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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Explore The Pocono Mountains 250 at Pocono Raceway. Read his daily fantasy NASCAR advice and Xfinity sleepers. (2025)
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Pocono on Saturday as part of a big tripleheader weekend for NASCAR. On Friday, Layne Riggs picked up the win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race to open the weekend of racing action.
Last week in Mexico City, Cup Series driver Daniel Suarez dipped down into Xfinity and picked up a huge win, coming from the back to win at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Let's look at some NASCAR Xfinity DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Explore The Pocono Mountains 250 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 6/21/25 at 3:38 p.m. EDT.
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Post-Qualifying Updates
Check back here for updates.
Top Contenders
Chase Elliott is on the pole, making him the obvious pick to win, but Brandon Jones could be a sneaky solid play too. He's run well here in the past and starts second.
Justin Allgaier starts eight and Connor Zilisch ninth. Both should be in the mix.
Place Differential Plays
These drivers are solid place differential options:
- Sammy Smith (13th)
- Austin Hill (14th)
- Carson Kvapil (22nd)
- Anthony Alfredo (28th)
- Josh Bilicki (31st)
Drivers To Fade
These drivers start a bit too high and have too much negative place differential downside:
- Nick Sanchez (Third)
- William Sawalich (Fourth)
- Ryan Sieg (Fifth)
- Matt DiBenedetto (11th)
Top Plays
Justin Allgaier ($11.0K)
We're back on an oval, which means we're back to Justin Allgaier being the highest-priced driver on the slate.
While I might wind up preferring saving $300 and dropping down to Chase Elliott pending qualifying, Allgaier is still one of the two drivers most likely to win on Saturday.
No. 7 – Justin Allgaier
🔹 3 wins in 2025
🔹 10 Top 10s in 15 races
🔹 5 Top 10s in 9 Pocono starts
🔹 Led 30 laps, finished 2nd here last year
🔹 Points leader
🗣 “We’ve been close here. Time to finish the job.”#NASCAR | #JRM | @J_Allgaier pic.twitter.com/EfUsGvj7aC— RCW Sports (@RoCoWXSports) June 18, 2025
He's never won at Pocono, but he's come close plenty of times, including leading 30 laps and finishing second last year. He's led at least eight laps in his last six starts at this track.
Chase Elliott ($10.7K)
Chase Elliott makes his second start of the season after finishing second in this No. 17 car back at Darlington. He should be a top contender on Saturday for a number of reasons.
First, there's the simple fact that he's a former Cup Series champion driving one of the best cars in the Xfinity field. Kyle Larson and William Byron have both won in this car this season.
Then there's the fact we're at Pocono, a track where Elliott has won in the Cup Series and where both of his Xfinity starts have resulted in top fives.
Austin Hill ($10.2K)
Most of the narrative around Austin Hill is that he's a drafting-track merchant, as nine of his 13 career wins are at Atlanta, Daytona, and Talladega. But he's also won at Pocono, taking the checkered flag here in 2023.
While that's his only top five at this track, he finished in the top 10 in 2022 and 2024. Overall, Allgaier and Elliott feel much more likely to win on Saturday, but Hill needs to be in the conversation.
Sam Mayer ($10.0K)
You can't help but think that if Sam Mayer were driving for a stronger team, he'd be in the thick of the title battle with Justin Allgaier. Instead, he's in a Haas Factory Team car that feels like it's missing a little something, but he's still third in points with seven top fives.
Mayer has three consecutive top 10s at Pocono, including a runner-up performance in 2023. This will be one of his best chances all year of getting this team's first victory.
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Mid-Tier Options
Connor Zilisch ($9.7K)
For a bit, it looked like Connor Zilisch might take longer than expected to figure out ovals in Xfinity. It appears that's not the case, though, as he finished second at both Charlotte and Nashville.
Great quote from Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the difference between being an owner and crew chief, and why he's finding more enjoyment in the latter role as he steps in as crew chief for Connor Zilisch this weekend. https://t.co/tNyhntJ2ov pic.twitter.com/mevcGpcAPS
— Jordan Bianchi (@Jordan_Bianchi) June 21, 2025
Pocono is a track that people have said races kind of like a road course, which plays to Zilisch's strength. Could we see his first Xfinity Series oval win on Saturday? It'd also be cool to see since Dale Earnhardt Jr. is working as the crew chief for this team this weekend.
Sheldon Creed ($9.5K)
While there's been a notable drop in production for Sheldon Creed this year after joining Haas Factory Team, he still sits sixth in points, albeit with an average finish that's dropped from 11.7 to 15.6.
But much of this has been because of DNFs, as Creed has crashed out of four races already. Looking only at races he's finished, he hasn't finished outside the top 15, and if we take superspeedways and road courses out of the mix, his worst result was 10th.
Now, he heads to Pocono, a track where he's had success. In three Xfinity Series starts here, Creed has two top-five finishes and a worst result of 11th.
Taylor Gray ($8.9K)
Joe Gibbs Racing has largely disappointed this season, but Taylor Gray seems to be figuring something out as he has two second-place finishes in the last four races. Last year, he finished fifth at Pocono while running part-time in Xfinity, and he finished in the top five in both of his Truck Series starts at the track.
Sammy Smith ($8.8K)
Sure, Sammy Smith has been the worst JR Motorsports driver this year, but he still has a win and seven top 10s, even if he's only 13th in the current point standings.
This might be one of his better weeks, as Smith has finished in the top 10 in his past two Pocono starts. He might not be able to get in the mix for the win unless things get weird, but a solid run with a finish somewhere between sixth and 10th is well within reach.
Brandon Jones ($8.7K)
Brandon Jones has had some bad luck at Pocono in the past, crashing out of one-third of his starts at the track. However, he's run well aside from that, including posting top 10s in two of his past four starts at the track. Don't set your hopes too high, but Jones could sneak into the top 10 again on Saturday.
Value Options
Dean Thompson ($7.2K)
There's a group of Toyotas in this range, including Joe Gibbs Racing drivers William Sawalich and Justin Bonsignore. I'd rather save a bit of cash and go for Dean Thompson, though, as he's had some good runs lately, including a top five at Charlotte.
Daniel Dye ($7.1K)
Daniel Dye continues to quietly have a strong rookie campaign. He's the top Kaulig driver in points in 15th place, and he's recorded a top 10 in one-third of the races this year.
Daniel Dye with a highlight reel pass on Jesse Love.
Throwing up sparks and throwing up dust on the apron of the racetrack pic.twitter.com/CU556mJJ9X
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) June 1, 2025
It's hard to really compare any track to Pocono, but two of his seven career top 10s coming at Indianapolis and Homestead feels like it might have some correlation when predicting his Pocono results.
Harrison Burton ($6.9K)
Is Harrison Burton setting the world on fire in his return to the Xfinity Series? No. Still, he's a solid 11th in points with seven top 10s despite driving an AM Racing car that doesn't seem to really be that good. He keeps punching above the car's weight and could do so again at Pocono, a track known for some strange results.
Jeb Burton ($6.8K)
The other Burton, Jeb, has been the best surprise this season. After finishing 19th in points last year in this same No. 27 car, Burton is now sitting ninth in the standings and already has surpassed his total for top 10s from 2024.
Entering this weekend, Burton has finished in the top 20 in six consecutive races, including four top 10s over that span. He's averaging +3.7 place differential points per race in 2025.
Brennan Poole ($6.2K)
If you're looking for a cheap driver capable of a surprisingly good run, you're probably looking for Brennan Poole. His average finish this year is 7.0 spots above his average starting position, and filtering out his crashes, he's been top 20 in the last seven races where he's been running at the finish.
