Welcome to the debut edition of The Xfinity Series Setup. I am Ryanlarkin88 and you can follow me @Larkin8 on twitter. Today I will be your guide to building a strong lineup for the Xfinity Series on Draftkings. Before we get started I would like to suggest for anyone who isn’t already a VIP member of the DFSArmy to sign up so you can read my weekly race previews, utilize our Xfinity Series Research Station and our Domination Station Optimizer. With that being said lets get going!
Rules Overview
Draftkings gives you a $50,000 dollar salary cap to choose 6 drivers from
There are 4 ways to score points in NASCAR DFS
Finishing position – Drivers score points based on the 2015 NASCAR points system. 46 points for 1st then 42 points for 2nd. 41 points for 3rd. From 2nd on down to 38th each position is worth 1 point less than the previous.
Position Differential – Scored as a +/- with each position gained from their original starting position being worth 1 point. Each position lost from their original starting position being worth -1 point.
Laps Led – For every lap a driver is in 1st they collect .25 of a point.
Fastest Laps – For every lap a driver is the fastest on the track they score .5 of a point
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Building a Lineup
The Schedule – Check the schedule and find out where the race is. The series competes on numerous different track types. Each race has a set number of laps. This varies from race to race ranging from 45 laps to 300 laps. Knowing how many laps there are in each race is incredibly important. Also, each of the tracks have distinct characteristics that change the style of racing. The type of track can also affect a drivers ability. Knowing whether a driver is good on a particular track type or not is crucial. The Xfinity Research Station provides great info on this.
The Dominator – Once we know the track and laps the next thing we must determine is who the dominator/s will be. Dominators score far more points than anyone else in the field. That seperation makes hitting the Dominator incredibly important. Driver history at track and practice times can be a great indicators of who potential dominators will be. Some races can have multiple dominators. The dominator/s is a driver who collects a significant amount of laps led as well as fastest laps. How many laps there are will determine how many dominators you choose. Races with low lap amounts will usually only need 1 dominator. When we get to races with 200-300 laps then 2 of these drivers can be needed. The Road America race (45 laps) as well as Daytona and Talladega races can have occurances of not needing any dominators.
Strong #2/3– While your 2nd or 3rd highest scoring driver might not qualify as a dominator you will undoubtedly always need someone right on the edge. Usually these drivers can gain a few positions while also grabbing some fast laps and laps led. These drivers will usually out score most everyone else by 10-20 points. Often times the Dominators are the most obvious plays so filling this slot with a low owned driver could be the key to winning big.
Check out my Xfinity Series Season Preview to find out who my early favorites and fades are!
Qualifying Oddities – Look for the drivers who either overperformed or underperformed in qualifying. If a top tier driver who consistantly finishes top 10 is starting 30th then they will have massive upside because of Position Differential. If a driver qualifies higher than they normally finish even if it is by only a couple positions then they will most likely be someone you will want to fade.
Diamonds in the rough – Most drivers below $7k in Xfinity are with teams that can’t come close to competeing with the top teams. The gap is Massive. However, these drivers are key to filling out your lineup. Find the driver who showed some speed in practice or has a poor starting position that they can improve on. I look for these drivers to hopefully score 30 points with 40 points being MEGA. As an example a driver starting 35th but who finishes 20th will score 39 points. Punts will sometimes have to be played when multiple top tier $10k+ drivers are in play. These drivers are usually below the $6k price point and offer very little upside. However, a driver who starts 38th who can get to 30th would be worth 22 points. That driver paired with the dominator you were able to take can combine for much more than playing two mid tier drivers.
The Start and Park – One of the long time issues with the Xfinity series has been teams showing up to the race, starting and then retiring a few laps in. They do this to collect the prize money but so they don’t have to pay for fuel, tires and wear out equipment. This is a large reason why the field size dropped from 40-38 cars this year. There can be 3-5 of these drivers on any given week. You will want to 100% fade these drivers. Also, anyone who starts behind these drivers are basically setup to recieve free points. This is where the Punts can end up being a very safe reliable 20-25 points to be paired with a dominator.
Check out this fantastic example showing one our DFSArmy memebers taking down a NASCAR contest. They nailed the dominator. Grabbed a strong #2 with low ownership in Keselowski. They also had two mid tier guys average above 40 points and had a punt score a solid amount.
This will conclude this edition of The Xfinity Series Setup. If you would like to reach out and talk NASCAR Follow me on twitter @Larkin8 or SIGN UP FOR VIP and join me as well as our other DFS Army NASCAR contributors in the NASCAR slack chat. When you sign up for VIP you also get the NASCAR Research Station and Domination Station Optimizer as well Premium VIP articles on all sports