NASCAR DFS Playbook Wawa 250: Top DraftKings Picks

As the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Daytona for the regular season finale, the Xfinity Series still has a few races left in the season, so Daytona isn’t quite the finale for these drivers. But still, we have the Xfinity Series and Daytona International Speedway. This isn’t exactly a recipe for success especially with how messy this series was at Watkins Glen as Sam Mayer claimed his second career win. Daytona is a unique race in that it’s a great opportunity to place some wagers on long-shot drivers to potentially score a win or even a top ten. It really is an opportunity for smaller teams to potentially lock themselves into the playoffs. Jeremy Clements earned himself a spot in the playoffs last year by winning this race. Let’s dig in and see how we should approach the Wawa 250 on DraftKings for Friday night’s DFS contests.

This weekend is a little odd in terms of scheduling. The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series are at Daytona so we know there won’t be any practice. I’m totally fine with that. Practice doesn’t matter for these races anyway. Qualifying for this race will be at 3:00pm ET on Friday with the Cup Series coming right after that for Saturday night’s race under the lights. The Craftsman Truck Series will race Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee. Yes, there will be a full NASCAR DFS Playbook for that race. Practice for Milwaukee will be on Saturday with qualifying coming Sunday morning. It’s definitely an odd week for NASCAR but definitely a weekend where I recommend playing lighter for Daytona given the unpredictable nature of this style of racing. 

As Matt and I have noted plenty of times for superspeedway races, the dominator points are hard to gauge and salaries mean very little. You can absolutely leave salary on the table for these Daytona races. There are going to be the drivers that make sense on paper, but at the end of the day we’re throwing darts when building our NASCAR DFS lineups for Daytona. It’s by far my least favorite kind of race for DFS. Be on the lookout for updates in RED following Friday afternoon’s qualifying session. With no practice sessions to be cognizant of for this race, here are the top NASCAR DFS drivers for the Wawa 250.

NASCAR DFS Driver Pool

Austin Hill ($10,500)

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Austin Hill made a superspeedway Playbook. He’s won two of the last three Xfinity Series races at Daytona leading at least 18 laps in each. Sure, dominator points are meaningless if drivers wreck but we know there’s win equity with Austin Hill and he tends to find his way to the front in these races. Under Atlanta’s new configuration he’s won twice and finished second with over 200 laps combined in four races. Talladega hasn’t been as fruitful with results, but he’s started on the front row in each of the last three races with over 140 laps led in that sample size. It’s odd that he can be this consistent in finding his way to the front at these tracks, but he leads off the Playbook for good reason. Update: He landed the pole and he's expensive. In theory, this is a pretty bad play. BUT we know he can win and lead laps here. There aren't many drivers we have a ton of confidence in but he's one of the few exceptions. I'm doing three lineups tonight and will likely only play him in one lineup just trying to hit the optimal. But play him knowing that there's still the real potential he goes backward. 

Justin Haley ($10,300)

Justin Haley was basically Austin Hill before Austin Hill took over as the superspeedway king in the Xfinity Series. Haley won this race in 2020 and 2021 in addition to scoring a pair of wins at Talladega in 2020. Earlier this summer he led 80 laps in the Xfinity Series race at Atlanta and finished fourth. He definitely has the pedigree to win this race and he grabbed a top ten here in February. Update: Similar sentiment as above for Austin Hill, but at least Haley offers a little more PD. Still has win equity and Clements won last year's race from P9.

Jr. Motorsports

I kind of want to just lump Justin Allgaier ($10,000), Josh Berry ($9,900), and Sam Mayer ($9,800) together. These three drivers combined to lead 67 laps in the Spring race at Daytona. And while Allgaier was the only one to finish well, I find it interesting DraftKings priced them all so close together. They all finished poorly at Talladega and none of them are in danger of missing the playoffs since Allgaier and Mayer have wins this year and Berry is safe on points for the most part. But still, there’s win equity here and if they’re in contention at the end they’ll likely be working together. It’ll be hard to play all three if they qualify well so expect updates following qualifying Friday afternoon. Update: So with the news breaking that Allgaier had a technical infraction and that he has to drop to the rear and do a pass-through, I’m downgrading him a bit. However, I’m not too concerned if he loses the lead lap. There will be enough cautions in this race for Allgaier to get back on the lead lap. He can still qualify the car and depending on where he qualifies will impact how good of a play he is. If he lays down a top ten qualifying lap, I probably don’t love the play as much. If he qualifies in the teens or further back I could still stomach playing him on DraftKings. Update: Berry and Mayer are fine GPP plays starting right outside the top ten. Allgaier qualified P12 but will start from the rear and do a pass through. Likely prefer them just in Tournaments. Wouldn't play all three together. Play two at the most.

