RADIO
The NASCAR Xfinity Series is in Atlanta on Saturday night, the second time this season that the series has headed to the 1.54-mile oval in Hampton, Georgia. Austin Hill won the first one, leading 103 of the 163 laps.
Last weekend, the Xfinity Series was in Chicago to race on the street course there, with Cole Custer leading all 25 laps. It was...a strange one, as the race didn't even get to halfway before NASCAR declared it over. Lightning on Saturday forced a postponement to Sunday morning, but torrential rain meant they couldn't get the race in then either. Ending a race before halfway was a controversial move, but it gave Custer his second victory of 2023.
Here at RotoBaller, we want to help you make informed decisions about your DFS lineups, which is why I'll be breaking down the slates for the Xfinity Series. Let's look at some NASCAR Xfinity DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco Uniforms 250 on DraftKings. Be sure to also check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for Xfinity Series including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station. This slate locks on 7/8/23 at 8:18 p.m. ET.
Xfinity DFS Picks - DraftKings
Be sure to also check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles and analysis to help you set your optimal DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Post-Qualifying Updates
Check back here after qualifying for some updates about how place differential changes some things.
The Last Atlanta Race
While we don't know the starting lineup yet, we do have some info that we don't always have in predicting these races: a previous race from this season to look at for comparison.
That race, the Raptor King of Tough 250 back in March, was dominated by Austin Hill, something that's not a surprise as he's now won two Atlanta races in a row. Hill led 103 laps in the race.
The bigger story, when it comes to predicting things for DFS? 12 drivers failed to finish the race. It was a wreck fest, with 12 cautions flying. Notable drivers to crash out were Chandler Smith and Justin Allgaier.
The lesson I take away from that? Diversify your lineups. Maybe you looked at the lineup for that race and thought Kaz Grala (starting 28th), Sage Karam (starting 30th), and Garrett Smithley (starting 34th) were a good mix of place differential plays? They all crashed. You've got to rely on a wider range of drivers than you usually would.
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Potential Top Plays
Obviously, place differential at a track like this where pack racing increases the variables is important, so any of the 10 highest-priced drivers are in play if they start 25th or worse. But if we assume the top drivers all end up qualifying well, who might we want to look at? Here's three names:
Austin Hill ($10,700): Hill is the obvious favorite here, because he's proven to be the best superspeedway racer in Xfinity over the last two seasons. He's run three races at Atlanta, winning twice and finishing second in the other race. Meanwhile this season, he won Daytona, the first superspeedway race of the year, then won Atlanta, then qualified on pole at Talladega and led 14 laps. He was caught in an accident in that one and finished 18th, but he still looked like a contender.
Ty Gibbs ($10,400): Gibbs is the only other driver to win here in Xfinity since the repave, as he passed Ryan Sieg on the final lap to win here last March. He only led that one lap, while Hill finished second, leading 27. Gibbs, who had a top 10 in the Cup Series here back in March, is the best bet to dethrone Hill.
Josh Berry ($9,400): I'm not sure someone as good as Josh Berry can be considered a dark horse pick, but considering how big a favorite Hill is, I'll allow myself to use that term. Berry's done well here, finishing second in this race last year after leading 13 laps and then finishing seventh here in the spring. Watch out for the No. 8 car on Saturday night.
Potential Value Options
Since this has become a drafting track, my advice on value plays is a lot different than it'd usually be. I'm not going to go name by name and list drivers I like. Instead, I'm going to go big picture here.
Actually, that last paragraph was a lie. There is one driver under $9,000 that I want to talk at length about, which is Daniel Hemric ($8,300). Hemric has run really well here since the repave. He crashed in the 2022 spring race, but was fifth in this race last season, then second in the spring race this year. That result was his only top-five so far this season.
But beyond, Hemric, it's really hard to pin anyone down. This race isn't as chaotic as Daytona or Talladega, but it still creates surprises. Brett Moffitt was sixth in the spring race. Ryan Sieg and Brennan Poole both got top 15s, with Poole coming from 29th for his.
In this race last year, the top 10 wasn't filled with any surprises, but we had Ryan Sieg and Kyle Sieg both finish in the top 20. Last year's spring race was full of surprises though, with Mason Massey finishing sixth, Kyle Weatherman eighth...even J.J. Yeley had a good run, finishing 11th.
You don't necessarily need to fill the lineup only with guys who start 30th or worse like you might do at Daytona, but diversifying is key. And getting guys with experience at superspeedways is important as well. I probably would trust Weatherman or Grala if they started 25th. I wouldn't trust Parker Chase if he started 25th—for someone like him or for Greg Van Alst, the Daytona ARCA winner but also someone who is 42 years old and is making his Xfinity debut, I'd need them starting outside the top 30.
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