This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Alsco Uniforms 300
Location: Las Vegas, Nev.
Course: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Format: 1.5-mile oval
Laps: 200
Race Preview
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week with two races under its belt in the 2022 season. Cole Custer made a rare start last week at Auto Club Speedway and led nearly half of the race on his way to victory. That win left Daytona winner Austin Hill as the only series regular with a berth in the playoffs. This week's trip to Las Vegas will be the second stop of three on the West Coast for the teams and the first visit to a 1.5-mile oval in 2022. Last week's race gave fantasy players a good early indicator of where teams stand in the pecking order, while this week's stop should give even more clarity as to who is quick and who has work to do to close the gap. AJ Allmendinger and Josh Berry won the two Las Vegas races last season, sweeping the races for Chevrolet.
Key Stats at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
- Number of races: 29
- Winners from pole: 6
- Winners from top-5 starters: 16
- Winners from top-10 starters: 24
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 2
- Fastest race: 145.415 mph
Previous 10 Las Vegas Winners
2021 fall - Josh Berry
2021 spring - AJ Allmendinger
2020 fall - Chase Briscoe
2020 spring - Chase Briscoe
2019 fall - Tyler Reddick
2019 spring - Kyle Busch
2018 fall - Ross Chastain
2018 spring - Kyle Larson
2017 - Joey Logano
2016 - Kyle Busch
Track position is one of the most important factors for success at Las Vegas and most other 1.5-mile ovals. Josh Berry's win at the track last fall was just the fifth time a driver starting outside of the top 10 has won at the track. He was the first driver to do it since Mark Martin in 2008. Practice and qualifying will be strong indicators of potential race pace, but fantasy players will want to keep in mind the relative lack of cautions at the track. The lack of cautions enables faster cars to build significant leads and leave those with work to do with fewer opportunities to visit pit road to make improvements. Late cautions can shake up an otherwise predictable running order, though. This means that pit crews will also play a big role in the outcome. Teams must be mistake-free on pit road, make the right adjustments at the right timeand help their drivers gain spots by getting off of pit road first.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Ty Gibbs - $11,000
Noah Gragson - $10,800
Justin Allgaier - $10,400
AJ Allmendinger - $10,200
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Daniel Hemric - $9,900
Josh Berry - $9,700
Brandon Jones - $9,500
John Hunter Nemechek - $9,200
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Riley Herbst - $8,800
Sam Mayer - $8,600
Sheldon Creed - $8,300
Austin Hill - $8,200
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Myatt Snider - $8,000
Anthony Alfredo - $7,800
Ryan Sieg - $7,200
Josh Williams - $6,800
MY PICKS THIS WEEK
Lower-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
Ty Gibbs - $11,000
Daniel Hemric - $9,800
Riley Herbst - $8,800
Anthony Alfredo - $7,800
Jeremy Clements - $7,000
Stefan Parsons - $5,600
Two fifth-place stage finishes and a 13th-place finish were what Ty Gibbs took from last week. He heads to Las Vegas seventh in the standings and with an 11th-place finish at the track from last season. This week's race should be a good opportunity for him to live up to his potential this season. Daniel Hemric led 10 laps last week and should be another top option for fantasy rosters with three consecutive top-fives at Las Vegas. He is 10th in the standings but hasn't scored a top-10 finish yet this season. Another strong contender early this season is Riley Herbst. He has two top-10s from the first two races and sits fifth in the standings. He has a pair of top-10 finishes at this track but crashed out of the last two Las Vegas races. Anthony Alfredo made some noise last week with a fifth-place Fontana finish. That was his second top-10 of the young season, and his only prior series start at this week's venue was an eighth-place finish in 2020. Jeremy Clements has 14 Las Vegas starts with a best finish of 13th. His average finish in that span is 22.7, but he has trended more toward top-15 finishes there in recent years. Stefan Parsons is aiming to put his early troubles behind him with a mistake-free finish. He crashed out of last week's race and has a best finish of 20th from two Las Vegas appearances.
Higher-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
AJ Allmendinger - $10,200
Josh Berry - $9,700
Sam Mayer - $8,600
Sheldon Creed - $8,300
Ryan Sieg - $7,200
Jade Buford - $6,000
AJ Allmendinger has started his 2022 season in fine form. He has the highest points total from the first two races despite not yet winning. He has one win and two top-10s from two series starts at this track. Like Allmendinger, Josh Berry is another former Las Vegas winner with two top-10s from two visits. He led 38 laps on his way to Victory Lane last fall and was seventh in this race last season. Sam Mayer grabbed a top-10 finish last week. He has one series start at Las Vegas, which ended early with a crash. His strength last week makes him an attractive option for fantasy rosters. After crashing out early last week Sheldon Creed is anxious to get back on track and score another top-10 this week. This will be his first Xfinity start at Las Vegas, but he does come with an average finish in the Trucks Series of 5.3 from six starts at the track. Creed is definitely not a driver to ignore. Ryan Sieg picked up his second top-10 finish in as many races last week. He has 13 starts at this track with a best finish of third. He finished in the top five in both races at the track in 2020. Jade Buford takes the final spot in the higher-risk lineup with two series starts to his credit at Las Vegas, with a best finish of 26th last fall.
