5 in five of the last seven races at Phoenix. Over the previous four, Hamlin has been especially good with three finishes inside the top 4 with an average finish of 5.8 and an average running position of 6.7.

Other Options: Kyle Larson ($10,100 – P4), William Byron ($9,700 – P8), Kyle Busch ($9,300 – P22) – I know, I don’t like it either, but his car did look fast in practice, Martin Truex Jr. ($9,500 – P12)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Kevin Harvick ($8,700)

Starting Position: 7th

Harvick will be looking for his 19th straight top 10 at Phoenix, and I think he does it. Currently, Harvick is tied with Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty for the longest top-10 streak at any track. Harvick has finished between 5th and 9th in seven of the last eight Phoenix races and is a nine-time winner at this track as well. I am not just basing this play on history, Harvick was fast in Friday’s practice session. In practice, Harvick had the 4th best single-lap speed and he was top 8 in 5,10,15, and 20-lap averages as well.

Aric Almirola($7,200)

Starting Position: 13th

Almirola is another driver who historically runs well at Phoenix and shorter flat tracks. In nine of Almirola’s last ten races at Phoenix, he has finished 13th or better including six top 10s in those races as well. Almirola is a low-owned play that will make it easier to fit three top-tier drivers into your lineups on Sunday at sub-15% ownership.

Alex Bowman ($8,000)

Starting Position: 24th

Bowman is returning from a concussion to finish out the season on Sunday. He was cleared to race last week at Martinsville, but Alex wanted to wait one more week before returning. Bowman had a great debut at this track in 2016, but since then it has been a bit all over the place. Bowman finished between 13th and 18th in all of the previous five races here with an average finish of 15th. This spring Bowman finished 14th and had a 10.3 average running position with the 9th-best total speed ranking. Bowman is a top 15 car with top 10 upside in my book on Sunday.

Other Options: Daniel Suarez ($8,400 – P28) – It’s concerning neither he nor Chastain could put down good qualifying laps and he will be chalky, Bubba Wallace ($7,300 – P23), Brad Keselowski ($7,000 – P18), Tyler Reddick ($8,900 – P11)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Todd Gilliland ($5,100) – P31
2. Erik Jones ($6,800) – P30
3. Chris Buescher ($6,700) – P19
4. Ty Dillon ($5,600) – P32
5. Justin Haley ($6,200) – P26
6. Landon Cassill ($4,900) – P36
7. Corey Lajoie ($5,300) – P27

The driver I’m playing you shouldn’t:

Chase Briscoe ($8,200 – P3)/Cole Custer ($6,000 – P9)

Cash Core:

For the cash core, I would pick 2 of the championship 4 and pair them with Todd Gilliland and Denny Hamlin.

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s Xfinity 500 from Martinsville Speedway!

Welcome the penultimate race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season from “The Paperclip”, Martinsville. We had a fairly clean race here in the spring with only one caution for incident and one for a stalled Denny Hamlin Toyota. William Byron won that race while leading 212 of 403 laps with Chase Elliott leading the second most, 185, from the pole.

Since I brought up laps led (intentionally), let’s discuss it more. This is scheduled to be a 500-lap race, meaning you will need to find dominators. I will suggest no less than 2 potential dominators in each lineup you build. Some of those drivers who could dominate may not be starting near the front but will work their way there later on. There are a massive amount of dominator points available (350) and if you don’t manage to roster the top lap leader you will have no shot at a takedown.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier/Dominators

William Byron ($10,800)

Starting Position: 25th (Dom/PD)

As I mentioned in the open, Byron is the winner from the spring race here and should be a factor again on Sunday. In practice, Byron was fast as he posted top-ten speeds in single-lap through 15-lap average. Byron has finished 8th or better in five of the last six Martinsville races and in the last three has the best average finish of 3.3. Byron also is the only driver to finish top five in every race during that three-race span. I know that Byron will be highly owned, but with his history of running near the front here, his need to win to lock himself into next week’s championship race, and his place-differential upside I don’t see a reason to fade the 24-car today.

Chase Elliott ($11,200)

Starting Position: 2nd (Dominator)

Like with Byron, Elliott led a lot of laps from the pole here in the spring, so with him starting from P2, there is a good chance he could lead a lot of laps early on in this race too. Elliott ran top 5 speeds in all lap average categories in Saturday’s practice session (5-30-laps) and we should expect this car to be racing near the front all day. Over his last five races here, Elliott has both the best average running position (4.2) and the most average laps led (142.2). Elliott may be relatively safe for next week’s finale, but there is no reason why he won’t try and win this race and leave no doubt.

Christopher Bell ($9,300)

Starting Position: 20th (Dom/PD)

Bell is a driver who must win to get himself into the championship four next week at Phoenix. Even though he starts from P20, that could happen. Bell has a fast car and has run really well at Martinsville but just seems to have some bad luck. Just this past spring, Bell had a top 10 car (finished top 10 in both stages) and while running 11th with just over 100 laps left he had a pit road penalty during green flag stops and ended up 20th. There is no real “similar track” to Martinsville, but the closest one you could compare is New Hampshire and Bell won that race earlier this season.

Joey Logano ($10,000)

Starting Position: 12th (Dominator)

Joey Logano is the only driver in the series who knows that he will be competing for the championship next weekend but that won’t stop him from being aggressive this weekend. Logano is historically great at Martinsville and he will be a contender on Sunday afternoon. As an example, in the spring Logano finished 2nd, had a 4.8 averaging running position, and had the 2nd fastest total speed ranking. Logano also has six race top 10 streak at Martinsville which is why he has a series-best 5.5 average finish and 6th place average running position during those 6 races.

Other Options (Dominator): Kyle Larson ($11,700 – P1), Denny Hamlin ($11,400 – P11), Ryan Blaney ($10,400 – P4) – *** Note ** Both Blaney and Hamlin will most likely need to win this race to secure their championship spot, Larson is just racing for the win

Other Options (PD): Martin Truex Jr. ($9,500 – P27)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Tyler Reddick ($8,400)

Starting Position: 28th

Reddick is priced down this week because, well, he sucks at Martinsville. Normally when a driver is not that good at a track, I pass them over, but when you combine Reddick’s price and starting position he actually has some upside. Now, in GPP’s I wouldn’t have too much exposure, but in cash, you should consider Reddick this week. Reddick has finished 18th here in back-to-back races and his career average here is 16.8. Those are not great numbers, but a plus 10-12 place differential could get it done for him to make value on Sunday.

