What’s up everyone?!!! The 2022 NASCAR season is finally here! For this edition of the NASCAR DFS Preview, we will take a look at the upcoming Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series races at Daytona. This article is brought to you by DFSArmy.com and written by Ryan Larkin. You can catch up with Ryan on Twitter or in the DFSA VIP slack @Larkin8
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Feb 17, 2020; Daytona Beach, Florida, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (9) leads the field during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
Daytona International Speedway
It is NASCAR’s most important and prestigious race track. It is a 2.5-mile behemoth of a track built by NASCAR founder Bill France in the late 50’s. The added intensity makes for quite the high pressure, action packed event. For DFS it is also our biggest event with Draftkings and FanDuel offering their biggest prize pools of the year. At Daytona, the cars run in huge packs due to the draft. This often leads to big wrecks taking out large portions of the field. Chaos is common. It is in many ways they are the hardest races to predict but with the one constant being absolute carnage is bound to happen.
Cup Series Race Weekend
Daytona 500 race weekend is an oddity because we don’t just get the one race. We also get a ton of practices, qualifying, and most importantly for DFS, the Duel races. The Duels are a qualifying race that sets the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. It is also the race that eliminates teams trying to race their way into the big show. There are DFS slates for these races and DFS Army will of course have you covered for these events. One important thing to note is that qualifying, which takes place on Wednesday, will set the pole position and second place starter for the Daytona 500. These two drivers will start on the pole for their Duel races but they will likely park their cars due to their guaranteed starting spots. The Duels should be ridiculously tame this year due to the shortage of cars available to teams. I feel confident saying that we won’t see much in terms of accidents at all.
Daytona 500 Preview
As I mentioned above, there is a legit shortage of the new Next Gen car. It is hard to tell how much this will play into things but I would imagine the entire field will be instructed to take care of their equipment. We could likely see an incredibly tame race overall with limited crashes and a much lower number of DNFs. Of course this is only speculation but it feels like the likely outcome. When it gets to the very end of the race though we should expect teams to go for the victory in the most important race of the year. Practice should be relatively tame as well but it will be crucial to pay attention and gather as much info as possible to see which teams have better speed overall or which manufacture has better drafting ability. The usual favorites of Hamlin, Keselowski, Logano, etc should be at the top of the list for the win. For lineup building on DraftKings you will look to play some of those high place differential point gainers plus a couple top finishers. If we get a low carnage race, we will likely see more mid pack drivers who score top 10s in the optimal. Drivers like Buescher, Stenhouse, and Wallace come to mind. If we get a high carnage race then those back marker Rick Ware cars will be massive plays. On FanDuel it is more about pick top finishers. Drivers scoring top 5s. Because they only score half a point per position gained, a driver having a +12 place diff score and finishing 16th isn’t as strong of a play.
Quick Facts
Race: 2:30pm/et, Sunday, February 20
Laps: 200 (Stages: 65/130/200)
TV: FOX
Practice 1: 5:05-5:55pm/et. Tue, Feb 15. TV: FS1
Practice 2: 6:35-7:25pm/et. Tue, Feb 15. TV: FS1
Qualifying: 8:05pm/et, Wed, Feb 16. TV: FS1
Duel 1: 7:00pm/et, Thur, Feb 17. TV: FS1
Duel 2: 8:45pm/et, Thur, Feb 17. TV: FS1
Practice 3: 5:35-6:25pm/et. Fri, Feb 18. TV: FS1
Practice 4: 10:30-11:20am/et. Sat, Feb 19. TV: FS2/FS1
What can the DFS Army do for you!!!
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Direct coaching from our NASCAR staff via VIP Slack chat – Every VIP member is welcome to ask questions, talk strategy or just have fun talking NASCAR. We even started an iracing league out of the friendships built here.
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Weekly articles specific to each NASCAR DFS series previewing each race
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Post qualifying DFS breakdown articles for Cup Series races
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Post qualifying VIP coaches notes for ALL THREE series
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VIP Research Station tailored to each individual race for all three series
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VIP Domination Station optimizer for each race of all three series
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We will also be offering tutorial podcasts and articles throughout the season to help our members learn how to be better DFS players.
Xfinity Series Quick Race Facts
Race: 5:00pm/et, Saturday, February 19
Laps: 120 (stages 30/60/120)
Practice: Friday, Feb. 18, 4:35-5:25pm/et
Qualifying: Saturday, Feb. 19, 11:35-1:00pm/et, single car / 1 lap, 2 rounds
TV: FS1
NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Outlook
The Xfinity races here at Daytona are usually crashfest. 15+ DNFs is the norm and something that should be expected. Through the first part of the race we normally get four separate packs. The leaders and top tier teams, the higher quality single car or independents, the multicar back markers (BJ McLeod and JDM teams), and then the absolute trash. Early on it will seem those back markers are bad plays but as the DNF numbers start piling up, those teams start becoming the best plays on the slate. They score 10-15+ points in the place differential department to go along with top 15-20 finishes. They are crucial plays. As far as the race winner, it is always a top tier team. JRM, Kaulig, Penske, RCR, and Gibbs will be at the front and battling it out. Usually a bunch of these cars wreck out but the remaining cars settle it for the trophy. Stacking teams like Kaulig has paid off huge the last two years on speedways and we should plan on doing the same this week.
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Truck Series Quick Race Facts
Race: Friday, February 18, 2022
7:30pm/et
TV: FS1
Laps: 100 (Stages 20/40/100)
Practice: Thursday, Feb. 17, 4:35-5:25pm/et
Qualifying: Friday, Feb. 18, 3:00pm/et, single truck / 1 lap, 2 rounds
NASCAR Truck Series DFS Outlook
The Truck Series has a very similar track record as the Xfinity Series here at Daytona. We see roughly 13-15 DNF’s a race but have seen over 20 DNFs before as well. The Trucks are a little more unstable than the Xfinity Series cars and they also punch a larger hole in the air causing for a strong draft for the Truck behind. This results in a faster closing rate thus leading to many accidents. Roughly 30% of these races are ran under caution. We usually see big teams pull off the win but there is a much higher chance of a lower tier team breaking through. The key to playing DFS for this race is finding 6 drivers who can stay out of trouble. The truck races here can be chaotic. We will have a large number of trucks who do not qualify for this race so be sure to stay on top of this. We have same day qualifying back in 2022 so there will only be a couple hours to set lineups.
This will conclude this edition of our NASCAR Preview. If you would like to reach out and talk NASCAR Follow me on Twitter @Larkin8 or join me as well as our other DFS Army NASCAR contributors (Brady Miller and Taco) in the NASCAR coaching channels.
Are you ready to join the domination? If you would like to reach out and talk NASCAR, follow me on twitter @Larkin8 or of course Become a VIP member and join me as well as our other DFS Army NASCAR contributors (Brady Miller, Taco, and NillyJay) in the NASCAR coaching channels.
