The 2023 Xfinity Series will take the green flag Saturday at 5 p.m. ET on FS1. “The Series Where Names are Made” is going to have a lot of new drivers and one driver returning to win his first Xfinity Series Championship (Cole Custer). It should be fun to see how the 2023 Xfinity Series plays out and to see which driver can lock a place into the playoffs with a win Saturday at Daytona.
The 2023 Xfinity Series is going to be different for fantasy players. DraftKings will once again have their contests for the Xfinity Series. The Driver Group Game added the Xfinity Series to their platform this season, so now you will have an option to play a season-long game for the Xfinity Series as well as the DFS contests. Here is the link to join the league: Driver Group Game Xfinity Series Game
DRAFTKINGS POINTS ON FLAT TRACKS (2022)
The best way to predict the future is to analyze the past. Here is how the Xfinity Series drivers performed on the Superspeedways last year (I did not include Atlanta, because that race is a bit different from what we will see at Daytona)…
STRATEGY FOR DAYTONA
The race Saturday is scheduled for 120 laps (300 miles). That means there are 30 points available for leading laps and 54 points available for fastest laps. The trend in this race is to have one driver lead 30 laps, two other drivers lead 25 each and the fourth dominator lead 15 laps. The fastest laps are spread throughout the field and do not factor into DraftKings scoring too much. The top dominator usually scores 7.5 bonus points; the second dominators scores 6.25 each and the last dominator scores 3.75 bonus points. That is not enough dominator points to chase Saturday. We need to focus on finishing position and place differential points.
The top drivers have an easier time staying up from in the Xfinity Series than they do in the Cup Series. It is OK to take a chance with one or two drivers who start in the top-10 in the Xfinity Series but the majority of your team needs to be made up of drivers who start in the back with a good chance to score place differential points (In Tournament Contests).
The Cash Contests strategy this week is simple… Select the best cars from the back and ignore the drivers who start in the top 12. You need to eliminate your risk in Cash Contests and selecting drivers who start up front can ruin your lineup if they crash out of the race early. You will not lose as many points with drivers who start in the back if they crash because the position differential points will not be as significant.
Do not be afraid to leave some salary on the table today. Our goal is to have the best lineup possible and not spend the most money possible. The winning lineup in this race often has $500-$1,000 left on the table.
CORE DRIVERS FOR DAYTONA
TOP-TIER DRIVERS: Justin Haley ($10,300), John H. Nemechek ($10,100), Cole Custer ($9,800), Justin Allgaier ($9,600), Josh Berry ($9,100)
VALUE DRIVERS: Daniel Hemric ($8,700), Sam Mayer ($8,600), Ryan Sieg ($8,100), Myatt Snider ($7,700), Jeremy Clements ($7,500), Brett Moffitt ($7,100), Jeb Burton ($7,000), Jeffrey Earnhardt ($6,800), Breenan Poole ($6,500), Gray Gaulding ($6,400), Parker Chase ($6,300)
PUNT PLAYS: Bliane Perkins ($5,900), Kyle Sieg ($5,700), Baylay Currey ($5,400), David Starr ($4,700)
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST LINEUP
JUSTIN HALEY ($10,300) is a great Superspeedway driver. Not only has he won at Daytona in the Cup Series, Haley also has two wins at Daytona in the Xfinity Series (2021 and 2020). Haley starts 19th and he should be a great pick for a top-five finish.
RYAN SIEG ($8,100) is a great pick from the 22nd starting position. Sieg has three consecutive top-10 finishes on the Superspeedways in the Xfinity Series. He should be a lock for all Cash Contests.
KAZ GRALA ($7,800) has the stats to be a great pick today. Grala has competed in two races in the Xfinity Series at Daytona and he was in the winning DFS lineup in both of them. Grala started 27th and finished 4th in 2018. He also started 38th and finished 5th in the summer race at Daytona in 2018. I only need him to finish in the top-20 to help the Cash Contest lineup reach the pay line.
JEREMY CLEMENTS ($7,500) did not have much speed in qualifying, but I am not worried about it. Clements won the last Xfinity Series race at Daytona last August. His average finishing position in his last 10 Superspeedway races is 20th. Clements will score 38 DK Points if he can finish 20th today.
BRETT MOFFITT ($7,100) is a good Superspeedway race and he starts deep in the field. His car did not have much speed in qualifying, but Moffitt should be fine in the race. There are not a lot of Fords in the field and Moffitt talked about working with Cole Custer in today’s race. That is not a bad place to be on the track.
KYLE SIEG ($5,700) is a decent pick from the 26th starting position. He has two races in the Xfinity Series on his resume. He finished 21st in 2021 and he finished 10th last year. I just need a top-15 finish from Sieg today. I think he can get it.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST LINEUP
JUSTIN HALEY ($10,300) will be in both of my lineups today. Kaulig Racing has dominated the Superspeedway races for the last three seasons I see no reason why they will not be good today.
