NASCAR

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.

This week all three of NASCAR’s premier series are in Darlington, South Carolina. Darlington is an egg-shaped track that has two uniquely different ends. It is known as both the “Lady in Black” and “The Track Too Tough to Tame” by drivers.

On Saturday the Xfinity kicks off this triple-header weekend with a 200 mile 147 lap race. Earlier this season Justin Allgaier won here after leading only 10 laps. Three different drivers led at least 34 laps (Cindric, Gragson, and Hemric) but none of them was a factor in the end.

Lineup Construction:

Darlington is usually a track where the driver who starts near the front, ends up there but that was not the case back in May of this year. Eight drivers who started outside the top 10 finished in the top 10, and four drivers lower than 20th and ended up in the top 10. I see this race being much of the same base on the quality of drivers we have starting towards the middle and back of this field. My most likely path in most of my lineups will be to go with three drivers in the top tier and use the top-priced value tier plays as a pseudo-mid-tier this week. There are some options in the traditional mid-tier, but nothing that seems like a must-play.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Austin Cindric ($11,300)

Starting Position: 24th

Cindric led 34 laps at the spring race here but had the hopes of his first Darlington win dashed on a last-lap wreck. If you take Cindric’s average finish of 19.2 in five career races here at face value then you’ll be not getting the whole story. In five races here, Cindric has three finished of 12th or better, but he has two finished of 30th or worse which skew his average finish. Cindric is one of the favorites to win this race.

Denny Hamlin ($10,400)

Starting Position: 14th

Another one of the favorites in this race has to be Denny Hamlin driving the #54 car for Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend. Everyone who has gotten behind the wheel of this car has been successful and I don’t expect Hamlin to be any different. In his Xfinity career, Hamlin has dominated at Darlington with five wins, nine top 5’s, and twelve top 10’s in thirteen races. Last season Hamlin led 31 laps and finished 5th at this race. I think Hamlin is a must-play, but he falls just a smidge behind Cindric because of the ten starting positions between them.

Austin Dillon ($10,800)

Starting Position: 35th

Dillon is the elite place differential play in this race on Saturday. Even though he is the best place differential play Dillon won’t be a threat to win this race, but he should pull a top 10. This will be Dillon’s fourth different car he has driven in the Xfinity Series in 2021. He has fared well in all the previous three so I don’t see why this week should be any different. My only concern would be Dillon fighting through early traffic in the back.

Both Brandon Jones ($10,600 – P25) and Tyler Reddick ($10,200 – P28) will factor into my lineups on Saturday. They both offer up great place differential upside and should be lower owned pivots off of the previous three drivers mentioned above. Jones has a win here and Reddick has two top 10’s in three races with an average finish of 7th.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Michael Annett ($8,100)

Starting Position: 19th

Annett is one of the only drivers in the mid-tier that looks playable on Saturday. Michael Annett comes in with back-to-back top 10’s at Darlington including his 7th place finish this season.

Brandon Brown ($7,600)

Starting Position: 23rd

Brown is probably the only other mid-tier driver I would consider in Saturday’s race. In his career, Brown has raced at Darlington six times with four top 20’s including his 13th and 17th place finishes last season. Brown is cheap enough where if he manages a top 15 on Saturday he will crush value.

