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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Read his daily fantasy NASCAR advice and Xfinity sleepers.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action on Saturday. Last week, Austin Hill earned his third consecutive season-opening win at Daytona. He was also the winner of the Atlanta race last March, back when it was the fifth race of the season. Can Hill get two wins in a row?
The Xfinity Series was last here in July, with John Hunter Nemechek winning despite leading just three laps. Justin Haley led a race-high 80 laps and finished fourth in the race.
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 RAPTOR King of Touh 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 2/24/24 at 5:00 p.m. ET.
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Atlanta Race Trends
Atlanta's not Daytona, but since the last repave, it's raced like a Daytona-lite. We had 12 cautions in this race last year, then another eight cautions when the Xfinity Series returned here in July. In the March race, drivers like Chandler Smith and Justin Allgaier ended up with DNFs.
Place differential matters here just like it does at Daytona, but it might not matter quite as much. For example, at Daytona we had five drivers start outside the top 20 but record a top 15 result, with Jordan Anderson leading the way with a fourth-place finish after starting 29th. At this track last year, just two drivers met that criteria, though four drivers finished in the top 10 while originally starting outside of it.
Still, you don't want to go too heavy on any particular drivers, because crashes happen. In the August race, two drivers who started in the top 10 had crashes and finished 35th or worse.
We're also likely to have a smaller amount of leaders with more laps led by individuals. Last year in this race, Austin Hill led 103 laps, with three other drivers leading double-digit laps. Daytona last week also had three drivers lead at least 10 laps, but the best of those was Jesse Love, who topped out at 34 laps led.
Drivers Who Could Dominate
Obviously, we start with Austin Hill ($11,000), who starts second and has been money at these drafting tracks. It's really tough to predict who will win a race like this, but Hill is finding victory lane at an absurd rate in this kind of races. Don't go too heavy on him because chaos can strike at any moment here, but he's the highest-priced driver for a reason.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Atlanta starting lineup
Back to back front rows for RCR's Jesse Love and Austin Hill pic.twitter.com/fbR0qYqFjw
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) February 23, 2024
John Hunter Nemechek ($10,700) starts third and won here last season. He's a really nice pivot if you don't want to go too heavy on Hill. There's more downside than there is with Hill because Nemechek doesn't feel immune from the chaos, but he's a solid play.
Jesse Love ($8,600) won the pole at Daytona and led 34 laps, but ultimately finished 20th. He's on the pole again for this race and has a chance to lead a good number of laps. Can he finish the job this time?
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Top Place Differential Plays
I like drivers in the 10-20 range, so you can kind of just play all three of Sheldon Creed ($9,500), Chandler Smith ($9,300), and Sammy Smith ($9,200) in some combination. They start 10th, 12th, and 14th, respectively. Last time we were here, Creed led 24 laps but crashed, while Chandler Smith had the pole and led five laps but finished just 20th. Sammy Smith had the best result with a 10th-place finish.
Beyond that, I don't really love how this field stacks up when it comes to non-value place differential drivers. I'll have a lot of Jeb Burton ($7,800) and Jordan Anderson ($7,200), who start 25th and 38th. Burton looked like a contender last week, while Anderson had a fourth-place finish at Daytona after starting 29th, but he's not in the same caliber of equipment this week.
Note:
#32 Jordan Anderson is driving the same car that Stanton Barrett drove at Daytona last week, a MHR Entry, NOT JAR entry
The car has a Intermediate nose now, switched from a Superspeedway nose
— Colby Evans ⛄❄️🥶 (@StartAndParkCar) February 23, 2024
There are other place differential plays that I like, but they fit more in the deep sleeper section of this article, so keep on reading for more thoughts.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Deep Sleepers
Let's look at a few options for your lineup that cost under $7,000.
Parker Retzlaff ($6,900) is coming off a strong run at Daytona, where he started ninth and finished third. He's already equaled last year's top-five count. Retzlaff is a sneaky playoff pick this season for Jordan Anderson Racing. He fires off 24th.
J.J. Yeley ($6,500) is an experienced driver who has a ton of place differential upside from his 36th-place starting spot. I don't really know what to expect from this No. 14 car since it was a Kaulig car last week and isn't this week, but the PD upside makes it impossible to ignore Yeley.
Hailee Deegan ($6,000) crashed last week, but this AM Racing car is solid. I wish she started a little deeper than 19th, but she's not being priced accurately for how this car should perform right now. Take advantage of that.
Nick Leitz ($5,800) is in a DGM car, so there's some upside here as he starts 31st. Biggest concern with Leitz is a lack of Xfinity experience, as this is just his second start in the series. Still, he has four top 25 finishes in four Truck Series starts last season.
Ready for ATL 🏙️ Which scheme is your favorite?👀
9️⃣1️⃣ Kyle Weatherman | @godrivesmart
9️⃣2️⃣ Nick Leitz | Precision Measurements Inc. #NASCAR | @TeamChevy | #Raptor250 pic.twitter.com/SxvfPtnPaE— DGM Racing (@dgm_racing_) February 23, 2024
Beyond that, I might sprinkle in anyone starting outside the top 30, just in case this race gets really chaotic. Even Leland Honeyman ($4,600) and Patrick Emerling ($4,700) are in play, but I'll go really light on them.
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