NASCAR

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race from Las Vegas!

Saturday’s race is the first in the round of 8, and if a playoff driver wins, they will put themselves in the championship race at Phoenix in four weeks. After a couple of weeks of ignoring dominator points in this series, we are back looking to roster dominators. This race is a 201-lap race which gives us 140.7 dominator points to chase.

In Friday night’s practice session, the JGR and JGR helped; cars were the class of the field. Three of their cars finished top 3, and all four were in the top in single-lap practice speed. Surprisingly, the JRM cars were not great in practice, with only Gragson and Mayer cracking the top 10 in speed. I am confident that both the 7 and 8 teams will get their cars fixed and be contenders on Saturday.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier

Ty Gibbs ($11,000)

Starting Position: 3rd

Gibbs has been the elite driver on this track type in 2022. In six races on low tire wear, 1.5-mile ovals, no one has been better than Gibbs. In those six races, Gibbs has two wins, five top 5s, and the best average finish among Xfinity Series regulars (3.7). Gibbs also averages 21.5 laps led per race, which is 4th best behind a bunch of JRM cars (more on one of those drivers next), and he has the best DKFP average per race (62.8). In Friday night’s practice session, Gibbs posted the fastest lap. My pick to win this race is Ty Gibbs and the #54 car to sweep the Vegas races this season.

Noah Gragson ($10,800)

Starting Position: 4th

For me, it comes to Gibbs and Gragson for the title. Both drivers have been consistent all season, and it has been much of the same on this track in 2022. Gragson also has two wins and five top 5s in six races on this track type in 2022; the one difference is Gibbs has finished top 15 in all six, and Gragson hasn’t. Because of that one race (36th place finish at Texas – crash), Gragson’s average finish is 7.8 at this track type. Gragson has won five of the last eleven races in the Xfinity Series and has ten top 10s (22nd place finish at Daytona – crash) in those same eleven races. Gragson was the fastest chevy in practice putting up the 5th fastest single-lap time.

John Hunter Nemechek ($9,200)

Starting Position: 11th

Nemechek has not had the best luck at this track type in 2022, but I think this week will be different. In Friday’s practice, Nemechek showed speed with the rest of the Toyotas (3rd fastest lap). At the Spring race here, John Hunter had a good day finishing 12th, and at Michigan, he was 19th after starting 31st and fighting a tight car all day. It’s the recent Texas race that has me optimistic about his chances on Saturday. In that race, Nemechek was dominant leading 60 laps before being caught up in the big one on lap 118. Now, he was in the #18 car for that race, but this #26 Sam Hunt car gets some help from JGR, and his two previous races (Vegas and Michigan) were in this #26.

Other Options: Trevor Bayne ($10,400 – P2) – Pretty good pivot off of the chalkier Gibbs and Gragson. Bayne has finished top 4 in four of his seven races this season and has led at least 13 laps in five of seven. Sam Mayer ($9,600 – P5), Austin Hill ($9,400 – P8), AJ Allmendinger ($10,100 – P1)

Realistically, every driver in this tier is in play, and depending on how many lineups I end up with; I will be spreading out my ownership amongst most of them. Prioritize 2-3 drivers from this tier in every lineup. There is plenty of value in this field to make three top-tier driver lineups work.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Riley Herbst ($8,500)

Starting Position: 36th

Ok, so here is my obligatory “Play the chalk driver who has a fast car” section. Before his spin in qualifying, I was already looking at Herbst as a solid “fringe” top-tier option this week; now, he is a must-play in single-entry and cash games. Riley showed some really good speed beating all the Chevys in practice and finishing with the 4th best lap time just behind the Toyota group. Herbst spun during his qualifying attempt but managed to save the car and avoided any damage. It may take a bit of time, but I expect Herbst to get through the field and finish top 10 on Saturday.

Brandon Jones ($8,800)

Starting Position: 7th

Looking for a dark horse candidate to win this race? Brandon Jones is that guy. Jones has done well at Vegas in his career, and it is arguably his best track on the circuit. He has more top 10s at Vegas than any other track (8), and Jones looked fast once again in Friday’s practice. Since signing with JGR in 2018 (9 races), Jones has been stellar here, with a worst non-wreck finish of 11th. In the eight races in which Jones hasn’t wrecked, his average finish is 6.6 at Vegas with seven top 10s.