BRANDON JONES ($9,300) has a new team (Junior Motorsports) and that should help him today. Jones used to drive a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing and he had a lot of success at the Superspeedways. He will have a lot more friends to work with in his Chevy.
MYATT SNIDER ($7,700) will be in the No. 18 car for Joe Gibbs Racing. This is his only racing until the Xfinity Series travels to Portland, so he needs to make the best of it. Snider has been good when he has a good car. It is hard to find a faster car than the JGR Toyotas.
KAZ GRALA ($7,800) will be in both of my lineups. I know this lineup will be chalk but you can pivot to Parker Chase if you want to be a bit more contrarian.
BRETT MOFFITT ($7,100) is in both lineups too. He is going to be chalk too. You can pivot from Moffitt to Jeffrey Earnhardt if you want to be a bit more contrarian.
JEREMY CLENTS ($7,500) is another chalk play, but he is too good to fade from the 38th starting position. If you want to be a bit more contrarian you can pivot to David Starr.
DRIVER GROUP GAME PICKS
The Driver Group Game added the Xfinity Series to their list of games for 2023. It is easy to play. You simply select one driver from Group A, two drivers from Group B and one driver from Group C for your lineup. You can only use the drivers nine times throughout the season, so you have to use your allocations wisely. Here is the link to join: DGG Xfinity Series Game
Here are the drivers I will use for the Beef. It’s What for Dinner 300 Saturday…
GROUP A
(START) AUSTIN HILL (9): I am expecting a big season from Hill, so it is kind of tough to burn an allocation with him at Daytona. He is too good at the Superspeedways to fade though. Hill won at Daytona in the Truck Series and he won this race last year in the Xfinity Series. Hill also won on the Superspeedway at Atlanta last year. Hill has established himself as the best Superspeedway driver in the Xfinity Series so I will take a chance with the No. 21 car for Richard Childress Racing.
(BENCH) JOHN H. NEMECHEK (9): Nemechek is moving up from the Truck Series to race full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series. He should have a lot of success in 2023 in his new car and it should begin at Daytona. Nemechek had a lot of success at Daytona in the Truck Series. I expect he will get off to a hot start with a good run Saturday evening. JHN will be a good pivot to Austin Hill, if you want to be a bit contrarian.
GROUP B
(START) JUSTIN HALEY (9): Kaulig Racing decided to rotate drivers into the No. 10 car this year. The first driver to get his chance to compete is Haley. This pick makes a lot of sense because Haley has had a lot of success o the Superspeedways. Haley won the Cup Series race at Daytona in 2019 and two Xfinity Series races at Daytona (2020 and 2021). Haley is going to have a good chance to win Saturday evening.
(START) PARKER KLIGERMAN (9): I played Kligerman in the Truck Series race last night and I will take a chance with him in the Xfinity Series race. It is cool to see Kligerman get a chance to compete full-time in the Xfinity Series. I am not sure his No. 48 car for Big Machine Racing car will have the speed to compete at the intermediate tracks, but Kligerman should have plenty of speed to finish up front on the Superspeedways. Daytona is a good track to use an allocation with Kligerman.
(BENCH) MYATT SNIDER (9): Snider will run six races this year in the No. 19 car for Joe Gibbs Racing. This car will have a lot of speed and Snider has some talent, so it is a good idea to use your allocations with Snider whenever he is in the seat of this car. Snider has an average finishing position of 12th in his last four races at Daytona. Snider should be a good pick from Group B.
(BENCH) RYAN SIEG (9): Sieg does not have the funding that some of the larger teams have, but that does not matter at Daytona. Sieg has proved that he can finish up front on the Superspeedways. He finished 8th in this race last year and 4th in both races at Talladega. If you want to save your allocations with the drivers listed above, take a chance with Sieg.
GROUP C
(START) JEB BURTON (9): Burton will be driving the No. 27 car for Jordan Anderson Racing. He started 27th and finished 19th in this car last year. Burton has been decent at Daytona in his Xfinity Series career. He has 12th-place average finishing position in his last five starts at Daytona. Not too bad.
(BENCH) JEFFREY EARNHARDT (9): You can never go wrong with an Earnhardt in your lineup at Daytona. Earnhardt had the best race of his career last year at Talladega. He drove the car for Richard Childress Racing and he finished second. His Alpha Prime Racing Chevy will not have the speed that his RCR car had last year at Talladega, but Earnhardt was able to finish 15th at Daytona in a Sam Hunt Racing car last year. He should be a good pick for a top-12 finish Saturday evening.
Good Luck This Week!
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