Kyle Busch ($8,900)

Starting Position: 18th

I know Kyle Busch has faded out and been a non-factor most weeks since the playoffs started, but I hope this week will be different. I do not suggest Busch as someone to play in cash or single entry, but more of a large field GPP play. Martinsville has been one of Busch’s best tracks over his career and he has ten top-10 finishes over his last 14 races here, including two wins. In more recent times, Busch has the second-best average finish (7th) in his last four races here and is one of only two drivers to finish top-10 in all four. After a horrid stretch where he finished no better than 20th and three DNFs in five races, Busch has bounced back with two top 5s and three top 10s in his last three races.

Aric Almirola ($7,000)

Starting Position: 15th

Almirola has a fast Ford this weekend and could be a factor for a top 10. In Saturday’s practice session, Almirola posted the 7th-best 5-lap average and that was his lowest ranking. In 10 through 30-lap averages, Almirola was top 5 including the best 25-lap average among the 19 cars that ran that many consecutive laps. Earlier this season here at Martinsville, Almirola finished 8th at race end after finishing 5th (stage 1) and 7th (stage 2) in the stages and had a 6.3 average running position. Almirola makes a great tournament pivot off a chalky Austin Cindric.

Other Options: Austin Cindric ($7,100 – P30), Kevin Harvick ($8,700 – P8), Bubba Wallace ($7,900 – P24), Austin Dillon ($7,600 – P16)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Chris Buescher ($6,900) – P22
2. Erik Jones ($6,700) – P23
3. Ricky Stenhouse ($5,900) – P31
4. Justin Haley ($5,700) – P29
5. Ty Dillon ($5,300) – P32
6. Cole Custer ($6,300) – P5
7. Cody Ware ($4,700) – P36

The driver I’m playing you shouldn’t:

Chase Briscoe ($8,000 – P3)

Cash Core:

William Byron, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Cindric, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr will be leaving you a good $8,350 left per driver for the last two spots making this an easy cash build to fill in.

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 from Homestead-Miami Speedway!

This is the second of three races that will determine which four drivers race for the NASCAR Cup Series championship in two weeks at Phoenix. Last week, Joey Logano punched his ticket into the Championship 4, and this week another driver might be able to do the same. Homestead is a cookie-cutter 1.5-mile track where the high line is usually the best line to run. There are certain drivers who excel at that line and they will, of course, be high on our list this week.

Like I said in both the Truck Series and Xfinity Series article, this is a race you can chase dominator points. I will be rostering 2-3 potential dominators in every lineup I have to chase the 186.9 dominator points.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier/Dominators

Ross Chastain ($9,600)

Starting Position: 20th

Chastain has never raced at Homestead in a competitive car, but he has been exceptional at this track type in 2022. Chastain owns the number one speed ranking on high-speed 1.5-mile tracks in 2022, as well as the best average finish (7.8), the best average running position (6.6), and the most average laps led per race (51.5). In Saturday’s practice session, Chastain was faced as he posted the 6th fastest single-lap, and he was atop the 10-lap average chart as well.

Tyler Reddick ($10,900)

Starting Position: 7th

When you talk about drivers who like running the high line, Reddick is a master of it. While Reddick has never won here in the Cup Series, he has an average finish of 3rd in his career. In practice on Saturday, Reddick showed great speed, but he was above all others in the long run showing he is able to manage his tires on a track where that matters greatly. Reddick was 3rd fastest in single-lap speed, but in 15, 20, and 25-lap runs, he was the fastest.

Kyle Larson ($10,800)

Starting Position: 5th

Larson is another driver who can be dominant at this track type, and I think it could come down to him or Reddick at the end. Similar to Reddick, Larson was fast late in his practice run on Saturday. Larson posted the 4th best 15-lap average, but he was second only to Reddick in 20 and 25-lap speed. Also, similar to Reddick, Larson should be at lower ownership than usual which is always a positive.

William Byron ($9,200)

Starting Position: 1st

Byron is the polesitter for Sunday’s race, and he should be considered a contender as well. This track type is one of Byron’s best, and he was dominant here last year on his way to victory. During the 2022 playoffs, Byron has the best average running position (7.1) and 3rd best average finish (8.7) at this track type. Byron also ranked top 6 in all lap average categories in Saturday’s practice.

Other Options: Denny Hamlin ($10,600 – P14): Great play, but will be chalky. Joey Logano ($9,800 – P17): Another chalky, but solid PD play. Martin Truex Jr. ($9,400 – P12): Won’t carry the ownership of the Hamlin and Logano but is riskier. Chase Elliott ($10,400 – P3): Well, because it’s Chase Elliott.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Kevin Harvick ($8,600)

Starting Position: 16th

Harvick is a driver who typically runs well at this track type and should be a top 10 car at day’s end. In practice, Harvick was not showing a lot of speed, but this team should find a way to get speed into this car for Sunday. This season at high tire wear tracks, Harvick has finishes of 4th and 7th and was a top 5 car when he caught fire at the second Darlington race.

Austin Dillon ($7,200)

Starting Position: 32nd

I don’t love the idea of playing Dillon after seeing how slow this car was in practice, but when you look at his history here, it’s hard to pass him up. Dillon will be popular, no doubt, and is a lock for cash games and probably single-entry because of the upside. In his last six Homestead races, Dillon has a 10.2 average finish and has not finished lower than 12th in any race. This season at high tire wear 1.5-mile tracks, Dillon has the second-best average finish (9.3).

Daniel Suarez ($8,300)

Starting Position: 23rd

Suarez has been good to near great at both high-speed 1.5-mile ovals and at high tire wear tracks in 2022. Suarez finished 7th at Auto Club, 10th at Darlington 1, and was a contender at Darlington 2 until a late race pit penalty. At high-speed 1.5-mile tracks, Suarez has been a mid-teens driver but has shown better speed later in the season with two top-5 rankings in his last four at this track type. I view Suarez as a mid-teens driver with top 10 upside on Sunday.

