The Xfinity Series is in Daytona tonight for some superspeedway racing under the lights. We are likely to see an unpredictable race as we usually see in the tight packed, high speed superspeedway races. The strategy is going to be focused on place differential as there will be a lot of lead changes and the fast laps will be spread throughout the field.
Picking drivers that start towards the back and have large place differential potential is going to be important. Due to this, I generally limit the amount of drivers in my lineups that start at the very front. However, the Xfinity Series does seem to have more top drivers there at the end of these races so you may be picking a few more drivers starting towards the front than you would in the Cup race but don't pick too many.
Place Differential Plays
Sam Mayer
Sammy Smith
Ryan Sieg
Jeb Burton
Justin Allgaier
Cole Custer
Brandon Jones
Parker Kligerman
Jordan Anderson
Matt Dibenedetto
Mayer made a mistake qualifying and damaged his engine so he starts dead last and will need a engine change before the race. He will be the highest owned driver for the DFS slate tonight since he has the most place differential potential. Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg start back in 25th and 26th so that gives them a good amount of place differential potential and they should be racing towards the front as they both need a win or points to make the playoffs. Burton has won at a superspeedway before and is a solid option starting back in 21st if he can stay out of trouble and get a top 10.
Mayer, Smith, Sieg, and Burton I expect to all be high owned.
Allgaier, Custer, Jones, and Kligerman are all going to be solid options as well. They start outside the top 10 so they have a little more place differential than guys starting way up front and they are all still top drivers in the series in top equipment so they should be racing towards the front and will have an opportunity to win if they are there at the end.
Anderson and Dibenedetto are good superspeedway racers with experience but they may go overlooked as they are not in the top equipment and don't start way in the back. But I wouldn't be shocked to see them end up with a top 10.
Fades
Chandler Smith
Austin Hill
AJ Allmendinger
Joe Graf Jr
Jesse Love
Ryan Truex
Akinori Ogata
Tim Viens
I do not like picking drivers that start in the very front so the top 6 starters are not going to make it in my lineups very often. You can thrown one in if you trust a good speedway racer like Hill or Allmendinger to lead laps, but I prefer picking drivers that have some place differential upside. Even any driver starting in the top 10 has limited upside when there are many good options starting outside the top 10 that can finish up front. Ogata and Viens are not in good equipment and are likely to ride in the back all race to not get involved in any incident. They are likely not to be aggressive even if they make it to the end and will likely only finish ahead of those who wreck. Their ceiling is likely only around 20th or so.
Cheap Options
Kyle Sieg
Brennan Poole
Josh Bilicki
Gus Dean
Blaine Perkins
Ryan Ellis
All these drivers start way in the back and have huge place differential potential. Another thing with these drivers is they may hang in the back to miss wrecks but I also think they will try to race towards the front at the very end to get a good finish. This is a little different than someone like CJ McLaughlin or Joey Gase who I think may just ride in the back the entire race to not get involved in a wreck and just take whatever finish they can. These guys are all good options and will need mixed into your lineups as at least one is likely to end up optimal as we have seen in the past.
Another tip for this race is you do not need to worry about salary and using all of it on your drivers in your lineup. This is solely about picking drivers with place differential potential and not worrying about salary.
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Good Luck!