NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series Richmond 9/11

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.

September 11th – 20 years later

Before I get into the breakdown for this race I just want to reflect on what this day means for our country. As an American and a native New Yorker, I never forget the horrible acts of violence that were perpetrated against our country on this day 20 years ago. I always think about the people who lost their lives and the families who lost someone close to them. We must also remember the brave people who helped keep the third plane from killing thousands of more innocent American citizens on this day as well. Just as important are the thousands of firefighters, EMS workers, and police officers who ran into the buildings while others ran out trying to save lives. This is a sad day of remembrance for our country, but we must never forget the lives lost on this day.

Richmond Raceway Breakdown:

This will be a difficult race to build lineups for, but hey that’s what I’m here for! We have a lot of drivers in the top tier that we will want to roster, but unfortunately, we cannot fit them all in. On the flip side, the value section for this race is, well, absolute garbage. There are not many great plays in that price tier so we will have to be particular with what low price drivers we target on Saturday.

Richmond is a short track which means we have plenty of dominator points available in this race. With 250 laps in this race, we will need to have at least 2 drivers who can lead laps and get us as many of these points as possible. We need to weigh using place differential points versus dominator points but I think I have found a build type that will satisfy both.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Dale Earnhardt Jr. ($12,000)

Starting Position: 30th

This is Junior’s only race and he will be in his own team’s #8 car. Junior only picks one race per season to run in the Xfinity Series as a way to get a feel for his team’s cars and ability as well as feeding that itch of his to keep racing. Since 2018 when Earnhardt started running one race per season he has finished top 5 every time including a 4th place finish here at Richmond. Junior pick tracks he generally runs really well at, Richmond being one his best all time. Dale Jr. has run eight races at Richmond in an Xfinity car and has only finished outside the top 10 once (rear axle issue) and has a 50% win rate here. Junior may be popular but he will more than likely be the highest-scoring driver meaning he will be tough to fade on Saturday.

Austin Cindric ($10,300)

Starting Position: 1st

So, if Dale Earnhardt Junior is the place differential play we need then Cindric is the dominator I want to pair with him. Cindric may not own a victory here at Richmond but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been outstanding here. In six races at Richmond, Cindric has never finished lower than 13th and has two 2nd place finishes to his record. Cindric has four top 5 finishes as well and will be the early dominator in this race.

Justin Allgaier ($9,700)

Starting Position: 5th

But wait, aren’t there better options in this tier? Where are Berry, and Gibbs, and Nemechek? There will be some info on them to follow, but Allgaier is a guy I see being the Noah Gragson of last week. Allgaier will come in at lower ownership, be a potential dominator and winner of this race. Last season one man swept both races here at Richmond, yep that man was Justin Allgaier. Allgaier also has four straight top 5 finishes at Richmond. So while the majority of people will jump to the place differential plays above Allgaier, we will take the low ownership and watch them all have to play under $5K value plays when we won’t.

Ty Gibbs ($11,200)

Starting Position: 15th

I mentioned Gibbs above as someone who will be popular and I believe he will but he also has the outside chance of dominating this race. If you’ve been with us all season then you’ve seen what the 18-year-old can do in an Xfinity car. Now, one thing that does worry me is that Gibbs has two straight finishes outside the top 10 after a string where he had five top 5’s in six races. I don’t know if he has hit a wall or something just wasn’t right at those races but I think Gibbs gets back on track (pun intended) on Saturday. In 23 career ARCA races on short tracks, Gibbs has 21 top 10’s and seven victories. This season at two short tracks in the Xfinity Series he has a 2nd and a 4th place finish.

Both Josh Berry ($11,600 – P33) and John Hunter Nemechek ($10,700 – P27) are good, safe plays this week. They both project for good point days at much lower than expected ownership. I think if you are playing straight GPP’s then you can take the risk, but in cash or Single Entry, I would probably fade. All four drivers mentioned above them are in much better equipment and because of this, I rank them above Berry and JHN. I may have exposure to both on Saturday but not much.

Other Options: Daniel Hemric ($10,000 – P12) – Lower owned pivot off Cindric. He has 3 top 10’s in 4 races here. AJ Allmendinger ($9,100 – P8)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

JJ Yeley ($7,400)

Starting Position: 29th

Yeley is back in the #17 for this weekend’s race and should be a contender for another top 20. In his nine races this season in the Xfinity Series, Yeley has yet to finish lower than 24th and has four top 15 finishes. Yeley will be a semi-chalky play, but he is the salary relief that we need to help fit the top-tier guys we want in.

Noah Gragson ($8,700)

Starting Position: 3rd

Gragson is coming off a great win last week at Darlington and should be in the mix come Saturday again. In five starts here at Richmond, Gragson has only finished lower than 8th once, a 22nd place finish in 2019. If you take out that poor finish because of pit road issues, Gragson’s average finish at Richmond is 5.5.

Sam Mayer ($8,500)

Starting Position: 38th

Let me wrap up the love fest for JRM this week with a JRM adjacent car. Mayer was bumped by his owner out of the 8 and into the #99 BJ McLeod car this week. Even though this is a BJM car, it will be prepared by Jr. Motorsports and have a Hendrick-trained pit crew (just like the rest of the JRM cars do). Mayer has great place differential upside and is a decent pivot for GPP’s off of Earnhardt.

Other Options: Justin Haley ($8,100 – P4) – Finished 2nd and 6th here last year. Has a chance to lead some laps and pull out a top 5 at low ownership. Landon Cassill ($7,800 – P31) – If you have the extra salary Cassill is a similar play to Yeley. Riley Herbst ($7,900 – P20), Michael Annett ($7,100 – P10)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. David Starr ($5,400) – P37: Value is tough this week, Starr is cheap and safe. I don’t love it, or anyone in this tier, but Starr should get you there.
2. Brandon Brown ($6,700) – P17: Brown projects as the highest scoring driver in this tier, but his salary makes him difficult to play. If you want to fade the mid tier, then I’d go Brown.
3. Stephen Leicht ($5,500) – P36: Similar to Starr, Leicht is cheap enough and starts far enough back in the field to be worth playing
4. CJ McLaughlin ($5,000) – P39: Are you seeing a trend? Yep, McLaughlin starts next to last and is cheap. He checks the boxes.
5. Josh Williams ($5,900) – P14: I really like Williams this week. I know this is a tough sell based on where he starts, but there is some upside here. Williams has only finished lower than 18th once in the last 8 races (22nd at New Hampshire) and should see sub 5% ownership.
6. Spencer Boyd ($5,200) – P35: Slightly risky because he could lose positions but if attrition is in his favor a top 30 is in the cards.
7. Mason Massey ($5,700) – P34: Massey is back in the 78 this week so he gets a downgrade in a equipment, but a top 25 is not out of the question.

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