The rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on the highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by the value of each driver.
The DraftKings NASCAR Xfinity Series Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega slate locks at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NXS $80K Piston [$20K to 1st] (XFIN)
1. Austin Hill ($9,300) — The best plate racer of 2022 is Austin Hill. He won the season opening race at Daytona and finished second at Atlanta. This is not a fluke. Hill won a Truck Series race at Daytona in 2019.
2. AJ Allmendinger ($9,700) — Normally, kicking off the season’s plate races with finishes of second and third would be the best in the series, but Austin Hill has been hotter. Either way, Kaulig Racing and Allmendinger are up to their old plate racing tricks.
3. Ty Gibbs ($10,500) — The last we heard from Gibbs, he was explaining why he had to get into a fist fight with Sam Mayer. The last time he won, that was not too long ago. It was in March at the new Atlanta track that features plate track pack racing.
4. Noah Gragson ($10,300) — Between 13 races at Talladega and Daytona, Gragson has finished 11th or better nine times. His average finish in those nine races is sixth. At Talladega, Gragson has finished 11th or better in five of his six races.
5. Justin Allgaier ($9,500) — New Atlanta did not work out for Allgaier (34th), but Allgaier has a top-5 finish in each of the last three traditional plate races.
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6. Daniel Hemric ($9,900) — The Kaulig Racing plate track magic has not rubbed off on Hemric yet, but it’s only a matter of time. The rest of the Kaulig cars have been fine at the plate tracks this season, so hopefully they will share some of that fairy dust this weekend.
7. Riley Herbst ($8,500) — Talladega is a great opportunity for Herbst to get his first career win. He’s been one of the best plate racers this season with fourth-place finishes at Daytona and the new Atlanta.
8. Landon Cassill ($8,800) — The old Landon Cassill is dead. Long live the new Landon Cassill. Kaulig Racing has revived his career just like they did A.J. Allmendinger’s career. They’re the Quentin Tarantino of NASCAR. Cassill finished second at Martinsville! A win is for sure happening this season.
9. Sheldon Creed ($8,600) — He hasn’t been as white-hot at the plate tracks as his RCR teammate, Austin Hill. Still, finishes of ninth and sixth at the plate tracks this season are strong. It seems that Creed has wrecked everywhere but the plate tracks.
10. Sam Mayer ($9,200) — Although some fans might support Mayer after Martinsville, his aggressive driving riled some feathers in the garage. Plate racing can be difficult for a driver that is not trusted or liked. Besides the driving, it’s hard to trust a kid that is crazy enough or dumb enough to fight someone that is wearing a helmet.
11. Drew Dollar ($8,000) — The No. 18 JGR car always gets ranked regardless of the driver. Drew Dollar was a mess driving for KBM in the Truck Series in 2021. This season kicked off with two wrecks in one day at Daytona (ARCA and Xfinity). Dollar does have an ARCA win at Talladega (2020).
12. Ryan Sieg ($7,400) — This has been Ryan Sieg’s best season to date. It goes without saying that he must have raced well in the two plate races if he’s having a good season. Sieg earned a top-10 finish in both plate races.
13. Brandon Brown ($7,300) — The last Xfinity Series race at Talladega is the rare occasion where the race is meaningless to NASCAR fans, but a cultural moment for the United States. After steadily improving his Talladega finishes race by race from 15th to 11th to 10th to 7th, Brown won the fall 2021 race. You probably remember the rest.
14. Jeffrey Earnhardt ($8,200) — If the sentimentality builds to a crescendo, then this is definitely a fade. An Earnhardt is driving an RCR car for the first time in a long time, and Jeffrey will be in the No. 3 car. It’s also a plate track where he has a chance to win just like his legendary grandfather. How do you fade this?
15. Josh Berry ($10,100) — Last fall at Talladega, Berry subbed for Michael Annett in the No. 1 JRM car. He was in second place as the laps were winding down when the leader wrecked. Berry only suffered minor damage, but he needed to pit. Before he could work his way back to the front, the race was ended due darkness.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NXS $80K Piston [$20K to 1st] (XFIN)
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