Other Options: Austin Cindric ($7,700 – P26), Chase Briscoe ($8,500 – P19), Noah Gragson ($8,100 – P24)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Ty Dillon ($5,700) – P30
2. Corey Lajoie ($5,000) – P31
3. Ricky Stenhouse ($6,500) – P27
4. Aric Almirola ($6,700) – P28
5. Landon Cassill ($4,800) – P33
6. Justin Haley ($6,300) – P15

The driver I’m playing you shouldn’t:

John Hunter Nemechek ($6,100 – P4)

Cash Core:

Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon: This core leaves you with $6.4K left for your final two spots, but they are pretty easy to fill when you look at possible place differential.

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s South Point 400 from Las Vegas!

This week the Cup Series begins the third round of the NASCAR playoffs with 400 miles of high-speed 1.5 oval racing! We saw on Saturday in the Xfinity race that drivers could pass on both the top and bottom lanes. We also saw that tires were key and drivers on old tires were sitting ducks on the track.

While this is a race we can look to roster dominators, there are a lot of great place differential plays in all tiers of this race. Kansas is the most similar track to Vegas so I will be looking closely at how that race went when breaking down this race.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Denny Hamlin ($11,100)

Starting Position: 31st

Hamlin won this race last fall and will look to clinch his spot in the championship finale with another win here. Recently at Kansas, Hamlin started 25th and came home 2nd in that race which makes me believe he can do the same on Sunday. In Saturday’s practice session, Hamlin was 13th quickest in single-lap speed.

Ross Chastain ($9,900)

Starting Position: 11th

Chastain is someone that has been dominant on this track type in 2022. In five races on high-speed 1.5-mile ovals, Chastain has the best speed ranking among all drivers. Chastain was also extremely fast in practice on Saturday, posting the 2nd fastest single-lap, 5-lap, and 10-lap speeds. Chastain is by no means safe when it comes to making it to Phoenix, and he will definitely be a factor in winning this race and clinching his spot in the finale.

Martin Truex Jr. ($9,100)

Starting Position: 27th

Truex has been nearly as fast as Chastain has on this track type in 2022. Looking at the same speed rankings, Truex has been top 6 in speed in four of the five races for an average rank of 5.8. The last time Truex had a top 5 finish was at Kansas earlier this season. I don’t love the fact that Truex didn’t show great speed in practice, but I do think he and the 19 team will figure out what kept them from running well.

Other Options: Ryan Blaney ($9,500 – P4) – Blaney is my favorite potential dominator in this race. Kyle Busch ($9,300 – P18), Chase Elliott ($10,700 – P20)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Erik Jones ($7,100)

Starting Position: 22nd

Jones was posting top 5 laps in practice and ended up with the third best single-lap speed. Not only did Jones post the third best single, he also had the third best 5-lap average. Jones has finished 11th or better in three straight races and I would not be surprised if he makes it four straight on Sunday.

Bubba Wallace ($8,700)

Starting Position: 9th

Wallace and the Toyota’s were fast at Kansas and have been fast this weekend. Back at Kansas, Wallace won that race while leading the last 58 laps. Wallace said today that the car they brought to Vegas was the one the won that race. I don’t know if Wallace can win this race, but he should be a threat for a top 5 on Sunday.

Other Options: Chase Briscoe ($8,100 – P16), Joey Logano ($8,900 – P5), Noah Gragson ($7,300 – P17)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Ty Dillon ($5,600) – P33
2. Corey Lajoie ($4,900) – P30
3. Justin Haley ($5,800) – P28
4. AJ Allmendinger ($6,400) – P21
5. Ricky Stenhouse ($6,000) – P29
6. Todd Gilliland ($5,200) -P35
7. Brad Keselowski ($6,900) – P25

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 from Charlotte!

This will be the sixth and final time the Cup Series is on a road course in 2022 and it should be an exciting one. Last season we saw Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick trying to destroy one another because of the incident at Bristol a few weeks back. There are a lot of drivers who believe they “owe” another driver payback so maybe we see something similar on Sunday.

One of those drivers is Denny Hamlin. Byron dumped Hamlin and sent him spinning under caution at Texas a few weeks back and was fined 25 points (and money). This week NASCAR heard Byron’s appeal and decided to raise his fine but award Byron his 25 points back. Because of this Byron went from 11 points below the cut line to 14 points above. I talk about this because it changes how Byron will run this race.

There are two strategies that drivers and their teams will apply to this race:

“Optimal Strategy” – The optimal strategy is to pit under before the stage breaks and try to win this race and nothing else. I see drivers who have already advanced (Chase Elliott) or non-playoff drivers using this strategy on Sunday.

“Points Racing” – Drivers who need stage points to help them advance will stay out for the full stage to gain points and then pit under caution after the stage. This will most likely be a strategy most playoff drivers use, especially ones who are right around the cut line (Cindric, Briscoe, Byron, etc).

Paying attention to who is in what position on the season could be key to succeeding this weekend. Keep in mind that I am just guessing who will be running which strategy on Sunday,

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

“Optimal Strategy” Drivers:

There are three drivers in this tier that will be running on the optimal strategy and all three are great road course drivers.

Chase Elliott ($10,600 – P9) –

Elliott is surprisingly winless at road courses in 2022, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been good at this track type this season. At road courses in 2022, Elliott has a series-bests in the average finish (6.8), average running position (7.6), and the best driver rating. If he didn’t have his issues last season, Elliott could be going for his fourth straight win here on Sunday but will have to settle for three in four seasons.

Tyler Reddick ($10,500 – P4) –

Reddick is a two-time winner on road courses in 2022 (Road America and Indy GP) and was the runner-up in this race last season. In 2022, Reddick has been nothing short of spectacular on this track type with four top 5s in five races and ranking top 2 in speed ranking in three of the five. If you remove Sonoma, where Reddick had issues and finished 35th, he would have an average finish of 3.5 and have the fourth-best average speed ranking.

AJ Allmendinger ($9,400 – P7) –

Allmendinger is coming off his fourth straight win at the Roval in Xfinity Series on Saturday and his #16 Chevy looked superior to the field in practice on Saturday for this race. Allmendinger has the fastest lap in both sessions on Saturday but did spin late in his session and made some contact with the wall. It does not appear Dinger will need to drop to the rear since the damage was just cosmetic.

Last season at this track, Allmendinger was running well and was in 5th on lap 57 when his engine gave out and ended his day. This season at road courses, Allmendinger unsurprisingly has run well with the exception of Sonoma which is a track he has never run well at historically. Allmendinger has three top 10s in the other four road course races in 2022 and it would be 4 for 4 if he didn’t have contact with eventual race winner, Ross Chastain, at COTA on the last lap while battling for the lead.

