NASCAR DFS Playbook Federated Auto Parts 400: Top DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Picks
Published: Aug 14, 2022
Richmond. The Action Track. It’s back for its second race of the year this weekend with the Federated Auto Parts 400. Back in the Spring, it put on a pretty good show with the Next Gen’s first trip to the Virginia short track. We’re expecting the the same this time around as well, especially given that there’s just three races left until the Cup Playoffs.
Richmond Raceway Track Layout
Nestled in the northern part of Virginia’s capital city, Richmond Raceway is a three-quarter-mile track that packs a lot into the tight layout. It’s a fairly flat track, comparable to New Hampshire, Phoenix, Gateway, and even a bit of Nashville. It’s also a D-shaped oval; the only short track of that layout on the NASCAR schedule. Adding one last thing is that tire wear is a factor here; not to the level of Darlington or Auto Club, but it is a factor. Long runs here can be brutal for speed if drivers can’t manage tires. Richmond is also a relatively tight track in terms of width of racing surface, and actual race grooves.
Federated Auto Parts NASCAR DFS Strategy
If we harken back to the strategy we employed earlier in the year when we had the stretch of short track races, it’s mainly laps led and finish position. That being said, the passing here in previous racing has seen an average of 7.2 drivers move up at least six spots a race and 4.2 pull-off double-digit PD marks. On the other side of that comes the fact that only 30-percent of the top-10 finishers in the last five race have started outside the top-12. Starting up front here has been good not only for finishing position but also DFS scores when you look at the charts below. Turning attention to dominators, we’re likely building a two-dominator build here. Last race in April we saw four different drivers top 60 laps led and on average over the last five races there’s been two drivers topping 100 laps led in three of them. Also keep in mind for what it’s worth that the pole-sitter has been in the optimal DraftKings lineup for six straight Cup races overall coming into this weekend. One thing to note is the discrepancy between Group A and Group B practice and qualifying times.
Practice To Qualifying
The following table shows the difference between where drivers qualified and where they ran in practice over the short and long runs. It is designed to show potential position differential plays in the race and who could be sneaky GPP plays.
Driver | DK$ | FD $ | Prac to Qual | Qual | Comb. Prac | 5-Lap | 10-lap | 15-Lap | 20-Lap |
Kyle Busch | $11,400 | $13,000 | 18 | 29 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | |
Denny Hamlin | $11,100 | $13,500 | -3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 3 | |
Chase Elliott | $10,800 | $12,500 | 15 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
Martin Truex Jr | $10,600 | $14,000 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |
Kyle Larson | $10,300 | $11,000 | -16 | 1 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 10 | |
Ross Chastain | $10,100 | $12,000 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 19 | |
Ryan Blaney | $9,900 | $10,000 | -11 | 10 | 21 | 9 | 7 | 4 | |
Christopher Bell | $9,600 | $11,500 | 3 | 21 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 15 | |
Joey Logano | $9,300 | $10,500 | 4 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | |
Kevin Harvick | $9,100 | $9,500 | -6 | 13 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 12 | |
Tyler Reddick | $8,800 | $8,800 | 24 | 26 | 2 | ||||
William Byron | $8,600 | $9,000 | -16 | 4 | 20 | 14 | 18 | ||
Alex Bowman | $8,400 | $7,800 | -10 | 5 | 15 | 26 | |||
Daniel Suarez | $8,200 | $8,000 | 15 | 24 | 9 | 23 | 21 | ||
Bubba Wallace | $8,000 | $8,500 | -13 | 11 | 24 | 22 | |||
Erik Jones | $7,900 | $7,000 | 2 | 9 | 7 | ||||
Chase Briscoe | $7,700 | $7,500 | -11 | 15 | 26 | 16 | 23 | ||
Ty Gibbs | $7,600 | $7,500 | -13 | 14 | 27 | 15 | 11 | 11 | |
Austin Cindric | $7,500 | $6,500 | 30 | 33 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 7 | |
Austin Dillon | $7,200 | $6,800 | -13 | 12 | 25 | 25 | 22 | ||
Brad Keselowski | $7,000 | $6,000 | -20 | 8 | 28 | 17 | 12 | 13 | |
Aric Almirola | $6,800 | $7,200 | 28 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
Chris Buescher | $6,600 | $6,200 | -11 | 18 | 29 | 27 | |||
Ricky Stenhouse Jr | $6,400 | $5,800 | -11 | 20 | 31 | 18 | 13 | 14 | |
Michael McDowell | $6,200 | $5,200 | 18 | 34 | 16 | ||||
Justin Haley | $6,000 | $4,500 | 17 | 27 | 10 | ||||
Harrison Burton | $5,800 | $5,500 | 18 | 30 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 9 | |
Cole Custer | $5,700 | $5,000 | -15 | 7 | 22 | 12 | 19 | 18 | |
Noah Gragson | $5,500 | $4,000 | -15 | 19 | 34 | 20 | 16 | 16 | |
Ty Dillon | $5,400 | $3,000 | -1 | 22 | 23 | 21 | 17 | 17 | |
Corey Lajoie | $5,200 | $3,000 | 17 | 31 | 14 | 29 | |||
Todd Gilliland | $5,100 | $3,500 | -16 | 16 | 32 | 28 | |||
Landon Cassill | $5,000 | $2,500 | -10 | 25 | 35 | 24 | |||
Cody Ware | $4,900 | $2,000 | -5 | 28 | 33 | ||||
BJ McLeod | $4,800 | $2,000 | 0 | 36 | 36 | ||||
JJ Yeley | $4,700 | $2,500 | 5 | 35 | 30 |
Average Points By Starting Spot
These charts show the average points scored for each of DraftKings and FanDuel over the last five races. It’s intended to show the DFS Strategy for Richmond rather than who’s the lock and load plays based on starting spots.
Editor’s Note: Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott are easily playable. Due to that they’re not in the playbook to make room for more interesting plays. If you want them in your builds in the LG, simply click the check next to their name in the excluded tab after selecting Show Playbook Plays in the main tab.
Stacks
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