As the 2022 NASCAR season heads into the dog days of summer, we’re gifted with a road course for this week’s NASCAR Xfinity Series. Both the NASCAR Cup Series and the Camping World Truck Series will race at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis while the Xfinity Series ventures into the Pacific Northwest to race at Portland International Raceway. This is just the second road course on the schedule so far this year. It’s exciting for NASCAR to venture into new markets and make new fans of the sport and it’s a big week for the Cup Series making its debut at WWTR (aka Gateway). We’re coming off one of the best racing weekends of the year following the Coca-Cola 600, but all three series are poised to put on a show this weekend so let’s dive into the NASCAR DFS top picks for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.

One thing that’s always important when breaking down a road course race from a DFS perspective is that we need to recalibrate our brains when constructing lineups. Fewer laps mean fewer dominator points available to us as DFS players. So we don’t necessarily need dominator points, but if you can log some in your lineup then it certainly doesn’t hurt. Truthfully, the name of the game for road course DFS preparation is PD and finishing position. We only have 75 laps for Saturday’s race so there are only 50 or so dominator points available. So don’t try to cram multiple dominators in. Each stage will be 25 laps and this race will feature non-competitive pit stops. Here’s the basic rundown of the rules, but you can also check out this tweet from Bob Pockrass breaking down the pit procedures in more detail.

  • Stage Breaks: Three-minute non-competitive pit stops for teams that choose to pit. 
    • Fuel may only be added during stage breaks.
    • You can fuel and change tires, but not at the same time. Tires must be changed first, then fuel can be added.
    • Teams that do not pit must stop behind the caution vehicle until the three minutes are up and then they will start ahead of the cars that did pit.
  • Green Flag Pit Stops: 
    • Cars must be on pit road for 60 seconds. That means 60 seconds from yellow-to-yellow line. 
    • If there’s a flat, the team can change out only the flat tire and not be subject to the 60-second rule.

The purpose of these rules are because NASCAR didn’t want to pay to have pit crews travel with the team. It’s simply cheaper to have the members that work on the cars service them. So this almost puts everyone on a level playing field since nobody needs the fastest pit crew.

Now the Xfinity Series did get some practice laps in and boy was it messy. All four JRM cars spun out and Noah Gragson junked his car so he’s going to a backup but being scored from P11. Practice was wet and it’s hard to really take anything away from it. They ran the first two sessions for qualifying but had to cancel the final round of ten drivers because the track was too wet. So I don’t want to dwell too much on practice speeds. More importantly, I like that they were just able to get cars on the track and get some laps in. As always we know who should be fast on this type of track and we have plenty of road ringers to consider this week.

Driver Pool

I’m going to offer my thoughts on every driver in the field. This is something I don’t normally do, but I do have thoughts on plenty of drivers for Saturday’s race.

Ty Gibbs ($10,600; Stating P6) We know he can win on road courses. Hell, he won his Xfinity Series debut on a road course when DraftKings hilariously priced him under $5,000. If he gets to the front and stays in the top five he can be optimal but he needs dominator points. Remember, you don’t need to focus on dominators here. If he crushes the first two stages but has a mechanical issue in stage three, then that was all for nothing. Mix in some exposure because there is win equity with Gibbs.

AJ Allmendinger ($10,500; Starting P10) Dinger is the best road course driver in this series and he’s raced at Portland before. Unfortunately, he will be starting at the rear but will be scored from P10. I still think there’s some appeal though. I’m hoping the penalty forces people to pivot off him and we maybe get him at low ownership. He can still work his way through the field and win. Dinger has won the last three Roval races, he won COTA earlier this year, he won Mid-Ohio last year, he was runner-up at Indy’s Road Course last year, and he was crushing last year’s Road America race before settling for a top five finish. If anyone can work through the field and win, it’s Dinger. He basically did that last year at Mid-Ohio after a late penalty.

