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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy's Frozen Custard 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. Read his daily fantasy NASCAR advice and Xfinity sleepers. (2025)
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Texas. Friday was a day marred by rain, with Truck and Xfinity qualifying canceled, which means the starting order for Saturday was determined by a metric, not by speed.
Last weekend, Austin Hill scored an unsurprising win at Talladega after starting second. He's now up to second place in the Xfinity Series standings, though he trails points leader Justin Allgaier by 79 points as Allgaier continues his dominant season.
Let's look at some NASCAR Xfinity DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy's Frozen Custard 300 on DraftKings. Be sure to also check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for Xfinity Series, including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station. This slate locks on 5/3/25 at 2:03 p.m. EDT.
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Be sure to also check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles and analyses to help you set your optimal DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Top Plays
Kyle Larson ($12.5K)
Starts 20th
Rookie Connor Zilisch is out this week with a back injury, so JRM has tabbed Kyle Larson to take over the car. Because the lineup was determined by a metric, Larson starts 20th on Saturday, giving the best driver in this field huge place differential upside.
Updated story with Zilisch comments: Kyle Larson to replace injured Connor Zilisch (back), who vows a quick return @NASCARONFOX https://t.co/t24omPJzRl
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 2, 2025
The argument for playing Larson in DFS is simple: he's got by far the highest fantasy ceiling of anyone. It might take a little bit to get through the field, but he's more than capable of it.
The argument against playing Larson is simple as well: he's got by far the highest fantasy ceiling of anyone AND everyone knows it. Expect him to be in over half of all lineups, which means fading him could give you an edge if anything happens to Larson during the race.
Justin Allgaier ($11.0K)
Starts Second
Larson entering this race takes away a little of Justin Allgaier's upside, but he's still been the best Xfinity regular this year by a wide margin. He's almost always worth having exposure to in DFS.
There are two good signs for Allgaier this weekend. First is that while he's never won an Xfinity Series race at this track, he has five top fives in his past six starts here and has led over 100 laps in two consecutive Texas races.
The other thing is that Allgaier starts on the front row. Two of the last four Texas races were won from the No. 2 starting spot.
Austin Hill ($10.0K)
Starts First
This is my top pivot play off the two favorites. Austin Hill is on the pole and will have a shot to lead laps early if he can get clear of Allgaier, but even if he can't do that, he should stick around the top five all day.
Hill has four consecutive finishes of seventh or better at Texas. He led 25 laps in this race last year, ultimately finishing the day in sixth place.
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Mid-Tier Options
Brandon Jones ($9.6K)
Starts 21st
It's been a solid year for Brandon Jones, who has a win at Darlington on his resume. His return to JGR has been a success so far.
Jones was sixth at Vegas and seventh at Homestead, coming from outside the top 10 starting spots in both. That includes starting 38th at Homestead. Jones should be a quick mover through this field and can deliver 10-15 place differential points.
Riley Herbst ($9.4K)
Starts 27th
Riley Herbst makes his second Xfinity start of the season this weekend as he pilots the JGR No. 19 car. In his first start at COTA, he led seven laps before finishing 13th.
Early Plays for #NASCAR at Texas:
Cup:
5u Kyle Larson +600
2.5u Bubba Wallace +1800#Wurth400XF:
2.5u Riley Herbst +1400#AndysFrozenCustard300Cross Series Parlays:
1u Heim Trucks/Allgaier XF/Larson Cup +55250.5u Heim Trucks/Herbst XF/Larson Cup +25315
— Jason (@h20gony) May 2, 2025
Herbst starts 27th, which will hurt his shot of winning. The last time a driver won at Texas while starting outside the top 20 was Kyle Busch in 2008. Still, he's a solid driver in a fast car, so expect him to work his way forward and contend for a top 10.
Sammy Smith ($9.0K)
Starts 22nd
I mean, this is kind of a boring play, but Sammy Smith is in a JRM car and starts outside the top 20, so there's certainly plenty of appeal.
Based on how Smith's season has gone, you're probably looking at this No. 8 being somewhere between a 10th and 15th place car on Saturday. Some good luck could increase that, but largely we're looking at someone who hasn't been quite as good on intermediates this year as he has been elsewhere.
He's still worth playing, but probably more as a pivot off the higher-owned guys in this price range.
Ryan Sieg ($8.6K)
Starts 31st
Ryan Sieg is having a solid year, posting four top 10s already and sitting 11th in points with a 15.6 average finish. His crash last week at Talladega was his first DNF since the season-opener at Daytona.
Sieg finished seventh at Vegas, a similar track to this one. I don't necessarily think he has a top 10 run on Saturday, but a 15th-place run is in reach, which would be +16 in place differential.
Christian Eckes ($8.1K)
Starts 23rd
Christian Eckes has struggled at points during his rookie campaign. It looked for a bit like things were turning around with back-to-back top 10s, but then he was 23rd and 25th the last two weeks.
Still, he's Kaulig's best driver and starts outside the top 20 this weekend, so you want some exposure to Eckes, though his $8.1K pricetag feels just a little too high based on some of his 2025 struggles.
Value Options
Corey Day ($7.7K)
Starts 33rd
Corey Day has not been good in stock cars so far. In five Truck Series starts this season, Day's average finish is just 22.2, and he finished 21st in his lone Xfinity Series start.
However, the qualifying metric put him 33rd on the grid for Saturday, which erases a lot of my concerns with Day. Yes, he's struggled, but he's in a Hendrick car that starts 33rd, so there's obvious appeal here.
William Sawalich ($7.3K)
Starts 35th
Speaking of disappointing drivers, William Sawalich's rookie campaign has been a nightmare. Joe Gibbs Racing drivers should be battling for wins, but Sawalich has just two top 10s and sits 28th in points. His average finish is 25.4, a huge drop from an average starting spot of 12.5.
I feel like William Sawalich would've benefited from another full season of ARCA with select Truck/Xfinity starts and Not full time Xfinity
Been a rough go this season for him
— Colby Evans (@StartAndParkCar) April 19, 2025
This week, though, his poor results actually help DFS players, because instead of starting in the top 15 and being an instant fade, Sawalich starts 35th and suddenly has place differential appeal that isn't usually there. Yeah, he's been bad. Yeah, you should worry about his NASCAR future. However, this is one of the weeks where you have to hold your nose and play him.
Parker Retzlaff ($7.1K)
Starts 34th
It's been a year of ups and downs for Parker Retzlaff, who failed to qualify earlier this season at COTA but finished second at Rockingham.
He'll start 34th at Texas due to his 38th-place finish at Talladega last weekend. That gives him solid place differential upside. Retzlaff was 21st at Vegas and 17th at Homestead, so don't expect him to be +30 in place differential, but a ceiling around +20 is still really solid.
Josh Wiliams ($6.6K)
Starts 29th
I'm usually pretty quick to fade Josh Williams, but his 29th-place starting feels appealing this weekend, as that's about 10 spots below his average finish.
The big issue with Williams is that he usually takes a 20th-place car and finishes 20th, which means he often lacks upside. He's started outside the top 25 three times this season, finishing with positive place differential.
Katherine Legge ($5.0K)
Starts 36th
Look, Katherine Legge has finished 36th and 34th in her two Xfinity Series starts this season, crashing both times. I get that you might be extremely concerned about playing her.
But if you want a pure chaos play, we have a Jordan Anderson Racing car starting 36th. Yes, her recent stock car performance isn't good, but at just $5.0K, she's worth some limited exposure.