I like the idea of running all three of these drivers together in GPP’s on Sunday, but for SE and cash I would go with two only and look for some other place differential plays to mix in with them.

Other Options: Christopher Bell ($9,300 – P8) – Bell has to win to advance so he could be on the same strategy as these drivers. Bell is an excellent road course driver and should be in contention at race end

“Points Racing” Drivers:

Kyle Larson ($10,300 – P18) –

Larson is the defending winner of this race and should be a contender again on Sunday. Since he is only 18 points above the cut line, Larson will need to race clean, especially early, if he wants to advance. With him starting 18th, I expect that Larson will be popular and he makes for an ideal cash game play. Larson is also a good option to pair with two of the optimal strategy drivers in GPP’s. Larson won at Watkins Glen earlier this season but has not been great at this track type in 2022. This track has always been one of his better ones and Larson should be near the front at the end of the day.

Ryan Blaney ($9,700 – P6) –

Blaney is a former winner here and has finished top 10 in all four races at this track. In his career at this track, Blaney has a 5.8 average finish which is second-best behind Elliott. Now, Blaney is starting near the front and will most likely be point racing so there is the risk that he doesn’t hit value therefore I suggest Blaney as a GPP-only play for this race. This season at road courses, Blaney started out hot with an average finish of 7.6, but at Indy and Watkins Glen he did not end well. Blaney was fast at Indy but got caught up in all the chaos at the end and ruined his day.

Other Options: William Byron ($9,900 – P2), Denny Hamlin ($10,100 – P24)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Chris Buescher ($7,800)

Starting Position: 21st

Buescher is probably one of the most underrated road course drivers in the series. Early this season he was one of three drivers that tested tires at Watkins Glen and since then he has been great at this track type. In the four RC races following the test, Buescher has the second-best average finish (6.8) and second-best speed ranking. Last year at the Roval, Buescher finished 3rd and ranked 5th for speed late in a run. I am not putting too much stock in Buescher’s slow practice speeds because of how well they have been at this track type in 2022. Buescher is a contender to win this race in my eyes and is a great play in all formats.

Austin Cindric ($8,600)

Starting Position: 5th

Cindric is a premier road course racer and should be high on the list of potential winners on Sunday. With that being said, I expect Cindric to be points-racing, at least early on. Cindric is below the cut line currently and will need to get stage points and a good finishing position to advance, but he could also just try and go out and win this race. This season in five road course races, Cindric has the second-best average finish (7th), the fourth-best speed ranking, and the third-best average DKFP per race (41.3). With the speed he showed in practice on Saturday, there is no reason that Cindric can’t win this race on Sunday.

Erik Jones ($7,400)

Starting Position: 26th

Is Erik Jones an elite road course racer, probably not. Is Jones an elite DFS road course racer, yup (in 2022 at least)! This season nobody has a better place differential than Erik Jones at road courses (+14.8 avg per race) and he should once again show that upside on Sunday. For some reason, Jones cannot qualify well at this track type but he can race well. Besides being the top place differential driver at this track type, Jones has the second-best DKFP per race average (41.4) and best FDFP per race (47.7).

Other Options: Chase Briscoe ($8,300 – P17), Noah Gragson ($7,600 – P29), Michael McDowell ($7,300 – P11), Brad Keselowski ($7,000 – P31)

There are A LOT of mid-tier drivers in play for this race and I probably wouldn’t talk you off any of them.

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Aric Almirola ($6,400 – P37): Almirola is not a great road course driver, but you can’t argue with his PD upside here for the price. Almirola is an elite cash and SE option on Sunday.
2. Todd Gilliland ($5,700 – P32): Gilliland is the GPP pivot off of the chalk Almirola for me. If you remove Watkins Glen where he wrecked, Gilliland has a 17.25 average finish on road courses in 2022.
3. Ty Gibbs ($6,500 – P16): Gibbs has excelled at this track type in his Xfinity career and finished 2nd here yesterday in the Xfinity race.
4. Ricky Stenhouse ($6,000 – P25)
5. Ty Dillon ($5,400 – P28)
6. Mike Rockenfeller ($4,900 – P34)
7. Corey Lajoie ($5,200 – P30)

Cash Core: Kyle Larson, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola : This core leaves you over $9K per driver.

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway!

As with most superspeedway races, this one should be filled with destroyed cars. After what we’ve seen in the lack of safety and tires in this new car I am hoping we don’t have any wrecks but they are inevitable in these races. What happened in the Xfinity Series race, every car finished the race, will not happen on Sunday. That was the first time that has ever happened in any of the three national series in NASCAR.

In four of the last five Talladega races, the winner won with a last-lap pass. Like I have said all weekend and at previous superspeedway races, you need to focus on place differential and finishing position. If you are playing only one lineup, you should be completely fading the drivers starting in the top 10. In most of the last five Talladega races, 2-3 drivers starting in the top 10 would finish there. The majority of the top 10 came from the high teens and further back. Also, there are only 37 cars in the field so there will be lower place differential totals on Sunday so you don’t need to stack the chalk from the back.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Ryan Blaney ($10,400)

Starting Position: 19th

Blaney is one of the series’ top superspeedway drivers and should be one of the top picks to win this race. Earlier this season at Talladega, Blaney finished 11th, but he led 23 laps and was running second but had a pit road issue that led to his 11th place. In the last five races here, Blaney has the 3rd best average finish (of drivers with more than one race) and has one win and two top 10’s in those races.

Chase Elliott ($10,000)

Starting Position: 16th

Superspeedways are not Elliott’s best track type but he should be a top performer on Sunday. Elliott needs points and can’t afford to wreck out early in this race. Since 2019, Elliot has one win and four finishes of 8th or better in that span.

Other Options: Kyle Busch ($9,900 – P26), Martin Truex Jr. ($9,700 – P22)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Bubba Wallace ($8,900)

Starting Position: 27th (Dropping to the rear for engine change)

Even with Wallace dropping to the rear, this shouldn’t deter anyone from playing him on Sunday. Wallace is one of the supreme superspeedway drivers in the Cup Series and should be near the front at day’s end. Last fall at this race Wallace earned his first career Cup Series win and has excelled at every superspeedway race since. At the Daytona 500, Wallace was in a position to win at the end but ended up 2nd behind Austin Cindric. Then at the first Talladega race this season, Wallace led 15 laps and won stage 1. Wallace was pushing back to the front on the last lap, but was caught up in the last lap wreck and finished 17th.

