NASCAR DFS Playbook: Dead on Tools 250

Similar to the Truck Series Playbook, I’ll be a little brief with this write-up but will still break down the playoff drivers and other drivers to target. After a frustrating season with the Xfinity series we finally had a strong week on the backs of Garrett Smithley being under 10% owned and he managed to pull out a top 20. I took down a couple GPP’s last week and finally had a solid showing in this series.

But we’ll turn our attention to Martinsville, which is tricky for the Xfinity series truthfully. There was a stretch where they didn’t run Martinsville all that much. More recently, Xfinity has only run here twice so we’ll do our best with what we have. But similar to the Truck series, don’t be surprised if there are double-digit cautions for at least 60 laps. Martinsville is a small track with no run-off so any stalled vehicles or cars that spin, we’ll likely get a caution.

Laps: 250 total (60-60-130 segments) with a competition caution following lap 25.

Here are the current playoff standings…

Austin Cindric ($11,200; Starting P1) Cindric started on the pole here a year ago and finished tenth but he did collect 18.75 dominator points in that race. Earlier this year he started sixth and finished there as well. Surprisingly, he hasn’t won in over two months, but he’s been in contention and he’s led plenty of laps over his last seven races. The competition caution could hurt him but he’s still worth getting exposure to.

Noah Gragson ($10,500; Starting P9) Someone who has run well here in both races is Noah Gragson. He’s finished second and third in the two XFIN races at the Paperclip while leading 35 laps between both races. He’s consistently run up front at this track, but again it’s a small sample size and I honestly don’t trust these drivers as much as I do those in the Truck series. Regardless, he probably does need to win this race to qualify for Phoenix. For that reason, I’m not fading him entirely but I am considering being lighter on him than the field assuming everyone looks at his two results here.

Harrison Burton ($10,300; Starting P10) It’s been an underwhelming year for Burton, but he at least won this race a year ago and led over 80 laps in that race. Similar to Gragson, he also needs a win. I’m not sure I want to pay the price tag today because I get the sense he’s checked out and looking ahead to his Cup series debut next year, but I could be wrong.

Daniel Hemric ($10,000; Starting P7) I just wish he was a little cheaper. I can’t believe he’s priced this high. He busted last week and let most DFS players down after he was quite chalky so I don’t think he’ll carry as much ownership today. In the Spring race this year he finished third and led 28 laps. He also ran here twice in the Cup series. Did he do particularly well? Not really but he grabbed a top 20 finish in one of them. That still counts as experience. It’s a crappy price to pay, but I’ll throw him in some GPP lineups.

Justin Allgaier ($9,700; Starting P5) Allgaier has finished ninth and second in his two Martinsville races. He’s not securely locked into the championship race at Phoenix, but he’s in good position. He’s a good contrarian play if we assume most players in this range target the next driver in our pool.

A.J. Allmendinger ($9,500; Starting P3) Dinger didn’t have a great run here earlier in the year but he did lead 68 laps in this race a year ago. I’m not reading into his Xfinity results here too much. We want experience here and Dinger has plenty of that. He’s raced here 21 times in the Cup series with ten finishes in the top 12 and a pair of runner-up finishes. I will be very heavy on Allmendinger because at $9,500 we’re getting a discount on a driver that could dominate this race.

Brandon Jones ($9,200; Starting P8) No one ever feels great about playing Jones, and rightfully so. But he grabbed a top five earlier this year at the Paperclip and led some laps too. He did all that after starting P24. As much as I poke fun for him wrecking precious JGR equipment all too often, he’s on a decent run in the playoffs. He hasn’t finished outside the top 12 in his last six races and there are some top five finishes sprinkled in that span as well. Consider him a dark horse today because he needs a win to move on most likely.

Justin Haley ($8,800; Starting P4) Haley is okay at Martinsville. He’s finished 8th and 12th here after starting in the top five in both races. He hasn’t done anything spectacular, but he’s still in the hunt. He doesn’t need a win to qualify for Phoenix and he’ll have low ownership. Given the price comparisons between Xfinity and the Truck series, I’m surprised he isn’t cheaper. I’ll throw him in maybe two builds and I expect him to run up front most of the race but I don’t trust him to finish well.