Noah Gragson ($10,300; Starting P11) Gragson will join Dinger at the rear after he really screwed up his car in practice…

Gragson is okay on road courses. He has a pair of top fives at IRC, three finishes in the top six including a runner-up at the Roval, and plenty of other top five finishes. With other drivers in the field we just don’t expect him to win on this style of track. He should move up through the field and can get another top five finish, but I don’t think I’ll have a ton of exposure given that he’ll be in a backup car.

Justin Allgaier ($10,100; Starting P9) Like his teammate, Allgaier has solid results at road courses. Seven straight top ten finishes (four straight in the top five) at Watkins Glen. Plenty of top tens and a win at Road America. And he previously won Mid-Ohio. The problem is that his wins and greatest successes on road courses were in 2018 before Allmendinger, Gibbs, Gragson, and others were full-time in this series. Now that’s not to take away from the likes of Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, etc. But Allgaier has just been okay by his standards on road courses over the past few seasons. Fortunately for him he should move into the top five with ease, but he needs a very strong finish to be optimal.

Josh Berry ($9,900; Starting P19) Berry’s starting spot is great for DFS and it puts him in play in Cash games. I’m hesitant to go overweight in GPP’s. We haven’t seen him on a road course all that much. Even last year in a part-time deal with JRM, he only ran Mid-Ohio but did finish 8th. He finished 27th earlier this year at COTA. I may let others eat the chalk and hope that he busts so I will likely be underweight. 

Sam Mayer ($9,800; Starting P4) Mayer is on fire. He has four straight finishes in the top five with seven top five finishes in his last eight races. He’s been great and it’s forced DK to raise the price tag. He doesn’t have a ton of road course experience, but he does have a couple top ten finishes at the Roval, Watkins Glen, and COTA. He struggled in the wet conditions on Friday so he really needs a strong run on Saturday. I may play him in one or two builds as a contrarian dominator with the hopes that he wins but it’s more likely he goes backward.

Austin Hill ($9,600; Starting P2) Not sure where this price tag for Hill came from, especially for a road course race? He grabbed a win last year in the Truck Series for Watkins Glen, but that was really the extent of his most prominent road course success in a truck. This is a gamble to play him starting on the front row. You really need him to at least hold his position or pray for a win.

Brandon Jones ($9,400; Starting P22) He’s a PD play that really needs a top ten to pay off. He can certainly do that. He had a pair of top fives at Daytona’s Road Course that NASCAR no longer races at, and he has a couple top tens at Watkins Glen, and a top ten and top five at the Roval. However, he also has some stinkers like at COTA and Indy’s Road Course. In my own opinion, this feels like a spot where I want to be underweight because the PD is too appealing. In doing so, I feel like I’d involuntarily be locking him in for a top five finish. I’ll play some shares but overall I hope he has a mechanical issue or something like that. If playing Cash games he’s a decent option if he scores a top ten.

Riley Herbst ($9,200; Starting P14) He’s been much better and very consistent this year. However, he’s not a good road racer. He has a couple top tens (Road America 2021, Indy Road Course 2021, Daytona Road Course 2020) on his resume at road courses, but he also has some bad luck. You really need a top five finish out of him here. I will not have much exposure.

Daniel Hemric ($9,000; Starting P3) The starting spot is why I’m off him. Overall the Kaulig cars haven’t looked great lately. I’ll get exposure to Dinger because he’s awesome on road courses, but Hemric is really track dependent. Look at his average finishes in his Xfinity Series career at road courses:

  • Roval - AVG Finish: 5.3 with back-to-back third-place finishes
  • Mid-Ohio - AVG Finish: 5.7 with a pair of top three finishes from 2017 and 2018
  • Indy Road Course - Started 13th and finished 12th last year
  • Road America – AVG Finish: 13.8 with a runner-up finish a year ago with JGR
  • Watkins Glen – AVG Finish: 16.3 with no top ten finishes
  • Daytona Road Road – Got caught in an accident in 2020, finished third in 2021
  • COTA – Two finishes outside the top 20

So he can be great or kill your lineups. Considering he isn’t offering much PD he’s a deep-field GPP play only for me. I don’t think I’ll land on a ton of exposure just based on how Kaulig has looked lately.

