NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series Darlington 9/4/21

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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for the Xfinity series for the 2021 season! If you’ve been with us before then, you know the drill, but welcome if you are new to WinDaily Sports or my NASCAR content! 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 with contests for all three series (Trucks, Xfinity, Cup) and the site I mainly play on. All plays in the Cup Series article will translate to FanDuel if that is where you play.

This week all three of NASCAR’s premier series are in Darlington, South Carolina. Darlington is an egg-shaped track that has two uniquely different ends. It is known as both the “Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough to Tame” by drivers.

On Saturday the Xfinity kicks off this triple-header weekend with a 200 mile 147 lap race. Earlier this season Justin Allgaier won here after leading only 10 laps. Three different drivers led at least 34 laps (Cindric, Gragson, and Hemric) but none of them was a factor in the end.

Lineup Construction:

Darlington is usually a track where the driver who starts near the front, ends up there but that was not the case back in May of this year. Eight drivers who started outside the top 10 finished in the top 10, and four drivers lower than 20th and ended up in the top 10. I see this race being much of the same base on the quality of drivers we have starting towards the middle and back of this field. My most likely path in most of my lineups will be to go with three drivers in the top tier and use the top-priced value tier plays as a pseudo-mid-tier this week. There are some options in the traditional mid-tier, but nothing that seems like a must-play.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Austin Cindric ($11,300)

Starting Position: 24th

Cindric led 34 laps at the spring race here but had the hopes of his first Darlington win dashed on a last-lap wreck. If you take Cindric’s average finish of 19.2 in five career races here at face value then you’ll be not getting the whole story. In five races here, Cindric has three finished of 12th or better, but he has two finished of 30th or worse which skew his average finish. Cindric is one of the favorites to win this race.

Denny Hamlin ($10,400)

Starting Position: 14th

Another one of the favorites in this race has to be Denny Hamlin driving the #54 car for Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend. Everyone who has gotten behind the wheel of this car has been successful and I don’t expect Hamlin to be any different. In his Xfinity career, Hamlin has dominated at Darlington with five wins, nine top 5’s, and twelve top 10’s in thirteen races. Last season Hamlin led 31 laps and finished 5th at this race. I think Hamlin is a must-play, but he falls just a smidge behind Cindric because of the ten starting positions between them.

Austin Dillon ($10,800)

Starting Position: 35th

Dillon is the elite place differential play in this race on Saturday. Even though he is the best place differential play Dillon won’t be a threat to win this race, but he should pull a top 10. This will be Dillon’s fourth different car he has driven in the Xfinity Series in 2021. He has fared well in all the previous three so I don’t see why this week should be any different. My only concern would be Dillon fighting through early traffic in the back.

Both Brandon Jones ($10,600 – P25) and Tyler Reddick ($10,200 – P28) will factor into my lineups on Saturday. They both offer up great place differential upside and should be lower owned pivots off of the previous three drivers mentioned above. Jones has a win here and Reddick has two top 10’s in three races with an average finish of 7th.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Michael Annett ($8,100)

Starting Position: 19th

Annett is one of the only drivers in the mid-tier that looks playable on Saturday. Michael Annett comes in with back-to-back top 10’s at Darlington including his 7th place finish this season.

Brandon Brown ($7,600)

Starting Position: 23rd

Brown is probably the only other mid-tier driver I would consider in Saturday’s race. In his career, Brown has raced at Darlington six times with four top 20’s including his 13th and 17th place finishes last season. Brown is cheap enough where if he manages a top 15 on Saturday he will crush value.

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. BJ McLeod ($6,700) – P39: McLeod is a veteran driver who knows how to finish well at Darlington. In his last four races here, McLeod has three top 20 finishes and he finished 26th in this same car in May.
2. Colin Garrett ($6,500) – P31: Garrett isn’t a veteran driver and has only raced at Darlington once, but he is in some good equipment. I like his upside for GPP’s
3. Mason Massey ($4,500) – P26: Massey is the 2Lock special in this race, meaning he is the lowest priced driver but has some good upside. Massey will be in the #17 for Rick Ware racing. This car has done well the majority of the season and I think Massey can manage a low 20’s finish.
4. Ryan Ellis ($5,800) – P36: Ellis ran this same car earlier this season and finished 16th. I don’t think a 16th place finish can be duplicated on Saturday but for sure he could finish top 25.
5. Ryan Vargas ($4,900) – P27: Ever since JD Motorsports swapped Landon Cassill for Vargas in the #6 car Vargas has been excelling. I really like the upside of Vargas and a top 20 is definitely in the cards.
6. Kyle Weatherman ($6,000) – P37: Weatherman has not been good at Darlington. In his two career races here but he is cheap and starts really far back so he is viable.
7. Timmy Hill ($5,200) – P29: Hill is super cheap and is a potential top 25 car. In his last three races here, Hill has finishes of 22nd or 23rd.
8. Jesse Little ($5,800) – P34: Little finished 18th at this race last season, and earlier this season he finished 32nd. If Little can land somewhere between those two finishes I will be happy.

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