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For the first time ever, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Sonoma Raceway. While the Cup Series is always here in June, it's traditionally been a standalone race. Last year, the Truck Series became the first of NASCAR's two main secondary series to support Cup here, and this year it's Xfinity's turn. Usually, it's ARCA West (or whatever it's been called at various times in the past), which is also here this weekend.
Last weekend, the Xfinity Series raced up in Portland, a standalone race with no Cup or Truck Series drivers. Cole Custer won the race, with Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Josh Berry, and Austin Hill rounding out the top five.
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 Pacific Office DoorDash 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 6/10/23 at 8:18 p.m. ET.
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Xfinity DFS Picks - DraftKings
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Post-Qualifying Updates
Check back here after qualifying for some updates about how place differential changes some things.
What Practice Might Have Taught Us
While qualifying won't happen until Saturday afternoon, we did get a standalone practice session on Friday. It's rare to get that kind of data with how the Xfinity weekend schedules usually go, so let's see if we can learn anything from it.
The big thing was that Kyle Larson's best lap was 1.18 seconds quicker than the second-fastest driver, Sheldon Creed. Larson brings a lot of experience here in Cup to this race, and his performance suggests he should be considered a favorite.
Of the top five fastest drivers in practice, three were Cup regulars—AJ Allmendinger was third and Ty Gibbs was fifth. Sheldon Creed and Cole Custer were the other two drivers in the top five.
In terms of disappointing practice showings, a few notable drivers who were outside the top 25 in speed: Brandon Jones (27th), Kaz Grala (30th), Jeb Burton (31st), Ty Dillon (33rd), and Ryan Sieg (38th).
How Xfinity Drivers Did In ARCA Friday
Some drivers from this field raced Friday in the ARCA West race. I didn't get a chance to watch that one, but I'll go ahead and list where the Xfinity drivers finished in it:
- Sammy Smith (2nd)
- Riley Herbst (3rd)
- Cole Custer (18th)
- Parker Retzlaff (25th)
Cup Series regular Ryan Preece was the dominant car in that one, winning by 9.675 seconds. I will say that Smith's showing was impressive, even if he was that far behind Preece.
Also of note: Dylan Lupton didn't race yesterday, but he was second in the ARCA West race here last year.
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Potential Top Plays
Kyle Larson ($11,400): Larson's speed in practice makes this one pretty obvious. If he ends up on the pole, he could easily just drive away from this field. He won the Cup Series race here in 2021 and has started on the pole in his last five Cup Series races here.
A.J. Allmendinger ($11,100): If someone's going to challenge Larson, it's probably Allmendinger. While he's been relatively invisible in Cup this season, Allmendinger remains one of the best road course drivers in NASCAR. This isn't his best road course, as he has just two top 10s here in Cup, but that shouldn't matter too much.
Ty Gibbs ($10,600): Gibbs hasn't raced here before, but that hasn't stopped him in the past from running well at a road course. He won his first Xfinity start on the Daytona road course in 2021, for instance. Last year's Xfinity champion has three wins in 12 road course starts during his career in this series.
Cole Custer ($10,100): Pretty obvious reasons to play Custer. He has experience here in Cup, he won the Xfinity race at Portland last week, and he was fast in practice. I have a feeling he'll go under-rostered this weekend with so much attention on the Cup trio.
Sheldon Creed ($9,900): Bit of a long shot here if we're talking "drivers who can win," since Creed is still looking for his first Xfinity win. But he was fast in practice and has four top 10s in nine road course starts, including a seventh last week at Portland after leading 47 laps.
Potential Value Options
Parker Kligerman ($8,400): Kligerman was sixth in practice and finished 14th at Portland last week. He ran as high as second though, and his average running position was eighth.
Riley Herbst ($7,300): Herbst has really struggled after a strong start to the year, but he was third in the ARCA West race on Friday and ran as high as sixth last weekend before engine issues. In practice, Herbst was 13th. Could wind up as a solid play.
Aric Almirola ($7,100): Yes, the car isn't great. And yes, Almirola is struggling in Cup right now. But he's still an experienced driver here and he was seventh in practice. Way, way underpriced. Hard to not see a reason post-qualifying to keep him out of your lineups.
Connor Mosack ($6,200): While Mosack was just 23rd in practice, he finished eighth last week at Portland. His average finish in four road course starts in this series is 17.5.
Dylan Lupton ($5,800): Lupton ran well here in the 2021 ARCA West race, finishing second. Not really any speed out of this 43 car in practice as he was 32nd, but this might end up being one of my favorite place differential plays if he struggles in qualifying.
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