Ryan Sieg ($8,800; Starting P27) Sieg is not a great road racer. He’s had some okay results, but these aren’t his preferred track type. He has just one top ten in seven races at Mid-Ohio. One top ten in eight races at Road America. He has a couple top 15 finishes and has finished 11th a couple times to flirt with additional top tens, but overall this isn’t his forte. He’s really only in play due to the PD. If he can finish in the top ten, you’ll enjoy the return. But expect him to be a bit chalky.

Sheldon Creed ($8,600; Starting P7) I’ll get some exposure for sure. I won’t dwell too much on practice, but he did post the fastest lap ahead of Ty Gibbs. He grabbed a top ten earlier this year at COTA. He won and finished runner-up at the two DRC races in 2020 and 2021 in the Truck Series. Finished third in the truck race in 2021 at Watkins Glen, and was fourth at Mosport Park in 2019 (that’s a Canadian road course, dontcha know). It’s a small sample size, but I think we can mix in some exposure. He could be in the optimal lineup if he finishes in the top five. It’s worth noting that Creed is also awaiting the birth of his child so if he can’t go then Kaz Grala will drive. Grala has road course experience, but would drop to the rear and (I believe) be scored from P7.

Connor Mosack ($8,500; Starting P8) Brace yourselves but you can get a JGR driver who is roughly average price. Mosack has a road racing background and he’s been mixing in some races with ARCA. He competes full-time in the Trans Am TA2 Series where he scored a win at Watkins Glen last year. I think he’s worth a shot in GPP’s given his driving pedigree, but no need to go crazy with exposure here. At least we know the car is fast and he looked pretty comfortable in practice and qualifying aside from Jesse Iwuji almost wrecking him.

Landon Cassill ($8,300; Starting P13) Cassill is so hard to read. For starters, Kaulig Racing has regressed a little bit. They have just one win this year and if you’re going to play anybody from Kaulig, you likely go with Dinger. I don’t think I’ll play much Cassill but here’s why you can. Ownership will be low and while his resume on road courses isn’t great, keep in mind he has mostly driven crap equipment. Last February he finished 12th at DRC with JD Motorsports. Last Summer at IRC he finished 17th with the same team after starting 33rd. Again, with JD Motorsports he has three top 20 finishes at Mid-Ohio. But then again earlier this year with Kaulig he finished 31st at COTA. We may just not have enough of a sample size but in worse equipment he’s done okay. I think you can get some exposure but given the starting spot it’s difficult to get excited about this play.

Andy Lally ($8,100; Starting P15) I think there are better value options offering more PD, but Lally is becoming a regular in NASCAR for road course races. He had two top ten finishes last year when he ran five road courses. Back in 2020 he had top five finishes at Road America and Daytona’s Road Course. But he’s starting P15 so with less PD there isn’t as much upside. If he finishes 8th or better, sure he could be optimal. But I feel like this might be a good spot to be underweight because the upside is slightly capped.

Anthony Alfredo ($7,900; Starting P1) It doesn’t matter how you do it, all that matters is that you do it. And that’s how Alfredo won the pole. The final qualifying session was cancelled so he won the pole based on his initial qualifying time. But good for him though. If he can get out to a clean start and hold off Austin Hill and Daniel Hemric then he could get some laps led. However, he needs a lot of dominator points and a strong finish. He starts losing points with every car that passes him so he’s a very difficult play given the quality of drivers that’ll be trying to overtake the lead. The sample size on road courses is small and not that great overall.

