NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series Daytona 8/27/21

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.

Welcome to Daytona week, where the only thing that really matters is place differential. This week is different than any other oval or road course. High speeds, blocking, and drafting will lead to many, many wrecks. In the opening race of the 2021 season only 22 cars of the 40 that started the race finished. These wrecks that destroy multiple cars tend to happen in the front of the field because drivers are fighting for position so this is why we will generally play the place differential game.

Going back to the opening race of the season in the Xfinity Series nobody who started higher than 15th was in the six in DKFP.

Leaving Salary on the Table:

I know leaving salary on the table is a foreign concept to us DFS players, but in NASCAR, and especially at superspeedways, it is a necessary evil. When you look at the optimal lineup for that race you will notice that there was a substantial amount of salary remaining, in fact, there was $8,300 leftover. You will be tempted to upgrade in some spots with that much leftover, but you have to try and refrain. While talking about this weekend with other NASCAR people, it was said that if you like your lineup this weekend, you’re doing it wrong and I couldn’t agree more. You will build lineups this weekend and probably hate them and think you’ll need to make changes, but don’t. I will try to lead you on the right path to cashing this weekend.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

When it comes to dominators this week there are actually some serious options. We will still be leaving salary on the table, at least in the build I will be leading you to with this article. I don’t think we have to leave almost $9,000 like was optimal in February, but you could realistically leave $2-3,000 on the table.

Chase Briscoe ($11,500)

Starting Position: 37th

Briscoe is going to be the chalk option on this slate but with reason. Briscoe is back in the #99 for BJ McLeod, this is the same car that he drove to a 6th place finish at Charlotte earlier this season. Because of his place differential upside, I thought DraftKings would’ve priced him higher, but they made him easily playable. This is a situation where you just need to eat the chalk and lock Briscoe into your lineups.

JJ Yeley ($9,200)

Starting Position: 34th

Yeley has been good in the #17 for Rick Ware Racing this season finishing at least 24th in all seven races he has run in the car. This is another example where we will probably have a popular driver, but for the place differential Yeley offers he is a safe upside play. I want to lock in the safer plays in this tier, get the drivers who offer the safest floors, and find a way to be different in the lower tiers.

Brandon Brown ($10,100)

Starting Position: 31st

Brown is a little overpriced but I think could keep his ownership down on Friday. Other options in this tier will garner more usage but probably not with the potential and track history that Brown has. Since 2019 (5 races), Brown has an average finish of 12.6 at Daytona with his worst finish coming in this race last year where he wrecked and finished 26th. Earlier this season here Brown finished 6th, so we know the upside is there, now we just need him to avoid the big ones and get us a top 10.

Other Options: Myatt Snider ($9,600 – P23), Sam Mayer ($10,400 -P22), Daniel Hemric ($10,700 – P21), Jason White ($9,000 – P35)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Austin Cindric ($8,800)

Starting Position: 14th

Cindric either has a top 10, or he wrecks at Daytona. In his seven starts at Daytona in the Xfinity Series, Cindric has a win, three top 5’s, four top 10’s but also has three finishes of 25th or worse. I don’t plan on using too many drivers from this tier, and in my main build I won’t have any, but Cindric is far and away the best option in this tier.

Landon Cassill ($7,400)

Starting Position: 26th

While his previous history track history here isn’t great, Cassill is having a good season and offers decent upside. Cassill has the experience that the majority of this field doesn’t and that should help him avoid most of the carnage. Cassill did end up wrecking out in February here, but he still finished 23rd because he was able to make it through until getting caught up in the last wreck of the race.

Christopher Bell ($8,900)

Starting Position: 15th

Bell and Cindric kind of fit the same mold this week, both are priced in the $8,000 range and start in the middle of the pack. Both Bell and Cindric are also safe-ish pivots off of the chalkier $9K plays in the top tier. Bell has run four races in the Xfinity Series here and outside of his first race where he wrecked 11 laps in he has never finished lower than 6th.

Other Options: Alex Labbe ($7,000 – P25), Justin Haley ($8,600 – P9)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Timothy Viens ($5,500) – P40: Viens starts dead last and is cheap, what’s not to love?
2. Spencer Boyd ($5,300) – P38: Another driver who starts in the back and is cheap. Are you starting to notice a trend?
3. Caesar Bacarella ($6,000) – P36: Bacarella is a superspeedway “ringer” who has top 20 upside.
4. David Starr ($6,500) – Since 2018 (5 races) Starr has three top 20’s at Daytona and wrecked in his other two races.
5. Joe Graf Jr. ($6,100) – P39: Graf has only finished once in four races at Daytona, which was earlier this season. Starting 39th we just need Graf to avoid a few wrecks and he should be good for a top 25.
6. Colby Howard ($6,300) – P33: Howard finished 12th at this race here last season. I don’t expect this type of finished from Howard, but a top 20 would be more than enough to make value.
7. Kyle Weatherman ($5,200) – P28: Weatherman is usually our road course value play, but this week he is here once again. At the first race at Daytona this season Weatherman finished 15th. Weatherman is cheap and starts far enough back to be worth a shot.
8. Mason Massey ($5,700) – P30: Massey has never raced at Daytona but he does have two races at Talladega. In those two races, Massey has finished of 20th and 27th.

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