Nick Sanchez ($7,600)

Starting Position: 22nd

Sanchez is back in the #48 Big Machine Racing Chevy on Saturday for the third time, and it will be his fifth Xfinity race this season. It took some time, but it appears this team and Sanchez have found something that works. After a rocky start at Bristol, Sanchez finished 11th in his last race at Texas (a similar track type). In that race, Sanchez ran over 81% of the race inside the top 15 (162 laps) and made 34 quality passes (passes inside the top 15 under green). Now, that race was a wreck fest, and his 11th-place finish may have benefited from that, but he was running in the mid-teens all race before the carnage started. Because of that, and because of his top 20 speed in practice, I view Sanchez as a low to mid-teens finisher on Saturday.

Other Options: Parker Retzlaff ($7,800 – P27), Rajah Caruth ($7,000 – P18), Myatt Snider ($7,400 – P23)

Value Tier Rankings:

Let’s start with this, both David Starr and Kyle Sieg did not make a qualifying attempt and, therefore, will start 37th and 38th, respectively. Both of these drivers will be chalky, and while I won’t tell you not to play them, I would use them sparingly in GPP’s. In cash and single-entry, I think you need to play them both with Herbst and fill in the rest with three top-tier drivers. Neither of these drivers will be in the rankings below, but they are both solid, albeit chalky, options.

1. Hailie Deegan ($4,800) – P20: Can we trust Deegan this week? I don’t know. But what I do know is she has a fast Ford Mustang and could be a sneaky top 15 GPP play this week.
2. CJ McLaughlin ($5,700) – P34: McLaughlin is a safer, slightly more expensive option over Deegan.
3. Bayley Currey ($5,000) – P24: I expect Currey to finish right where he started, but that will be enough to make value.
4. Ryan Vargas ($4,900) – P35
5. Stefan Parsons ($6,600) – P17: Parsons was fast in practice and will probably be sub-5 % owned.
6. Mason Massey ($5,500) – P29
7. Garrett Smithley ($5,300) – P25

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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race from The Charlotte Roval!

This week the Xfinity Series runs its sixth and final road course race on Saturday from the Charlotte Roval. Since it is a road course, we won’t be chasing dominator points with only 67 laps of racing in this race.

Practice and qualifying will be held Saturday morning so I will just be giving you the plays I think will be good for this race based on how they’ve done this season. Luckily we have a lot of races on this track type in 2022 to use for reference.

Make sure to check back in discord on Saturday afternoon before lock for my updated plays.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier

AJ Allmendinger ($11,000)

Allmendinger is the epitome of a road course racer and to be honest, his price is too cheap for this race. The Xfinity Series has run three races on this track and Allmendinger’s average finish in those three races is 1st. Yep, that is correct, Allmendinger has won all three races the series has run on the Roval. In five road course races this season, Allmendinger has won three times and finished 2nd and 6th in the other two. We could see Allmendinger win again here and he is the most likely driver to lead the most laps as well. It does not matter where Dinger starts on Saturday, he is the top play on this slate.

Sam Mayer ($10,000)

Mayer has quietly been one of the top road course drivers in the Xfinity Series in his short career. In nine career road course races, Mayer has five top 10s and one top 5. Mayer comes in riding high with four straight top 10s and has finished 6th and 7th in the previous two road courses. Mayer is a potentially lower-owned pivot off a possibly high-owned Ty Gibbs ($10,600).

James Davison ($9,000)

Davison is a driver we usually see running road courses in the Cup Series, but for the first time this season and only the second time since 2018, he will be in an Xfinity race. This will be Davison’s fourth run in a Joe Gibbs car. Davison has two top 10s and a top 5 while driving for JGR in his career. Davison should be a contender for the win on Saturday but if he stays clean should be a top-10 lock.

Other Options: Noah Gragson ($10,100), Ty Gibbs ($10,600), Josh Berry ($9,200)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Unlike the top tier, it is hard to pick the best plays without seeing where they start. There are a few drivers, in particular, I have some interest in, but I will need to see how they run in practice and qualify first:

• Myatt Snider ($8,400) – Snider is a solid road course driver, but if he starts too high the value won’t be there.
• Daniil Kvyat ($7,200) – Kvyat is an experienced F1 driver but has not been given equipment this good in his two career Cup Series races. I believe that Kvyat could be a factor here on Saturday, but we will need to see how this car does in practice.
• Andy Lally ($7,000) – Lally is one of the top road course specialists and has more experience than most in this field. In four races this season, Lally has only finished outside the top 20 one time and has an average finish of 18.8. Lally will run a clean race and if he starts lower than 20th, lock him into your lineups on Saturday. With that being said, he is still viable he starts higher.

