NASCAR

Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop breakdown for the Truck Series from Darlington! This should be a great weekend of racing with NASCAR celebrating the past for Throwback Weekend from the Lady in Black. You can read more about the track in my weekend preview article.

Roster Construction

With there being a fair amount of laps in this race, we will want to get 2 dominators into your builds. We saw that this strategy worked in previous Darlington races and should hold true here. I want to pay UP and get 2-3 MINIMUM top salary guys and take the cheap guys with PD upside in this race.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)

John Hunter Nemechek ($11,200)

Starting Position: 1st

With three straight poor starts where JHN finished in the mid-20s to start the season he has rebounded nicely since. In his last three races, Nemechek has finished 2nd, 4th, and 3rd consecutively. It appears that whatever issues were ailing the 4 team have been fixed and he is back in championship form. In two races at Darlington in 2021, Nemechek finished top 10 in both races including a 2nd place finish in the fall. Nemechek also led 104 laps combined in those two races. I expect Nemechek to be up front in this race if he can avoid the eventual carnage, and be in contention for the win.

Grant Enfinger ($9,100)

Starting Position: 3rd

Enfinger is once again underpriced, as he is most weeks. Similar to Nemechek, Enfinger did not start strong but has since finished between 8th and 12th in four consecutive races. Darlington is a track that has been so difficult for so many, but not Grant Enfinger. In his three career races here, Enfinger has never finished lower than 6th and has two top 5’s in his other two finishes. The only downside I can see with Enfinger is he has never led a lap here, but if he can manage another top 5 on Friday he can be your third top tier play and do just fine as that.

Ben Rhodes ($10,600)

Starting Position: 15th

If you are looking for another driver with dominator potential, then let me introduce you to Ben Rhodes. No driver in this series has been as consistent as Rhodes has in 2022. The 2021 series champion has started his road to repeating with five top 5’s and 166 laps led in six races this season. The last time we saw Rhodes all he did was lead 95 laps, have 39 fastest laps, and win the Bristol Dirt Race two weeks ago. Rhodes already has a victory at Darlington (2020) and is another driver I can see pushing for the win on Friday night.

Zane Smith ($10,300)

Starting Position: 4th

If Ben Rhodes isn’t the hottest driver in the series, then Zane Smith is. Smith is the only driver in the series to have a top 10 in all six races this season and has two victories already solidifying him as the favorite for the championship early on. Smith has finished 2nd two years in a row for the title and is determined to win this season and it’s showing early on. Experience matters at Darlington, and while Smith hasn’t been outstanding here, he does have three races under his belt and finished 9th in the fall race here in 2021. I don’t think Smith comes out on top in this race, but I see no reason he can’t lead laps, he’s led at least 3 laps in 4 of 6 races in 2022, and get his seventh straight top 10 to start the season.

Other Options: Ross Chastain ($10,900 – P10), Chandler Smith ($9,800 – P28) – Smith is going to be the chalkiest play on the slate. I love this play but he projects near 60%. , Stewart Friesen ($9,300 – P23) – Friesen projects are near 35% LESS ownership than Smith is $500 cheaper, seems like the obvious tournament pivot. Friesen also has two top 10’s in three Darlington races.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K-$8.9K)

Carson Hocevar ($8,100)

Starting Position: 6th

Hocevar has raced at Darlington twice in his career (both in 2021) and held his own here. At this race last season, Hocevar started 14th and came home with a 3rd place finish. In the fall, Hocevar wasn’t as good, but he did manage to finish 11th. In 2022, it has been a roller-coaster type season, but Hocevar does have three top 10s including his 2nd last race on the dirt at Bristol.

Chase Purdy ($7,100)

Starting Position: 22nd

Purdy is having a pretty solid season thus far and had a good race here at Darlington last fall. Since we want to potentially stack two $10K drivers, we need some savings somewhere and Purdy fits that role perfectly. Last season at this race, Purdy crashed about halfway through the race and finished 36th. When the series came back in the fall though, Purdy finished 15th and looked strong throughout. So far in 2022, Purdy has finished between 13 and 16th in four of his five races. Purdy looks to be a mid-teen driver on Friday with low teens to top 10 upside.

Tyler Ankrum ($7,700)

Starting Position: 12th

Ankrum, Purdy’s teammate, is probably the most consistent driver at Darlington in this tier. In three career races here, Ankrum has finished between 11th and 18th but similar to Enfinger he has never led a lap here. Also similar to Enfinger, he is not someone we need to lead laps to make value. Depending on you build your lineups, you could come up from Purdy to Ankrum as I believe he has a greater upside.

Other Options: Tanner Gray ($7,500 – P17), Christian Eckes ($8,300 – P11), Parker Kligerman ($8,500 – P9)

Value Tier (Under $7K)

1. Austin Wayne Self ($6,600) – P31
2. Spencer Boyd ($4,900) – P32
3. Timmy Hill ($6,400) -P24
4. Tate Fogleman ($6,700) – P34
5. Josh Reaume ($4,600) – P36
6. Dean Thompson ($5,400) – P33
7. Akinori Ogata ($4,700) – P35
8. Danny Bohn ($5,600) – P29
9. Lawless Alan ($5,800) – P26

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 breakdown for the Truck Series Bristol Dirt race! I’m just going to come out and say it, these races suck. I know I am in the minority with that statement but it’s how I feel. I have never watched REAL dirt racing so it is not something I am accustomed to and it is not something I want in NASCAR. These vehicles are meant to drive on paved roads, not dirt especially manufactured dirt tracks. These races are not overly enjoyable for me to watch, but also they are next to impossible to predict for DFS and betting purposes as well.