Alex Labbe ($7,700; Starting P23) Labbe thrives on road courses. They’re his preferred style of track. He has four top 15 finishes at the Roval including 4th-and-6th-place finishes. He’s finished 8th and 13th at Indy Road Course and he was 11th last year at Mid-Ohio. However, he has struggled at COTA. In both races there he qualified top five but went backward. I still trust the road course pedigree. DGM tends to show up with good setups on road courses and Labbe is offering plenty of PD this week. I do think he can contend for a top ten. I’ll be looking to be overweight on him.

Myatt Snider ($7,600; Starting P25) Here’s a play we can get behind for DFS. Snider’s resume on road courses isn’t elite, but it’s solid. He’s finished 8th and 14th in two races at the Roval. 7th and 16th at IRC. 13th and 10th at DRC. He finished 6th at COTA a few months ago. He was also 15th at Watkins Glen last year. He does have some poor finishes at Road America and Mid-Ohio but you take the good with the bad. I am a little weary of Jordan Anderson equipment, but Snider just needs a top 15 to be good for Cash games and if he improves on that then he’s gravy.

Brett Moffitt ($7,400; Starting P12) Kind of an easy fade. Needs a lot of chaos to be optimal and he doesn’t have a great road course resume. He’s had two very strong races at COTA but he’s struggled on other tracks. If he were starting just inside the top 20 it would be a different story.

Jade Buford ($7,300; Starting P5) He’s actually a really solid road racer. But he’s just starting too high. Not much upside and he bleeds points as he drifts back. He can probably get a top 15 finish and you know he wants to impress given that Cup drivers have stepped into this car and performed well. He needs to show Big Machine he can be the guy for this car so the motivation is there. On paper, he’s not a great DFS play.

Jeb Burton ($7,100; Starting P21) Pretty decent starting spot for Burton. He has had some decent results on road courses but most of those came last year with Kaulig. He’s flashed plenty of top 15 upside with Our Motorsports over the last month and he can get up there again on Saturday. He finished 23rd earlier this year at COTA, but he’s since come around since then. He’s an okay play, but not a great one. Likely needs chaos to be on a slate-breaking lineup.

Jeremy Clements ($6,900; Starting P16) He’s the “nice” play of the week and he’s a pretty good road racer. His lone win in Xfinity came at Road America back in 2017. As a driver, he can get his car into the top ten and possibly a top five. The results of late have not been great so it’s more likely that he’s a top 15 finish with top ten upside. Don’t play him in Cash games because if the equipment fails on him he’ll cost you.

Brandon Brown ($6,800; Starting P28) Brown will absolutely be popular for Saturday’s race. He’s cheap and he’s offering plenty of PD from P28. He’ll be popular in all formats. He finished 6th at Mid-Ohio last year and 12th at Watkins Glen. He really only needs to finish 18th for 5X value, but he can certainly driver this car to a top 15.

Parker Chase ($6,600; Starting P18) Chase is only 21 years old but he looks like he’s 30. Just an absolute man-child and he comes with a road racing pedigree with his sports car background. He’s had decent top 20 runs in his minimal experience with the Truck and Xfinity Series. He’ll be in the 26-car for Sam Hunt Racing. I do think he’s a solid GPP pivot that will go under the radar. He’s worth exposure in about 10-15% of your lineups.

JJ Yeley ($6,500; Starting P35) He’ll never be a slam dunk option given the equipment, but he’s starting far enough back where he won’t kill you with PD. He’ll need chaos to be optimal and squeeze into the top 20. It’s far more likely that he finishes around 25th for some PD. But the non-competitive pit stops should help a team like Yeley’s. But he definitely needs some chalk to bust for him to be optimal.

Mason Filippi ($6,300; Starting P29) DGM is swapping one Mason for another. I’ll be mixing Filippi into some builds although I’m kind of flying blind. He has road course experience across a variety of different series. But I like that it’s a DGM car offering PD and this team can thrive on road courses. They nailed the setup at COTA where all three cars looked great, but they qualified too high so it wasn’t wise to play them in DFS. Now they’re offering PD and at a good price tag.

