Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 DFS Picks: NASCAR Xfinity Playbook

The NASCAR Xfinity Series is coming off a rather enjoyable race at Daytona last week where Ryan Truex went to victory lane for just the third time in his career. But Darlington Raceway never disappoints and usually provides for great racing evidenced by this battle between Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe a few years back. 

This is definitely a technically challenging track given the layout and surface. But we’ll navigate the field and offer up the best plays for Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 DFS picks.

Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 DFS Picks & NASCAR Lineups

Darlington Raceway is a 1.336-mile track shaped like an egg. It features a wider radius in turns one and two than three and four. It’s also a multi-groove track where the preferred line may just be along the wall where you’re at risk of collecting a Darlington stripe, but you can generate more speed coming out of the corners. And the surface is incredibly old and it will chew up tires at a rate faster than we’re used to seeing. 

They did race here in the spring where Justin Allgaier grabbed the win in dominating fashion. But this race is a little different. In the driver pool below, and on DraftKings, you’ll see plenty of Cup Series drivers. Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Noah Gragson, and Ross Chastain are mixed into this field. So that does provide some value on a few Xfinity Series regulars that still drive good equipment.

Tire management’s the name of the game. That’s a significant disadvantage for younger drivers, but this is a difficult track to get around especially if running the high line. We’re looking to get the winner into our lineups in addition to secondary dominators. Position differential will be appealing as well especially since we do tend to see PD chalk at Darlington.

Updates to my Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 DFS picks will once again be provided in RED following Saturday morning’s practice and qualifying session.

Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 Practice Notes

Top-Price Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 DFS Picks

Christopher Bell ($11,000)

Kicking off the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 DFS picks will be the most expensive driver in the field. Bell makes his second appearance this year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series this weekend. Earlier this summer at New Hampshire, he started P23 and won the race while leading 43 laps. Even when he tagged in for this race two years ago, he started P36 and finished 7^th.

In this race a year ago for the NASCAR Cup Series he managed to lead 40 laps after winning the pole, and he has three wins on the year at the top level. 

This isn’t a difficult price tag to take on as we’ve seen Joe Gibbs Racing provide a fast 20-car this year. This is the part-time car for JGR, but we’ve also seen four different drivers win in this car, including Ryan Truex just last week at Daytona. Update: Bell starts on the pole and certainly has plenty of top five and win equity. There are some good drivers starting right around him but he seems like a good bet to lead early laps and put up a good score.

Justin Allgaier ($10,700)

Allgaier absolutely spanked the field in this race in the spring. He led 119 out of the 147 laps with a 149.7 driver rating on his way to winning at Darlington once again. In his last seven races here, he hasn’t had a driver rating below 104 and he has three wins in that span.

For NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS in 2024, he’s arguably had the best overall speed on comparable intermediate tracks. Plus, he comes in with seven straight top 10 finishes including a win at Michigan two weeks ago. There’s clear win equity and he can definitely get up front and lead laps. Update: Cash game lock as he starts P20 and could very well win the race. Both Cole Custer ($10,300; Starting P21) and Chase Elliott ($10,000; Starting P16) are viable as well but most will play Allgaier.

Austin Hill ($9,600)

Hill is coming off a largely disappointing week at Daytona. He once again secured himself a starting spot on the front row at a drafting track but had to drop to the rear at the start of the race following an unapproved adjustment. And on the opening lap he was involved in a wreck along the back stretch and finished 31^st.

Obviously, a disappointing result for him at a track he performs very well at. Fortunately, we’re transitioning to another track he performs well at. And I don’t think many DFS players would want to pay this tag for Hill on a non-superspeedway track.

Hill has finished as the runner-up in the last two Xfinity Series races at Darlington. In fact, he’s never finished outside the top 10 in six races at the lady in black. So, there’s decent win equity and dominator potential in this spot. Update: Very high on Hill as a GPP play. I don't anticipate much ownership heading his way and he had speed in practice.

Mid-Price Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 DFS Picks

Joey Logano ($8,600)

A two-time Cup Series champion priced in the mid-range for the Xfinity Series race? Sign me up! I am aware there are issues with this equipment. AM Racing parted ways with Hailie Deegan earlier this year and since then they’ve had Josh Berry, Gus Dean, and Lawless Alan take turns with this ride.

