NASCAR DFS

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.***

Make sure you head to the Win Daily Sports Discord for up-to-date info and help directly from our pros! Head over to Twitter and give the @WinDailySports account and me (@MVecchio81) a follow for all things Fantasy Sports! You can find more FREE NASCAR content over at WinDailySports.com!

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.

NASCAR DFS: Xfinity Series

This weekend we have a rare Sunday Xfinity Series race as they play opener for the Cup Series’ second race at Pocono in two days. Pocono is a long 2.5-mile triangular race track and because of this we only have 90 laps. With there being so few laps, we will not need to hunt for dominator points but look more towards place differential and finishing positions.

This week we have an Xfinity Series only field with no full-time Cup Series drivers “invading”. Josh Berry ($10,200) is no longer driving the #8 JR Motorsports and will be in the #31 for Jordan Anderson while the ultra-talented, yet young, Sam Mayer ($10,000) will be in the 8 for the majority of the season going forward.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Ty Gibbs ($10,800)

Starting Position: 14th

Gibbs is another huge upside driver on Sunday (are you starting to see a trend with this tier?) and he could be the second-highest owned driver after Cindric this week. In his limited races this season, Gibbs has only one finish outside the top 5, an 18th place finish at Darlington. Gibbs will be a threat to win again on Sunday (his 3rd of the season) and if he can outrace Cindric he could find himself in victory lane once again.

Austin Cindric ($11,000)

Starting Position: 13th

Cindric is the reigning Xfinity champion and the class of the field most weeks (depending on if Kyle is racing), and this week should be no different. Last year Cindric was involved in a wreck halfway through the Pocono race and ended up 29th, but in his two other starts before 2020, he was great. Cindric didn’t lead a bunch of laps in those races, only 7 combined, but he managed to finish 4th and 7th respectively. I expect Cindric to be the chalk of this tier, but starting 13th he offers the best upside in this tier…or does he?

Sam Mayer ($10,000)

Starting Position: 20th

Mayer is one the most talented young drivers in the sport and we can look forward to him and Ty Gibbs ($10,800) battling it out for wins and titles for many years to come. This week Mayer takes over where Josh Berry left off in the #8 for JRM and will hopefully be able to keep up the pace that Berry has set for this team. Mayer literally turns 18 the day before this race (does this count as a birthday adjacent narrative Brian?) and has never raced above the Truck Series before, but he has shined in his 12 races there. Mayer has only 2 finishes below 18th, has one win, two top 5’s, and four top 10’s. If you take out his two poor finishes at the Daytona road course and Martinsville, Mayer’s average finish is 11.3 (19.5 with them) and he is stepping up in equipment big time. Combined his upside and talent on Sunday and I really like the possibility for a big day for Mayer.

Josh Berry ($10,200)

Starting Position: 33rd

Like I mentioned early, Berry had a great run in the #8 for JRM but that is over for this season as Mayer takes over. With that being said, Berry isn’t done in as he hops in the #31 for Jordan Anderson for the second time this season. Berry has great place differential upside this week which will be what pays off his huge price tag. Earlier this season Berry drove this car to an 8th place finish at Mid Ohio. If we can get a similar finish on Sunday then Berry will pay off that tag

** I plan to roster 3 of the above drivers in every lineup I build, but I will not force it. I will however have at least 2 in every lineup because there is so much value that it will be easy to do.**

Other Options: Daniel Hemric ($9,700 – P6), Harrison Burton ($9,300 – P1), AJ Allmendinger ($9,500 – P3)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Brandon Brown ($8,400)

Starting Position: 24th

I am happy to see that DraftKings priced Brown up this week which will hopefully keep his ownership down on Sunday. Last week Brown had a good run going when he had brake issues which led to his 33rd place finish. Before last week Brown had three top 10’s in his last five races and four finishes of 13th or better. Last season at Pocono Brown had an oil tank issue which led to him only running 7 laps and finishing 33rd, but in 2019 Brown started 27th and ended up 13th. Like I mentioned, I think Brown’s price keeps his ownership down which I love because I think he gets it back together this weekend.

