This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Food City 300
Location: Bristol, Tennessee
Course: Bristol Motor Speedway
Format: Oval
Laps: 300
NASCAR Xfinity Food City 300
As the Cup series playoffs roll on, the Xfinity Series regular season will conclude Friday night at Bristol. The field is all but set barring a surprise new winner, as Sammy Smith currently sits 43 points above the cut line.
Even looking a bit further up the standings, there isn't all that much at stake. Justin Allgaier is in control of the regular-season championship, which would also provide him 15 bonus playoff points. There could be some minor movement elsewhere, as Chandler Smith could surpass Cole Custer with a strong weekend and the middle of the playoff pack could be shuffled a bit. All told, we'll be looking to see if there will be a new winner, but otherwise primarily turning our attention to the first round of the playoffs which kick off at Kansas.
Key Stats at Bristol
- Number of Races: 80
- Winners from Pole: 11
- Winners from top-five starters: 41
- Winners from top-10 starters: 58
Previous 10 Bristol Winners
2023- Justin Allgaier
2022- Noah Gragson
2021- AJ Allmendinger
2020- Chase Briscoe
2020- Noah Gragson
2019- Tyler Reddick
2019 – Christopher Bell
2018 – Kyle Larson
2018- Ryan Preece
2017 – Kyle Busch
Bristol is a compelling short-track race, but Xfinity has modified its schedule to go there only once in contrast to both the Truck and Cup series. That's notable due to what we saw in the spring race in the Cup series, where tire wear was extreme. If we get any inkling of that pre-race, it will be something to take into consideration. That's particularly true because we should get cooler temperatures for a Friday night race.
Other than that potential falloff, we know what to expect at this famous short track known as "The Last Great Colosseum," as there will be plenty of contact between drivers and the potential of heightened tempers and drama as a result. The field is mostly familiar and the traditional Xfinity series drivers, but we do get both Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeffrey Earnhardt in the field.
NASCAR Xfinity DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Food City 300
Based on a Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 DraftKings Values
Justin Allgaier - $10,800
Cole Custer - $10,200
Sam Mayer - $10,000
Tier 2 DraftKings Values
Sammy Smith - $8,300
Riley Herbst - $8,200
Brandon Jones - $8,000
Tier 3 DraftKings Values
Parker Kligerman - $7,800
Ryan Sieg - $7,600
Parker Retzlaff- $7,300
Anthony Alfredo - $6,900
NASCAR Xfinity Picks for the Food City 300
Justin Allgaier - $10,800
Sammy Smith - $8,300
Riley Herbst - $8,200
Brandon Jones - $8,000
Ryan Sieg - $7,600
Anthony Alfredo - $6,900
Bristol is a unique track, so we can rely heavily on track history to make our picks. A secondary track to consider is Dover, as it also a traditional oval with comparable banking and a concrete service. Due to the relative predictability this is a good weekend to build a well-rounded lineup.
Even at his elevated price, Allgaier is a pretty easy driver to build around. In the last three races at Bristol, he's led 350 laps (900 possible), which has predictably led to a 130.9 driver rating and finishes of fourth, ninth and first. He's an obvious play and is projected to check in at a 48.4 percent roster rate, so in larger tournaments, it is worth considering shifting to a different Tier 1 driver.
Tier 2 is also relatively self-explanatory based on track history and we can easily fit all three of these drivers into a lineup. My priorities would be Herbst and Jones. Herbst doesn't have the same dominant driver rating as Allgaier, but he has third, fifth and eighth-place finishes at Bristol. He has been in a tough stretch of results of late, but I'm willing to overlook that given the uniqueness of Bristol. The story is the same for Jones, with a driver rating of 99.2 in the last three races.
From there, we can move into the lower tiers and punt plays. As could be expected, we see the volatility of results increase as we move down the price tiers. Sieg has driver ratings over 90 in each of his last two races at Bristol, leading to two top-ten finishes. Alfredo is the exception to the "good track record at Bristol" club, but he is okay at Dover and helps the rest of the lineup come together. For those who fade Allmendinger, Alfredo should be very easy to avoid.