Parker Kligerman ($9,300)

It’s hard to gauge Kligerman’s upside but he is getting 12-1 odds to win. He’s had his up’s and down’s this year in the Xfinity Series but there is potential here. He qualified on the front row for this race in February and finished outside the top 20. But he did bounce back finishing fourth and eighth in the two Atlanta races while finishing third at Talladega earlier in the year. There’s certainly upside but he may qualify fairly high which could limit his ceiling while lowering his ownership. He also has the good vibes of knowing he’ll be back in this car in 2024 as it was announced the organization of bring him back for next season. Update: Tournament-only.

Cole Custer ($9,100)

If we’re basing it off just this year, Custer’s done well on superspeedways. He finished ninth here in the Spring after starting third and at Talladega he started P18 and finished fourth. He also finished 12^th and third in the two Atlanta races. He has a handful of top 15 finishes from the Cup Series on superspeedways as well. You are paying a bit of a premium, but pricing is irrelevant this week. I’m more interested in where he qualifies and if that impacts his DFS ceiling. Update: Don't hate him starting P11. Prefer him just in Tournaments.

Brandon Jones ($8,300)

Brandon Jones at a superspeedway, what could possibly go wrong? This year has been a disaster for Jones. In 23 races he has just six top ten finishes and only two top five finishes. That’s very unbecoming of what we know this car is capable of. He finished 14^th at both Daytona and Talladega this year but he’s flirted with winning Dega during his time with Joe Gibbs Racing. But overall, the $8K range isn’t a great group this week. Update: Starts P17. I anticipate he'll be popular in Tournaments because of the starting spot. I don't know if I'm there yet to play him in Cash games.

Jeb Burton ($7,900)

Burton is another superspeedway driver we should have on our radar. He’s won at Talladega twice (including this year) and he’s finished fourth at Daytona on three occasions spanning eight races. He’s gained a total of 37 spots of position differential in his last five Daytona races, which does speak to how well he can drive in a draft since he qualified pretty well during his time with Kaulig Racing. He’s a high upside play as is his teammate, Parker Retzlaff. I won’t highlight Retzlaff too much because he’s still relatively green for this type of race. But he did finish fourth here earlier this season, while also finishing seventh at Talladega when Burton won. Update: Tournament only play. Retzlaff is an intriguing play that may not have a ton of ownership. He qualified P23 but has to drop to the rear and do a pass through. Really like the potential leverage there in Tournaments.

Riley Herbst ($7,700)

Herbst is never a driver you feel good about playing, but he is an all-or-nothing type play at superspeedways. He has four top ten finishes in his last six Daytona races. Herbst wrecked in the last Atlanta race in July but did finish top ten in the three previous races there with a pair of top five finishes baked into that sample size as well. Even at Talladega he has three top 11 finishes in his last five races. He even ran the Daytona 500 earlier this year and grabbed a top ten. He doesn’t have the win equity of someone like Austin Hill, but I do feel better about playing Herbst at a track like Daytona than I do when they race at a different track type. Update: Lot of upside here in Tournaments.

Jordan Anderson ($7,600)

Jordan Anderson is a bit of a superspeedway darling from the Truck Series. He was the back-to-back runner-up at Daytona in the Truck Series in 2020 and 2021. He’s only raced on a superspeedway just twice in the Xfinity Series. But he finished 22^nd in this race two years ago and finished fifth at Talladega in 2021. There’s the potential for a very high ceiling but he may not be as safe as some other drivers that can save a little money. Update: Probably eating the chalk and playing him in Cash games. I'd pivot in Tournaments, but ownership might not be super heavy with his pass through penalty.

