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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series SciAps 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Read his daily fantasy NASCAR advice and Xfinity sleepers. (2025)
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend as part of a NASCAR tripleheader. On Friday night, we saw an exciting Truck Series race. Rajah Caruth spent much of the late stages of the race leading with tires that were twice as old as the other leaders, but eventually, the race came down to the three names you'd expect: Chandler Smith, Kyle Larson, and Corey Heim.
Now, it's the Xfinity Series's time to shine. Last week, Brandon Jones earned his first win of the year at Darlington, moving him to seventh in the point standings. Justin Allgaier still has a dominant lead, though, as he's up by 71 points on second-place Sam Mayer.
Let's look at some NASCAR Xfinity DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series SciAps 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 4/12/25 at 5:08 p.m. EDT.
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Post-Qualifying Updates
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Dominator Options
Look, I hate how expensive Kyle Larson is, but he's on the pole and will probably lead a ton of laps, so paying up for him is begrudgingly fine. Justin Allgaier starts fourth and probably has a good shot as well at having a strong run — if anyone besides Larson dominates, it's probably Allgaier. It's hard to really find another driver worth taking a shot on — I'm not quite ready to trust Connor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil against the likes of Larson and Allgaier.
Place Differential Plays
Here are some strong place differential options based on starting spot;
- Jesse Love (13th)
- Brandon Jones (14th)
- Austin Hill (18th)
- Sheldon Creed (21st) - one of my favorite plays
- Christian Eckes (22nd)
- Brennan Poole (23rd) - really love the value here
- Justin Bongisnore (27th) - another really strong value option
- Anthony Alfredo (29th)
Drivers to Avoid
Here are some drivers who start too high for comfort:
- Ryan Sieg (Fifth) - good for Sieg for qualifying so well, but it destroys the DFS value he usually has
- Nick Sanchez (Seventh)
- Parker Retzlaff (Ninth)
- Harrison Burton (10th)
Top Plays
Kyle Larson ($14.0K)
Kyle Larson is doing triple duty again this week. When he did that at Homestead, the Xfinity Series race was the one he didn't manage to win. This week, he's already come up short in the Truck Series race, finishing second.
Chandler Smith beats Kyle Larson to win the Bristol truck race. No triple for Larson this weekend.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) April 12, 2025
Here's the thing: Larson is the best driver in this field. He's arguably the best driver in the world. He'll 100 percent be a threat to win.
With that said, he costs $3.0K more than anyone else in this field. Building a Larson-centric lineup isn't impossible, but it makes your task a lot harder when his ceiling isn't really that much higher than Allgaier's. You want some exposure, but don't go crazy here.
Justin Allgaier ($11.0K)
It's early, but Justin Allgaier is dominating this Xfinity Series season. He has a series-best six top fives, with a 7.8 average finish. He's finished all eight races, something that no other driver has done this season.
Now, Allgaier heads to Bristol and will look to extend his regular season points lead at a track where he has two career victories. What's more, it's a track where he should have even more wins.
Over the last eight Bristol races, the fewest laps Allgaier has led came last year when he faced the field for 60 laps. He has two DNFs and another crash-related poor finish in that span, with just one win, as something always seems to go a bit wrong near the end.
Still, the guy who has led 100-plus laps here six times since 2019 should be viewed as the favorite on Saturday. I like him much more than Larson, considering the cost.
Sheldon Creed ($9.8K)
Sam Mayer and Brandon Jones are priced in between Allgaier and Sheldon Creed, but both feel like iffy options. Mayer is running really well, but until I see this Haas Factory Team actually win a race, I'm not sold on going too heavy on Mayer at his current salary.
Then there's last week's winner, Brandon Jones. I get that he's in a very good Joe Gibbs Racing car. I get that he has experience. I still don't think he should be the fourth-most-expensive driver on the slate.
That leads us to Sheldon Creed at $9.8K. Mayer's teammate hasn't been quite as good as Mayer, but his average finish is only about two spots worse and that's factoring in two DNFs.
Last year, Creed did his usual thing at Bristol, which was to run really well, lead 28 laps, and then ultimately finish in second place. One of these days, he'll win a race. Probably.
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Mid-Tier Options
Jesse Love ($9.2K)
After an impressive rookie season, Jesse Love has picked up where he left off, posting a win and five top 10s through the first eight races of the season. He was fourth last season here at Bristol in his only Xfinity Series start at the track.
