RADIO
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Darlington on Saturday as the race for a playoff spot heats up. Last week, a long night at Daytona culminated in a Jeremy Clements win, but he was assessed a penalty after the race that canceled the automatic playoff bid that usually comes with a victory.
Now, drivers have just three more chances to earn their way in, but without a race as chaotic as Daytona left on the regular season schedule, things will likely play out pretty chalkily over the remainder of the regular season.
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 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 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 9/3/22 at 3:00 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.
Christopher Bell ($10,900) - Starting 36th
Denny Hamlin was supposed to drive this car, but Bell ended up stepping in at the last minute because Hamlin's still a little dinged up from Daytona.
Bell is set to start 36th, which will offer a huge amount of place differential upside for the former Truck Series champion.
Bell's last Darlington race in Xfinity was in 2019, when he finished fourth. In Cup, he's struggled to get great results here, with a best finish of sixth, but he's led laps in his last three Cup races here. Bell should rocket up through this field and provide a ton of place differential points.
Noah Gragson ($10,000) - Starting 2nd
Gragson is a great pick to get some early laps led in and contend for the victory.
Heading into this race, Gragson has made six Xfinity starts at Darlington. He's finished at least eighth in each one. He's led 40 or more laps in four of those six races. He's had three consecutive top fives here, including a win last year.
And the one time he started on the front row, he went on to lead 46 laps, the most he's led at this track.
All signs point to Gragson having a big day.
Josh Berry ($9,900) - Starting 15th
Berry's a nice in-between play here. There's a little bit of place differential upside, but the main reason you're playing him is less about that and more about your confidence in him getting a good result.
Berry has raced here twice in JR Motorsports equipment. Last year, he finished second here, leading eight laps. His first run this season wasn't as good as he started second but then finished 18th, but he was up in the top 10 for much of that race, with an average position of seventh and 85.7% of his laps run in the top 10 per Racing Reference.
I expect Berry to be somewhere between a sixth and 10th place car on Saturday afternoon.
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Ryan Sieg ($7,600) - Starting 25th
Time for the first of our two Sieg brothers, since this week we have both of them in a good range for place differential.
Ryan Sieg starts 25th and has an average finish of 16.3 this season, including nine top 10s. The veteran driver knows how to wheel his way around this track, as he finished 11th here earlier this season.
Overall, Sieg has 11 Xfinity starts at Darlington, with an average finish of 14.8. That includes three top 10s and one top five, which came in 2020 when he led nine laps and finished third here. Sieg should be able to gain around 10 spots on Saturday.
Kyle Sieg ($6,100) - Starting 38th
Ryan Sieg's younger brother Kyle has had some flashes this year in his 13 Xfinity starts. He's been running at the finish in 12 of those races and has an average finish of 22.5.
At this price, Sieg finishing around his average finish would be great.
The downside though is that Sieg was just 32nd in the first race at Darlington this year. His average running position was 26th though, so there are signs that he could show some big improvement from that 32nd.
Plus, starting 38th means that there's a ton of PD upside if he can keep the car clean.
Ryan Ellis ($5,200) - Starting 31st
Ellis has made nine starts this season, with an average finish of 23.4. But that includes three DNFs. In the races that he's actually finished, Ellis has a lowest finish of 27th, with four top 20s.
This 44 car has been solid all year. Alpha Prime Racing isn't an elite team or anything, but they're a fine team—better than the other cars that start this far back.
Ellis doesn't have the best track record here in Xfinity, but he did finish 16th here last year in a B.J. McLeod car, which is a pretty good accomplishment. I really love this as a deep, deep value play, even if Ellis' history here is a little risky. (Though, his 2015 start here was a start-and-park situation, so we shouldn't count that against him.)
