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Justin Carter's DraftKings DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway. Read his daily fantasy NASCAR advice and Xfinity sleepers. (2025)
The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Nashville this weekend for the Tennessee Lottery 250. Last year, John Hunter Nemechek won here, leading 76 of 188 laps on the way to the win.
Last time out at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Cup Series driver William Byron won in the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17, while Connor Zilisch was second. Nick Sanchez was a surprising third-place finisher in the BetMGM 300.
Let's look at some NASCAR Xfinity DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 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 5/31/25 at 7:38 p.m. EDT.
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Xfinity DFS Preview - DraftKings
Be sure to also check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles and analyses to help you set your optimal DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Post-Qualifying Updates
Check back here for updates.
Top Contenders
Austin Hill starts second and could lead a number of laps early on, though fourth-place starter Justin Allgaier is the clear favorite based on the starting lineup. Aric Almirola starts eighth and Ross Chastain, giving both a little ground to make up. Either could win, but maybe not in dominant fashion.
Place Differential Plays
Here are drivers to target if you're looking for place differential:
- Sammy Smith (14th)
- Jesse Love (15th)
- Corey Day (21st)
- Taylor Gray (24th) - my favorite place differential play
- Josh Williams (26th)
- Parker Retzlaff (29th)
- Brennan Poole (31st) - really great value here
- Myatt Snider (36th)
Drivers To Fade
These drivers start too high and could lose too many place differential points:
- William Sawalich (First)
- Carson Kvapil (Sixth)
- Nick Sanchez (Seventh) - I'm borderline here. I'll probably severely limit my exposure but I might have some shares
Top Plays
Justin Allgaier ($11.7K)
The best Xfinity Series regular is Justin Allgaier and he's my top DFS play basically every week at this point. He has nine top-five finishes on the year with two victories. He was fourth last weekend.
Pre-practice NASCAR Xfinity predictions for Nashville:
1. Justin Allgaier 22.4%
2. Ross Chastain 19.4%
3. Aric Almirola 11.9%
4. Connor Zilisch 6.3%
5. Carson Kvapil 5.2%Full win/T3/T5/T10 sims plus values at @FDSportsbook ⬇️ https://t.co/9SMr8FXnGY
— Jim Sannes (@JimSannes) May 30, 2025
He's also a former Nashville winner, dominating this race in 2022 by leading 134 of 188 laps. In 10 starts at this track in Xfinity, Allgaier has six top 10s with an average finish of 9.1.
Aric Almirola ($11.5K)
In five starts this season, Aric Almirola has a win as well as two additional top fives. He led seven laps in an eventful Martinsville race before finishing 13th, then he crashed at Talladega.
We can safely disregard Talladega. Almirola is a major threat to win every time he steps into this Joe Gibbs Racing car, as he's one of the most experienced drivers in the field in one of the fastest cars.
(JGR hasn't looked as good this year as in recent seasons, but that should be attributed more to the group of full-time drivers for the team. Almirola has proven this is still winning equipment.)
Ross Chastain ($12.0K)
Ross Chastain might be the most expensive driver on this slate, but he lands third among my initial top plays. That's nothing against him, as his first two starts in this No. 9 car both resulted in top 10s. It's just that I like Allgaier and Almirola slightly more.
Retweet to congratulate Ross Chastain on his NASCAR Cup Series WIN at Nashville Superspeedway! pic.twitter.com/aGcmqIuIjJ
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 26, 2023
With that being said, a Chastain win wouldn't shock me at all. He's won here in the Cup Series before, earning the pole in 2023 and leading 99 laps on his way to the win, and he's in a very fast JRM car. You'll want decent exposure here.
Jesse Love ($10.5K)
Jesse Love is really starting to look like the future of Richard Childress Racing. While he only finished 12th at Charlotte, he's still been running really well overall.
Last year, Love finished third in this race. Neither of the drivers who finished ahead of him are in Saturday's field. That doesn't mean he'll be guaranteed a win or anything, but it means something that he ran so well here in 2024.
Connor Zilisch and Sam Mayer: Fades?
Both Connor Zilisch and Sam Mayer cost $10.0K or more as well. I like both drivers! I think both could have strong runs, and last week definitely made me feel better about Zilisch on ovals. However, at that price, it's tough for me to get behind them over the four names above.
