BetMGM 300 DFS Picks & NASCAR Playbook - Charlotte, 5/25

Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series race saw Nick Sanchez score his second win of the season even if he may not have had the best ride. Corey Heim lost a lot of track position on pit road at no fault of his own. The jack broke and seconds were wasted sitting idle as others completed their pit stops. Still, he worked his way through the field over the last 50 laps to still finish second, but was disqualified following the race. It was a relatively tame race for the most part. Do we see a little more carnage with the Xfinity Series? Let’s find out as we dive into another race for this phenomenal weekend for motorsports. Here are the top NASCAR DFS lineup picks and strategies for Saturday’s BetMGM 300!

BetMGM 300 NASCAR DFS Lineup Picks

As is usually the case for the Xfinity Series on intermediates, we have 300 laps for this race and they’re divided into 45-45-110 lap stages. Unlike Friday night’s race, we do have a few NASCAR Cup Series drivers in this field. Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Chase Elliott, and Noah Gragson are getting extra laps in for Saturday afternoon’s race from Charlotte Motor Speedway ahead of Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600.

Each of the last four races at Charlotte have seen three drivers lead 20+ laps. In three of the races in that sample size, there have been three drivers to lead 30+ laps. Cautions have come at a slightly higher frequency for the Xfinity Series than they have for the Truck Series. The 2023 race was tame with just four caution for 31 total laps. However, the prior three Charlotte races saw 8, 10, and 11 cautions for an average of 49 laps. Overall, we want multiple dominators in our builds with the perfect blend of value plays that can finish well.

What I do like about this race is that we can rely a little more on practice and qualifying results than we did for the Truck Series. The trucks had practice Friday afternoon when track temps were at their hottest, but the race was run under the lights at night with cooler conditions. The Xfinity Series at least had practice right after the Truck Series on a hot track and the race will be run during the day as long as the weather cooperates.

BetMGM 300 Practice Notes

Top Price Core Plays

Ty Gibbs ($11,500; Starting P1)

I’m optimistic Gibbs can actually score his first career Cup Series win Sunday night, but we’ll start the momentum with today’s BetMGM 300. Gibbs starts on the pole and he’s in a Joe Gibbs Racing car, so we know it’s in the upper tier in terms of equipment.

In three career Xfinity Series races at Charlotte, he’s never finished outside the top five. He won the first two stages in this race a year ago and led 52 laps. Gibbs even grabbed the win in this race back in 2021. He touted one of the better long run speeds in practice so if we get some dominator points and a strong finish, he’s an easy play.

Chase Elliott ($11,000; Starting P30)

There’s no sugar coating it, Elliott simply had a horrible qualifying lap yesterday. The practice speeds were okay as the single lap speed wasn’t anything to write home about, but he was top 12 in qualifying.

The car was ridiculously loose during qualifying and so he starts deep in the field. I hope the team makes adjustments and just starts from the rear since they’re already starting P30 as it currently stands.

Charlotte is actually one of Elliott’s best tracks even if the final results in the NextGen car haven’t been great. He led 86 laps in the Coca-Coca 600 in 2022 but he’s wrecked each of the last two years. He did win the race during the 2020 COVID season though.

The PD alone is enough to lock him in as a play. He’s in a similar spot to Christian Eckes from Friday’s Truck Series race.

Justin Allgaier ($10,500; Starting P9)

After a sluggish start to the season, Allgaier went to victory lane a couple weeks ago at Darlington leading 119 laps with 54 fastest laps. There’s no doubt about it, he absolutely spanked the field.

Allgaier starts P9 but works well as a secondary dominator candidate. He was top three in single-lap and 10-lap speed during practice. He won this race last year but across the last two races at Charlotte, he’s led a total of 146 laps.

I think we can quell any concerns we may have had about the start to the season since he got the first win of the year out of the way. The level of competition this week is stiff but Allgaier brought a strong car.

Mid-Price Core Plays

Riley Herbst ($8,800; Starting P19)

It’s always tough to gauge what we’ll get out of Herbst, but the starting spot is decent and we have top 10 equity. We haven’t seen too many races on intermediates for the Xfinity Series, but he was top five at Vegas (his home track) and he finished seventh at Darlington two weeks ago.