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. BJ McLeod ($6,700) – P39: McLeod is a veteran driver who knows how to finish well at Darlington. In his last four races here, McLeod has three top 20 finishes and he finished 26th in this same car in May.
2. Colin Garrett ($6,500) – P31: Garrett isn’t a veteran driver and has only raced at Darlington once, but he is in some good equipment. I like his upside for GPP’s
3. Mason Massey ($4,500) – P26: Massey is the 2Lock special in this race, meaning he is the lowest priced driver but has some good upside. Massey will be in the #17 for Rick Ware racing. This car has done well the majority of the season and I think Massey can manage a low 20’s finish.
4. Ryan Ellis ($5,800) – P36: Ellis ran this same car earlier this season and finished 16th. I don’t think a 16th place finish can be duplicated on Saturday but for sure he could finish top 25.
5. Ryan Vargas ($4,900) – P27: Ever since JD Motorsports swapped Landon Cassill for Vargas in the #6 car Vargas has been excelling. I really like the upside of Vargas and a top 20 is definitely in the cards.
6. Kyle Weatherman ($6,000) – P37: Weatherman has not been good at Darlington. In his two career races here but he is cheap and starts really far back so he is viable.
7. Timmy Hill ($5,200) – P29: Hill is super cheap and is a potential top 25 car. In his last three races here, Hill has finishes of 22nd or 23rd.
8. Jesse Little ($5,800) – P34: Little finished 18th at this race last season, and earlier this season he finished 32nd. If Little can land somewhere between those two finishes I will be happy.

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 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.

Welcome to Daytona week, where the only thing that really matters is place differential. This week is different than any other oval or road course. High speeds, blocking, and drafting will lead to many, many wrecks. In the opening race of the 2021 season only 22 cars of the 40 that started the race finished. These wrecks that destroy multiple cars tend to happen in the front of the field because drivers are fighting for position so this is why we will generally play the place differential game.

Going back to the opening race of the season in the Xfinity Series nobody who started higher than 15th was in the six in DKFP.

Leaving Salary on the Table:

I know leaving salary on the table is a foreign concept to us DFS players, but in NASCAR, and especially at superspeedways, it is a necessary evil. When you look at the optimal lineup for that race you will notice that there was a substantial amount of salary remaining, in fact, there was $8,300 leftover. You will be tempted to upgrade in some spots with that much leftover, but you have to try and refrain. While talking about this weekend with other NASCAR people, it was said that if you like your lineup this weekend, you’re doing it wrong and I couldn’t agree more. You will build lineups this weekend and probably hate them and think you’ll need to make changes, but don’t. I will try to lead you on the right path to cashing this weekend.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

When it comes to dominators this week there are actually some serious options. We will still be leaving salary on the table, at least in the build I will be leading you to with this article. I don’t think we have to leave almost $9,000 like was optimal in February, but you could realistically leave $2-3,000 on the table.

Chase Briscoe ($11,500)

Starting Position: 37th

Briscoe is going to be the chalk option on this slate but with reason. Briscoe is back in the #99 for BJ McLeod, this is the same car that he drove to a 6th place finish at Charlotte earlier this season. Because of his place differential upside, I thought DraftKings would’ve priced him higher, but they made him easily playable. This is a situation where you just need to eat the chalk and lock Briscoe into your lineups.

JJ Yeley ($9,200)

Starting Position: 34th

Yeley has been good in the #17 for Rick Ware Racing this season finishing at least 24th in all seven races he has run in the car. This is another example where we will probably have a popular driver, but for the place differential Yeley offers he is a safe upside play. I want to lock in the safer plays in this tier, get the drivers who offer the safest floors, and find a way to be different in the lower tiers.

Brandon Brown ($10,100)

Starting Position: 31st

Brown is a little overpriced but I think could keep his ownership down on Friday. Other options in this tier will garner more usage but probably not with the potential and track history that Brown has. Since 2019 (5 races), Brown has an average finish of 12.6 at Daytona with his worst finish coming in this race last year where he wrecked and finished 26th. Earlier this season here Brown finished 6th, so we know the upside is there, now we just need him to avoid the big ones and get us a top 10.

Other Options: Myatt Snider ($9,600 – P23), Sam Mayer ($10,400 -P22), Daniel Hemric ($10,700 – P21), Jason White ($9,000 – P35)

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Austin Cindric ($8,800)

Starting Position: 14th

Cindric either has a top 10, or he wrecks at Daytona. In his seven starts at Daytona in the Xfinity Series, Cindric has a win, three top 5’s, four top 10’s but also has three finishes of 25th or worse. I don’t plan on using too many drivers from this tier, and in my main build I won’t have any, but Cindric is far and away the best option in this tier.

