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Daily Fantasy NASCAR DraftKings Forecast: 2022 All-Star Race at Texas

Hey now, NASCAR Cup Series drivers are All Stars, get your game on, go play daily fantasy! Read on for my NASCAR DraftKings picks for the 2022 All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway, airing on Sunday, May 22 at 8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

This race at Texas isn’t like most of the others (except maybe last year’s All-Star event); it’s much shorter in length — just 125 laps — and is split into four stages. The first three stages are 25 laps each, and the final stage is 50 laps. We have all you need to know about the race right here.

Practice for the Cup weekend starts at 7:15 p.m. ET on Saturday (May 21), with qualifying to follow. The All-Star Race drivers will qualify at 7:55 p.m. ET, with the top eight moving on to the elimination bracket.

See also
NASCAR 101: Breaking Down 2022's Lone Star All-Star Race

Really, all you need to know for daily fantasy is where the driver starts and which ones move on from the Open (airing Sunday at 5:30 p.m. ET). Feel free to check out practice speeds, and review last year’s results and past Texas points races.

Before I share my pre-qualifying picks for the All-Star Race, here’s a look back at the results from Kansas Speedway:

Salary Driver DraftKings Score
$10,900.00 Chase Elliott 0.5
$9,700.00 Ross Chastain 43.35
$8,700.00 Kevin Harvick 36
$8,000.00 Austin Dillon 38
$6,700.00 Chris Buescher 23.45
$5,900.00 Justin Haley -14
$49,900.00 Total 127.3

This lineup didn’t do so well, but a lot of that wasn’t our fault. Chase Elliott had a tire go down and ended up three laps down after his issues. Also, Justin Haley had some problems too and had to retire early. He still showed speed that weekend, as he qualified 15th. Had I known he would start in that spot, I would’ve switched him with someone else.

The top score in the $6,000 Quarter Jukebox tournament was 401.25 and had Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace.

As far as DraftKings scoring, the rules are the same as last season: 0.45 points for each fastest lap and 0.25 for each lap led. Additionally, drivers can earn a point for each position they gain on the track (relative to where they start). They can also lose a point for each position lost, so keep this fact in mind if you decide to play the polesitter.

Here are their rules for the road this season.

NASCAR DraftKings Scoring Rules

Now, on to my DraftKings picks!

Note: The following drivers are part of a sample NASCAR DraftKings lineup; you can use this info to make your own.

DraftKings Picks for 2022 All-Star Race at Texas

Kyle Larson ($10,000)
Career at Texas: 14 starts, 1 win, 4 top fives, 5 top 10s

Average finish at Texas: 18.4

I had to start with last year’s winner and this weekend’s favorite. In fact, not only did he claim the $1 million, but he also dominated in the fall playoff race, leading 256 of the 334 laps. He also has a runner-up finish in 2017 and a fifth place in fall 2018.

Last season’s victory was actually his second, as he won the 2019 event at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

I had been hesitant to play Larson, though, because it seems that every time I do, something happens to his car. But there’s no denying the speed the Hendrick Motorsports Chevy has shown so far, especially last week at Kansas. He almost earned his second win of the year until Kurt Busch passed him late. Still, he posted 19 fastest laps and led 29, earning a DraftKings score of 58.8.

Kyle Busch ($9,500)
Career at Texas: 31 starts, 4 wins, 14 top fives, 18 top 10s

Average finish at Texas: 10.9

Kyle Busch surprisingly struggled in last year’s main event, leading six laps en route to ninth place. But he’s had some good results at Texas in the other races recently. Last fall he led 20 laps and finished eighth; the year prior he won the rain-delayed race after leading 90 laps that Wednesday. He has five straight top 10s, and claimed two other victories in 2016 and 2018.

Plus, he had a really good car a week ago at Kansas (as did the rest of the Toyotas). Busch recorded 37 fastest laps and led 18 before ultimately placing third.

Early on in the season, Busch nearly won at another 1.5-mile course in Las Vegas Motor Speedway but had to settle for fourth. He’s certainly capable of winning at Texas and would love another victory in Mars’ final year as his sponsor.

Ross Chastain ($8,600)
Career at Texas: 5 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 0 top 10s

Average finish at Texas: 27.6

Ross Chastain earned his eighth top 10 of 2022 last Sunday at Kansas, finishing seventh on a day where Toyota seemed to have the upper hand. He also did very well at Dover Motor Speedway, scoring a podium after leading 86 laps. Where else did he lead over 80 circuits this year? Yep, Las Vegas. He took home a third place then, too, showing just how strong he and his Trackhouse Racing Team is so far.

Although Chastain has some Cup experience at Texas, most of it was with the underfunded defunct program of Premium Motorsports. His first race with that team at the 1.5-mile course was an 18th, which was really strong, considering. In the Xfinity Series, he was runner up in 2019 and ninth in 2020.

If Chastain doesn’t qualify in the top eight, he should score well on DraftKings.

Christopher Bell ($7,500)
Career at Texas: 3 starts, 0 wins, 2 top fives, 2 top 10s

Average finish at Texas: 9.0

Like his teammate Kyle Busch, Bell didn’t do so well in last year’s ASR, just missing out on a top 10. However, he ended in third in each of the last two points races at Texas after starting 15th and 11th. He even recorded 31 fastest laps in one of his final races with Leavine Family Racing.

He also led a lot in Fort Worth in Xfinity — over 100 laps in each race in 2019, securing a victory in the fall event.

Recently the No. 20 has been on a hot streak in the Cup Series, bringing home three straight top 10s (including two top fives. He also was out front for 37 circuits after earning his third pole of the year.

Perhaps Toyota can perform as well as it did last week. If it does, Bell would earn a good score on DraftKings.

Dark Horse Performers

Kurt Busch ($7,000)
Career at Texas: 37 starts, 1 win, 3 top fives, 23 top 10s

Average finish at Texas: 13.9

Starting to see a pattern here? I couldn’t resist putting several strong Toyotas in my lineup this week, and that includes Kansas winner Kurt Busch. He had the helm for 116 laps and notched 70 fastest laps to boot — by far his best performance of the year. The No. 45 driver does have a few other top 10s in 2022: eighth at Auto Club Speedway, fifth at Phoenix Raceway, third at Atlanta Motor Speedway and sixth at Martinsville Speedway.

At Texas, Busch earned his lone win back in 2009. He did earn eight consecutive top 10s from 2017-2020. His last two top 10s were eighth and seventh in 2020.

Perhaps Busch could carry this momentum into this week’s exhibition race.

Bubba Wallace ($6,500)
Career at Texas: 7 starts, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 1 top 10

Average finish at Texas: 23.4

Wallace bounced back multiple times at Kansas to grab his second top 10 of 2022. It was a much-needed confidence booster for this team, and was his best DraftKings score since the Daytona 500.

While his Texas results aren’t flashy, he did finish eighth in 2018 and 14th in 2020. Unfortunately, he crashed in the last two Texas races, ending both in the 30s.

His Talladega Superspeedway victory locked him into the main All-Star event this year, and I know he’ll do everything he can to get a good result at Texas.

About the author

Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised as a motorsports fan and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.

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