DFSGhost 
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 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.
Welcome back NASCAR! after a week hiatus (two weeks for the Xfinity Series) I am finally breaking down some racing for you! I never knew I would miss dissecting late run green flag speeds and loop data after only a week, but here I am getting excited to do it again.
This week the Series heads to Martinsville, otherwise known as “The Paperclip”. This is a unique track with next to no banking, it is a very flat short track that isn’t really similar to other tracks, but we can look at both Richmond and Phoenix to get an idea how some teams may run here. This is a Dash 4 Cash race so there are NO Cup Series regulars in this race. We have 250 laps in this race under the lights on Friday night so I will look to have plenty of 2 dominator builds to eat up as many dominator points as possible. Last season was the first time in 14 years that the Xfinity Series ran a race at Martinsville, so we only have that data to go on for track history.
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
Harrison Burton ($9,300)
Starting Position: 1st
Once again I am going against my own rule of not rostering pole sitters, but at this price and after how Burton dominated this race from the pole last season it’s hard to not make him the top option in this tier. In 2020, Burton led 81 laps here on his way to winning this race. Burton never fell lower than 12th in the running order and had an average running position of 2.7 for this race last season. I really like Burton on Friday night, and there is a decent chance he comes in a low ownership starting from the pole.
Ty Gibbs ($10,500)
Starting Position: 16th
If Burton is your pure dominator for this race, than Ty Gibbs is your place differential dominator play. Gibbs has never raced at Martinsville in a stock car but he has had some success in 2020 and 2021 at Phoenix. In the ARCA Series, Gibbs finished 3rd in 2020 and 1st this season at Phoenix. Not only did he have two top 5’s he dominated these races leading a total of 246 laps in the two races combined. Gibbs is in some of the best equipment in the series and should easily see his way towards the front on Friday night and finish top 5 for the third time in three races this season
Brandon Jones ($9,900)
Starting Position: 24th
We are now 3 for 3 with Joes Gibbs cars in the top tier for this race. Jones is another potential dominator with place differential upside. I don’t think Jones dominates this race over either of the previous two JGR cars I mentioned above, but he can definitely pay off his price tag. Last season at Martinsville, Jones started P7 and came in 9th while never running higher than 5th in that race. Jones has the equipment and the ability to have another top 10, or ever a top 5 on Friday.
All three of Austin Cindric ($11,500 – P6), Noah Gragson ($11,100 – P8), and Justin Allgaier ($10,200 – P2) are in play for me this weekend and could very well push the JGR stable of Toyotas for the win here. My only issue with these three is their price tags. I am not 100% sure they can pay off their prices, especially Gragson with his bad luck this season. If anyone is going to take the top spot and be dominant in this race if should be one of these three drivers.
Other Options (in order of preference): Bretty Moffitt ($9,000 – P27 [could be chalky] Daniel Hemric ($10,800 – P4), Ryan Sieg ($9,600 – P12), AJ Allmendinger ($11,900 – P3 [Large Field GPP ONLY])
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Josh Berry ($8,000)
Starting Position: 29th
Berry is most likely going to be the chalk de jour on Friday night, and with reason. When you can get a driver with 20+ place differential upside at only $8K you have to take advantage of the soft pricing, especially in cash games. If you are playing GPP’s then I am totally on board with fading him.
GPP Pivots off Berry:
Jeb Burton ($7,800) – Burton starts from the 13th position and drove the #8 that Berry is in to a 4th place finish last season here. I don’t think Burton comes near the ownership that Berry will get but offers top 5 upside for a similar price
Brandon Gdovic ($7,500) – Gdovic is the Sam Hunt #26 on Friday night and should be practically unowned. I really like the upside of this car at Martinsville after three straight top 15 finishes. Gdovic finished top 10 in this ride at Daytona. Last season Mason Diaz drove the #26 to a 20th place finish, but I think Gdovic is a better driver and could bring this team their 4th straight top 15 finish.
JJ Yeley ($7,300)
Starting Position: 33rd
Yeley is an experienced driver who will keep this car clean and drive it to a potentially top 15 finish. In 2020, Yeley finished 14th in this race in this same car. Like with Berry, Yeley is going to be the chalkiest play in this price range, and like with Berry I will give you some GPP pivot off Yeley below.
GPP Pivots off Yeley:
Jeremy Clements ($7,200) – Clements has been one of the most consistent and best drivers in the Xfinity Series this season. Coming into Martinsville, Clements has 5 straight races finishing 17th or better, including three top 10 finishes. Even though he starts from P11, I like Clements for GPP’s because I think the majority of people will find the $100 to get the potential PD upside of Yeley. Clements is definitely the riskier play, but that’s what you want in GPP’s
Brandon Brown ($7,000) – Brown is $200 cheaper, but he offers 8 spots more of place differential with similar upside to Clements. So far this season Brown has four finishes of 11th or better, including three top 10 finishes. Brown does have two finishes outside the top 30, but I am not worried about those going into this race. Brown finished 18th in the 2020 Martinsville race.
Other Options: Myatt Snider ($7,700 – P9), Riley Herbst ($8,200 – P7), Justin Haley ($8,800 – P5)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings
- Bayley Currey ($4,500) – P26: Currey is the cheapest driver in the field but actually has some upside. Usually, we want to fade these drivers but Currey has a top 10 at Phoenix this season and a 15th place finish in 2020.
- Josh Williams ($6,000) – P15
- Stefan Parsons ($5,200) – P38
- Jade Bufford ($5,000) – P30
- Tommy Joe Martins ($6,400) – P17
- Joe Graf Jr. ($5,400) – P28
- George Gorham Jr. ($5,600) – P37: Gorham is making his NASCAR debut Friday. He is evidently a very experienced and talented driver from Florida. Gorham has had success in his career at tracks similar to the style Martinsville so he may be a decent play starting P37.
I also have interest in Timmy Hill and David Starr but I will need to check around on Friday to see if they have sponsors for this race. I will update in discord when I find this info out.
Make sure to check in discord throughout the day on Friday 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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