Landon Cassill ($7,400)

Starting Position: 26th

While his previous history track history here isn’t great, Cassill is having a good season and offers decent upside. Cassill has the experience that the majority of this field doesn’t and that should help him avoid most of the carnage. Cassill did end up wrecking out in February here, but he still finished 23rd because he was able to make it through until getting caught up in the last wreck of the race.

Christopher Bell ($8,900)

Starting Position: 15th

Bell and Cindric kind of fit the same mold this week, both are priced in the $8,000 range and start in the middle of the pack. Both Bell and Cindric are also safe-ish pivots off of the chalkier $9K plays in the top tier. Bell has run four races in the Xfinity Series here and outside of his first race where he wrecked 11 laps in he has never finished lower than 6th.

Other Options: Alex Labbe ($7,000 – P25), Justin Haley ($8,600 – P9)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Timothy Viens ($5,500) – P40: Viens starts dead last and is cheap, what’s not to love?
2. Spencer Boyd ($5,300) – P38: Another driver who starts in the back and is cheap. Are you starting to notice a trend?
3. Caesar Bacarella ($6,000) – P36: Bacarella is a superspeedway “ringer” who has top 20 upside.
4. David Starr ($6,500) – Since 2018 (5 races) Starr has three top 20’s at Daytona and wrecked in his other two races.
5. Joe Graf Jr. ($6,100) – P39: Graf has only finished once in four races at Daytona, which was earlier this season. Starting 39th we just need Graf to avoid a few wrecks and he should be good for a top 25.
6. Colby Howard ($6,300) – P33: Howard finished 12th at this race here last season. I don’t expect this type of finished from Howard, but a top 20 would be more than enough to make value.
7. Kyle Weatherman ($5,200) – P28: Weatherman is usually our road course value play, but this week he is here once again. At the first race at Daytona this season Weatherman finished 15th. Weatherman is cheap and starts far enough back to be worth a shot.
8. Mason Massey ($5,700) – P30: Massey has never raced at Daytona but he does have two races at Talladega. In those two races, Massey has finished of 20th and 27th.

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 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.

After two weeks at road courses, the Xfinity Series is finally back racing on an oval. It has been two years since the Xfinity Series was at Michigan and the previous winner just happens to be in the field on Saturday. Tyler Reddick ($10,500) led just 11 laps but ended up in victory lane followed by another driver in this race, Noah Gragson ($9,000). Both of these drivers are in play for me again on Saturday, but there are a couple of drivers who I think are better options.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Ty Gibbs ($11,000)

Starting Position: 10th

It has come to the point where if Ty Gibbs is in the race, he will be in the article. I don’t care he is $11,000, I will be playing Gibbs on Saturday. He has the potential to win in any race he is in and has great place differential upside this week. I think he will be popular, but with Cindric being priced $1,000 cheaper that may lower his ownership some.

Brandon Jones ($9,400)

Starting Position: 24th

I anticipate that people will overlook Jones based on his recent performances with three finishes of 36th or worse in his last four races. While I do consider current form when building lineups, I also look at the track record. Jones has been great at Michigan in his four races here, including last year when he finished 6th. In his four career races here, Jones has three top 10’s and his worse finish is 18th. Jones presents us with some really great value when you combine his place differential upside and price.

Tyler Reddick ($10,500)

Starting Position: 22nd

As I already mentioned, Reddick won the last time the Xfinity Series was at Michigan in 2019. Reddick also has finishes of 7th and 13th in his previous races here before 2019. I don’t know if I see Reddick as a contender for the win in this car, but he is definitely a candidate for a top 10. I am not sure what his ownership will be, but I think he may come in a little low-owned because I think Gibbs and Cindric get the majority of ownership in this price tier.

