This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
XPEL 225
Location: Austin, Texas
Course: Circuit of the Americas
Format: 3.41-mile road course
Laps: 42
NASCAR CRAFSTMAN Trucks Series XPEL 225 Race Preview
The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series goes road racing in Texas in this week's XPEL 225 at the Circuit of the Americas. Chirstian Eckes captured the checkered flag a week ago at Las Vegas to add his name to the playoff positions and the 2024 winner's list. The regular season is now 25% complete, and there is no time to rest for those looking to turn things around or stake their claim on a spot in the playoffs with a race win. This week's road course race will be a prime opportunity for several drivers to accomplish that goal, too. Zane Smith won the last two series races at COTA but has moved on to the NASCAR Cup Series for 2024, and Todd Gilliland won the series debut at the track. Neither are entered this weekend, which means there will be a new winner. Interestingly, the No. 38 machine has won every series COTA race so far. Layne Riggs fills that seat this week, and he will be hoping he can continue the tradition of putting the No. 38 truck into Victory Lane on Saturday.
Key Stats at Circuit of the Americas
- Number of races: 3
- Winners from pole: 0
- Winners from top-5 starters: 2
- Winners from top-10 starters: 3
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 0
- Fastest race: 77.000 mph
Previous COTA Winners
2023 - Zane Smith
2022 - Zane Smith
2021 - Todd Gilliland
Saturday's XPEL 225 will be the fourth series visit to the Circuit of the Americas for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks. As with all road courses, track position play an outsized role in this race's outcome. Despite that, no driver has yet won this race from the top starting position. However, no winner has yet started from outside the top 10, either. For these reasons, fantasy players would be advised to monitor practice and qualifying results before settling on a lineup. Driver choices inside the first five starting rows should be the target. This circuit is situated near Austin, Texas and boasts long and sweeping layout features significant elevation changes and a wide variety of corners. Despite its newness to the series, the track's surface is beginning to show its age. The teams and drivers will have to adjust to the bumps that seem to get bigger each year, and tire management throughout a fuel run will be critical. Drivers must find the sections of the track their machine works best in order to make up time or complete passes to end the day with a top result. Late-race cautions are something to beware of, and they can open the door for teams to gamble on pit strategy to gain track position for the finish. However, this circuit's wide layout with plenty of runoff room encourages green-flag racing and passing.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Trucks Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the XPEL 225 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Ross Chastain - $11,000
Corey Heim - $10,500
Ty Majeski - $10,200
Christian Eckes - $10,000
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Grant Enfinger - $9,700
Ben Rhodes - $9,500
Nick Sanchez - $8,900
Tyler Ankrum - $8,600
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Matt Crafton - $8,200
Jack Hawksworth - $8,000
Taylor Gray - $7,800
Tanner Gray - $7,500
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Rajah Caruth - $7,200
Marco Andretti - $7,000
Stefan Parsons - $6,300
Daniel Dye - $5,600
NASCAR DFS Picks for the XPEL 225
Ross Chastain - $11,000
Ben Rhodes - $9,500
Matt Crafton - $8,200
Jack Hawksworth - $8,000
Marco Andretti - $7,000
Stefan Parsons - $6,300
Ross Chastain is a COTA winner from the Cup Series. He won the 2022 race at the circuit and finished fourth in the other two Cup races there. He clearly knows the track and will be one of the favorites to win Saturday. He started on pole in his lone Trucks Series start at the track last season, finishing fifth and leading 10 laps. Ben Rhodes is one of the competitors looking to kickstart his 2024 campaign. He has not finished in the top 10 yet this season, but he has done that in each of the three prior COTA races. His best finish was fourth in 2022 and he led three laps in the 2021 contest. Veteran Matt Crafton completes the core of this week's lineup. Crafton has three top-10s so far in 2024, which put him eighth in the playoff positions. Continued top finishes are the goal, but a win will secure his bid for another appearance in the championship playoffs. He has not finished in the top 10 at COTA yet, but two of the three races gave him top-15 finishes, which is a decent expected result for this week's price.
The second half of the XPEL 225 lineup looks to some of the road course ringers that will be trying to make a splash. Jack Hawksworth is an IMSA champion that will be trying his hand in a truck for the first time in his career. He is a road course veteran in many different disciplines and comes with a thorough resume of experience. This will be his first series start, and he'll be piloting the TRICON Garage entry. He also qualified second in an Xfinity Series start for Joe Gibbs Racing at Mid-Ohio. Marco Andretti is another experienced road course veteran with three prior series starts under his belt, of which two were top-20 finishes. Stefan Parsons will make his third series start of the season this week. Parsons already has one top-10 finish from Daytona, and he finished 21st in his lone Xfinity Series start at COTA.
