Matt Vecchio 
Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series for the start of the 2021 season! If you’ve been with us before then you know the drill, but if you are new the WinDaily Sports or to my NASCAR content, welcome! I break down the field each week and give you my favorite plays for each race in three different price categories.
Make sure to check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial as well to make sure you are ready and have an understanding of how I break down the races and build lineups (https://windailysports.com/nascar-dfs-pit-stop-2021-introduction-to-nascar-dfs/). You will notice that all pricing is for DraftKings in these articles since they are the only site that has contests for all three series (Trucks, Xfinity, Cup) and is the site I mainly play on. All plays in the Cup Series’ article will translate to FanDuel if that is where you play.
Like with Friday’s Truck race and the Daytona 500 on Sunday, the Xfinity race should be a fun and action-packed race. I say should be, because there have been years where there were no passing and a lot of single-file race, which makes for a very boring, but safe race. In 2019 we had one of those boring races where 28 of 38 cars finished on the lead lap and only 3 cars DNF, all for mechanical reasons. Contrast that with 2020 where 14 of 38 cars did not finish the race, and only 10 cars finished on the lead lap. I am expecting a race similar to the 2020 version on Saturday.
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
This top tier is loaded for this race, and the season overall. We will need to wait and see what happens in qualifying. I will just give some of the drivers I like best in this tier below and update after qualifying
Both Justin Allgaier ($10,500) and Noah Gragson ($10,100) are exceptional plays in Saturday’s race. They are teammates so they fit the “stacking” theory we used on Friday with the KBM trucks. Gragson won this race last year, so he is definitely one of the favorites on Saturday. Allgaier has never won here, but he does have eight top 10 finishes, and four top 5’s.
Austin Cindric ($10,300) is the defending series champion and should be a favorite at every race this season. Cindric will be one of the few drivers in this race with track time in races going into Saturday’s race having run and qualified for the Daytona 500 in the Cup Series Duels on Thursday.
Ty Dillon ($9,500) will be in the Joe Gibbs #54 for a partial schedule this season, and Daytona is on that list. This may be the best equipment that Dillon has ever driven and he will be a threat to get the win on Saturday. Dillon was the fastest car in practice on Friday, and he will be joined by teammates Brandon Jones ($9,000) and Daniel Hemric ($9,200) in this tier.
Once again all these plays are based on qualifying and I will update in Discord after qualifying is complete Saturday morning.
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Harrison Burton ($8,800)
Burton has raced two Xfinity races at Daytona and he has two top 5 finishes. At this race last year Burton finished second, he then followed that up with a 5th place finish in the Summer Daytona race. Obviously, we want to see where he qualifies, but Burton could be a solid high-end mid-tier play on Saturday no matter where he starts.
Jeb Burton ($8,500)
Burton has his first full-time ride in the Xfinity taking over the #10 Kaulig Racing car that Ross Chastain vacated after the 2020 season. This was a team that competed for a championship with Chastain behind the wheel and should again this year. Burton hasn’t had great success at Daytona with just one top 5 in three races, but depending on where he qualifies, Burton could make for some great value.
Riley Herbst ($7,900)
Herbst is now in the #98 Stewart-Haas Ford this season after spending last year with Joe Gibbs Racing. I think Herbst is a dark horse championship candidate this season in this car. Herbst was second in practice on Friday and also had the 3rd best five-lap average.
Other Options: Myatt Snider ($8,100), Michael Annett ($8,700), Ryan Sieg ($7,700)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings
- Jordan Anderson ($4,900)
- Landon Cassill ($7,200)
- Alex Labbe ($6,600)
- Brandon Gdovic ($6,800)
- Tommy Joe Martins ($6,400)
- Matt Mills ($5,000)
- Colby Howard ($5,700)
- Mario Gosselin ($4,800)
- Joe Graf Jr. ($4,700)
- Ryan Vargas ($5,900)
These rankings are tentative until after qualifying on Saturday morning.
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