Daniel Hemric ($9,800)

Starting Position: 7th

Hemric is having his best season as a professional in 2021 and has a legitimate shot at his first career NASCAR win in this race. In two previous races here at Michigan in the Xfinity Series, Hemric has 12th (2017) and 2nd (2018) and both of those races were in the RCR #21, now that he is in JGR equipment he has shown how good he is.

As always when it comes to the Xfinity Series I will have exposure to Austin Cindric ($10,000). He starts on the pole and could lead a lot of laps here. I see a few different paths with him in your builds. You can use him with Gibbs and Jones, or with Reddick and Gibbs but you will have to get creative with the value plays.

Other Options: Josh Berry ($9,200 – P17): I would prefer Berry be under $9K, but he is in the #1 for the injured Annett this week and should contend for a top 10, Justin Allgaier ($10,200 – P7), Noah Gragson ($9,000 – P4), Bubba Wallace ($11,500 – P36): VERY expensive, but starts 36th and has some big upside. His equipment is not great but he has the ability to get more out of it than Austin Hill typically does.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Ryan Sieg ($7,400)

Starting Position: 23rd

With all the high salaries we want to roster in the top tier we need to find some value to put with them, enter Ryan Sieg. Before he finishes 32nd last week, Sieg had a string of races where he finished 18th or better in 7 of 8 races. In his career here at Michigan, Sieg has finished 19th or better in all 6 races and has three top 15 finishes. Sieg is the best combination of salary and upside in this tier to pair with our Gibbs/Reddick or Cindric builds.

Brett Moffitt ($8,100)

Starting Position: 20th

Moffitt has never run an Xfinity car here at Michigan, but he has raced five times in the Truck Series here. In those five races, Moffitt has performed well with four finishes inside the top 6, including 2 wins. Moffitt is not really a threat to win, but he does have more experience than most with this track and that should give him an advantage. As long as his car stays healthy, I see Moffitt coming away with a top 10 on Saturday

Both AJ Allmendinger ($8,900 – P2) and Justin Haley ($8,700 – P3) are good pivots off of Brandon Jones and are ways to get exposure to potential dominator points. Allmendinger has never run an Xfinity car at Michigan, and Haley has only raced here once (10th place in 2019) but they are both in great equipment and could push Cindric for the early lead in this race. Both should be in and around the top 5 all day and with their salaries being under $9K they can fall back a few positions and still hit value.

Other Options: Jeb Burton ($8,300 – P12), Sam Mayer ($8,500 – P16), Brandon Brown ($7,600 – P25),

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Bayley Currey ($5,400) P39: Start second to last, he is cheap and can’t really hurt you. Currey is the value we need for those top tier drivers.
2. Ryan Varags ($4,800) P35: Varags only has one finish outside the top 30 in his last 10 races, and has top 25 upside on Saturday. For this salary he is one of the best FPTS/$ play on the slate.
3. Jesse Little ($5,000) P33: Little has some upside but is riskier than the two drivers above him
4. Colin Garrett ($6,000) P29: Garrett has only one Xfinity race this season, but he did finish 15th at Talladega in the spring
5. Caesar Bacarella ($5,300) P34: Decent value starting from P34, with top 30 upside. Bacarella is a “superspeedway” specialist and has an average finish of 26.8 at similar tracks.
6. Jeremy Clements ($6,800) P11: Clements will probably fall back a few spots, but a top 15 is possible. In his last 8 races, Clements has seven finishes of 16th or better.
7. Colby Howard ($6,500) P38: DK did a smart thing and priced these guys starting at the back up this week, but if you have the salary, or want to avoid the mid tier, Howard is a nice option.
8. Jade Buford ($5,500) P19: I know we have been hurt by him this season, but he has enough quality finishes where I am willing to go back. Buford has eight top 21 finishes in his last 10 races, I like that consistency.

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 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.

