NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series Road America 7/3/21

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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 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 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 weekend, the Xfinity Series heads to Wisconsin, specifically Elkhart Lake, between Milwaukee and Green Bay. Road America is a long and storied track that will be hosting its 12th ever Xfinity race here on Saturday. There will be four previous winners (Cindric, Allgaier, Clements, and Allmendinger) in the field so there is no lack of experience in the field for this race.

Both Kyle Busch ($10,900) and Kevin Harvick ($9,900) will be in the field for Saturday’s race trying to get some experience for their Cup Series race on Sunday. I honestly believe they are both severely underpriced by DraftKings which will lead to some pretty massive ownership. While I am not happy about the pricing and the potential ownership it would be ill-advised of me to not suggest that you play these drivers on Saturday.

Lastly, this is a live practice and qualifying race on Saturday so all of these plays will be based on how the cars ran in practice on Friday. Make sure you are in the WinDaily Sports Discord on Saturday after 12:30 EDT to see my updates.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Kyle Busch ($10,900)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 7th

This will be Kyle’s first time on the track at Road America, which is why he is running in this race, but he has become somewhat of a road course expert in this season. Busch already has a win in his only road course race this season in the Xfinity Series, COTA, where he led 35 of 46 laps. I really think DraftKings mispriced Busch this week, he should around the $12K mark, but here we are with him over a thousand dollars cheaper. Busch will be chalk, but I don’t think you can fade him in any type of contest this week.

Austin Cindric ($10,700)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 1st

Cindric is one of the best road course racers in the Xfinity Series and how well he ran in practice should be a threat for the pole. With only 45 laps in this race, we aren’t chasing dominator points but if we can get them why not try. Since 2019 in the Xfinity Series, Cindric has run 11 races on road courses and he has four wins, nine top 5’s, and ten top 10’s. Cindric has an average finish of 3.7 and has led 181 laps.

Justin Allgaier ($9,500)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 3rd

Allgaier is not necessarily known as a road course specialist, but he does have a good track record over the past three seasons. In eleven road course races, Allgaier has three top 5′ and seven top 10’s. If Allgaier ends up on the pole or in the top 3 I may back off him some, but I could see him coming at very low ownership. With all the names pilled up above him in the field, Allgaier will quite possibly be overlooked and we need to take advantage of that on Saturday. Allgaier’s salary is perfect to pair with a Cindric/Busch build and still have plenty of salary remaining to build a lineup you can feel confident in.

A.J Allmendinger ($10,300) was fourth in practice on Friday and will be a threat, as always, on a road course. I think A.J. will carry some ownership like he usually does on this type of track. Allmendinger will be in my player pool on Saturday but I think there are some better choices.

Ty Gibbs ($10,500)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 6th

Gibbs will be in the #81 for Joe Gibbs this weekend, their 5th entry into this race and how can you deny running a car with Gibbs in it. This season Gibbs has run two road course races and has finished top 5 in both. Included in these was his FIRST CAREER race in the Xfinity Series where he led 14 laps on his way to victory lane. One build that will be very different in my opinion will be running Busch/Cindric/Gibbs together. I don’t think people will want to run a stars and scrubs type of build but there is enough value in that tier to make this work.

Other Options: Kevin Harvick ($9,900) – Harvick wasn’t fast in practice (22nd), but I need to see where he qualifies before I decide if I want to use him. Daniel Hemric ($9,300) – Top 5 practice speed, another of the Gibbs cars that could be a factor Saturday. Kaz Grala ($9,100) – Road course ringer in the #31 for Jordan Anderson, had top 20 speed in practice.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Alex Labbe ($7,200)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 9th

How do we get the three of the top tier drivers I mentioned you ask, well enter Alex Labbe. On a normal oval track, I would be wary of using Labbe at this price, but Labbe is another road course specialist. In his career, Labbe has eight top 10 finishes in 95 races, half of those top 10’s came in his 13 road course races. Labbe has an average finishing position of 14.3 in those 13 road course races. We see that Labbe showed top 10 speed so we know he has that potential. Labbe could be a key driver in three dominator builds for us on Saturday.

Jeb Burton ($7,600)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 2nd

Burton is another driver not known as a road course driver, but this season something clicked for him. In three races at similar tracks this season, Burton has two top 10’s and a top 5 which were all firsts for him. Burton has never run here at Elkhart Lake, but he showed he can handle this track on Friday in practice by running second to Cindric by under a second. Burton is a piece I want to use in Busch/Cindric/Allgaier builds on Saturday.

Andy Lally ($7,800)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 13th

Maybe I am showing my local Long Island bias (Northport) here, but I think Lally is another great play come Saturday. Lally is solely a road course racer in the Xfinity Series, and the stats show why. He has run 16 races in his career, but more specifically Lally has run four races here at Road America. In his four races, Lally has three top 10’s, a top 5, and an average finish of 9.3 with his lowest finish being 15th.

Other Options: Justin Haley ($8,900) – Solid road course driver, but needs a great day to pay off his price. Preston Pardus ($7,700) – Good road course driver, if you can’t get to Lally, Pardus is a good pivot.

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Myatt Snider ($6,900) – Fast in practice, too cheap for the upside
2. Jeremy Clements ($6,500) – Top 10 speed, WAY too cheap if qualifies outside the top 10. A previous winner here as well
3. Ryan Ellis ($5,800) – Ellis has five races here at Road America, but his average finish is deceiving with 2 DNF’s in his first two races here. Since those races, Ellis has finished 21st or better in all three. Ellis was 18th on practice on Friday
4. Jade Buford ($6,100) – 19th here last season, top 15 in practice. I like the potential upside here
5. Matt Jaskol ($4,500) – Finished 20th in practice on Friday. Jaskol also finished 19th in his only career road course race this season in this same car. As the lowest priced driver in the field, he is worth a look in three dominator builds, especially if he qualifies poorly
6. Kyle Weatherman ($5,300) – Weatherman will most likely be low owned but he has top 25 potential. I need to see where he starts before I add him to my player pool but he did finish 21st here last season and has a career avg finish of 22nd on road courses.
7. Spencer Pumpelly ($5,900) – Finished 19th in his only career Xfinity race at COTA this season. Ran a top 20 lap in practice on Friday.

*** As always with qualifying races PLEASE make sure to check discord before building lineups. I will update with any changes in there ONLY since I will be at work post qualifying.***

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