Gray Gaulding ($6,200; Starting P30) Gaulding is kind of like a poor man’s Landon Cassill. He has an okay resume on road courses in absolute dog crap equipment. Unlike Cassill, Gaulding is still driving sub-par equipment. He also hasn’t raced much of late, but he’ll step into the 6-car for JD Motorsports. That’s still not great equipment, but some people may say it’s an upgrade from what he’s driven in previously. He could be worth some exposure, but I’d prefer to pay up to some other drivers.

Scott Heckert ($6,100; Starting P20) Heckert has a road racing background, but he’s starting P20 in BJ McLeod Motorsports equipment. The choice is yours really. Do you think the equipment holds up and he holds this spot? I’m not optimistic.

Bayley Currey ($5,900; Starting P34) I want to get behind the play and I’ll likely have a few shares because I like the starting spot and we know Currey can surprise us with a top 20 finish. I’d even take a top 25 finish at this price. But he’s been dreadful on road courses. For the most part he finishes outside the top 30 but he did sneak in a top 15 at DRC in 2020. Overall, he just can’t quite figure these tracks out.

Stefan Parsons ($5,700; Starting P26) This is a play we can be a little interested in. Parsons is stepping into Alpha Prime equipment once again and he did get a top 20 in this ride a couple weeks ago at Texas. And Parsons has a road course background. He finished 21st at COTA in BJ McLeod equipment. The same equipment I was just dogging in the Heckert section. Now we get him in better equipment on a track type that suits him. I’m on board.

Matt Jaskol ($5,600; Starting P17) He finished top 20 at Mid-Ohio last year, but he’s very difficult to play at this starting spot. Moving on…

Joe Graf Jr. ($5,500; Starting P33) Might be worth throwing into one or two lineups because of the PD, but it’s wildly unlikely that he’s optimal.

Spencer Pumpelly ($5,400; Starting P24) He has a road course background, but even then the equipment isn’t all that great. He did score a top 20 last year at COTA, but also got in a wreck at Road America and had a mechanical issue at IRC. I’m fine playing him to spread exposure out in this range, but also wouldn’t fault you for looking elsewhere.

Darren Dilley ($5,200; Starting P32) Dilley will be in RSS equipment at the ripe price of $5,200. That’s great news. Dilley has a background in sports cars so he fits the bill and he works as an elementary school gym teacher in the area. He would have one hell of a story to tell students after summer break if he went out and grabbed a decent finish. He is 55 years old which gives me a little pause, but it’s not a deal breaker. He’s familiar with the track and he’s in pretty damn good equipment.

Ryan Vargas ($5,100; Starting P37) He’s starting far enough back where I get why you would play him and he’s only $5,100. If he somehow finishes 29th he’s returning 21 points which I would take at his price point. I’d feel better about the play if he was in the JD Motorsports car. But he’s driving for Mike Harmon Racing this week, which I’m not wild about.

Jesse Iwuji ($4,900; Starting P38) He’s routinely way off the pace which may not matter at a road course, but he also looked atrocious during the early qualifying session on Friday. I don’t know why he isn’t the cheapest driver on the slate.

Patrick Emerling ($4,800; Starting P36) I don’t get why he’s cheaper than Iwuji. I have a little more faith in Emerling cracking the top 30 than Iwuji but not incredibly drawn to him from a DFS perspective. I’ll be fading.

Josh Williams ($4,700; Starting P31) If the equipment holds up he should move up a few spots. He’s definitely not a $4,700 driver. He’s probably more of a $5,300 driver so I will likely play him and hope he moves up with the help of some cautions. He does have a slight chance at finishing in the top 25 so I’ll give him that.

Example Lineups

The Example Lineups will be posted in the NASCAR DFS Channel no later than 3:00pm ET.

 

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