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 Dead On Tools 250 NASCAR slate locks at 6:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.
1. Josh Berry ($10,800) — This is not the No. 8 JR Motorsports car, but it’s still Josh Berry. He won the spring Xfinity race at Martinsville and won the prestigious late model race at Martinsville in 2019 by leading wire to wire.
2. AJ Allmendinger ($9,500) — Moments after taking the lead at the beginning of the Martinsville race, bolts fell out of the No. 16 car’s sway bar. After double-digit pit stops and numerous wave arounds, Allmendinger was able to rebound for a 13th place finish.
3. Daniel Hemric ($10,000) — The laps ran out in the spring. Despite his pancaked hood, Hemric had the best car in the spring Martinsville race. He was closing fast, but Josh Berry took the checkered flag as Hemric was exiting turn four.
4. Noah Gragson ($10,500) — In the Truck Series, Gragson scored his first career win at Martinsville driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Gragson has nearly won both of his Xfinity races at Martinsville, falling just short with finishes of second and third.
5. Ty Gibbs ($11,500) — Early in stage 3 at Martinsville, Gibbs had the lead, but he was no match for Josh Berry. He may not have to worry about Berry this time around because Berry is in the Jordan Anderson No. 31 car. Also, the No. 54 JGR Toyota does not have to point race and can forfeit stage points for track position.
6. Harrison Burton ($10,300) — In the penultimate race of the 2020 season, Harrison Burton won at Martinsville. In that race, Burton had an unfair advantage. He had already been eliminated from the playoffs while his competition was desperately racing for stage points. Burton was able to forfeit stage points for track position and won at his home track.
7. Austin Cindric ($11,200) — Due to cautions before the end of stage 2, Cindric was mired in traffic in stage 3 of the spring Martinsville race. Once Cindric got to the front, he then ended up behind inferior cars that stayed out during a caution. Cindric lost a handful of spots on the subsequent restart, and he was never able to contest for the win.
8. Justin Allgaier ($9,700) — The JR Motorsports cars were fast in the spring at Martinsville, but Allgaier was not as fast as his teammates Noah Gragson and Josh Berry. In last season’s fall Martinsville race, Allgaier settled for a second place finish and the points needed to qualify for the championship race.
9. Myatt Snider ($7,900) — In three Truck Series races at Martinsville, Snider has three top-10 finishes, including a third place finish. In the spring race, Snider was confident and aggressive. He was involved in many incidents, but he was never on the wrong end of the contact. He could challenge for a win or end up a DNF on Saturday night.
10. Brandon Jones ($9,200) — In the spring, Jones looked comfortable at Martinsville when he was running inside the top 5, but he did not look like a threat to win. He had a good race car, but this track has not clicked for him yet.
Refer a friend and get $20 DK Dollars! Head to the DraftKings Playbook Promo page for more details!
11. Justin Haley ($8,800) — Short tracks in the Xfinity Series have not clicked for the young driver that grew up racing short tracks in Indiana. However, he is getting closer to figuring it out. Haley ran 78 laps inside the top 5 in the spring race (eighth-most) and 178 laps inside the top 10 (fourth-most).
12. Jeb Burton ($8,600) — He grew up just down the road from Martinsville in South Boston, Virginia. This is his home track and possibly one of the final races of his career in top-notch equipment. The Kaulig cars had speed at Martinsville in the spring.
13. Sam Mayer ($9,000) — The driver of the No. 8 JR Motorsports car is different, but the crew chief is still the same. Taylor Moyer gave Josh Berry a race winning car in the spring race, so why can’t he build a fast car again this weekend?
14. Jeremy Clements ($7,400) — Before last season, Clements had zero experience at Martinsville. He finished 15th in his first race at Martinsville and followed that up with a 14th place finish this past spring. Clements finished 15th at the one-mile flat track in New Hampshire in July.
15. Josh Williams ($5,900) — This has been a solid season for the Mario Gosselin driver. He’s routinely finishing inside the top 20, but more importantly, he’s finishing. The first step of growth for a small team is not top 15s or even top 20s. It’s consistently avoiding wrecks and mechanical failures.
16. Jade Buford ($6,400) — There is a theory that road racing skills translate at flat tracks because of the similar hard braking patterns. Buford’s road racing experience must be paying off because he finished 19th at Martinsville and 18th at New Hampshire.
17. Riley Herbst ($8,000) — Without any practice or experience, Herbst finished sixth at Martinsville last fall. In the spring, he got caught in one of the many wrecks at Martinsville. Earlier this season at New Hampshire, Herbst finished tenth.
18. Ryan Sieg ($7,600) — At the short, flat tracks, Sieg has been decent this season. His Real Rating (my own statistical creation that weighs a driver’s average position along with the amount of laps led and laps driven inside the top 5, top 10, top 20, top 25 and top 30) at Martinsville was a 59/100. He scored a 64/100 at New Hampshire and a 74/100 at Richmond.
19. David Starr ($5,200) — Martinsville is a challenging track for veterans. It’s a daunting task for young drivers, and an impossible challenge without practice. There will be plenty of spins and wrecks enabling Starr to stay on the lead lap. In the spring race, Starr finished 22nd.
20. Spencer Boyd ($4,700) — Let’s get weird. This could possibly be the worst ranking in the seven years of this article, but after around 6,000 driver blurbs, it’s okay to take a chance. The Jimmy Means car is awful, but Boyd knows that. He is cruising not racing. The other fools are racing and will be wrecking because it’s Martinsville. This play can work.
Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game.
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.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL).
Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (IN/MI/NJ/PA/WV/WY), 1-800-522-4700 (CO/NH), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-888-532-3500 (VA), 1-800-NEXT STEP (AZ), call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), or 888-789-7777/visit ccpg.org/chat. (CT).
21+ (18+ NH/WY). AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/MI/NH/NJ/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. Eligibility restrictions apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for full terms and conditions.