NASCAR DFS Pit Stop: Xfinity Series Watkins Glen 8/7/21

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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! Each week, I break down the field 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 back, everyone! After a hiatus because of the Summer Olympics NASCAR is finally back at the track this weekend. This weekend all three series are at Watkins Glen International Raceway in upstate New York, a 3.4-mile road course featuring 11 turns.

The last time the Xfinity Series was here at Watkins Glen Austin Cindric ($10,100) went to victory lane (to no one’s surprise) and AJ Allmendinger ($10,300) finished second but was disqualified following post-race inspection. Once again, both Cindric and Allmendinger are the favorites to win this race on Saturday and both will be in the majority of my builds. We do have two Cup Serie regulars stepping down in Erik Jones ($10,600) and Austin Dillon ($9,900). Neither is probably a threat to win, but both should be given consideration when building lineups.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

AJ Allmendinger ($10,300)

Starting Position: 6th

I went back and forth between AJ and Austin Cindric on who should be the top play and it came down to the place differential for me. It may be minimal but the difference between starting 2nd and 6th could be all we need for a takedown. Now, cards on the table, I plan on playing both of Allmendinger and Cindric together some, but if you can only afford one, go Dinger.

Austin Cindric ($10,100)

Starting Position: 2nd

Even though I do say we don’t need to chase dominator points in low-lap races like this that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and get the points where we can. Cindric could and should get the lead early from Allgaier and lead the early portion of this race. I don’t need to go over the credentials for Cindric on road courses, just know he is dominant at these types of tracks and should be again on Saturday.

Ty Gibbs ($10,500)

Starting Position: 15th

With how well the youngster has performed at road courses this season, I could have put Gibbs as the top play on this slate, but I think WGI is challenging and could give Gibbs some fits early on. Now, with that being said, I do see a path to using all three of these drivers I’ve mentioned together and that could potentially be the optimal build for this race. Gibbs has two top 5’s at road courses this season and I see him getting his third top 5 at a road course on Saturday.

Austin Dillon ($9,900)

Starting Position: 33rd

Dillon will be in the #23 for Our Motorsports this weekend and will hope to duplicate the performances his brother has had in this car in 2021. Ty Dillon has two top 10 finishes this season in the #23 and you can bet that Austin will want to one-up his brother. This is not a great car, but when there is a capable driver like Austin Dillon behind the wheel it can perform with the top half of the series. I really love the potential upside of this car on Saturday and I will look to Dillon as a potential pivot off of one of the three mentioned above.

Other Options: Erik Jones ($10,600 – P36), Sam Mayer ($9,700 – P23), Brandon Jones ($9300 – P21), Noah Gragson ($9,500 – P11)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

I am going to do something very different with this tier this week since there is a group of drivers all in similar starting positions and similarly priced. Instead of breaking them down individually I will list them (in salary order) and give a small blurb about them. It will basically come down to you picking your 2-3 dominators above, a cheap value piece, and then potentially 2 of these 5 drivers.

• Josh Bilicki ($7,500 – P30): Bilicki is a good road course driver with an average finish of 18.8 in 5 road course races since 2020.
• Preston Pardus ($7,400 – P36): Pardus is a road course ringer and should push for a top 20 on Saturday. If you take out the Daytona Road Course this season where he wrecked, Pardus has an average finish of 18.3 with two top 15’s. All things being equal, save the $100 and go Pardus over Bilicki.
• Alex Labbe ($7,200 – P26): Since 2020, Labbe has run eight road course races and has two top 10’s. Labbe also has an average finish 16th place. I think Labbe is probably my favorite play in this group. At Watkins Glen, Labbe has finishes of 16th and 19th in two races.
• Kyle Tilley ($7,100 – P37): Tilley has very little experience in NASCAR (two Cup Series races), but is a skilled veteran at these types of tracks. If you can’t get up to a Labbe or Pardus, Tilley is a solid pivot.
• Michael Munley ($7,000 – P34): Munley is a 14 year veteran and a road course specialist making his NASCAR debut. He has a decent car and the place differential upside is there. Munley is probably my least favorite of thee five, but if you can’t get higher than his price, I do not hate using him.

Other Options: Justin Haley ($8,700 – P5), Harrison Burton ($8,500 – P4), Michael Annett ($7,700 – P18), Justin Allgaier ($8,900 – P1)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Stephen Leicht ($6,300 – P40) – Leicht will be tough to fit in three dominator builds but I will try to make it work. Since 2020, Leicht has an average finish of 23.8 in six road course races. If we can get that type of performance from him on Saturday he will be optimal for sure.
2. Kyle Weatherman ($5,400 – P22) – Weatherman has performed really well at road courses this season and is cheap enough to finish around where he starts to make value. He has top 20 upside as well.
3. Jesse Little ($4,600 – P27) – Little is cheaper with similar upside to Weatherman.
4. David Smith ($5,900 – P38) – Smith is a road course veteran with no NASCAR experience. Starting 38th at under $6K leaves me wanting to take the risk on him. Smith will be in the #52 on Saturday, a car with top 25 upside.
5. Brandon Brown ($6,900 – P14) – Similar to Tanner Gray in the Truck Series, Brown is a low owned piece to use in 2 dominator builds.
6. Jade Buford ($5,600 – P16) – Buford is a pretty good road course driver and is having a pretty good run of later. I don’t love this play because of his starting spot but he will be low owned.
7. Matt Mills ($4,800 – P29) – Mills has been good at road courses in 2021 averaging a 22nd place finish. That is more than enough upside for his salary.
8. Kris Wright ($4,500 – P24) – Cheapest driver on the slate with some risk. Wright is a road course driver, but I worry that he could sink some really good lineups otherwise. If you want to take the risk, go for it, but just know that he is probably someone who will finish around 30th.

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