Lower Owned Pivot: Kevin Harvick ($8,100 – P24) – Harvick has run well at Talladega recently with 5 finishes in the top 20 out of five races. Harvick also has four top 10’s in that time and the second best average finish (10.4)

Chris Buescher ($7,600)

Starting Position: 23rd

Buescher is another driver who traditionally runs well at this track type. In the last two fall races, Buescher won stage 1 and has two top 10’s in the last five races here. Last Fall at this race, Buescher won stage 1 as I mentioned, and he also led seven laps in that race on his way to a 6th place finish. Ford’s, and more specifically RFK Ford’s, run well at this track type and Sunday should be no different.

Outside of the three drivers above, there are three more I highly rank for today’s race:

Austin Cindric ($7,900 – P17): Cindric won the Daytona 500 this year and ran well at Talladega but was caught up in the big one in stage 2 and finished 21st.

Austin Dillon ($7,200 – P20): Dillon is a superior superspeedway driver and is coming off a win at Daytona.

Brad Keselowski ($7,400 – P18): Keselowski is a 6-time winner at Talladega and should be a contender on Sunday. Can he win this race? Of course he can, but I view Kes as a top 10 car. In his last five Dega races, Keselowski has finished every race running and has only one finish lower than 19th (23rd – Spring ’22) and won the spring race here in 2021. Keselowski also has the second-most quality passes over the last 5 races (passes inside the top 15 under green)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Corey Lajoie ($6,000) – P32
2. Todd Gilliland ($4,900) – P34: Gilliland may be my favorite play on the entire slate. He is a driver that never gets above 20% ownership and typically runs well at drafting tracks.
3. Ricky Stenhouse ($6,400) – P25 (Speicial 2Lock Bday narrative today!)
4. Ty Dillon ($5,300) – P30
5. Cole Custer ($6,700) – P28): Nobody ever plays Custer as these tracks but he (almost) always does well.
6. Michael McDowell ($6,600) – P29
7. Landon Cassill ($5,800) – P33
8. Justin Haley ($6,200) – P21: Haley probably comes in at sub 10% ownership which makes me love him more. If you are making 1-3 lineups, don’t go here but if you’re MME like me crank up the exposure.

Realistically everyone in this tier is in play, even Noah Gragson ($5,600 – P7).

There are a lot of good drivers that I don’t want exposure to in DFS, like Kyle Larson, but I will have some Erik Jones ($8,300 – P12) exposure on Sunday. He is my pick to win this race and has decent odds on DK still at +3000. I also think Stenhouse can get it done today as well at +4000 on DK, but a real darkhorse bet that I put some money is Harrison Burton ($5,100 – P15) at +10000.

Remember everyone, this a superspeedway and you should NOT be looking to max out your salary. Instead look to drivers who run well and are good at avoiding the wrecks to have good finishes. Of course, place differential is key but you do NOT need to just “stack the back”, drivers in the low 20’s and teens are playable.

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 500 (sheesh…that’s a mouthful)

Unlike last week, this should be a relatively boring race. Texas is not known for fun and exciting races. The drivers hate it and the fans do as well. As Kyle Larson stated earlier on Saturday, “I would like them to demolish this place first and then start over from scratch”. Couldn’t say it any better myself. Last season in this race we had only five incidents that produced caution, but the first one had 12 cars involved. At the end of the day, only 15 cars ended the day on the lead lap and 13 cars (out of 39) wrecked out.

Based on all that, a “stack the back” lineup may seem ideal, but consider this; six of the top in that race started in the top 10 and the polesitter won (not happening on Sunday). Only four drivers outside the top 20 finished inside the top 20. While loading up on drivers in the late 20s and 30s may seem smart, I won’t be doing that. Now, finding 2-3 drivers who may be lower owned with some potential for high teens to low 20s finish is worth a shot and is something I will try to do.

Getting a few potential place differential plays is something we need to consider, but finding potential dominators may be more critical. With there being 334 laps, we have an overabundance of dominator points to search for, 233.8 to be exact. Kansas is the most similar track the series has visited recently (9/11) and Goodyear is bringing the same tires setup from that race to Texas. In that race, the Toyota’s dominated with four of the top five finishers, but the next three were all Chevy’s, 2 HMS Chevy’s, and Ross Chastain to be exact.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Potential Dominators:

• Kyle Larson ($10,700 – P9)
• Denny Hamlin ($10,800 – P8)
• William Byron ($9,100 – P3)
• Tyler Reddick ($9,400 – P4)

All four of these drivers have won multiple races in 2022 and led a lot of laps in the process. On the season at this track type all four rank inside the top 10 in average speed ranking and in the top 10 in speed at Kansas two weeks ago. Reddick was actually at the top of the speed charts but wrecked early after leading 38 laps in that race. Looking at the salaries, using one of the $10K guys with one of the $9K drivers fits all build types perfectly and will most likely be how I start all my lineups on Sunday.

Other Options: Ross Chastain ($9,200 – P12), Joey Logano ($8,900 – P2), Chase Elliott ($10,500 – P6)

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier Place Differential:

Christopher Bell ($10,300)

Starting Position: 22nd

Bell starts in a spot that makes him the ideal place differential play for this race. Since Richmond (six races), outside of Daytona where he wrecked, Bell has yet to finish worse than 8th. Bell does have some dominator potential, albeit low, but I am not rostering him for those points. Since I view Bell as a top 10 car with an outside shot at winning, I want to use the 20 car to earn PD points.

Ryan Blaney ($9,600)

Starting Position: 14th

Blaney has been outstanding at Texas since joining Penske. Since 2018, Blaney has finished 8th or better in every race (except Spring 2019 – Overheating) and won the All-Star race here earlier this season. At Kansas, Blaney finished 9th and was the highest finishing Ford in that race as well. In 2022, Blaney ranks 3rd in total speed ranking and was 5th best in that Kansas race.

Kyle Busch ($10,000)

Starting Position: 18th

It’ll be hard to roster Busch with all the bad luck he has been having, but there is upside here if his car doesn’t fail him. Kyle is a four-time winner at Texas and has five straight top 10 finishes.