Remaining Driver Pool 

Ty Gibbs ($11,500; Starting P2) Gibbs will be chalk this week and I don’t truly know if it’s chalk I’m leaning into. He won Kansas last week and has momentum. He has some experience at Martinsville after he finished fourth here in the Spring while leading 28 laps. He’ll start on the outside today so it’s not a lock he leads the early laps. I’ll still play him, but I’m a little cautious of this play. If anything goes wrong and he starts going backward he’s crushing your lineup.

Josh Berry ($10,800; Starting P29) Berry’s in the 31-car for Jordan Anderson Racing, but who cares? The starting spot is great, he’s fantastic on short tracks, and he won this race in the Spring. If he runs clean he’s too good to pass up. He’s eligible in all formats today.

Sam Mayer ($9,000; Starting P11) Mayer has been finding his groove more recently. He finished eighth at Kansas, 13th at Texas, and tenth at the ROVAL so he’s got some momentum. And he’s a pretty good short track racer as well. He almost won at Bristol in the Truck Series in 2020, but he did go on to win at Gateway. Without dominator points he does need a top five to hit value so keep exposure to just GPP’s.

Jeb Burton ($8,600; Starting P15) Burton’s a solid play this week. It’s surprising to think of him as a short track racer since we normally think of Burton as a better superspeedway racer. But he has finished 4th and 11th here and he has a top ten car. He should probably be a little more expensive, but we’ll take the discount.

Brett Moffitt ($8,200; Starting P13) I don’t think many people will play Moffitt, but he’s one driver I will have a healthy amount of exposure to in GPP’s. He’s finished 12th and 13th in both races at Martinsville in the Xfinity series, but he was great here in the truck series. He did wreck out of two races, but in the other four races he had four finishes in the top six, including a trio of finishes in the top three.

JJ Yeley ($6,600; Starting P28) I don’t love the $7K range to be honest. I might get minimal exposure to Jeremy Clements, Michael Annett, and Ryan Sieg but I feel like if you’re spending up on drivers over $8,000 then I should go right to the value options. Yeley’s price has dropped down and he’s offering PD. It’s a good time to go back to him as an affordable PD option. A year ago he started 39th and finished 14th and in the Spring he started 33rd and finished 24th but he also finished in the top ten in the first two stages. He also has plenty of Cup series experience at Martinsville as well and we know the 17-car is pretty good. I’m perfectly fine utilizing Yeley in Cash games. He typically provides a good floor if he stays clean.

Jade Buford ($6,400; Starting P31) The Jade Buford chalk from a week ago busted, which helped us greatly. I’m hoping that drives his ownership down because he’s priced more appropriately and starting outside the top 30. He started around the same spot in the Spring and managed to finish 19th. He hits value with another top 20 and I think he finds his groove again after wrecking last week.

Colin Garrett ($6,100; Starting P30) Most DFS players will likely flock to Buford as the value play but don’t sleep on Colin Garrett. Garrett has arguably the same upside as Buford and he’s cheaper and will have lower ownership. Garrett is back in the 26-car this weekend, the same car that Brandon Gdovic drove to a 17th-place finish at Martinsville earlier this year. On top of that, Garrett has shown he can also pilot this car inside the top 20 if he stays clean. If Buford’s the preferred Cash game play in this range, Garrett is who we should target in GPP’s but I also don’t hate him for Cash games either.

Josh Williams ($5,900; Starting P22) We’re seeing the price tag on Williams drop back down which is great because he’s starting further back where we prefer him. Williams has been okay at Martinsville in two races. He has a pair of top 20 finishes and if he stays clean and there’s chaos ahead of him, then he could get a top 15. Ownership is never overwhelming on Williams, but he’s only a GPP play.

Bayley Currey ($5,800; Starting P20) Once again, Currey’s back in the 15-car and once again we should feel good about him picking up a few spots. Currey finished 26th here earlier in the year, but that was in worse equipment. Strangely enough he did lead seven laps, but we have to like the potential for this race. I do think his luck might run out at some point, but he’s been running great since stepping into the 15-car. He has three finishes in the top 17 in four races in this ride with the lone poor performance coming at Talladega.

Core Drivers