Xfinity Series Fantasy Picks for Indianapolis

The Xfinity Series will join the Cup Series on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. The Xfinity Series is no stranger to road course racing. They have competed at five road courses this season (COTA, Portland, Sonoma, Chicago and Road America). They still have three more on their schedule (Indy, Watkins Glen and the Charlotte Roval). The racing has been pretty good so far for the “Series Where Names Are Made” on the road courses. I expect the same Saturday. The Pennzoil 150 can be seen Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET on USA.

XFINITY SERIES PRACTICE / QUALIFYING

The Xfinity Series practice was shortened because of a lightning strike outside the track. The cars practiced in damp conditions. There is a chance of rain this afternoon during the race, so it will be important to see which drivers were able to navigate this 2.43-mile road course in wet conditions.

Here are the lap times from the practice Saturday at the Brickyard…

XFINITY SERIES STATS ROAD COURSE

We have a lot of data to use to help handicap the race Saturday. The Xfinity Series has competed at five road course races this year and the data from those races is more important than the lap speeds in practice. It will be a good idea to look at the drivers who consistently run well on the road courses this year when you are selecting the drivers for your lineups.

Here are the average DraftKings points from the road course races in 2023 and the race at the Brickyard last year…

STRATEGY FOR INDIANAPOLIS

I was all in with AJ Allmendinger in the last road course race at Road America. Allmendinger finished first or second in seven of his last eight road course races heading into the race at Road America. He was caught up in an accident and finished ninth. That is was I get for using one driver in every lineup, but should I do it again this week?

The Xfinity Series has competed in three races on the road course at Indianapolis. AJ Allmendinger smoked the field by winning the pole, leading 42 of the 62 laps and kissing the bricks last year. Austin Cindric dominated the race in 2022 (AJ Allmendinger finished second) and Chase Briscoe won in 2021 (one of the most competitive Xfinity Series races I have ever seen).

I plan to pay up for AJ Allmendinger this week, but I am not going to have him in every lineup. I will use Allmendinger in 80% of my lineups Saturday. Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer and Austin Hill will be my pivots from Allmendinger at the Brickyard.

The drivers with the best chance to score the most dominator points includes AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs and Cole Custer

The drivers who start in the back with the best chance to score place differential points includes Justin Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Kaz Grala, Brett Moffitt, Miguel Poludo, Alex Labbe, Ryan Sieg, Jeremy Clements, Sage Karam, Kyle Weatherman and Joe Graf Jr.

DRIVER RANKINGS FOR INDIANAPOLIS

CORE DRIVERS FOR INDIANAPOLIS

TOP-TIER DRIVERS: AJ ALLMENDINGER ($10,800), TY GIBBS ($10,300), COLE CUSTER ($10,000), JUSTIN ALLGAIER ($9,800), AUSTIN HILL ($9,500), SAM MAYER ($9,400), ROSS CHASTAIN ($9,300), SHELDON CREED ($9,100), PARKER KLIGERMAN ($9,000)

VALUE-TIER DRIVERS: SAMMY SMITH ($8,800), MIGUEL PALUDO ($8,300), RILEY HERBST ($8,100), KAZ GRALA ($7,900), CONNOR MOSAK ($7,800), DANIEL HEMRIC ($7,600), SAGE KARAM ($7,400), BRANDON JONES ($7,200), BRETT MOFFITT ($7,100), JEREMY CLEMENTS ($6,600), ALEX LABBE ($6,400), RYAN SIEG ($6,300), JOSH BILICKI ($6,000)