Other Options: Martin Truex Jr. ($9,800 – P15)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Alex Bowman ($8,400)

Starting Position: 17th

Bowman was the top Chevrolet at Kansas finishing 4th after leading 107 laps. Bowman comes in with two top 5’s in the last four times he’s points raced here (not including the All-Star race). Before getting caught up in the big one at Bristol, Bowman had back-to-back top 10s and four straight finishes of 14th or better. I view Bowman as a top 10 car on Sunday.

Bubba Wallace ($8,600)

Starting Position: 19th

Wallace had a convincing victory at Kansas where he drove through the field late to lead the final 58 laps while having the 3rd best speed ranking. At Michigan, the last high-speed intermediate track, Wallace finished 2nd to Harvick but had the better car in that race. Wallace is a top 10 car who could compete for the win again on Sunday.

Ty Gibbs ($7,000)

Starting Position: 16th

Gibbs is cheap enough that if he finishes right around where he starts he can make value. In his nine Cup Series races, Gibbs either finishes in the top 20, or wrecks out. If the Toyotas run as well as they did in Kansas, I can see Gibbs earning his 2nd career top 10 on Sunday.

Other Options: Kevin Harvick ($8,700 – P23), Chase Briscoe ($7,500 – P30), Erik Jones ($8,000 – P27)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Justin Haley ($5,700) – P31
2. Noah Gragson ($5,900) – P26
3. Ty Dillon ($5,400) – P32
4. Landon Cassill ($4,900) – P35
5. Corey Lajoie ($5,200) – P29
6. Cody Ware ($4,700) – P36
7. Todd Gilliland ($5,000)- P28

Cash Core:

Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley – This core will leave you with $7,350 for your final two spots. That is plenty of salary especially with the upside in the $5K range on this slate.

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race from Bristol Motor Speedway!

This should be a really fun race to watch on Saturday night. There will be a lot of bumping and banging as teams fight for the final spots in the second round of the playoffs. When it comes to DFS, we have 500 laps of racing in this race which translates to 350 dominator points. Track position is key in this race and as we saw in both the Truck and Xfinity Series it is hard to pass. Unless you make a pit strategy call, it will be hard to fight through the field. Similar to those races I will be looking at practice speeds to determine which drivers are viable for this race. With there being so many dominator points we should be looking to use at least 2 potential dominators per race.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier/Dominators

Potential Dominators:

Kyle Larson ($10,800)

Starting Position: 5th

Kyle Larson said he has never had an easier car to drive at Bristol than the one he has for Saturday’s race. Looking at how fast he was in practice, it’s hard to argue with Larson about having a great car. In Friday’s practice session, Larson was 3rd and 4th in 5 and 10-lap averages and he was tops in 15-lap through 30-lap averages. Larson is my pick to lead the most laps in this race, potentially 300 or more, and be the highest scoring driver on DraftKings.

Denny Hamlin ($11,500)

Starting Position: 4th

Hamlin was another driver who had a fast car on Friday, finishing with the best 5 and 10-lap averages, and should push Larson for the total laps led title on Saturday. Over his career, Bristol has been a good track for Hamlin but recently he hasn’t had great results. Hamlin has been running well recently in 2022 and I expect another top 5 from the 11 team on Saturday.

Alex Bowman ($8,200)

Starting Position: 3rd

Bowman has never really been great at Bristol, but he is coming off his career-best finish at this track of 5th last season. Bowman also has back-to-back top 10’s at Darlington and Kansas. In Friday’s practice, Bowman was top 10 in all speed categories and while he is a longshot pick to dominate this race, the potential is there. While I believe both Larson and Hamlin are safe cash game type plays, Bowman is a good GPP play.

Other Options: Christopher Bell ($10,200 – P8), Aric Almirola ($7,000 – P1)

Place Differential:

Kyle Busch ($10,500)

Starting Position: 21st

Kyle Busch had an eventful week, but this isn’t the time to go into his future. Bristol is one of Kyle’s best tracks and he should have another great race on Saturday night. I know I said I probably won’t roster him this season again, but it’s hard to overlook the huge upside here with Kyle. Since the fall race in 2017, Kyle has three wins and six top 5’s in eight races. In Friday’s practice session, Busch’s car improved as he ran more laps and while there is always the potential for carnage here I think this race ends relatively clean and Kyle comes home with another top 5.

Joey Logano ($9,500)

Starting Position: 15th

While Chase Elliott ($11,200 – P23) may have more place differential upside, I prefer to take the nearly $2K savings and go with the hotter driver. Logano has the best average finish in the series over the last six races (7.7). Bristol hasn’t been nice to Logano lately but as a two-time winner of the Bristol Night race and with his current run of form, I am confident that Logano has a solid night on Saturday.

Other Options: Chase Elliott ($11,200 – P23), Tyler Reddick ($9,900 – P17), Ross Chastain ($9,200 – P12)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Kevin Harvick ($8,500)

Starting Position: 7th

Kevin Harvick needs to win this race to move on in the playoffs so we can expect pit strategy from this team to put him in the best spot to do so. Harvick also has some dominator potential because he needs to win. Harvick had long-run speed in practice on Friday with the second-best 15-lap though 30-lap averages.

Erik Jones ($7,900)

Starting Position: 24th

Erik Jones should be in contention for a top 10 on Saturday night. Jones is the only driver in the field with three straight top 10s at Bristol. In one of the weirder narratives I’ve seen in DFS, Jones has finished 11th or better in every other race since Gateway (14 races) and last week Jones finished 29th. I know it’s not a real analysis, but it is really strange because I have never seen anything like that.

Bubba Wallace ($8,300)

Starting Position: 14th

Wallace is coming off his second career win last week in Kansas and should be a factor again on Saturday. Bristol has been a pretty good track for Wallace in recent years with three finishes between 10th and 16th in the last four races. In his last nine races, Wallace has finished 13th or better in eight of those races (Watkins Glen – Suspension issue) and has four top 5’s in that span.

Other Options: William Byron ($8,700 – P16), Ryan Blaney ($8,900 – P6) – Blaney could be a low-owned dominator in this race. Chase Briscoe ($7,600 – P2) – Similar to Harvick, Briscoe probably needs to win this race to move on and his team could employ a pit strategy to keep him near the front. Austin Dillon ($7,700 – P28) – Big place differential upside for a driver who must win to advance.

