The Xfinity Series will join the Cup Series across the border for some road course racing in Mexico. This will be the first race for the Cup Series in Mexico, but it is not the first rodeo for the Xfinity Series. NASCAR brought the Xfinity Series to Autodromo Hermandos Rodriguez for four races between 2005 – 2008. It should be fun to see how the race in Mexico plays out today. The Chilango 150 can be seen Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on CW Channel.
DRAFTKINGS STATS FOR MEXICO
It is tough to handicap races when most of the drivers are seeing the track for the first time. We do not need to make this race tougher than it is. There are a handful of drivers in the Xfinity Series who are much better than the field on the road courses. A trip across the border should not change that. I will look at the stats from the races on the road courses over the last year and combine them with the speeds from practice for the race today.
Here are the stats from last eight road course races, sorted by DraftKings Points…
PRACTICE / QUALIFYING
The Xfinity Series was scheduled to have two 50-minute practice sessions Friday at Autodromo Hermandos Rodriguez but many of the teams had trouble getting to Mexico because of problems with their plane. NASCAR only gave the Xfinity Series one practice and it was moved from Friday to Saturday. We should still be able to learn something from this practice.
Here are the practice speeds for the Chilango 150….
STRATEGY FOR MEXICO
The race Saturday is scheduled for 65 laps (157 miles). That means there are 16.25 points available for leading laps and 29.25 points available for fastest laps (45.5 dominator points). That is not many dominator points to chase this week. I looked at the trend on the road courses last year. The main dominator leads 42% of the laps and scores 18% of the fastest laps. If this trend continues, the main dominator will lead roughly 27 laps and score 12 fastest laps (12 dominator points). I will focus my picks this week on the finishing position, instead of chasing the dominator points in Mexico.
* CHRISTOPHER BELL is in a Sam Hunt Racing car and not a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. I still think Bell will be good, but it is not a JGR car.
* DANIEL SUAREZ is in a Junior Motorsports Chevy. Wiliam Byron finished 2nd in this car at COTA this year. Suarez wrecked the car in qualifying, but the team is fixing it.
* TY GIBBS is in a Joe Gibbs Racing car. He won at the Indy Road Course for this team in 2023.
DRIVER RANKINGS FOR MEXICO
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
* CONNER ZILISCH and TY GIBBS have the two fastest cars. They should dominate the race today. DANIEL SUAREZ starts last and should easily score 25-30 place differential points. Suarez should be the highest scoring driver. ANTHONY ALFREDO should score 18-20 place differential points. JOSH BILICKI started 26 DK Points at COTA. He should do the same today. BLAINE PERKINS scored 42 DK Points at COTA. He has a good chance to score 30+ DK Points today.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST
* CONNER ZILISCH is going to be the highest owned driver, so I will pivot to TY GIBBS. He looked nearly as fast as Zillisch in practice. I just cannot fade DANIEL SUAREZ in his home country when he starts last. SAM MAYER has four wins on the road courses. He may get another one today. CHRISTIAN ECKES has had nothing but bad luck this year, but the risk is limited since he starts 34th. RYAN SIEG started 38th and finished 19th at COTA. He should have a similar race today. RYAN ELLIS started 34th and finished 16th at COTA. He scored 45 DK Points in that race. I will take a chance with Ellis in Mexico.
Good Luck Saturday!
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