Myatt Snider ($7,300)

Starting Position: 19th

Snider had a hot start to the 2021 season but it has all seemingly fallen apart for the young driver. Even though he has been mired in a slump, coming to Pocono could be the cure. In two starts at Pocono in two series Snider has run well finishing 4th last season in the Xfinity Series and 13th in 2019 in the Truck Series. Again, like with Clements, I think Snider is somewhat risky, but the potential and upside are there for a good GPP play. Snider will most likely go overlooked with game log watchers.

Justin Haley ($8,700)

Starting Position: 11th

Haley has been having a roller-coaster season in 2021, but he does have nine top 10’s in 14 races this season. Last season at Pocono, Haley did not have a great race when he finished 23rd. In 2019 Haley finished 9th at his first Pocono race. I would love to find some better options at a lower price in this tier, but the reality is the bottom of the mid-tier is not good and I don’t want to touch them (outside of the next driver). I will probably have some exposure to Haley, but he is not a priority. Haley knows he will be driving for Kaulig in the Cup Series in 2022. This news has him more relaxed which could help him perform better and put his mind at ease.

Other Options: Santino Ferrucci ($8,500 – P26), Michael Annett ($8,000 – P8)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Jeffry Earnhardt ($5,600) – P38: Earnhardt is the top FPTS/$ play on this slate. Along with #2 on the list, Earnhardt is the optimal play in this tier according to the optimizer.
2. Carson Ware ($5,000) – P32: Ware has not driven an Xfinity car in 2021, but did have three races last season where he finished top 20 twice. On Sunday Ware will be in the #17 that J.J. Yeley and Cody Ware (Carson’s Brother) have driven to 13 top 25’s in 15 races.
3. Brett Moffitt ($6,700) – P17: Moffitt is underpriced in my opinion, but it is what it is and we will just take advantage of this mispricing. Last season in this same car Moffitt started P18 and finished 7th. I expect a similar outcome on Sunday. Moffitt has ten finishes of 17th or better this season and in 3 of the 5 times, he didn’t finish that high he either wrecked or had a mechanical issue.
4. Jade Buford ($5,900) – P29: Buford had his string of four straight top 20’s snapped last week when he wrecked out early. I love the potential place differential upside for Buford on Sunday for his cheap price tag.
5. Colby Howard ($5,200) – P37: Howard, like Earnhardt, starts far enough back that he can’t really hurt you. In his last seven races, Howard has finished top 30 in all seven and has one top 20 in that span as well.
6. Loris Hezemans ($4,600) – P39: Cheap and starts far enough back that he can’t hurt. I think a top 35 is the best we can hope for but he makes fitting three top-tier drivers super easy.
7. Joey Gase ($5,400) – P40: I am sure you are starting to see a trend here, we want the cheap guys who start towards the back. Gase is not my favorite in this tier, but he starts dead last and can only go up from here
8. Ryan Sieg ($6,900) – P12: Sieg is probably the most talented driver with the best car (next to Moffitt) in this tier and even though he starts high in the field there is some upside.

Make sure you head to the Win Daily Sports Discord for up-to-date info and help directly from our pros! Head over to Twitter and give the @WinDailySports account and me (@MVecchio81) a follow for all things Fantasy Sports! You can find more FREE NASCAR content over at WinDailySports.com!

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.

Like with the Truck Series on Friday night, the Xfinity Series is returning to Nashville Superspeedway for the first time since 2011. In that race, Carl Edwards won and dominated. In fact, only 2 drivers led at least 10 laps or more and four drivers led laps overall. As we saw on Friday night in with the trucks it is very difficult to pass here at Nashville which means we want to focus on drivers starting towards the front with just 1-2 place differential plays. Looking back at that last race in 2011, only two drivers started outside the top 20 finished inside the top 20. Both of the drivers who started inside the top 20 but did finish there wrecked and finished multiple laps down.

Once again we have Kyle Busch ($14,500) in this race at the same price as last week. Busch ran the most laps in Friday’s practice session and was fastest as well. Three of the top four cars in practice, and four of the top eight were all Joe Gibbs cars and I expect them all to qualify inside the top on Saturday and be some of our key drivers when building lineups.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

As usual, when Kyle Busch ($14,500 – P1) is in an Xfinity race he is a favorite and should be key in any cash or single entry builds. Like I mentioned in the open, Busch was the fastest in practice and should win the pole. We saw how hard it was to pass in the truck race Friday night, and with Kyle is on the pole he will be extremely difficult to pass.