Logano is the only one to grab a top 10 finish with this car. Granted, it came at the Chicago Street Race, so it does not compare to Darlington at all. However, I am optimistic that a driver of Logano’s talent can move this car through the field. It’s still junk, and he even had to instruct the team on how to make the adjustments to his satisfaction in his previous appearance.

This is taking a value on Logano’s name because you hope the car holds up and finishes well. Logano is a previous Cup Series winner at Darlington and easily one of the best overall drivers in the field. Update: Starts P18 and was third in 10-lap averages. Yes, there are equipment concerns but he's basically delivering 5X value with a top 10 and two fastest laps. Anything more than that would be gravy for us.

AJ Allmendinger ($8,500)

This Playbook for NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS is riddled with Cup Series drivers for this weekend’s race. Allmendinger is a full-time Xfinity Series driver this year but has been a Cup Series talent in previous years and he will be next year as well.

Allmendinger’s results have been better of late as well. I really loved him as a DFS play last week. He went out and led 35 laps at Daytona, which is no easy task, but he didn’t get the finish we wanted. But the speed has been better on the intermediate tracks.

Darlington hasn’t been his best track historically. But he is a veteran capable of managing tires and scoring a good finish. Update: Starts P4 which is a little high. Still has top five equity but not the greatest ceiling for this race unless he shocks us all and wins. Ross Chastain ($8,000; Starting P24) and Jesse Love ($7,800; Starting P23) provide more PD and save you some money.

Noah Gragson ($8,300)

We can confidently say that Gragson’s car has not been junk of late. Gragson has been able to drive this 30-car for Rette Jones Racing to three top 10 finishes at Charlotte, Nashville, and Michigan this year.

He’s consistently put up 46 fantasy points on DraftKings and this is the cheapest he’s been in this car. This is a slightly more competitive field especially with Bell and Logano in the race. But Gragson is also a Cup Series talent, and we can probably deduce he has a better car than Logano.

In seven Xfinity Series races at Darlington, he has a pair of wins and led 40+ laps in five of those races. The equipment probably isn’t that good to grab that many laps led. But I’d say Gragson has enough to contend for a top five finish. Update: Feels like a trap but I'd just eat the chalk in cash games and play him as he starts deep in the field and has shown he can grab top 10's in this car.

Value Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 DFS Picks

Parker Kligerman ($7,300)

Kligerman came through last week at Daytona. He started P12 and finished third for a 50-point performance on DraftKings. Darlington has no comparison to Daytona, but momentum is never a bad thing.

Kligerman started P11 in the spring race and finished 6^th. Moreover, this car has been grabbing a lot of top 12 finishes of late. Sure, this is a heavy field but it’s a great price tag on a better-than-average driver.

We’ll likely need to keep an eye on where he qualifies as it would be nice to squeeze some position differential points out of him alongside a top 10 finish.

Carson Kvapil ($7,200)

Kvapil is a similar play to Kligerman in that he’s underpriced and has top 10 equity. What makes Kvapil more appealing for NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS is that he’s definitely in the better ride compared to Kligerman.

A big red flag this week is how much this track eats tires. For a young driver like Kvapil, he doesn’t know how to manage his tires as well as the rest of the field. He did race here in the spring, but he started P13 and finished 19^th.

Overall, he’s looked fine in this car and this package this year. He even led laps at Dover, New Hampshire, and Michigan. The tire management is still a concern but he’s going to be tough to avoid if he’s offering position differential. Update: Good PD play here as he'll start P27.

Matt DiBenedetto ($6,300)

Rounding out the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 DFS picks, we take a driver that offers some variance. Matty D got a late start as he hasn’t run every race this year. But I’m just trying to target big scores this week. The drivers priced down here are obviously this low for a reason, whether it be talent or equipment.

But DiBenedetto drives for RSS Racing and they’re not the best team but they’re far from the worst. DiBenedetto also has Cup Series experience, and we saw him start P31 and finish 7^th at Michigan two weeks ago.

A lot of the other drivers in this range are younger and don’t know how to manage tires as well as the veterans of the field. I’d give Matty D the edge once again among the drivers priced below $6,500. Update: Somewhat sneaky play here and not a bad Tournament option. Would not play him in cash games. You can get more PD out of someone like Brennan Poole.

Sports Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Driver Pool