🏎 NASCAR DFS: Beef 300 Xfinity Picks for DraftKings (FREE)

The field is set for Saturday afternoon’s Beef 300. Thus, let’s jump into the top NASCAR DFS picks for the Xfinity season opener at Daytona.

[DAYTONA]

Daytona 2020 Optimal Lineup Review

Before we look ahead, let’s look back to last year. As you would expect, in a superspeedway race, the optimal lineup was well short of filling the entire $50,000 salary cap. In fact, it didn’t even hit $40,000. So, just like in the Cup series at superspeedway events, if you have thousands of dollars left over in cap space — don’t sweat it.

Of drivers who finished with a top-10 fantasy score, seven of them had real-life top-10 finishes. The furthest back anyone finished, who had a top-10 fantasy day, was Mike Harmon who finished 16th. However, his top-10 day was aided by picking up 19 positions from start to finish. Speaking of place differential, this is where things get interesting. Only five of our top-ten scoring drivers picked up double-digit positions on the track. If you expand the scoring numbers to the top-20 drivers, then you only add four more drivers. The lesson here is if you pick a driver who doesn’t have place differential upside, they had better have top-ten finishing potential to boost their score via finishing position points.

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DraftKings NASCAR DFS Picks Beef 300 Xfinity at Daytona

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Due to rain cancelling qualifying, we have lots of chalk in the back. In fact, you can build a lineup of just drivers starting 30th or worse and feel pretty good about your prospects.

AJ Allmendinger 31st ($9,900)

The story in Allmendinger in years past has been a veteran, in great equipment, racing around with nothing but a win as his motivation. Now, ‘Dinger is more than just a ringer, he’s a title contender looking for his first championship. That trek starts today but unfortunately for Allmendinger it’s way back in 31st place. Moving forward should be no issue for the driver of the No. 16, and he’s a legitimate threat to outright win today. His odds on DraftKings Sportsbook sit at +700, tops in the field, even with his poor starting number.

Ty Dillon 32nd ($9,500)

While it stings not having Dillon in the Daytona 500 field tomorrow, as one of our more consistent superspeedway drivers, his appearance here for Joe Gibbs gives us a solid foundation for our Xfinity lineups. Dillon was consistently one of the safer drivers during his time at Germain Racing, bringing home a string of top-15 finishes. Now in a weaker field, in perhaps one of the best cars, Dillon should be considered a threat to win today grabbing 30-plus place-differential spots in the process.

Gray Gaulding 35th ($6,500)

Personally, I like Gaulding. He’s an above average driver who was stuck in the muck and mire of BK Racing from 2017. Instead of spinning his wheels for Rick Ware or Premium Motorsports in the Cup Series, he’s locked onto Means Motorsports where he can actually be competitive. His fight for the Xfinity playoffs starts this afternoon from the 35th position.

If you’re looking for a cheaper, core play, Gaulding fits the bill. Despite finishes of second and ninth in his last Daytona races, and eighth and second in his past two Talladega events, he’s cheaper than Jeffrey Earnhardt. Book it.

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Justin Haley 3rd ($9,400)

By virtue of finishing third in the 2020 Xfinity points standings, Haley finds himself starting in the second row of today’s Beef 300. With so many viable drivers in the teens, twenties, and thirties, it’s hard to advocate for a driver starting so far forward. However, Haley undoubtedly has the best Xfinity record of late winning three of the four superspeedway races in 2020. Heck, it was only a few years ago when fortune smiled on this kid as he won the Coke 400 at Daytona.

The path to Haley being optimal is if he can lead laps. With Cindric losing his superspeedway running mate from last season (Chase Briscoe), it’s farfetched to foresee Haley shooting for the lead early and leading the most laps today.

Michael Annett 11th ($8,700)

When it comes to Daytona, our attention should always turn to the JR Motorsports stable. We can expect Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, and Michale Annett to all run upfront, in unison with one another. Thus, if I want exposure to these drivers and their winning potential, why not choose the one who starts the furthest back. The one who coincidentally won this race two seasons ago and finished top-12 in each superspeedway race in 2020.

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Author

Phillip Bennetzen

Phill Bennetzen is the creator of the RaceSheets; all-inclusive stats and data NASCAR DFS spreadsheets for the Trucks, Xfinity, and Cup Series. Phill and the RaceSheets can be found at racesheetsdfs.substack.com