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The next race of the Xfinity Series postseason is on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, and Emmitt Smith is the Grand Marshal of it, so that's cool!
Three spots in the season finale are still up for grabs after Chase Briscoe won at Kansas to clinch one of the spots. Trouble of Austin Cindric at Kansas have made the playoff picture really tight, as he fell to fourth and has just two more points than fifth-place Justin Haley. Could Cindric miss the championship race? Can someone like Ryan Sieg -- who finished third at Kansas -- steal a victory and really shake up that Phoenix finale?
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 O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 on DraftKings. Be sure to also check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for Xfinity Series including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station.
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Xfinity DFS Lineup Picks - DraftKings
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Austin Cindric #22 ($11,400) - Starting 7th
The winner of the last race here at Texas, Cindric led 44 laps on his way to the victory, capping off a three-race winning streak at 1.5-mile tracks. Cindric hasn't been running as well lately, finishing outside of the top 25 in two of the last three races, but he's one of the best intermediate track drivers on the circuit and is in a position where he has to have a good race as he clings to the fourth seed in the Round of 8. Cindric has a good chance of posting a top five here with some fastest laps.
Chase Briscoe #98 ($11,100) - Starting 1st
At one point, Cindric looked like he was on his way to being the best 1.5-mile driver on the circuit. But Briscoe has now won the past two races run at this type of track, including a dominant showing at Kansas last week in which he led 159 of the 200 laps.
Briscoe starts on the pole, which offers some great chances for this 98 car to rack up some early laps led. Even with zero place differential upside, Briscoe is in a position to dominate this race from a DFS perspective.
Anthony Alfredo #21 ($9,600) - Starting 18th
Yes, Alfredo has been a far cry from what Tyler Reddick did for this team last year, but he's still had some strong runs in the 21 car and is basically a must-play in DFS anytime he starts lower than 15th because he always has top-10 upside. Suspension issues relegated him to 27th in the first Texas race, but Alfredo has five of his eight top 10s this year at intermediate mile tracks. He's a high-upside play, even if he's had some disappointing runs as well in 2020. My real worry here is how chalky he's going to end up being, as everyone is basically on the "play Alfredo!" bandwagon now, aren't they?
Jesse Little #4 ($6,600) - Starting 27th
Well, if you want to play both Cindric and Briscoe, you're going to need to start to hit the value plays pretty early. Let's look at three possible plays under $7K.
We start with Jesse Little, who'll come off the grid 27th. That starting position offers solid upside, as Little's finished 19th and 23rd in the last two races at this track type.
Maybe more importantly, he was 14th here at Texas earlier in the year, part of a string of three consecutive 14ths at 1.5-mile tracks. Little hasn't been as consistent over the second half of the year as he was earlier on, when he had nine top 20s in a row, but he's still a solid play this week, even as his production has gotten more volatile.
Colby Howard #15 ($5,600) - Starting 33rd
We stick with a JD Motorsports car that starts in the back of the pack here with Colby Howard. Howard hasn't had the same level of production as Little this season, but he's run his fair share of intermediate tracks and has six top 25s at them. If we assume that Howard has a car that's around the 21st best in the field, I think we need to be playing him a lot this weekend, even if we're concerned that he's now gone five races without a top 20.
Tommy Joe Martins #44 ($5,400) - Starting 17th
Here's the riskiest play of this slate, because there's not the place differential upside here that you have with Little and Howard. Martins starts 17th and has recorded exactly zero top 10s this year, so there's not a ton of room for him to reasonable improve.
Still, was finished 15th here earlier in the year, plus was just 14th at Kansas last week. He's mostly been a top 20 car lately, and the price tag here is low enough that I think you play him and hope he finishes around where he's been finishing. It's not an idea play, but I think as long as Martins doesn't wreck, he's not going to kill your lineup because he's not going to sink 10 spots back at the starting the race or anything.
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