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Brad Keselowski ($6,400) – P10: Keselowski was fast in practice and has top 10 potential.
2. AJ Allmendinger ($6,100) – P13: Dinger was fast in practice on Friday and is coming in riding high from clinching the Xfinity Series regular season championship.
3. Chris Buescher ($6,600) – P20: Buescher starts P20 but put up top 10 single lap speed and top 15 10 lap average. I view Buescher as a top 15 car with top 10 upside.
4. Justin Haley ($6,000) – P19
5. Corey Lajoie ($5,400) – P31
6. JJ Yeley ($5,100) – P36: Yeley starts dead last and there is bound to be attrition in this race. If Yeley can avoid it he could have a nice DFS day.
7. Cole Custer ($5,900 – P11

Cash Core:

Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, and Ty Dillon will leave you $7,550 average salary for your last to spots.

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway!

This week the series heads to Kansas for the second race of the first round of the playoffs. Earlier this season, Kurt Busch led 116 laps and won the race here. Unfortunately, Kurt has still not been medically cleared to compete so he won’t be going for a Kansas sweep on Sunday. With Erik Jones winning last Sunday at Darlington no driver was able to clinch their spot in the second round so all 12 spots are still up for grabs on Sunday.

We have 400 miles of racing on Sunday to look forward to and that means 267 laps of dominator points (186.9 points) to try and procure on our way to cashing. Unlike the Truck and Xfinity races here in recent years, the lap’s lead points can be spread out. In the three previous races, one driver has led over 100 laps, but in the three before that, no driver led 100 laps. With how this season has gone, I am going to lead with a more spread-out lap leader strategy and while still looking to have 1-2 dominators in every lineup, I will also play the place differential game.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier/Dominators

Potential Dominators:

Kyle Larson ($10,700)

Starting Position: 7th

Larson has been of the best drivers at this track over the previous two seasons. In the last two years, Larson won the fall race here last season and finished second earlier this season. Larson has also led the most laps at Kanas in two of the previous three races as well. Larson was top three in 5, 10, 15, and 20-lap averages in Saturday’s practice session. Throughout the season, Larson has shown speed at this track type ranking top five in 3 of the 4 races at similar tracks (Charlotte being the outlier) in total speed ranking and fourth overall.

Tyler Reddick ($9,800)

Starting Position: 1st

Reddick’s Chevy was absolutely flying around the track on Saturday and it showed in the speed charts. After both practice sessions were complete Reddick stood atop every speed ranking from single-lap speed to all of the lap averages. In that session, the high line was the obvious fastest line and Reddick is best when he can fun the top. Reddick will be hard to pass on Sunday and with there being so many “good” plays in this tier starting in the 20s I expect him to have low ownership which makes him my favorite GPP target.

Other Options: Christopher Bell ($9,600 – P4) – Bell was the fast car until Reddick found that high line. I still expect Bell to be fast and compete for the win on Sunday. William Byron ($9,100 – P9) – Byron was good here in the Spring but had issues that had him end up 16th. I view Byron as a long shot to win, but definitely someone with top 5 upside at next to no ownership. Ross Chastain ($10,000 – P5) – Chastain has the best total speed ranking at this track type in 2022, and I expect him to be near the front all day unless someone decides to “get him back” of course.

Place Differential:

Denny Hamlin ($11,000)

Starting Position: 25th

Hamlin is going to be chalky and he should be, and because of this, he is the best cash game option on the slate. Even though he will be highly owned, I still want him in tournaments. Hamlin has the potential to score the most fantasy points on both sites and that is what makes him playable in all contest types. Hamlin is second to only Chastain in total speed ranking at this track type in 2022 and while he didn’t show speed in practice, I have no doubt it will be there because we saw other Toyotas show speed.

Kyle Busch ($10,900)

Starting Position: 20th

Busch has been great at Kansas in recent years including his third-place finish here in the spring. Since 2020, in five races Busch has had one win and three top 5 finishes. Similar to Hamlin, Busch wasn’t overly fast in practice, but I have no doubt they will find speed and push for the win.

Other Options: Chase Elliott ($10,500 – P22), Martin Truex Jr. ($10,300 – P12)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Kevin Harvick ($8,700)

Starting Position: 14th

Harvick had a terrible night in Darlington last Sunday when his car burst into flames. Harvick’s issues led to NASCAR making some safety changes to the cars this week. Similar to Darlington, Harvick has been outstanding at Kansas in recent years. Since 2020, Harvick has only finished outside the top 5 once (Spring 2022) at Kansas.

Alex Bowman ($8,200)

Starting Position: 3rd

I know no one reading this will play Alex Bowman, but that’s ok because I will. Bowman has been good at this track type in 2022 and ran well here at Kansas since joining Hendrick. In ten races at Kansas, Bowman has never finished outside the top 20 and has six top 10s including a 9th place finish this spring. Bowman has a win in 2022 at Las Vegas and is 11th in total speed ranking on this track type.

Bubba Wallace ($8,000)

Starting Position: 5th

Here is yet another driver I know you won’t play, but should. Wallace is driving the car that won this race in the spring and showed speed on Saturday. In the spring race here Wallace finished 10th despite his crew trying feverously to make him fail with multiple mistakes on pit road. If you go back to the second Atlanta race (9 races), Wallace has only finished lower than 14th once (Watkins Glen – Suspension issue) and has five top 10s in that span. Wallace is on a good run of form and I think he can potentially win this race on Sunday.

Other Options: Erik Jones ($7,800 – P24), Ryan Blaney ($8,900 – P17), Austin Cindric ($7,500 – P8)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

Both Ricky Stenhouse ($6,300 – P35) and Aric Almirola ($6,500 – P36) are the obvious chalk in this tier and are cash game locks. I will be sprinkling them into my GPP lineups, but I will do my best to not play them both together. Stenhouse did run really well here in the spring starting P36 and finishing 8th. In that race, Stenhouse was one of the top DKFP scorers and the top FD scorer. Almirola has top 15 upside here, but I am still slightly concerned that his team couldn’t fix the issue (not sure what it was) and he may just run around the back of the field all day.