Anthony Alfredo ($7,300)

I am interested in Alfredo because BJ McLeod is always a sneaky DFS play when he races on superspeedways. But Anthony Alfredo, in BJ McLeod Motorsports equipment, tends to over-qualify the car and go backward, thus finishing poorly. He qualified P10 and finished 24^th at Daytona in the Spring. At Talladega he started P6 and wrecked. And he qualified inside the top 20 for both Atlanta races. So I’d prefer if he started a little further back. I wouldn’t play him if he started top ten. I’m okay giving him some exposure if he starts top 20. Update: So he qualified P20 so I don't hate that all too much. Has upside for sure, but still a risky play. He's a good “lineup theory” play. Not playing him in Cash games.

Brett Moffitt ($7,000)

Moffitt is actually a guy I don’t mind betting at 50-1 on DraftKings Sportsbook to win outright. He’s been great in these “drafting” races so far in 2023. He finished 29^th in this race in the Spring but had an average running position of 16^th. He led 20 laps and finished 12^th at Talladega in the Spring and he finished 6^th and 11^th in the two Atlanta races. We know that he has top 12 upside and he almost won here two years ago with Our Motorsports. This is definitely a race he can win and I won’t rule out the possibility that he could be this year’s Jeremy Clements. Update: Starting P22. No issue playing him. Better in Tournaments but he's a good way to make your Cash lineups unique.

Jeremy Clements ($6,900)

Speaking of Jeremy Clements, he did win this race a year ago, but aside from that he hasn’t done too much at Daytona. He’s raced here 26 times and has only finished in the top ten on three occasions. He has a dozen top 20 finishes which is okay, but really I want exposure to Clements if he starts deep in the field. In the Spring opener at Daytona he started P38 and finished 17^th. At Talladega a few months later, he started P37 and finished 19^th. So if he starts outside the top 30 there’s a fair chance he can move up into the top 20, maybe even the top 15. But if he qualifies inside the top 20 I can’t say I’m all that interested even though he won this race a year ago starting P9. Update: Starting outside the top 30. Cash eligible. I would go underweight in Tournaments because of the starting spot and because he won this race last year. Ownership is likely juiced.

Ryan Sieg ($6,700)

Sieg is a similar play to Justin Allgaier on Friday. He will also have to do a pass through once the race goes green. Again, there will be enough cautions for him to regain the lead lap if he were to lose it. The difference between Allgaier and Sieg is that Sieg failed three times and won’t be able to qualify the car. So, he’s going to be scored from the rear no matter what. He has four top five finishes in his last six races at Daytona and even led some laps here in the Spring before wrecking. He’s an easy Cash game lock if playing Double Up’s but a good way to have leverage on the field is to be underweight on this play in Tournaments. Update: Cash lock similar to Anderson and Clements. Still fine in Tournaments but could be worthy of finding a pivot. Has to do a pass through.

JJ Yeley ($6,400)

We know Yeley wouldn’t be very expensive. He doesn’t have much win equity, but he still tends to move up by just avoiding the Big One. In his last ten races at Daytona he’s finished top 20 in nine of those races and he’s only wrecked once. Here’s my favorite stat; in his last seven races at Daytona he’s gained a total of 122 spots of position differential. He’s gained at least 15 spots of PD in five of those last seven races and we should probably expect him to start deeper in the field for Friday night’s race. At Talladega he has a similar resume with four top 18 finishes in his last five races. Update: Love this play. Go ahead and stack the back with him in Cash games. Love him for Tournaments as well assuming people flock to the PD of Sieg, Clements, and Anderson.

Gray Gaulding ($6,000)

Gaulding has shown he can be an all-or-nothing type DFS play when running superspeedways in the Xfinity Series. In this race in February he grabbed a top 20 but he also started P23 so he didn’t grab a ton of PD points. But he finished top ten at Daytona in 2019 and 2020. At Talladega earlier this year he finished eighth after starting P26 which now gives him three top eight finishes in five career races at Talladega. Even at Atlanta earlier in the year he started P35 and finished 20^th. So if he starts deep in the field I think he’s a fine play in both Cash games and Tournaments. Update: Fine with him in Cash and Tournaments

Other Value Plays

I can't conjure too many bad plays under Gray Gaulding. Really Joey Gase is the only one I'd probably avoid because he starts P15. But literally every driver under $6,000 is live for Tournaments. Even Natalie Decker has potential if she rides around the back and lets everyone else wreck out. 

NASCAR DFS Core Drivers

By all means, the drivers in the Cash Game section below can still be played in Tournaments but they will be very popular based on what we know about how races at Daytona play out.