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Mid-Tier Options
Austin Hill ($9.5K)
Austin Hill enters this weekend on a strong run, posting top-10 finishes in four consecutive races. He's always fast at intermediates and feels a little underpriced this weekend compared to a couple of drivers above him.
Brandon Jones ($9.0K)
Brandon Jones has been impressive this year. The veteran driver took a step back over the past couple of seasons, but he's already on track for his best year since at least 2022.
Jones has been especially solid at intermediates, with top 10s at Vegas, Homestead, and Texas, plus a victory at Darlington. He tends to fly under the radar, but fantasy players should try to have some exposure to Jones every week.
Taylor Gray ($8.7K)
Taylor Gray has been fast, but he hasn't always put it all together into strong finishes. Still, he was second at Texas and has two poles this year, both on intermediates. His inconsistency makes him a bit of a fantasy risk, but Gray is worth sprinkling into lineups in case this is one of his better weeks.
Sammy Smith ($8.3K)
Sammy Smith has hit a rough patch, with two finishes outside the top 30 in the last three races. However, before that, he was running very well, posting four top 10s in a row. His recent string of bad luck has to be factored in, but Smith is a solid bounce-back candidate.
Nick Sanchez ($8.0K)
Nick Sanchez's price rose just $300 this week after his third-place finish at Charlotte, landing him at a pretty solid $8.0K price point. He's finished in the top 20 in five of the last six races and just seems to be getting better and better as the season goes along.
Value Options
Christian Eckes ($7.6K)
It's definitely been a disappointing rookie campaign for Christian Eckes, but he's shown promise on intermediates, including a ninth-place finish at Charlotte last weekend.
This Kaulig car just isn't consistent enough for Eckes to be a real threat, but he's capable of sneaking into the top 10 at tracks like this. He also has a win here in the Truck Series, leading all 150 laps in 2024.
Harrison Burton ($7.5K)
Prior to struggling at Charlotte last weekend, Harrison Burton had three consecutive top 10s in this No. 25 car. He's not going to go out there and contend for a victory, but this is a solid price for a driver with six top 10s on the year and just two finishes outside the top 25.
Corey Day ($7.3K)
Corey Day has been pretty mediocre in his two Xfinity Series starts. This is a car with race-winning speed, but Day's average finish is just 18.5.
𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙗 𝙢𝙮 𝙂𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙧 & 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙮
After a top 5 in the Truck Series Race, we’re back for another night of racing at in the music city.
You can watch live on The CW at 7:30PM ET.
✍️ @DevinMPhoto pic.twitter.com/ST97PemW3i
— Corey Day (@corey_day_) May 31, 2025
This could be the week that changes. He was having an equal amount of issues in the Truck Series, finishing 15th or worse in his first five starts this season, but on Friday night, Day finally turned his potential into production as he came home fifth in the Rackley Roofing 200. Maybe he can turn that momentum into his maiden Xfinity Series top 10?
Daniel Dye ($7.1K)
Daniel Dye has basically just been a mid-pack driver all year, which is honestly an improvement over what people expected from this No. 10 car. He has five top 10s as well as three additional top 15s, and intermediate tracks have been really solid for him.
It's also worth noting that Nashville was the site of Dye's best Truck Series finish, as he finished second here in 2024. That's his only top five on a non-drafting track in his 46 career Truck Series starts.
Dean Thompson ($6.7K)
It can be hard to predict how Dean Thompson will run, but his fifth-place finish at Charlotte last week was his fourth top 10 of the year. Maybe more important when looking at this week's race, it was his third top 15 at an intermediate track.
Jeb Burton ($6.5K)
Jeb Burton already has more top 10s than he did all of last season. He sits ninth in the point standings. Honestly, we need to talk about him more! He's kind of doing the same thing Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is in the Cup Series, which is quietly having strong runs. He's finished top 20 in four straight races.
Josh Williams ($6.1K)
I've basically been a full fade on Josh Williams all season, but he's finished with 40 or more fantasy points in three of the last five races. His consistently poor qualifying runs give him place differential upside, though he's failed to turn the upside into production most weeks. Still, his recent upturn in production makes him slightly more appealing than usual.
