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So, that Cup race yesterday at Bristol was pretty wild, wasn't it? Caution after caution whittled the field down, and then the contact between Chase Elliott and Joey Logano at the end that handed the win to Brad Keselowski, who really had no business winning that race
Now, it's time to another Xfinity Series race. We're still at Bristol -- will we see some of those patented bumps and bruises that really make Bristol...well, that make it Bristol? And this one doesn't feature Kyle Busch, so there's some potential for parity!
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 moving forward. So, let's look at some NASCAR Xfinity DFS lineup picks for the Cheddar's 300 on DraftKings. (And if any other DFS providers want to start doing Xfinity, we'll do those too!) Be sure to also check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for Xfinity Series including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station.
Xfinity DFS Lineup 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.
A.J. Allmendinger #16 ($11,100) - Starting 27th
The former Cup driver has the third highest price of anyone, but of the nine highest-priced drivers, Allmendinger is the only one starting worse than 11th. Off the bat, I'm looking at him as someone who can gain a lot of spots during this race.
Allmendinger is no longer racing anywhere full time, but he's someone you should pay attention to when he does show up. Driving for Kaulig Racing, Allmendinger ran five Xfinity races in 2019, winning the road race at Charlotte.
He hasn't run a short track race in any series since 2018 when he was in Cup, but he showed some competence at these kinds of tracks in the past. While he has just one Bristol top 10, Martinsville is the track where Allmendinger's most top-10 finishes have come.
He'll have to keep the car clean going through the field, but Allmendinger has the best chance of anyone starting this far back to get a top 10.
Austin Cindric #22 ($9,400) - Starting 3rd
A pitch for Austin Cindric in your lineup goes like this: Do you want someone who's running up front and can lead some laps, ranks fifth in the series in fastest laps run, and whose worse finish at Bristol last year was sixth? Then hey, Austin Cindric might be your guy!
Penske Racing brought some strong cars this week on the Cup side. While there's a lot of differences between Cup and Xfinity cars, I feel good about Penske's chances on this side of things too. Cindric has a fast car and has shown speed at Bristol. His best track type is road courses, but he continues to improve at short tracks. He was fourth at Darlington -- not technically a short track, but it races like one -- and his worst non-Daytona finish this year was eighth.
So, yeah. Not much in the way of place differential, but a good race car with a good chance to finish well.
Michael Annett #1 ($8,000) - Starting 12th
*sigh*
Look, Michael Annett has not been a great Xfinity driver. I'm not here to convince you that he's turned a corner, though last year's 19 top 10s were a lot better than 2018's three top 10s.
But Bristol is a good track for Annett. He has seven top 10s in 15 races here. There's no other track where he has more than six top 10s, and he's taken this JR Motorsports car to three consecutive top 10s here. Starting 12th, he shouldn't be at risk of hurting you too bad on place differential if he runs a clean race, and there's upside here based on recent performance at the track. Annett's a confounding driver, someone who often struggles despite top-flight equipment, but this is one of the few tracks where I feel pretty okay about his chances.
Brandon Brown #68 ($7,700) - Starting 21st
I can say that before 2020, I never thought I'd be happy to recommend Brandon Brown in a DFS lineup. At that point, he'd run 53 Xfinity races with one top 10, and 13 lead lap finishes.
But this year, Brown's found something. He's got five lead lap finishes in six races, plus a pair of top 10s. His worse finish was 33rd in a race where his engine blew, but other than that, he's finished 13th or better in each race. NASCAR's loop data shows him to be one of the better closers this year, and while there's not a ton of speed in this car, he does rank 14th in green flag speed.
Brown seems to have ascended into the "underfunded team that manages to run well and could sneak into a playoff spot" tier of the Xfinity Series.
Myatt Snider #21 ($7,000) - Starting 22nd
Snider is coming off a 10th-place finish at Charlotte, his best run of 2020. He ran in the top 15 for 85.2 percent of that race after starting 17th.
I think a couple of things are true for Snider this week. First, I think he's getting undervalued because of his performance issues this year, but it should be noted that he doesn't drive for Richard Childress Racing in every race, so a lack of speed when driving a different car shouldn't be held against him.
The other thing that's true is that RCR isn't the dominant team they've been the last few years. A big part of that is a lack of continuity, as the team doesn't even have a full-time driver for this car. But still, even if we admit this team isn't as good as they used to be, Snider's still in equipment that's at worse a top-15 car, and he starts 22nd.
Justin Haley #11 ($6,300) - Starting 4th
You're essentially punting on producing place differential points with Haley and betting on him to show enough speed starting up front to keep the car clean and come away with a strong finish.
Haley has four top 10s in six races this ear, so it's not a bad bet to take. Before a 29th place run at Charlotte, Haley's worst finish was 12th in Vegas. He doesn't possess nearly the same upside as some of the other drivers, but at this price point, Haley helps to round out your lineup and only real destroys you if he crashes out. But it's Bristol, baby! Literally anyone could wreck out and destroy your lineup!
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