1. Chris Buescher ($6,900) – P10 – Buescher was fast in practice and will be a low-owned pivot off of the chalk value plays.
2. Noah Gragson ($6,100) – P28 – Gragson had his best finish at a non-superspeedway here in the spring (18th) and is riding high off of back-to-back Xfinity Series wins.
3. Justin Haley ($5,500) – P27
4. Michael McDowell ($6,700) – P23
5. Cole Custer ($6,000) – P29
6. Todd Gilliland ($5,4000) – P32
7. Landon Cassill ($5,200) – P31

Cash Core:

Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Almirola, Stenhouse: This core leaves you $7.6K per remaining driver on DK, which is a lot of salary to play with.

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Sunday Night’s Southern 500 from the track Too Tough Too Tame, Darlington Raceway!

This should be one of the best races of the season as Darlington always creates a great race atmosphere, just like we saw with the Xfinity race on Saturday. Couple that with the fact this is the first race of the Cup Series playoffs and we should be in for a fun night.

Darlington is a unique track usually won by veterans who have experience here. This race will come down to pit strategy and which drivers take care of their tires the best. Because of this, I will focus on which teams had the best speed late in a run from the spring race as well as which drivers had fast laps times near the end of practice on Saturday. Picking dominators correctly will be key also since this is a long race with 367 laps equalling 256.9 dominator points on DK.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier/Dominators

Chase Elliott ($10,700)

Starting Position: 23rd

Elliott won the regular season championship but now he wants to win the Cup Series Championship and that starts with a dominating performance at Darlington on Sunday. With that being said, I don’t think Elliott dominates this race, but he should be the best place differential play in this race and comes with huge upside. Elliott has never won at Darlington but he is coming off a top 5 in the spring race here and has finished 7th or better three times since 2020. Elliott was in line to win in the fall race in 2020 but hit the wall hard after being passed by Truex leading to him finishing 20th after leading 114 laps.

Joey Logano ($9,800)

Starting Position: 1st

Joey Logano did dominate here in the spring and looks to have a repeat performance on Sunday night. In that race, Logano led the most laps (107), had the most fastest laps (30), had the best average running position (2.4), and had the highest score on DraftKings all while going to victory lane from the pole. Logano didn’t look exceptionally fast in practice this week, but I am not overly concerned. We know this team has a fast car, evident by their starting position and Logano knows how to race here and take care of his tires. I don’t like it, but I think Logano completes the double dip and wins from the pole here again on Sunday.

Martin Truex Jr. ($9,500)

Starting Position: 17th

Truex is one of only three drivers in the field who have multiple wins here (Hamlin and Harvick) in their career and don’t be surprised to see him add another on Sunday night. Earlier this season at this track, Truex was a contender as he finished top 5 in both stages, led 28 laps, and had an average running position of 6.4 until he got some damage while running fourth in a “big one” on lap 260. Truex had one of the top cars in practice putting up a top 5 single lap and more importantly, he was top 2 in all lap average speeds from 5-lap through 20-lap.

Tyler Reddick ($10,500)

Starting Position: 4th

Reddick is one of those drivers who loves to run the top line and this race is a top line race. This is a risky play because of where he starts and his salary but for GPP’s, Reddick could be the difference. In the spring race this season, Reddick finished second to Logano and was 3rd best late in a run and 5th best in total speed ranking. Reddick was second to Bell in quality passes with 47 (times a driver passes another drive in the top 15 under green).

Other Options: Both Kyle Larson ($11,400 -P7) and Denny Hamlin ($11,100 – P11) are great at Darlington, but their prices are what makes me leery of using them too much (I will have some exposure). I would rather use Elliott for a little less salary with higher PD upside and some dominator potential over both Larson and Hamlin. I will say if you’re a numbers person all those 11’s associated with Hamlin could be good luck today. Ross Chastain (10,000 – P12).

NASCAR DFS: Mid-Tier

Kevin Harvick ($8,500)

Starting Position: 18th

Kevin Harvick and Darlington are like a match made in heaven. The only things Harvick may love more than racing at Darlington are his wife and kids. Harvick was still driving the #29 for Richard Childress Racing the last time he didn’t finish in the top 10 (2013). In the thirteen races since then, Harvick has three wins and ELEVEN top 5’s. Those are insane numbers for any driver at any track. Combine how well he runs here and with his current form, it’s hard to not want to roster Harvick. I love Harvick on Sunday and he is a cash game must and is certainly playable in GPP’s as well.

William Byron ($8,900)

Starting Position: 3rd

Now here we have a GPP-only play in William Byron. Similar to Reddick because of his salary, starting position, and recent form Byron is a super-risky play. But, his #24 Chevy was incredibly fast in practice on Saturday and he kept the speed going in qualifying as well. Byron was 2nd to only Austin Cindric ($7,600 – P6) in single-lap speed, had the 4th best 5 and 10-lap averages, and 6th best 15-lap average. Darlington has been a pretty good track for Byron in recent years as well with two top 5’s (20 and 21) and a 13th place finish earlier this season after leading 24 laps.

Daniel Suarez ($8,000)

Starting Position: 36th

Suarez starts dead last but will have to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race because his car failed tech inspection three times. This will almost certainly put Suarez a lap down early but he can fight back and have a solid day. I view Suarez as a mid-teens finisher and is another driver you need to play in cash. If you want to go here for GPP’s by all means do so, but just know he will potentially be a 50% or higher owned driver. Darlington isn’t a great track for Suarez, but he did have his best finish (10th) earlier this season here so there is that.

Other Options: Alex Bowman ($8,200 – P16), Christopher Bell ($8,700 – P2), Erik Jones ($7,200 – P15)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Ricky Stenhouse ($6,500) – P20: Stenhouse isn’t going to lead laps or even finish top 10 (most likely) but he is a teens driver historically at this track and should be again on Sunday.
2. Chris Buescher ($6,900) – P27: Buescher didn’t have a ton of speed here on Saturday, but I expect a positive PD day out of Buescher and with attrition a top 15.
3. Aric Almirola ($6,400) – P22: Almirola has eight top 20’s in his last nine races here at Darlington. In practice, Almirola showed mid-teens speed.
4. Cole Custer ($5,500) – P30: It appears all the SHR cars are showing some speed this week and I expect Custer to be a good PD play on Sunday. I don’t know how much I’d go here in GPPs, but in cash, I want all the Custer.
5. Todd Gilliland ($5,300) – P31
6. Ty Dillon ($5,800) – P29
7. Harrison Burton ($5,800) – P28

Cash Core:

Elliot or Truex, Harvick, Suarez, Custer

Check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial! Ensure 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/)