Stop me if you heard this before, this week the Xfinity Series is at a road course. This is the sixth time the Xfinity Series will be at a road course this season. Ty Gibbs ($10,300) is the only driver in this field with more than one victory at a road course this season (Kyle Busch has 2 as well). Austin Cindric ($10,500) has yet to win at a road course, so some would say he is due. Cindric has three top 5’s in the previous five road courses in 2021. Cindric and AJ Allmendinger ($10,400) are both pulling double duty and running both Xfinity and Cup Series races. Allmendinger has a victory at Mid-Ohio this season, and earlier this week AJ said that this track runs similar to Road America where he finished 4th and led 12 laps.

All three of these drivers are in play on Saturday, but they also will most likely be very popular so I am not looking to stack them together. After we see the qualifying results I will decide who I want to focus on building around and post that in discord. Since I think the strategy for most will be to jam in as many of Cindric/AJ/Gibbs as they can and get stuck with bad value drivers I want to go a different path.

NASCAR DFS: Dominators

Justin Haley ($9,400)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 3rd

Haley is a driver who tends to run well at road courses but gets overlooked for the “bigger” names. Since 2020, Haley has two top 5’s and six top 10’s in nine road course races. At this track, last season Haley finished 2nd after starting 11th and this season at Road America he finished 10th. Haley was at the top of the leaderboard for a good portion of Friday’s practice session and depending on where he qualifies could present some great value on Saturday.

Kevin Harvick ($10,100)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 4th

Harvick has run two races this season in the Xfinity Series (both road courses) and has finished 4th and 6th respectively. At Road America, Harvick came home 6th after starting 20th. In Friday’s practice, Harvick ran only 12 laps but did have the 4th fastest lap which came at the end of his session which bodes well for the long-run ability of this car. We should see a lot of long runs in this race based on last year where there were only three cautions outside of the stage breaks.

Sam Mayer ($9,000)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 2nd

Mayer was really happy with his car after practice and I am not surprised seeing as he was less than two tenths off the top practice lap. Mayer has run two road courses (both in 2021) in the Xfinity Series and has one top ten (last week). At Road America, Mayer was running well at the start, but got caught up in a wreck on lap 12 and was done. If Mayer’s car is as good as it looked in practice we should easily see a second straight top 10 this week.

NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier

Alex Labbe ($7,200)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 10th

Labbe is someone we regularly turn to for road courses and he rarely disappoints. Last season at Indianapolis RC, Labbe finished 8th after starting 20th. Labbe did not have a good week last week (39th), but if you take that finish out he has an average finish of 18.5 in the other four road course races this season. If Labbe’s car can live up to the top 10 practice speed he could find himself in the optimal lineup.

Jeb Burton ($7,700)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 8th

Before this season Jeb Burton has never had a top 10 in the Xfinity Series at a road course, this season he has three in five races. Kaulig Racing has one of the best road course programs in the series and it shows how good they are with Burton’s finishes this season. Last week Burton drove himself to an 8th place finish at Watkins Glen and with the speed he showed on practice on Friday I expect a fourth top 10 this week.

Andy Lally ($8,300)

Single Lap Practice Rank: 20th

Lally is a road course ringer and has run four races this season with an average finish of 16.8. That number is skewed a little by his 31st place finish at the Daytona Road Course. If you take out that poor finish Lally has an average finish of 12th. Lally did not look great in practice, but depending on where he qualifies he could be a solid play.

Other Options: JJ Yeley ($7,400), Austin Dillon ($8,700), Michael Annett ($8,100)

NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings

1. Sage Karam ($6,800)
2. Brandon Brown ($5,200)
3. Will Rodgers ($5,500)
4. Jeremy Clements ($6,300)
5. Kyle Weatherman ($4,500)
6. Matt Jaskol ($5,400)
7. Josh Williams ($4,900)
8. Josh Bilicki ($6,900)

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!