Other Options Brandon Jones ($8,800), Kaz Grala ($7,800), Alex Labbe ($7,500)

Value Tier Rankings:

1. Timmy Hill ($5,700) – P34
2. Ryan Vargas ($4,800) – P36
3. Brandon Brown ($5,500) – P33
4. Marco Andretti ($6,600) – P30
5. Josh Williams ($5,200) – P22
6. Bayley Currey ($4,900) – P32
7. Scott Heckert ($5,100) – P26
8. Josh Bilicki ($5,800) – P20

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/)

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race from Talladega!

This week the Xfinity Series makes its return to Talladega for the second and final time in 2022. Like with most superspeedway races there will be massive carnage, or at least that’s what I anticipate. We generally get a large number of wrecks late in the Xfinity Series races and it should be no different at Talladega on Saturday.

Earlier this season at Talladega we only had 20 cars finish on the lead lap and we also had 11 extra laps run in that race. Only 22 cars of the 38 that started actually finished the race. We saw different outcomes in 2021, but both of those races were rain-shortened so those don’t count. In 2020, it was similar to the race earlier this season with 12-15 cars being out at race end.

I am maxing out a couple of different GPP’s for this race and I will have almost no exposure to the drivers in the top 5 and top 10. When using the optimizer to build these lineups I will be setting the randomization higher than usual (usually I set it around 5-10%) and will be limiting drivers starting in the top 10 to 5% of my lineups. I want to maximize my exposure to the drivers starting mid-pack and back. Also, remember that there are only 36 trucks in this race so that is what makes the drivers starting in the teens more playable.

Lastly, ownership. There will be plenty of drivers who carry high ownership in this race and while I’d like to avoid all of them, that just isn’t possible. I will in turn suggest that you lower your ownership of certain drivers. If I break down a potentially high-owned driver, I will suggest a good lower-owned pivot with that driver.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier

Riley Herbst ($9,100)

Starting Position: 23rd

Herbst is the only driver I have a really high interest in on Saturday from this tier. There are other drivers I have in my lineups, but that’s because I have 40 lineups with 37 of 38 drivers in them. Herbst is a great SE and cash game play. Since joining SHR in 2021, Herbst has finished top 10 twice at Talladega and only failed to finish once in three races.

Other Options: Trevor Bayne ($9,300 – P11), AJ Allmendinger ($9,500 – P8)

If you are playing multiple lineups in GPP’s you can take a chance on Noah Gragson ($10,100 – P6), who has won four straight races and won here in the spring. Also, Sam Mayer ($10,300 – P13) is a good option that has some PD upside.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Jeremy Clements ($7,500)

Starting Position: 37th

Clements is going to be the chalk play on this slate, especially coming off his win at Daytona a few weeks back. That finish was because of attrition and that is the only reason to believe he can do it again today. Clements is in my lineups, but I limited my exposure to him at 25% for large-field GPP’s but in cash and SE you HAVE to play him.

Lower Owned Pivot: Brandon Brown ($7,300 – P17) – Brown won this race last season and should be a factor for a top 10 if attrition is on his side. Brown projects for only 7 fewer points starting 20 positions higher than Clements at over 20% lower ownership.

Jeffrey Earnhardt ($7,700)

Starting Position: 27th

Earnhardt is the perfect GPP play for this track type, he either finishes top 20 or wrecks out. I would not play Earnhardt in cash or SE but in GPP’s he’s my highest-owned driver. I know there is a lot of risk in this play but that is what you want in those types of contests.

Derek Griffith ($8,000)

Starting Position: 26th

Griffith is starting 26th in the number 26 Toyota on Saturday afternoon. I expected Griffith to be projected at much higher ownership than he is so I have him as my second highest owned driver in this race. I expected Griffith to be a cash game type play, but he is viable in all contests now. This car typically runs well and Giffith has bettered his starting spot in all four races he has been in this car for in 2022.

Other Options: Anthony Alfredo ($7,200 – P20), Ryan Sieg ($7,900 – P14), Landon Cassill ($8,400 – P18), Myatt Snider ($8,200 – P21)

Value Tier Rankings:

1. Timmy Hill ($6,900) – P36
2. JJ Yeley ($5,900) – P35
3. Howie Disavino III ($5,100) – P34
4. Josh Williams ($6,700) – P30
5. Mike Harmon ($4,700) – P38
6. David Starr ($4,800) – P33
7. BJ McLeod ($4,900) – P32
8. Caesar Bacarella ($6,300) – P31

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/)