Harrison Burton ($9,500)

Starting Position: 3rd

Burton, like Busch, is in a JGR Toyota and was also fast in practice. On Friday afternoon, Burton ran 29 practice laps and was the 2nd fastest car behind Busch. I expected Burton to qualify towards the front and be a top 5 car on Saturday. Combining Burton’s usual low ownership, low price, and his potential to qualify up towards the front he makes for a nice GPP play to pair with Busch.

AJ Allmendinger ($10,000)

Starting Position: 5th

I promise I am not just listing these drivers in order of how they ran in practice. Dinger was another fast car, and the fastest Chevy, as he finished 3rd in practice behind the two aforementioned Joe Gibbs Toyota’s. Allmendinger was seen as just a road course guy, but he has shown that he can race on all types of tracks this season. Earlier this season Allmendinger took home the checkers at a 1.5-mile track (Vegas) and has a top 5 at Dover which is a comparable track to Nashville

Josh Berry ($9,000)

Starting Position: 22nd

Berry finished top 20 on Friday night in the Truck Series race and should be able to use that knowledge on Saturday afternoon in the Xfinity Series. In practice on Friday, Berry was 6th fastest and in my opinion, is now underpriced based on this. Berry had back-to-back 2nd place finishes at Dover and Darlington this season. When you add together how well he ran at similar tracks, his speed on Friday in Xfinity practice, and his race experience from Friday night in the trucks it’s easy to love the potential upside of Josh Berry.

If you want to run lineups without Kyle then I love pairing both Austin Cindric ($11,000 – P2) and Justin Allgaier ($10,400 – P11) together for a 2 dominator build. There is a path to getting one of these guys with Busch, but it will be difficult and not a build I particularly care for. Also in play for me are Daniel Hemric ($9,300 – P4) and to a lesser extent Tyler Reddick ($9,700 – P17) depending on where they qualify

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Riley Herbst ($7,600)

Starting Position: 20th

Herbst is another car that was fast in practice and (7th) and looks like he could have a good day on Saturday. After crashing in three of the first four races this season Herbst has five finishes of 12th or better in 10 races. I don’t trust Herbst for cash games, but is a good lower-priced piece for GPP’s and is someone who could offset the potentially high-owned Kyle Busch’s salary.

Brandon Jones ($8,800)

Starting Position: 7th

Brandon Jones was the “slowest” of the four Joe Gibbs Racing cars in practice Friday as he finished with the 8th fastest lap. Jones comes into this race on quite the roll with three straight top 10’s and back-to-back top 5’s. Jones is generally a good qualifier and with track position being key at Nashville I expect Jones to come home in the top 5 for the third straight week.

Ryan Sieg ($7,300)

Starting Position: 13th

Sieg is another driver who generally goes overlooked in the Xfinity Series, but I will not be one of them on Saturday. In recent weeks Sieg has rattled off a plethora of great finishes. Sieg has five finishes of 11th or better in his last seven races. One of those poor finishes was when Sieg wrecked with 50 laps left at Charlotte.

Other Options: Justin Haley ($8,500 – P12) I really like Haley as a pivot off Jones, Michael Annett ($8,100 – P21), Brett Moffitt ($7,800 – P18)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Jeremy Clements ($6,900) – P23
2. JJ Yeley ($6,700) – P31
3. Josh Williams ($5,200) – P26
4. Brandon Brown ($6,800) – P16
5. David Starr ($5,300) – P34
6. Tommy Joe Martins ($6,300) – P19
7. Kyle Weatherman ($4,700) – P27
8. Alex Labbe ($5,400) – P29

Make sure you head to the Win Daily Sports Discord for up-to-date info and help directly from our pros! Head over to Twitter and give the @WinDailySports account and me (@MVecchio81) a follow for all things Fantasy Sports! You can find more FREE NASCAR content over at WinDailySports.com!