NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series Darlington 5/8/21

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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series for 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 to make sure you are ready and understand 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.

After a week off, the Xfinity Series is back on the track at the track that is “Too Tough To Tame”, Darlington! This is a fun track but it can also have plenty of chaos as we saw Friday night in the Truck Series race.

Similar to the truck race on Friday, we have a bunch of top-tier drivers with some great place differential upside that we will want to play. One of those drivers has to be the top-priced driver on the slate, Ty Gibbs ($11,100), but he is not the only one as you will see below.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Ty Gibbs ($11,100)

Starting Position: 29th

Gibbs is the top overall play for me and is a lock for cash games and single entry contests. I plan on playing Gibbs in GPP’s as well because he could very easily be the highest-scoring driver in this race. In three Xfinity races this season, Gibbs hasn’t finished lower than 4th. Gibbs has never raced at Darlington, so he could have some trouble while trying to figure it out but he is such a talented driver at just 18 years old that I don’t worry about him

Josh Berry ($9,100)

Starting Position: 24th

Josh Berry is a solid GPP play for me on Saturday. When you look at Berry’s races this season he is pretty much a top 10 car or he finishes 27th or worse. Berry is another driver who has never raced at Darlington but, like with Gibbs, I don’t worry about Berry having issues figuring out this track and getting a good finish today.

Brandon Jones ($10,400)

Starting Position: 22nd

Jones won at Darlington the last time the series was here in September. In six previous races at Darlington, Jones has four finished of 12th or better and has never finished lower than 23rd. Jones has only led 2 laps at Darlington, the last two of the race he won, so him racking up dominator points may not happen here, but with his PD upside, I still think we can get the value we need.

Austin Cindric ($9,900)

Starting Position: 2nd

Cindric projects as the highest owned driver in this race so I don’t think he will be someone I’d used in GPP’s. He has dominator upside, but he has also never led a single lap at Darlington. If you are playing cash or SE I see Cindric as a solid play to pair with Gibbs, but in large field GPP’s I would fade him. If you are MME though, I could see having 10-15% exposure to him because of the dominator potential. Cindric has never finished better than 4th at this track and outside of his first race here where he crashed, he has never finished lower than 12th. I view Cindric as a safe play, but with limited upside

Other Options: AJ Allmendinger ($10,100 – P1), Justin Allgaier ($10,700 – P16), Michael Annett ($9,300 – P20), Noah Gragson ($9,700 – P5)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

JJ Yeley ($7,700)

Starting Position: 35th

Yeley is back in the #17, and severely underpriced at that, where he has been solid in all three of the races he has run in this season. Even in the races where Cody Ware ran it (outside of Daytona where he wrecked) the 17 has not finished worse than 25th. Yeley is my second favorite driver, actually more like a 1B, next to Ty Gibbs today. They are both a lock for cash games and SE tournaments.

Harrison Burton ($8,500)

Starting Position: 8th

Burton is one of my favorite GPP plays in the field today. I don’t see him picking up too much ownership starting from P8 but I think he could be a sleeper pick to win this race. Burton has only raced here at Darlington twice (both in 2020) and has two top-ten finishes. Looking at the most recent race here, last September, Burton ran all but one lap inside the top 15, and while he didn’t lead any laps he still finished 6th and had a great fantasy day. All of the Gibbs cars were solid at Darlington last year and that should continue on Saturday.

BJ McLeod ($7,400)

Starting Position: 38th

Do I expect McLeod to be chalky? Yes. Do I care? No. McLeod is a great driver who knows how to just drive his race and stay out of trouble. His price has the potential to scare some people off him, but I don’t see that happening. McLeod could easily be top 10 in DraftKings points when this race is all said and done. In seven Xfinity Series races at Darlington, McLeod has an average finish of 23.7 and has been running at the end in six. He isn’t going to dominate this race but he has top 20 potential and I really like this play today.

Other Options: Justin Haley ($8,700 – P4), Ryan Sieg ($8,900 – P11), Brett Moffitt ($8,200 – P13),Brandon Gdovic ($8,000 – P27) –I really like Gdovic for a top 20 today, Alex Labbe ($7,100 – P23)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Bayley Currey ($5,800) – P39: PD upside, great for cash games
2. Tanner Berryhill ($6,200) – P36: Another great upside play and is in good equipment. I expect a top 25, with top 20 upside on Saturday
3. Gray Gaulding ($5,500) – P37: Finished 15th in his only race here in 2020, has top 20 upside with attrition could be a top 15 car
4. Brandon Brown ($6,900) – P9: Brown is having his best season as a driver and will be very low-owned starting 9th. Don’t be afraid to run him in GPP’s. Brown has top 5 upside if things fall his way
5. Jeffrey Earnhardt ($6,100) – P28: Should be semi-low owned and has good PD upside
6. Josh Williams ($5,600) – P21: Nobody will play him but he is a great PP/$ play in this race
7. Landon Cassil ($6,800) – P19: Cassill has good results all season. GPP play only
8. Ryan Ellis ($5,000) – P33: Good car and a good driver. Top 30 car almost every week with top 20 upside
9. Joe Graf Jr. ($5,900) – P30: Had a promising start to the season, but a few bad weeks may keep his ownership down. I like him for a top 25 this week
10. Matt Jaskol ($6,000) – P40: Could be a good play starting last IF they have a sponsor. I Will post in discord if I see anything

Make sure to check in discord throughout the day on Saturday as I may update the value plays if I find out more info on sponsors and potential start and park drivers.

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