This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Xfinity 500
Location: Martinsville, Va.
Course: Martinsville Speedway
Format: 0.53-mile oval
Laps: 500
Race Preview
Just one race remains to firm up the four contenders that will race for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series title at Phoenix. Tyler Reddick scooped up the second of those spots, alongside Joey Logano, by winning a thriller last week at Miami. His victory leaves two spots to be claimed by the remaining six playoff contenders and some of the season-long favorites see their opportunity fading quickly. Christopher Bell is in the enviable position of simply needing to maintain his 22-point margin over William Byron, while everyone else will feel significantly more uneasy. Only seven points separate teammates Byron and Kyle Larson while Denny Hamlin is just 11 points further adrift. Beyond them, Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott enter the weekend knowing they'll have to win to advance. A short-track race at Martinsville Speedway to settle the picture is sure to ratchet up the intensity. Byron led a Hendrick Motorsport 1-2-3 finish at the track in April, but even that might not be enough to get their two remaining championship contenders into the Phoenix finale.
Key Stats at Martinsville Speedway
- Number of races: 151
- Winners from pole: 21
- Winners from top-5 starters: 76
- Winners from top-10 starters: 107
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 7
- Fastest race: 82.223 mph
Previous 10 Martinsville Winners
2024 spring - William Byron
2023 fall - Ryan Blaney
2023 spring - Kyle Larson
2022 fall - Christopher Bell
2022 spring - William Byron
2021 fall - Alex Bowman
2021 spring - Martin Truex Jr.
2020 fall - Chase Elliott
2020 spring - Martin Truex Jr.
2019 fall - Martin Truex Jr.
Martinsville has a long and storied NASCAR history. It is a track the teams know well and requires all the pieces of a NASCAR team to work together just perfectly to come out on top. The track is shaped like a paperclip with tight flat turns and long straights. Those tight turns, and the preference for the inside line, make track position a critical factor. In order to stay clued to the bottom of the track, and potentially move forward, teams must maximize mechanical grip. That grip maximizes speed down the long straights, presenting opportunities to pass by out braking opponents into the next turn. That type of racing put heavy wear on tires and brakes alike. Despite track position being so important, it is not uncommon for the winner to start outside of the top 10. Tire wear and pit strategy often heavily influence track position, which enables drivers to win from further back than many other tracks. Restarts and pit timing is what enables that. The team that can best master the car setup and the race strategy all while making no mistakes will be in the best position to win regardless of their starting spot.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Xfinity 500 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Kyle Larson - $11,500
Ryan Blaney - $11,000
William Byron - $10,800
Christopher Bell - $10,300
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Joey Logano - $9,800
Martin Truex Jr. - $9,300
Chase Briscoe - $8,500
Ross Chastain - $8,300
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Kyle Busch - $8,100
Bubba Wallace - $7,800
Alex Bowman - $7,700
Chris Buescher - $7,500
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Ryan Preece - $6,900
Carson Hocevar - $6,700
Todd Gilliland - $6,600
Zane Smith - $5,800
NASCAR DFS Picks for the Xfinity 500
Lower-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
William Byron - $10,800
Joey Logano - $9,800
Chase Briscoe - $8,500
Bubba Wallace - $7,800
Josh Berry - $7,300
Zane Smith - $5,800
William Byron (DK $10,800, FD $12,000) led the most laps and won the Hendrick-dominated Martinsville visit in April. It was his second victory at the track and fifth top-10 there from 13 starts. He enters this weekend in the championship positions but only slightly. His first goal will be to amass as many points throughout the first two stages of Sunday's race as possible and his second will be to get the victory to ensure he advances to Phoenix. Joey Logano (DK $9,800, FD $11,000) is already assured of racing for the title at Phoenix, and he was also a front runner at Martinsville in April. He led 84 laps and started and finished that race in sixth. That was his 10th straight top-10 finish at the track, which makes him one not to miss this week. Chase Briscoe (DK $8,500, FD $8,200), while not in the championship picture, has a similar Martinsville trend going for him. He was 10th at the track in April and that result was his fifth straight top-10 there. Both Logano and Briscoe are regular features in the top 10 at Martinsville, and fantasy rosters should take advantage of that this week.
Further down the price list, Bubba Wallace (DK $7,800, FD $10,000) could be a good option. The 23XI Racing driver scored his first Martinsville top-five in April and started on the front row. That was his second top-10 at the track and is indication he is figuring out what it takes to race at the front at this circuit. Josh Berry (DK $7,300, FD $7,000) showed a similar glimpse of speed when he qualified seventh for April's race. He only finished 25th that day, but he did win an Xfinity Series race there in 2021. Another option is Zane Smith (DK $5,800, FD $3,500), who won the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at the track in 2021. He hasn't shown the same speed in one Cup Series start at the track, but the team has been improving in the second half of the year with a top-10 and two other top-20 finishes from the most recent five races.
Higher-Risk Lineup ($50K Salary Cap)
Kyle Larson - $11,500
Martin Truex Jr. - $9,300
Alex Bowman - $7,700
Chris Buescher - $7,500
Daniel Suarez - $7,000
Ryan Preece - $6,900
Kyle Larson (DK $11,500, FD $13,500) has been a championship favorite for a bulk of the season, but he enters this last playoff race at Martinsville on the edge of missing out on the championship race. Larson is only seven points behind Byron, though. Larson has also won twice as many races as any other driver this season. He won at this track last season and was second in the spring. It is still way too early to count him out. Martin Truex Jr. (DK $9,300, FD $10,500), on the other hand, has been out for quite some time. However, his results have turned around albeit too late. Truex has three finishes of 11th or better from the last five races and he a three-time winner at this track. He started in the top five in his last three Martinsville tries, too. Alex Bowman (DK $7,700, FD $8,500) is also out but still churning out good finishes. He was eliminated from the playoffs last round but finished fifth and seventh in the two races since. He won at Martinsville in 2021 and was eighth there earlier this season. Bowman's risk comes with the fact that all three of his teammates will be fighting to fill the two remaining championship positions and Bowman may have to give way to that battle.
Chris Buescher's (DK $7,500, FD $7,200) best Martinsville results have come in the last handful of visits. He finished 15th there earlier this season and scored one of his two top-10s there in this race last season. Most important for this week is his current string of finishes, though. Buescher has not finished lower than 17th in any race since Atlanta. Another Martinsville top-15 finish from him this week is the expectation. Daniel Suarez (DK $7,000, FD $6,200) has a similar Martinsville record. Suarez led 13 laps there in April and also led seven laps there in the spring of 2023. He has two top-10 finishes at the track from 13 starts. While he isn't expected to land a top-10 this week, a top-15 is a reasonable expectation given his past history at the track as well as his current run of results. Fantasy players stretching a little bit deeper should also consider Ryan Preece (DK $6,900, FD $6,800). If there is one type of track he has been better than usual at, it has been the short tracks. He was ninth at Martinsville in April and backed that up with a seventh-place finish at Bristol in September. This is the type of racing Preece can make an impact in, and fantasy players may want to take advantage of his low salary this week in the final short-track race of the season.