He has never finished top 10 at Charlotte and with a field of this capacity he’ll likely need some help. But this is the range where we’re targeting our PD plays and hoping for a solid finish even if we gamble on a high variance driver like Riley Herbst.

Taylor Gray ($7,800; Starting P15)

I’m skipping over Sammy Smith ($8,000; Starting P16) because he’s a little too hard to trust at the moment, but I may end up with a little exposure still. Taylor Gray gets to jump into the 19-car for Joe Gibbs Racing this weekend. He’s having a strong year in the Craftsman Truck Series and he’s done pretty well in his brief appearances in the Xfinity Series.

He’s priced down a little bit because the overall results haven’t quite matched the speed at times, but I do like the discount we’re getting considering the equipment. He finished 12^th in last night’s Truck Series race and based on the practice notes posted above, he looks to have top 10 speed in the car.

Parker Kligerman ($7,400; Starting P28)

We are getting a lot of position differential from Kligerman for this race. Aside from Chase Elliott, he’s likely the other PD staple for cash game considerations.

Kligerman might have a top 15 car and given the price tag, and where he’s starting, that could be enough for us to reap the benefits. Kligerman only has one top five finish this year, and it came at COTA. However, he was sixth two weeks ago at Darlington and 12^th at Dover towards the end of April.

Kligerman’s practice results indicate that he’s faster than where he’ll be starting. With that said, there is still variance with this play. Unfortunately, he is prone to some bad finishes.

Value Price Core Plays

Ryan Sieg ($7,200; Starting P21)

I don’t get it, but historically this is one of Sieg’s worst tracks. He’s finished 24^th or worse in the last four races at Charlotte and he’s wrecked in two of those.

It’s not to say all the results have been terrible. Sure, he has a pair of top 10 finishes here. But I am investing in the fact that he’s looked very strong at times this year. He held his ground at Vegas and finished seventh after starting P6. Then we all remember the dramatic finish at Texas where he finished second. Darlington isn’t a great track for him either but he still started P26 and finished 13^th.

For this race, he hits 5X value if he finishes 14^th but there’s wiggle room for a little improvement. If you need a cheaper option with more position differential, his brother Kyle is just $6,000 and starting P34.

Josh Williams ($6,700; Starting P36)

Here we are grasping at the low-hanging fruit with Josh Williams. He starts very deep in the field and in this Kaulig Racing car, we’ve seen him move up plenty. He started P32 and finished 14^th at Vegas earlier in the year, and he had a streak of top 12 finishes at tracks like Martinsville, Richmond, and Texas.

Needless to say, but this car is better than a P36 starting spot. Williams isn’t a great qualifier, but he’s moved up through the field plenty of times this year.

The practice speeds weren’t great, although he was top 15 in 10-lap average. We’re looking at a 40+ point performance on DraftKings if he can just finish 19^th. If you aren’t using Kligerman in cash games, you’re definitely using Williams but can easily fit both.

Shane Van Gisbergen ($6,500; Starting P28)

The price continues to drop for SVG, which is odd because he’s returned 30+ fantasy points in four of his last five races with two of those performances going for 40+ points.

We know he’s more comfortable on the road course. Maybe he gets bored with the ovals, but he’s coming around and is not regretting his decision to make a run at NASCAR. 

He grabbed a top 15 finish at Darlington two weeks ago and started P33 and finished 18^th at Texas about a month ago. He’s by far, a much better driver than teammate Josh Williams. It’s almost laughable that he’s cheaper but both offer PD this weekend.

Dean Thompson ($6,000; Starting P26)

Thompson is more of a tournament-only recommendation. When you consider the starting spots for Josh Williams and even SVG, we probably don’t need to take this risk in cash games.

He’s making his Xfinity Series debut with Sam Hunt Racing today. We know the equipment has had its moment. The last handful of races for the 26-car haven’t been great. But Thompson did finish in the top 10 in last night’s Truck Series race. If you need more salary savings, look to JJ Yeley ($5,300; Starting P38) who starts dead last and can’t get you negative points.

BetMGM 300 NASCAR DFS Driver Pool