The field is set for the Xfinity Dead On Tools 250 race today at Martinsville with Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs on the front row. With the race set to kick off at 6 p.m. ET, get prepared with some NASCAR DFS advice from Awesemo’s expert tools and premium data. Below are some of the top NASCAR DFS picks for DraftKings lineups today.
Dead On Tools 250 NASCAR DFS Picks for DraftKings
Austin Cindric, 1st ($11,200 DraftKings) Cash, GPP (Dominator) | AJ Allmendinger, 3rd ($9,500 DraftKings) Cash, GPP (Dominator)
Stacking the front-runners in the Xfinity Playoffs together should, or at least could, capture nearly all of the laps led on Saturday evening. Starting first, Cindric will have the early grasp on the lead and even after the competition caution, should continue to run out front. With victories at Phoenix and Dover, Cindric has won two of the five “short track” races this season while finishing sixth earlier this season at Martinsville and second at Bristol. In these five races, Cindric has also led 295 combined laps — 77 more than the next closest driver. Via the Top Driver Tool, Cindic carries the slate’s highest top-two dominator percentage. Oddly, the only race out of these five that Cindric didn’t lead in was the previous Martinsville race but a look at the leaderboard shows that Joe Gibbs and JR Motorsports had the grasp on this track that Penske couldn’t overcome.
The case for Allmendinger comes back to history here in the Cup Series. Outside of road races, the two best tracks for Allmendinger, in terms of average finish, were Phoenix and Martinsville. At Martinsville, in 21 career Cup starts, Allmendinger had two top-fives paired with seven top-10 finishes. His superb ability to get off and on the throttle, plus knowing just how much brake to apply in the corners, makes him a serious threat to contend for the victory at +800 on DraftKings Sportsbook. Plus, don’t forget, this is going to be the third start for the majority of today’s field as the Xfinity Series had stopped visiting Martinsville for a long stretch. Allmendinger’s experience, versus the field’s, may come into play down the stretch.
Ty Gibbs, 2nd ($11,500 DraftKings) Cash, GPP (Dominator)
With back-to-back victories, in the Round of 8, by the driver of the No. 54 vehicle, it would be remiss to not mention Gibbs. To begin with, Gibbs had a somewhat successful day here this past spring starting 16th, finishing fourth, and leading 28 laps in the process. Especially, considering he had no prior track history at Martinsville. It was part of a day that saw all four Joe Gibbs drivers finish in the top-seven while combing to lead 124 laps that day. Now with multiple races under his belt, that was just third career Xfinity start, Gibbs should be a much stronger candidate to lead, if not outright win this event.
Correlation-wise, Gibbs ran second to Cindric at Phoenix, finished seventh at Richmond after leading 67 laps, and Christopher Bell led 151 laps en route to victory at New Hampshire. As has been the case all season long, this is a talented driver with perhaps the Series strongest car with nothing but a victory in mind while the other top contenders are worried about finishing well to advance to Phoenix.
Josh Williams, 22nd ($5,900 DraftKings) Cash, GPP
Dipping down into the typical punt or salary saving range, it’s thin as far as options go, but that’s been the story of Xfinity slates going on for weeks now. A source of potential salary savings that can grab some place differential comes in Josh Williams, who has career finishes of 16th and 19th previously at Martinsville.
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Josh Berry, 29th ($10,800 DraftKings) Cash, GPP
Running double-duty on Saturday, Berry will compete in the Trucks Series race in the afternoon before hopping in Jordan Anderson’s No. 31 for the fifth time this season. Berry is going to carry some of this slate’s highest ownership, with DFS players reminiscent of his win previously this spring in which he led 95 laps. However, that was in the No. 8 for JR Motorsports and not Jordan Anderson’s vehicle, which has been a top-10 car just twice in Berry’s four starts. Gauging the ceiling of Berry is tough because the talent is definitely there to win but this vehicle hasn’t done nearly as well in its starts at short tracks. Namely, at Richmond, Berry started 33rd that night and only managed to pick up nine spots. However, fast forward a week to Bristol and Sage Karam was able to drive from 32nd up to 16th.
Thus, for DFS players who believe that Berry can make the most of this equipment while using his short-track history, plus Martinsville knowledge, then he’s potentially a must-play in all formats. However, if Martinsville boils down to the upper-echelon of cars with better equipment, then Berry is better as just a cash or floor play.
Preston Pardus, 38th ($8,400 DraftKings) GPP
In a bit of an odd sighting, Pardus make a spot start for Mario Gosselin in the No. 90 this week, albeit his first non-road course start ever. A road-course ringer venturing onto an oval should raise plenty of red flags and signal a potentially chalky driver, considering place differential potential. However, the case can be made that playing Pardus isn’t that absurd. One of the first-mentioned drivers was Allmendinger and how he was able to use his road racing skills and make them applicable to a track like Martinsville. If gas-to-brake skill and vice versa can amplify the potential of a driver at Martinsville, then it reasons that Pardus should benefit from this knowledge as Allmendinger has done in the past.
Considering this is Pardus’ first oval start, at a track like Martinsville, he may be better suited for tournaments. However, with his place differential floor, he should be a driver that still carries a safe enough floor to play in cash games.
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