The field is set for Saturday’s Xfinity race at Michigan with Austin Cindric and A.J. Allmendinger on the front row. With a solid front row, let’s get into the NASCAR DFS strategy and find some of the top DraftKings and FanDuel NASCAR DFS picks the New Holland 250 on Saturday, Aug. 21.
DraftKings NASCAR DFS Picks New Holland 250
Austin Cindric, 1st ($10,000)
Somehow, despite Ford’s strong showing in the Cup Series at Michigan, those same results haven’t translated into the Xfinity Series. Through 29 races at Michigan, Ford only has six victories with the last one coming back in 2011 with Carl Edwards (Roush-Fenway). Since then, Toyota and Chevrolet have split wins equally with four apiece. Granted, with nearly half of this season’s entries bearing a Chevrolet badge on their hoods, chances are still slim that Ford breaks their winless streak.
However, Ford hasn’t had a representative like Cindric of late either at Michigan. Box score hunters will be disappointed by Cindric and his career finishes of 11th and 23rd here. Yet, this fails to account for those races coming in 2019 and 2018, seasons before we saw Cindric hit his potential. The Xfinity Series didn’t race at Michigan last season, a year that could have easily seen Cindric (or Chase Briscoe) in the victory circle. What box score hunters will also fail to see was in that most recent race, Paul Menard in a Penske Ford, started on the pole and led 56 laps before finishing fourth. Now, Cindric will be in that same spot where the top groove rules and he can easily set off to lead the first segment.
A.J. Allmendinger, 2nd ($8,900)
As stated above, 2020 was a season where the Xfinity Series didn’t race in Brooklyn, Mich. However, in 2019, Tyler Reddick won late after taking the lead with 11 to go from Cole Custer. In the season prior, Austin Dillon graced victory circle after passing his teammate Daniel Hemric before the race was called for rain. What did Reddick and Dillon share in common? Both entries fielded by Richard Childress Racing.
This corollary would lead DFS players to Myatt Snider, who starts ninth. While he has his appeal as a tournament option who could finish in the top five, eyes should really be upon AJ Allmendinger. Coming from the same garage as Snider, Allmendinger carries much more appeal as a potential lap leader. At Homestead, Allmendinger led 45 laps before finishing 14th and led 44 laps at Las Vegas on his way to victory. This being said, Allmendinger does carry more risk than Cindric. This will be Allmendinger’s first career Xfinity start at Michigan and in 21 career Cup starts, his best finish was 11th with one total lap led.
Jeremy Clements, 11th ($6,800)
Mired in a starting position most will deem too risky, even in tournaments, Clements offers salary relief plus an ownership pivot. Admittedly, there is an inherent risk, playing any driver starting this far forward who’s not a dominator option. However, Clements has been running with so much consistency this season, he may not really be that risky. For the year, his average finish (14.8) lies just beneath his average starting position (13.6) with most importantly — zero DNFs. At intermediate tracks, Clements has just one finish outside of the top 12 and that includes top-10s in two of those last three races.
Clements currently sits in 10th in the projected Xfinity playoff standings, with a 40-point cushion over Michael Annett. A solid finish today will go a long way in helping to cement Clements return to the playoffs and remove a burden on him next Friday night at Daytona.
Tyler Reddick, 22nd ($10,500)
In the midst of a tight points battle, in the Cup Series, for the final playoff spot, Reddick finds himself grabbing extra seat time at Michigan in the 23 for Our Motorsports. This will be Reddick’s sixth start of the year in the Xfinity Series and third overall for Our Motorsports. Disqualification at Homestead notwithstanding, in whatever vehicle Reddick has driven, he’s failed to finish outside of the top 15 this season. At the somewhat similar Homestead, a track that allows drivers to ride the wall while staying on the gas, Reddick was able to drive from the rear up to the lead before finishing second. Reddick should easily do the same today at a track he most recently won at in 2019.
Bubba Wallace, 36th ($11,500)
Wallace makes a surprise start this week in the Xfinity Series, driving the Hattori/MBM 61. For those unfamiliar, this is the vehicle that has seen David Starr, Austin Hill, and Stephen Leicht in it. Hill was originally scheduled to make this start but Wallace slides in this week so Hill can focus on the start of the Trucks Series playoffs at Gateway.
Right off the bat, most DFS players are already leery of playing Wallace based on this car. It’s been so buried in the points it’s failed to qualify, based on points, for four races. It’s failed to finish three other races due to mechanical failures. Furthermore, in the races that the 61 has made the field, in just four instances has this car finished on the lead lap. Oh yeah, then one has to consider the fact that this car is set up by the notoriously cheap Carl Long.
However, mechanical failures are fluky and unpredictable. Furthermore, when the 61 is using drivers like David Starr, Stephen Leicht, Matt Jaskol, etc … no wonder the performance is struggling. Wallace will immediately become the best driver this car has ever had. The question is can this Toyota produce enough horsepower, on a horsepower-dominant track, to really be competitive. That is to be seen but Wallace is talented enough to grab everything this car is capable of producing. In two previous Xfinity starts, Wallace has a best finish of ninth and even managed to win at Michigan in the Trucks Series.
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