Race Day Strategies – Trucks/Xfinity – Phoenix

Race Day Strategies

WTR Fam! Welcome to another edition of Race Day Strategies, covering the Truck Series and Xfinity Series from a DFS strategy perspective. In this article, we will lay out past trends from previous relevant races, show the winning lineups for the flagship GPPs of those races, and give a high-level look at possible lineup construction based on this info and track type.

If you have not done so already, I would encourage you to read our NASCAR DFS Strategy Primer as this article will often piggyback on the strategies mentioned there. I will also say, as I mentioned in our primer, that these strategies are meant to be guardrails and not rules that are set in stone. Practice and Qualifying play a crucial role in dictating final strategy and builds. As this article is released mid-week, we encourage all members to check out our Discord for more discussions on strategy after the results of practice and qualifying are known.

Without further delay, let’s dive into Phoenix!

Race Info and Trends

Available Dominator Points
67.5 pts – Fastest Laps
37.5 pts – Laps Led

Lap Leaders
2023 – 48, 47, 36, 35, 8, 5
2022 – 77, 44, 9, 8, 6, 5, 5
2021 – 106, 39, 5

Fastest Laps
2023 – 31, 21, 20, 10 or fewer (6 drivers)
2022 – 43, 21, 16, 9 or fewer (9 drivers)
2021 – 48, 26, 13, 9 or fewer (10 drivers)

Laps Lead by Championship 4
2023 – 47/179
2022 – 94/154
2021 – 0/150

Fastest Laps by Championship 4
2023 – 22/88
2022 – 62/105
2021 – 19/119

Cautions – 12, 7, 4 – Avg. 7.7

DNFs – 12, 5, 4 – Avg. 7

Avg Green Flag Run – 15.6 laps

PD+FP Pts per Driver for Winning LineupAvg. 42.06
2023 – 49.17
2022 – 41.50
2021 – 35.50

% of Laps Led per Race by Winning LineupAvg. 41.8%
2023 – 24.6% (44/179)
2022 – 84.4% (130/154)
2021 – 96.7% (145/150)

% of Fastest Laps per Race by Winning LineupAvg. 56.4%
2023 – 14.8% (13/88)
2022 – 76.2% (80/105)
2021 – 69.7% (83/119)

Available Dominator Points
90 pts – Fastest Laps
50 pts – Laps Led

Lap Leaders
2023 – 96, 66, 21, 11, 4, 4
2022 – 125, 35, 26, 40, 4
2021 – 113, 48, 39, 3, 1

Fastest Laps
2023 – 40, 33, 19, 18, 12 or fewer (10 drivers)
2022 – 58, 28, 27, 6 or fewer (9 drivers)
2021 – 55, 26, 23, 8 or fewer (9 drivers)

Laps Lead by Championship 4
2023 – 162/202
2022 – 186/200
2021 – 164/204

Fastest Laps by Championship 4
2023 – 103/146
2022 – 117/142
2021 – 87/132

Cautions – 8, 8, 10, – Avg. 8.7

DNFs – 5, 2, 5 – Avg. 4.0

Avg Green Flag Run – 15.7 Laps

PD+FP Pts per Driver for Winning LineupAvg. 44.45
2023 – 42.50
2022 – 46.17
2021 – 44.67

% of Laps Led per Race by Winning LineupAvg. 68.0%
2023 – 49.5% (100/202)
2022 – 75.5% (151/200)
2021 – 78.9% (161/204)

% of Fastest Laps per Race by Winning LineupAvg. 57.6%
2023 – 47.3% (69/146)
2022 – 60.6% (86/142)
2021 – 65.9% (87/132)

Winning Flagship GPP Lineups
Roster Construction Strategy
  • General Thoughts
    • Championship 4 (Heim, Eckes, Majeski, Enfinger)
    • Typically a calmer race
      • Last year was chaos and tends to skew overall trends
    • Typically see place differential matter, but tends to be lower overall
      • Top PD drivers around 10-15 points
  • Cash
    • One or two dominators
      • Gravitating toward Champ 4 drivers
    • Place differential
  • Tournaments
    • Champ 4 Drivers in Winning Lineup
      • 2023 – 1
      • 2022 – 2
      • 2021 – 1
    • Top Dominator, maybe a secondary
    • More emphasis on high finishing position upside than place differential
  • General Thoughts
    • Championship 4 (Custer, Allgaier, Allmendinger, Hill)
    • Typically a calmer race
      • Although 3 of 4 Championship races at Phoenix have gone to OT
    • Typically see place differential matter, but tends to be lower overall
      • Top PD drivers around 10-15 points
  • Cash
    • Primary dominator, maybe two
      • Gravitating toward Champ 4 drivers
    • Place differential
  • Tournaments
    • Champ 4 Drivers in Winning Lineup
      • 2023 – 2
      • 2022 – 2
      • 2021 – 2
    • Top Dominator and likely a secondary
    • More emphasis on high finishing position upside than place differential

That’s all for this edition of Raceday Strategies for the Trucks & Xfinity Series! I hope this helps everyone with their mindset as we approach building lineups for the Trucks & Xfinity Series race this weekend! One last time, these are high-level guardrails and not set-in-stone rules. We will have much more discussion in Discord as we lead up to lineup lock for these races. Not a member? Sign up today and get 50% off your first month or week of your Monthly or Weekly subscription! Good luck!