The field is set for Sunday’s Xfinity race at Pocono with Harrison Burton and Justin Allgaier on the front row. Let’s dive into the top Xfinity NASCAR DFS plays for the Pocono Green 225 this Sunday.
Pocono Green 225 NASCAR DFS Picks for DraftKings
Ty Gibbs, 14th ($10,800)
This week’s question for the Xfinity race is just how valuable are dominator points going to be in a 90-lap race? Especially, when so many top-tier drivers have access to place differential? It’s because of this quandary, opting for drivers like Gibbs and the driver mentioned below, are better options than playing a driver like Justin Allgaier or Harrison Burton who have to do their scoring via dominator points.
Starting 14th, Gibbs has access to some but not a lot of place differential. However, those 13 points are just a baseline and in Gibbs’s last two starts in the 54, he’s led at least 16 laps. Whereas Allgaier and Burton have to lead laps plus not lose so many positions, relative to where they start, so as to negate those dominator points. Furthermore, Gibbs will have valuable track time via Friday’s ARCA race. The last two times that Gibbs ran consecutive ARCA and Xfinity races together, at the same track, he won the ARCA race at Charlotte and Mid-Ohio while winning the Xfinity Charlotte race while finishing third at Mid-Ohio.
Alex Labbe, 16th ($7,100)
Ever since Talladega, Labbe has been on a streak of seven straight top-20 finishes. During this run, he’s even crested the top 15 three times. Yes, it’s utterly non-inspiring but the fact is in this mid-range, the better plays in tournaments may be betting on drivers with consistency like Labbe instead of trying to hit a home run with a driver brought up next who’s similarly priced. Experience-wise, this will be Labbe’s third start at Pocono with finishes of 17th and 18th previously.
The cheaper pivot from Labbe would be Tommy Joe Martins, for $600 less starting two spots further back. Following three straight races where he failed to finish, Martins has made positive strides with back-to-back finishes of 21st and 20th. If needing to save money to fit in the high-priced stars, the play would be Martins, but Labbe has a higher ceiling all things considered.
Myatt Snider, 19th ($7,300)
Getting a 2021 Xfinity Series winner, in RCR equipment, for under $7,500 starting back near the middle of the field feels like a win-win situation. However, since finishing ninth at Talladega, Snider has been in a tail-spin with consecutive finishes of 19th, 16th, 21st, 26th, 29th, 33rd, and 31st last week at Nashville. With these finishes in focus, it makes sense now why DraftKings has priced him down to the level of Jeremy Clements or Ryan Sieg.
What’s even more sobering is only one of these poor finishes was a DNF. Just twice since Talladega has Snider finished a race with a positive place differential, a net gain of two spots at COTA.
Sam Mayer, 20th ($10,000)
Sunday means the long-awaited start of Sam Mayer in the Xfinity Series. For those unfamiliar with Mayer, he should be the hottest prospect in NASCAR. Well, it was definitely that way before Ty Gibbs came in Stone Cold Steve Austin style and won two Xfinity races at age 18 breaking glass and kicking people in the gut. Before the start of the 2021 season, all eyes were on Mayer as he won at Bristol in the Trucks Series as a 17-year-old, as well as 11 races in the various Arca-Menards Series and the Arca-Menards East championship.
Mayer will grace the 8 of Jr Motorsports, a car that has been very competitive with Josh Berry behind the wheel. With no practice, and no prior Xfinity Series starts, it’s hard to project just what to expect from Mayer. Yet he should be a threat to move forward, and dominator points can’t be ruled out either. With no regard for playoff points, Mayer can do what Gibbs and Berry have been doing all season… go out for a win and put himself in position, via pit stop strategy, to be in contention for that victory.
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Santino Ferruci, 26th ($8,500)
The current Indy driver makes his return to the Xfinity Series for Sam Hunt this Sunday. This will be the first time Ferruci has been in this car since finishing 15th at Atlanta. In Ferruci’s four starts for Sam Hunt, he excelled for an open-wheel driver crossing over into stock cars. In his first start at Homestead, Ferruci finished two laps down in 30th but every finish after that was on the lead lap in either 13th or 15th place. A similar finish will put Ferruci right on the borderline of making value, fantasy points-wise.
On the other hand, there is a weak corollary that may provide some upside. The closest track that compares to Pocono is that of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In this season’s Indy 500, Ferruci finished 6th for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. If that track and that race having any bearing on Pocono, DFS players can envision a scenario on Sunday where Ferruci squeezes into the top 10.
Carson Ware, 32nd ($5,000)
It doesn’t matter who’s piloting this No. 17 car for Rick Ware/ SS Green Light. Just play them, especially when the driver doesn’t get any respect from DraftKings. Cody, the other, Ware made three starts in the Xfinity Series last season, including last season’s Pocono race. In that race for Bobby Dotter, Ware started 16th and finished 20th.
Joey Gase, 40th ($5,400)
With the 17 seat already filled for Rick Ware, Gase makes the start for Jimmy Means driving the 52. The brass tax on this ride is that hasn’t been great with Gaulding behind the seat for 2021. With four DNFs, three due to wrecks, Gaulding has only crested the top 20 once this season (Mid-Ohio). In the nine races that Gaulding has finished, his average finishing position is 26th. The only three times that Gaulding has finished on the lead lap were all road races. There are serious questions about this car and just how much better it can be with Gase behind the wheel.
Should Gase have a day that mirrors what Gaulding has done in this car, a 25th place finish will net Gase 32 DraftKings points. That’s more than 5x value and makes him a great floor play in cash.
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