Austin Hill ($9.0K)
Two weeks ago, Martinsville was a crash-filled mess that somehow ended with Austin Hill taking the checkered flag despite not looking like a race-winning threat for most of the race.
Sammy Smith SLAMS into Taylor Gray going into the final corner and Austin Hill wins at Martinsville.
🎥 : @NASCAR_Xfinity pic.twitter.com/pXh9dm8LmF
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) March 30, 2025
Hill just seems to find a way, especially at the end of chaotic races. He's figured out how to harness his aggressive driving in a slightly less destructive way, which should come in handy on Saturday at Bristol.
Sammy Smith ($8.5K)
I know Conor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil are probably better drivers than their JR Motorsports teammate Sammy Smith, but Smith is the cheapest of the three and currently averages 29.9 fantasy points per race, more than his two rookie teammates. He's a good pivot off of those two.
Taylor Gray ($8.4K)
Taylor Gray has shown flashes since moving to JGR full-time this season, but he's currently looking to pull himself out of a tailspin. Gray has four consecutive finishes of 19th or worse, including a 33rd-place result last week.
Still, he's in a fast car and opened the year with three top 10s in four races. His strong qualifying efforts make him a risky play most weeks, but he did lead 87 laps at Martinsville before he got caught in the mayhem and finished 29th. There's some appeal here.
Christian Eckes ($8.2K)
If Christian Eckes finishes this race, he should deliver strong DFS numbers. Over the last six races, he has two DNFs, but in the other four races, he's finished with 40-plus fantasy points three times and a solid 34.0 in the other race.
Corey Heim ($8.0K)
Corey Heim's two previous Xfinity Series starts this year have gone poorly, with finishes of 31st and 37th. However, two of his five career top 10s in the series came on short tracks and two others came on tracks that aren't technically short tracks but race like it — Darlington and Loudon.
Value Options
Nick Sanchez ($7.8K)
Nick Sanchez has two top 10s in the last three races. The rookie driver seems to have figured out this Xfinity car pretty quickly, as half his starts this year have resulted in top 10s and he's finished on the lead lap in five of the six races where he was running at the finish.
Ryan Sieg ($7.7K)
Ryan Sieg has been solid all year, averaging 36.0 fantasy points per race. He has 50-plus DFS points twice already and posted a top 10 at Martinsville. He's not a flashy option, but Sieg's a fantasy workhorse who can help boost the floor of your lineups.
Harrison Burton ($7.5K)
It seems like this AM Racing team is finding its footing. Burton has three top 15 finishes in the last four races and in the fourth race, he qualified fifth before getting caught up in all the messiness that was this year's Martinsville race.
Justin Bonsignore ($7.4K)
I feel like every week I keep saying, "just trust William Sawalich because he's in a super cheap JGR car." This week, I'm not saying that, because Justin Bonsignore is also in a super cheap JGR car and I'd rather take my shot with him.
Justin Bonsignore threw it into Turn 3 on the inside of Taylor Gray and Harrison Burton and it didn't stick.
Long spin and slide. Doesn't hit anything but used up a set of tires. pic.twitter.com/kcFDkHHJoh
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) March 22, 2025
Not that he's a lock to return value, but this No. 19 car should be fast and while Bonsignore's first two starts this year didn't go great, he should be better at short tracks considering his background.
Parker Retzlaff ($7.1K)
Three top 20s in a row for Parker Retzlaff and this Alpha Prime Racing No. 4 team, with positive place differential in each race. At Martinsville, he delivered 46.5 fantasy points.
Jeb Burton ($6.8K)
Jeb Burton keeps doing something really useful for fantasy, which is qualifying poorly and then keeping the car clean through the race. He has positive place differential in three consecutive races, including scoring 59 fantasy points at Martinsville as he started 38th and finished 11th.
Dean Thompson ($6.7K)
Dean Thompson deserves a little more respect for how well he's run this season. A laughingstock in the Truck Series because he couldn't stop crashing, Thompson enters this race with four top 20s in a row, including a sixth at Martinsville.
And yet, he costs just $6.7K despite posting 37.0 fantasy points or more in six of the eight races this season. Yes, he had negative DFS points in the other two starts, but overall, he's trending up and looks like a tremendous value.
Brennan Poole ($5.9K)
Brennan Poole was a shocking fourth at Martinsville. I don't expect that to happen again. However, he has 28 or more fantasy points in seven consecutive races, with positive place differential in all seven of those starts.
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