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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Road America 180 at Road America. Read his daily fantasy NASCAR advice and Xfinity sleepers.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Road America this weekend for a standalone race in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin while the Cup Series and Truck Series are in Richmond.
But despite it being a standalone race, there is one Cup driver in the field, as A.J. Allmendinger will look to take advantage of his road course skill to grab a trophy, even though it means he'll miss qualifying. He looks like the clear favorite heading into the weekend.
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 Road America 180 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 7/29/23 at 3:00 p.m. ET.
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A.J. Allmendinger
Starting First - $10,600
Allmendinger is the obvious favorite here, and at $10,600 he's not too expensive to make building an Allmendinger-centric lineup prohibitive, so I'll likely use him in a lot of lineups. I mean...sure, you want some GPP lineups without him to help differentiate yourself, but he's a must-play in Cash games.
In five Xfinity Series starts here, Allmendinger has a win and four top 10s. Those numbers are even more impressive when you look at how he's worked his way through the field. In 2020, he started this race 33rd but led nine laps and finished second. Last year, he started 38th and led one lap, finishing sixth. He was also ninth here in the Cup Series last year. With Allmendinger starting on the pole, I expect him to lead a lot of laps, and I'll be putting in some bets on him to win.
Chandler Smith
Starting 16th - $9,200
Smith has made 22 starts in the Xfinity Series, with four of those on road courses. He's finished top 10 in two of those races, with an average road course finish of 10.8. Compare that to his overall average finish of 14.2. I'm not saying Smith's a road course ringer or anything, but he has some solid road course chops.
He's been top 15 at all four road course races this year, with a best finish of eighth at the Chicago street course. I think Smith might end up being underutilized in DFS this weekend, with people maybe opting more for Austin Hill or Parker Kligerman in this price range, so this might be a good chance to do something different with your lineup.
Daniel Hemric
Starting 32nd - $8,400
Obvious place differential play here with Hemric, who you almost have to play in Cash games. He hasn't always had the best luck at Road America, but when he has had luck at this track, he's produced some really strong runs.
For example, Hemric finished second here in 2021, leading three laps. And in 2018, he led seven laps and finished third. That's the good stuff. The bad stuff is that he has two DNFs, losing an engine in 2020 and crashing out last year.
But hey, that can happen to anyone. We've got a driver starting below 30th with multiple top fives here. Easy play. Chalk.
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Bradon Jones
Starting 33rd - $8,000
It's been an awful year for Jones at JR Motorsports, and rumors are swirling that he's going to be one-and-done there, with Jones potentially returning to Joe Gibbs Racing. Not sure how much truth there is to that rumor, but it's something worth noting.
I'm not really sure if Jones can "turn things around" at this point. He sits 15th in points, behind Parker Kligerman, Jeb Burton, and Brett Moffitt. A JRM driver shouldn't be that low; the others are all ninth or higher. But Jones doesn't need to come out and have a top-five run here to pay off in DFS. He just needs to keep the car clean and pass a lot of people, and the fact that he was fifth here last year and has six top-20 finishes in seven starts here suggests he can do that.
Alex Labbe
Starting 37th - $7,300
Labbe has only run part-time this season, but he's set to run the 08 car this weekend. He wasn't able to qualify on Friday though, as transit issues held up his trip to Road America.
Assuming he's able to race on Saturday, there's a good amount of place differential upside for him. These SS-Greenlight cars haven't been great in 2023, but they've had their moments. Mason Massey was top 10 in this car at Loudon, and the runs at the road courses have been solid.
As for Labbe, the Canadian has run four races at Road America, with his best result being a pair of 15th-place finishes, including last year. His worst finish here is 21st.
Kyle Weatherman
Starting 38th - $6,500
Like Labbe, Kyle Weatherman has spent this season shuffling between teams. Labbe's 10 starts have come in six different car numbers for four different car owners, while Weatherman's 12 starts have come in six different car numbers for five different car owners.
This will be his fourth race in a JD Motorsports car, and the results so far have been solid, with top 20 runs at Nashville and Chicago before he was 27th at Loudon. JDM might not be a great team, but Weatherman's gotten the most out of these cars.
His lone start at this track was in 2020 when he finished 21st in a Mike Harmon-owned car. A 21st-place finish in a Harmon car is a good result. In 390 starts in Xfinity, Harmon cars have an average finish of 31.2.
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