RADIO
The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back! The 2023 season gets going on Saturday evening at Daytona with the season opener on the high banks of the 2.5-mile track. Austin Hill, the defending winner of this race, will start on the pole, with Parker Kligerman starting on the outside of the front row.
Daytona is always tough to predict. For example, in this race last year, drivers like Sam Mayer, Daniel Hemric and Jeremy Clements all suffered issues that led to finishes below 25th, while guys like Anthony Alfredo and Josh Bilicki got top 10s.
Here at RotoBaller, we want to help you make informed decisions about your DFS lineups, which is why I'll be breaking down the slates for the Xfinity Series. Let's look at some NASCAR Xfinity DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Beef. It's What's For Dinner. 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 2/18/23 at 5:15 p.m. ET.
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Xfinity DFS Picks - DraftKings
Be sure to also check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles and analysis to help you set your optimal DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Justin Haley
Starting 19th - $10,300
Little surprising to see Justin Haley qualify this far down the grid, but it'd be even more surprising if Haley doesn't find his way to the front over the course of Saturday's race. A two-time Daytona winner in the Xfinity Series, Haley isn't dominant here during the race—he's never led more than nine laps in an Xfinity race at this track—but he finds himself up front when it matters.
Kaulig has been the best superspeedway program in Xfinity over the last few seasons, and A.J. Allmendinger gave the team its superspeedway victory last season at Talladega. These cars will work together and do what it takes to get one of their drivers a win on Saturday. Barring a crash that wipes out the Kaulig cars, they'll be there late, and Haley's a good bet to win this one.
Josh Berry
Starting 18th - $9,100
I usually prefer to play drivers starting outside the top 20 at a track like this, because it helps you avoid losing a ton of place differential points from wrecks. Josh Berry isn't quite in that range, but he's not far outside of it, as he starts 18th. And considering the strength of JR Motorsports on superspeedways, I think Berry needs to be in play.
Now, Berry's track record at Daytona isn't great, as his best finish here was 16th in this race last year. He did manage to lead a lap in that race, and then he led six in the second visit here, but finished 18th in that one.
But I do think a lot of that was just bad luck for Berry. He was second in the fall race at Atlanta last year, leading 13 laps at a track that races similarly to Daytona, and he's had three finishes of 11th or better in a row at Talladega. Stay out of trouble and he'll be fighting for a top 10.
Ryan Sieg
Starting 22nd - $8,100
A lot of people will be targeting drivers who start farther back than Sieg to increase their place differential upside, and I think that opens a door for Sieg to be really underutilized. 22nd is a decent starting spot at Daytona when it comes to PD upside, and Sieg's got some good superspeedway numbers in the past.
Despite always running in underfunded equipment, Sieg has finished in the top 10 in a third of his Xfinity starts at this track. He was eighth in this race last year.
And just to put that into perspective, Sieg has 52 top 10s overall in Xfinity. Factor in that he's made 301 starts and you get a 17.2% rate of top 10s overall. Sieg finishes markedly better at Daytona than at other places.
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Kaz Grala
Starting 33rd - $7,800
Grala and this 26 car have just had no speed this weekend. 40th in practice. 33rd on the starting grid. Just a weird weekend so far for a pairing that many—or, at least, me—think will challenge for a playoff spot.
But here's the thing: the weekend isn't over. Grala has two top fives in two Xfinity starts here, plus he won a Truck Series race here in 2017. Sure, that's been a while, but there's no reason to think Grala's forgotten how to race at superspeedways.
And this Sam Hunt Racing team had five top 10s in 2022, including an eighth at Daytona from Brandon Gdovic. I trust that they'll figure something out on Saturday evening.
Jeremy Clements
Starting 34th - $7,500
For a little bit there, it looked like Clements wasn't going to make it into the field, but here he is, rolling off from 34th.
Why's it so notable that Clements eventually made the field? Because he won the last time we were here, leading three laps on his way to his second Xfinity Series victory.
The argument for why you should play Clements is pretty simple: he has a ton of place differential upside and he proved last year that he can win here.
Brett Moffitt
Starting 32nd - $7,100
Moffitt will be one of the more interesting drivers to watch this year, as he moves full-time to the AM Racing No. 25 car. If you don't know what that car is, that's because it's a new team...kind of. AM's been running in the Truck Series for a while now, but this year they're expanding to Xfinity.
Will this car have speed? Don't know. But Moffitt's finished as high as second at Daytona in Xfinity, plus he has a couple of top 10s in Talladega in the Truck Series. Good driver in a car that's kind of a mystery and with a lot of place differential upside—that's the perfect formula for DFS success at a place like Daytona, right?
You'll notice that I went mostly with mid-tier drivers for this one. But considering it's Daytona, don't be afraid to drop some punt plays in there. Anything can happen, so why not play a Joey Gase or a CJ McLaughlin and hope for some chaos? If you do that, you can also afford another top-tier driver, if you want to build a lineup with a couple big names.