Last season in two Truck Series races on dirt we had a combined 22 trucks fail to finish races because of crashing or electrical issues. Between the two races, they averaged only 24 trucks finishing on the lead lap and had a combined 26 cautions for 136 laps run under caution. At Knoxville in particular it was a nightmare of a race. What was supposed to be a 150-lap race turned into 179 laps and 80 of those laps were run under caution. Looking back at this race last season, Martin Truex Jr. dominated leading 105 of 150 laps on his way to victory lane. Truex is not in this race, but there are plenty of other Cup drivers trying their hand at this race in 2022.

Roster Construction

Saturday’s race has 150 laps so that means we have 105 dominator points available and I will be leaning into a 2 dominator type build. There are two trucks that looked to be the class of the field in the heat races and I will get into them soon. Like I said a two dominator build is probably the best way to build and then look at some good value place differential plays. There were a couple of trucks that were good in practice on Friday and are starting towards the back.

NASCAR DFS: Top Tier ($9K +)

Joey Logano ($10,900)

Starting Position: 1st

Logano has the potential to lead over 100 laps and win this race making him my favorite play on Saturday. In his qualifying heats, Logano looked impressive and he will be hard to pass. Logano won the Cup Series race here last season and is the favorite to win in my book. I know there is a chance Logano garners high ownership, but if he leads the bulk of this race and wins, you probably won’t have a shot at a takedown without him.

Ben Rhodes ($9,500)

Starting Position: 2nd

If there is a driver who could take down Logano, it’s Ben Rhodes. After watching how well Rhodes ran in the qualifying heats, I have to consider him one of the favorites to dominate this race as well. Rhodes led only three laps in 2021 here on the dirt at Bristol, but he came home 2nd so he is no stranger to running well here. If Logano is the chalkier play in this group, Rhodes could be considered the cheaper, lower-owned pivot, but I actually like the idea of playing them together.

Stewart Friesen ($10,400)

Starting Position: 3rd

I promise I am not just listing the drivers in starting position order. Friesen is probably the most experienced dirt driver in this field, at least of the NASCAR regulars. Last season in this race Friesen finished 12th but does own three top-five finishes in 6 total races including a victory at Eldora. Friesen was fastest in first practice on Friday and ran exceptionally well in his heat. If you want to fade Logano, I think Friesen is the real pivot in this $10K+ price range.

Other Options: Buddy Kofoid ($9,300 – P32): Dirt track expert in the KBM 51. He was fast in practice and should be a good PD play. Chase Elliott ($10,700 – P7): I expect Elliott will carry some high ownership on Saturday night, but he could be worth it with his upside here. Grant Enfinger ($9,800 – P16) ): Enfinger finished 6th here in 2021 and has 5 top 10’s in 5 career dirt races with an average finish of 3.6. Enfinger could be a sneaky PD top 5 pick on Saturday. Chandler Smith ($9,700 – P5): Smith was another truck that was fast throughout the practice sessions and was 3rd overall in 10-lap average.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier ($7K-$8.9K)

Matt Crafton ($8,900)

Starting Position: 14th

Crafton is another driver who excels on dirt. In his career in the Truck Series, Crafton has eight top 10’s in nine career races including a win and an average finish of 7.9. With how well Crafton and the 88 ran in practice coupled with his experience on dirt he could be an extremely low-owned play that gets you to the top. In builds where I go with two top-tier drivers, I will use Crafton as a pseudo-top-tier play.

Kaz Grala ($7,900)

Starting Position: 25th

Grala’s truck wasn’t great in single-lap speed, but he did improve as the practice sessions went on Friday. I like the potential upside with Grala because of how his truck improved throughout the sessions. In his qualifying heat, this same principle held true as he was coming for the leaders as his heat went along, but Grala just ran out of laps to get a top 3.

Derek Kraus ($7,600)

Starting Position: 15th

Kraus did not run well at Bristol on the dirt in 2021, but he did have a great run and a top 5 finish at Knoxville later in the year. In practice on Friday, Kraus was a top 15 car in almost all categories and if he can avoid the potential carnage, he could finish top 10.

Other Options: Christian Eckes ($8,400 – P19), Mike Marler ($7,100 – P21), Tyler Ankrum ($7,300 – P20), Ty Majeski ($7,700 – P8)

Value Tier (Under $7K)

1. Tanner Gray ($6,800) – P35
2. Chase Purdy ($6,500) – P33
3. Tate Fogleman ($5,200) – P24
4. Spencer Boyd ($4,800) – P34
5. Lawless Alan ($5,100) – P31
6. Kris Wright ($5,800) – P30
7. Colby Howard ($6,300) – P12
8. Timmy Hill ($5,900) – P29
9. Keith McGee ($5,000) – P36

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/)