This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Focused Health 250
Location: Hampton, Georgia
Course: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Format: Quad-Oval
Laps: 163
NASCAR Xfinity Focused Health 250
Though the Xfinity Series schedule largely mirrors the Cup schedule, the playoffs don't align. That said, we still have three races remaining in the regular season schedule with this weekend bringing the series to Atlanta. The playoff picture remains largely unchanged after Christopher Bell took home the win in Darlington last weekend, but we know things can change quickly after the Cup series had two relatively surprising winners to close out their regular season. In its current form, Atlanta can offer some unpredictable results so this will be an important weekend to monitor. Sammy Smith is most in jeopardy, both from a points and new winner perspective. He stands only 10 points above Ryan Sieg and could easily be bumped off the playoff bubble.
Key Stats at Atlanta
- Number of Races: 36
- Winners from Pole: 7
- Winner from top-five starters: 19
- Winners from top-ten starters: 29
Previous 10 Atlanta Winners
- 2024- Austin Hill
- 2023- John Hunter Nemechek
- 2023- Austin Hill
- 2022 – Austin Hill
- 2022 – Ty Gibbs
- 2021 – Kyle Busch
- 2021 – Justin Allgaier
- 2020 – AJ Allmendinger
- 2019- Christopher Bell
- 2018- Kevin Harvick
Superspeedway races have been considered unpredictable, but since the track was repaved in 2021, qualifying has become extremely important. Six of the seven winners have started from inside the top five and four inside the top three. That will make qualifying important to pay attention to and could change some of the picks we mention below.
With the start of the Cup playoffs, we have mostly the traditional Xfinity field plus some additional part-time drivers in the Xfinity series. Most notable in the latter pool is Ryan Truex.
NASCAR Xfinity DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Focused Health 250
Based on a Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1
Austin Hill - $10,800
Jesse Love - $10,500
Tier 2
AJ Allmendinger - $9,500
Ryan Truex - $9,200
Riley Herbst - $9,000
Parker Kligerman - $8,800
Sam Mayer - $8,500
Tier 3
Brandon Jones - $7,500
Parker Retzlaff - $7,100
Jeb Burton - $6,900
Tier 4
Josh Williams - $6,600
Jeremy Clements - $6,500
NASCAR Xfinity Picks for the Focused Health 250
Austin Hill - $10,800
Riley Herbst - $9,000
Sam Mayer - $8,500
Brandon Jones - $7,500
Parker Retzlaff - $7,100
Jeb Burton - $6,900
One look at the track history provides enough justification to build lineups through Austin Hill. In five races since the repave occurred, he has won three times, never finished worse than 12th and maintained a 120.9 driver rating. Jesse Love didn't make the cut to our suggested lineup, but he led 157 laps in the spring race and should be considered.
There are some of the usual suspects in Tier 2 that are relatively straightforward picks, but there are also more unique options. Truex has been good at superspeedways generally (ninth in Atlanta this spring, won at Daytona and hasn't finished outside the top 10 in Atlanta since the repave. Herbst would be another priority in the tier. His history in Atlanta is decent, but it's more of his recent history that stands out to make him a strong option. Across his last nine races, he's finished inside the top 10 six times and tallied three finishes inside the top five.
Both Jones and Retzlaff project very well. Retzlaff is the top value on the RotoWire projections and rightfully so. He got some unwanted attention at the end of the latest Daytona Cup race, but he has a strong history at superspeedways. He's more of a specialist than a well-rounded driver at this point in his career, but this weekend is a time to take advantage. Jones is a tournament play. He has wide variance in results this season and is capable of both winning and losing contests singlehandedly.