The rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for Saturday’s race. The ordering is not based on the highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by value of each driver.
Set your DraftKings lineups here: NXS $125K Octane [$20K to 1st, 2x Min Cash] (XFIN)
1. Kyle Busch ($17,000) — DFS players know the drill. Jam him in. Last spring, Kyle Busch did not have the best car at Texas, but a late caution and a fuel-only pit stop turned a second-place finish into a win. His car may not be the best again but the competition is much weaker this time.
2. Austin Cindric ($10,800) — In 2018, crew chief Brian Wilson won with the No. 22 Penske car multiple times. In 2019, Cindric took over the ride and stunk. The car and team never stopped being great. Cindric was and is the weak link. He finally won two oval races last week. The first was aided heavily by luck on pit road but in the second race, he did pass the leader.
3. Chase Briscoe ($11,300) — It’s funny how the excuses pile up when Briscoe underperforms. According to Briscoe, his sub-par performance last week was because of the car. However, when Briscoe wins he doesn’t hesitate to accept all of the credit even though the stats clearly show that all of his wins are due to fast pit stops by his crew.
4. Noah Gragson ($10,400) — Statistically, Gragson is the highest-rated driver in the series, but this is a flawed statistic this season. Driver rating calculates fast laps and laps led and Gragson has randomly won four poles leading to an inflated number of fast laps and laps led.
5. Justin Allgaier ($9,700) — His car is not as fast as Briscoe’s or Cindric’s car. His pit crew is slower as well. It’s also not unreasonable to believe that Allgaier has less skill than those two drivers. Allgaier may not even be the best JR Motorsports driver.
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6. Harrison Burton ($9,400) — “Only suckers get sucker punched,” says Jack Reacher. Burton accused Gragson of wrecking him at Kentucky. Gragson responded with a right hook that floored Burton. Unfortunately, DFS players did not receive 10 points for the knockdown.
7. Ross Chastain ($10,000) — The Kaulig cars are not on the same level as the Penske, SHR, JGR and JR Motorsports cars. On a good day, Chastain has more talent than most of the drivers in the top-tier cars, but that doesn’t compensate for the lack of speed. In the past five intermediate track races, Chastain has averaged 5 hog points per race. That’s not race-winning speed.
8. Riley Herbst ($8,500) — The results do not show it, but Herbst looked good in the second Kentucky race. Herbst was in second place during the final green-flag pit stops, but he got busted speeding on pit road.
9. Brandon Jones ($9,100) — Last week’s write up was quite prophetic. Jones is the luckiest kid on Earth and the unluckiest driver on the track. When he’s not unlucky, his lack of talent is sure to get in his way.
10. David Starr ($4,900) — The last time Starr was in a decent car was when he drove for TriStar Motorsports in 2015. He averaged a 22nd-place finish that season and the Xfinity series was much stronger then. He’ll jump in the No. 07 Bobby Dotter car this weekend at his hometrack.
11. Kyle Weatherman ($5,100) — It’s always risky rostering a Mike Harmon car but the problem with Mike Harmon cars is Mike Harmon. When he isn’t driving them, they aren’t half bad. Weatherman has earned three top-20 finishes in the past four races. Other than the 2020 Daytona race, Harmon hasn’t earned a top-20 finish since the 2013 Daytona race.
12. Jesse Little ($5,200) — There have been two issues with Little this season and neither have anything to do with his ability. He always starts too close to the front and it took a while for DraftKings to lower his salary. Now he’s starting in a prime spot and DK did not raise his salary enough.
13. Colby Howard ($5,700) — JD Motorsports has been the premier small team in the Xfinity Series for a couple of years. A testament to the cars is the fact that rookie Colby Howard can jump into a car with little experience and average a 21st-place finish over the past six races.
14. Ryan Sieg ($6,500) — Last season, RSS made major developmental strides. This season, Sieg has taken a step backward. One reason is that crew chief Shane Wilson departed for the Truck Series. The other reason is the addition of another full-time ride that divided resources at RSS.
15. Jeremy Clements ($8,700) — Nothing against Clements, but no other driver better illustrates the destitution of the Xfinity Series. Clements has nine top 15s this season. His three top-10 finishes are one away from his career-best and we’re only halfway through the season. Small teams should not be able to compete at the second-highest level of stock car racing.
16. Michael Annett ($7,700) — This is not a race-winning car, but it is a top-10 car. Annett has limited his mistakes recently. That’s why he earned four straight top-10 finishes, including two top-5 finishes.
17. Myatt Snider ($7,400) — The news that Reaume Brothers were taking over the operation of Snider’s No. 93 car flew under the radar. After several very poor performances by Snider following the switch, it’s time that DFS players reevaluate this play moving forward.
18. Anthony Alfredo ($8,300) — With increased reps, Alfredo is improving each week. The car is fine, as it won six races last season on the way to a championship. The No. 21 won’t win the championship this season but if Alfredo keeps growing he could win a race by the end of the season.
19. Justin Haley ($8,100) — We’re watching Haley turn into a bad guy before our eyes. Justin Heel-y was a wrecking ball at Bristol earlier this season. He could have seriously injured Riley Herbst when he intentionally wrecked him at Pocono. Last week, Haley took out on his anger on Brandon Brown, a small-team driver that cannot afford to wreck race cars. Bad guys can be cool but Haley is just a jerk.
20. Jeb Burton ($7,900) — Last week was Burton’s first real chance at a race because he had only driven at plate tracks and road courses this season. After one lap at Kentucky, his race was pretty much over, so Texas will be his first real race. The No. 8 JR Motorsports car has not been impressive this season.
Set your DraftKings lineups here: NXS $125K Octane [$20K to 1st, 2x Min Cash] (XFIN)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above.