The rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on the highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by the value of each driver.
The DraftKings O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 slate locks at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NXS $60K Octane [$10K to 1st] (XFIN)
1. Chase Briscoe ($11,100) - He’s the best driver in the league with the best car in the league and the best pit crew in the league. The league might be the worst racing division in the history of NASCAR. It will continue to be the worst racing division for the remainder of the season. Briscoe might not be good, but relatively speaking, he is great in this league and will continue to be for the final three races.
2. Austin Cindric ($11,400) - Briscoe might be slightly better than Cindric at intermediate tracks, but the difference is insignificant. Ultimately the deciding factor between Cindric and Briscoe this season has been pit road and luck. Last week, Cindric wrecked, so Briscoe defaulted to the win.
3. Justin Allgaier ($10,800) - When the 2020 season began, Allgaier was deemed an early favorite. This was not because he had improved or that his equipment had improved, but because his competition softened. Apparently, it did not soften enough. Allgaier is still a favorite, but it won’t show this weekend at the intermediate track. When the season closes at short tracks, Allgaier will have his chance to shine.
4. Harrison Burton ($10,400) - Kansas was disappointing for Burton this season. He should have won the first Kansas race and he wrecked in the second race. Even before the wreck, Burton was a 5th place car at best.
5. Brandon Jones ($9,200) - Anything can happen at the end of these races, so Jones is always in play. If nothing happens at the end, then Jones is just out there running meaningless circles in yet another Xfinity race. The only way that Jones finds meaning in these races is if he wrecks.
6. Ross Chastain ($9,800) - Last week, Chastain earned three hog points at the intermediate track in Kansas. At the intermediate track before that, he earned six hog points. In the July Texas race, he earned one hog point. He needs a late race caution and a shootout win to be relevant.
7. Justin Haley ($9,400) - His playoff hopes are alive and well. Haley has a top 10 finish in each of the last seven intermediate track races. This is not an elite car, but Haley does exactly what he should every week in this car. Driving in the top 10 means he is one break away from his first intermediate track win.
8. Noah Gragson ($10,100) - In two of his three Texas Xfinity races, Gragson has wrecked. In the Truck series, he has a 7th place finish and three 10th place finishes. Those are terrible results for a KBM truck.
9. David Starr ($5,300) - He’s a Texan, and when part time drivers get rides at their hometown tracks, they tend to get top notch equipment. They at least get a full complement of tires. Starr finished 14th in the July Texas race for Bobby Dotter.
10. Jesse Little ($6,600) - It worked last week, so why not run it back? Little is a little more expensive and he is starting a little closer to the front, but this is nothing compared to earlier this season. He was in play with a starting position of 14th in several races.
11. Brett Moffitt ($7,900) - The #02 Our Motorsports car is fast enough to hang onto the lead lap at most intermediate tracks. At Texas with the current crop of drivers causing frequent cautions, Moffitt should not have a problem earning a top 10 as long as he doesn’t find himself in another driver’s mess.
12. Anthony Alfredo ($9,600) - He wrecked last week at Kansas, and he wrecked in the last race at Texas. It’s doubtful that he wrecks again, but even if it were guaranteed that he would not wreck, it’s still hard to put Alfredo in your lineup. His salary is too high. The only way he works is if he has a great race, and if one elite driver leads all of the laps. That’s a lot of ifs.
13. Jeb Burton ($8,900) - The #8 car has had moments of excellence this season, but it should have moments of excellence every week. We will likely learn at the end of the season that funding dried up, and when JR Motorsports downsizes to three cars, no one will be surprised. Burton has been decent in this car, but that doesn’t matter. His fantasy relevance hinges on race circumstances and the luck of other elite drivers.
14. Colby Howard ($5,600) - It’s a JD Motorsports car starting 33rd with a sub $6,000 price tag. Howard did not run in the July Texas race, but he does have intermediate track experience. If he takes it easy and turns laps, he should earn the typical JD Motorsports finish of 20th to 25th.
15. Riley Herbst ($9,000) - In the July Texas race, Gragson dumped Herbst early in the race. Gragson claims he did not touch the #18 car, but Gragson has said the same thing after dumping a handful of other cars. His lack of the laps at Texas will hurt Herbst this weekend.
16. Brandon Brown ($7,400) - Excluding the Roval, Brown is averaging a 12th place finish over the last five races. He can do better than that, and it doesn’t require a lot of luck. Dale Jr. commented during the Kansas races about how bad the Xfinity Series has become. Drivers are wrecking too often and are vengefully wrecking each other. While the rich kids tear up their cars, Brown can patiently sneak away with a top 10 finish.
17. Ryan Sieg ($8,600) - Some DFS players might be surprised to learn that Sieg has a legitimate shot at making the championship race. The media will spin this as a Cinderella story; it is not. DFS players know Sieg is a risky option, but he pans out occasionally because the Xfinity Series has less legitimacy than the Outlaw Golf Tour.
18. Jeffrey Earnhardt ($5,000) - Even with 10 cautions, Earnhardt still finished three laps down at Kansas. His 20th place finish looks appealing, but finishing three laps down says a lot about his car. In his defense, Joe Graf dumped Earnhardt at the beginning of stage 2.
19. Jeremy Clements ($7,700) - This is similar to the Brandon Brown play. When the spoiled rich kids carelessly wreck the stock cars purchased by their wealthy fathers, the blue collar types grind their way into the top 10. Texas is a fast track that punishes drivers that attempt to find additional racing grooves. Clements can easily be optimal via attrition.
20. BJ McLeod ($6,400) - This week, McLeod is racing for Mario Gosselin. Last week, Dexter Bean finished 16th in this car. Cautions aided that finish, and cautions will likely benefit McLeod this weekend. His usual approach of cruising around until late in the race might pay off for DFS players.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NXS $60K Octane [$10K to 1st] (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.