RADIO
The NASCAR Xfinity Series Round of 8 continues on Saturday at Homestead. Last week at Las Vegas, Josh Berry drove to victory, locking himself into the Championship 4 at Phoenix next month.
Now, seven more drivers are vying to join him. Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, A.J. Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Sam Mayer remain alive in the race to win the Xfinity title. If any of those drivers win on Saturday, he'll clinch a spot in that final title fight.
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 Contender Boats 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 10/22/22 at 4:30 p.m. ET.
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.
Noah Gragson - Starting 2nd ($11,300)
I think I've said something to the tune of "Gragson is my bet to win" two of the last three weeks, and he hasn't won. But last week at Vegas, he did come close, leading 87 laps and finishing second. Overall, Gragson has seven victories this season, as well as 23 top 10s.
Gragson has run four Xfinity Series races at this track, with three top fives. In the fourth race, he led 34 laps before crashing and finishing 33rd. He's led double-digit laps in every one of his starts at this track.
It's hard to say a driver is "due" to win somewhere. Luck's an illusion: having come close to winning somewhere doesn't mean that a driver's luck is bound to change and that he'll win the next time.
But having said that, Gragson's come so close here before. He's not "due" for a win, but he's more likely to win than anyone else in this field is.
A.J. Allmendinger - Starting 13th ($10,500)
Justin Allgeier is the lowest starting playoff driver in this race, which also means that he's going to be a major target when it comes to place differential. I anticipate this being a pretty chalky play, and I don't think I really want much part of him because he's struggled big time here in the past, with an average finish in Xfinity of just 17.9, with only two top 10s.
That's why I'm pivoting off of Allgaier even though a JRM car starting 20th usually screams "play me" and instead I'm going to play a lot of A.J. Allmendinger, who starts 13th. There's technically not as much place differential upside, but Allmendinger has 26 top 10s this season and his last two Xfinity races at Homestead have gone well: fourth here in 2020, and then in 2021 he led 45 laps before finishing 14th.
For that reason, I think that while Allgaier could gain more spots, it's more likely that Allmendinger outperforms him in place differential.
Landon Cassill - Starting 16th ($8,400)
It feels like we have to have one boring play every week and this week it's Landon Cassill.
The Kaulig Racing driver has an average finish of 16.0 this season, right where he's starting on Saturday, but he's managed 11 top 10s, and he's now finished 11th or better in three straight races. It looks like Cassill is on an upswing right now.
As for Homestead and his record here, it's not necessarily good, but that's partly because Cassill has never really been in a good car. He's made six Xfinity starts here with an average finish of 26.0, but all of those starts came for JD Motorsports or Morgan Shepherd, so it's really hard to judge him for bad runs. He took a Shepherd car to a 15th-place finish here in 2019 though, and if he can do that in that car, he can finish around 10th in this one, right?
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Parker Retzlaff - Starting 29th ($7,600)
Retzlaff has been really solid this year, with an average finish of 18.4 in seven Xfinity races. He's really talented and will be around this sport for a long, long time.
He's made two prior starts in this 02 car for Our Motorsports, finishing 21st in both races. He ran as high as 14th last race at Las Vegas. With a starting spot of 29th, there's some really solid place differential upside with Retzlaff, even if he's heading to a track where he hasn't raced before.
Anthony Alfredo - Starting 35th ($7,200)
Alfredo is going to have a lot of work to do on Sunday if he wants to get a solid finish, as he'll roll off in 35th position.
But when it comes to DFS, having a relatively good car starting this far back is great. Alfredo and this Our team hasn't made the step forward this season that I think a lot of people expected, but Alfredo has run pretty well lately, with six top 20s in a row, which includes a 10th at Vegas last race, his first top 10 since Talladega in April.
I think expecting a top 10 when he starts this far back might be a little optimistic, but there's no reason Alfredo can't get to the 15-20 range with how well this car has been running over the last month.
Julia Landauer - Starting 37th ($4,800)
Among the incredibly cheap plays on this slate, Landauer is by far the one with the most upside, largely because she's driving the best car. I'm not playing someone like Patrick Emerling or Matt Mills because the cars they drive don't have speed. But Landauer? She's in an Alpha Prime Racing car.
Not that APR is elite or anything, but Stefan Parsons has driven this 45 car to some good finishes, including an eighth at Bristol and 13th at Texas. Sage Karam has some good runs in the car as well.
Landauer crashed in her only other Xfinity start this season, and she has a lack of experience here. But this is top 20ish equipment. All she has to do is keep it clean.
