This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200
Location: Darlington, South Carolina
Course: Darlington Raceway
Format: Oval
Laps: 147
NASCAR Xfinity Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200
Daytona lived up to its billing as one of the more unpredictable and eventful races on the calendar both in the Cup and Xfinity series. In the latter series, Ryan Truex got the win, which was good news for drivers on the playoff bubble. Truex isn't in the Xfinity Series full-time, meaning he doesn't get a playoff berth with the win. In turn, the cut line doesn't move up. Even with four races remaining, the playoff picture is clear so long as there aren't any additional winners.
Ryan Sieg and Sammy Smith are locked into a tight battle for the final playoff position and have traded positive finishes in recent weeks. Sieg got the better finish in Daytona (fifth) and now has a 15-point cushion for the final playoff spot.
Key Stats at Darlington
- Number of Races: 68
- Winners from Pole: 15
- Winners from top-five starters: 42
- Winners from top-10 starters: 54
Previous 10 Darlington Winners
- 2024 – Justin Allgaier
- 2023 – Denny Hamlin
- 2023- Kyle Larson
- 2022 – Noah Gragson
- 2022 – Justin Allgaier
- 2021- Noah Gragson
- 2021- Justin Allgaier
- 2020- Brandon Jones
- 2020 – Chase Briscoe
- 2019- Cole Custer
Darlington is a favorite track for drivers and also very tough, so we regularly see a lot of Cup Drivers jump down a level into the Xfinity series. We see that once again this time around, with Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Noah Gragson and Ross Chastain all taking part in Saturday's festivities.
We've alluded to it a couple of times, but Darlington Raceway has some fitting nicknames, including the "Lady in Black" and the "Track Too Tough to Tame." The difficulty of the track comes from the egg shape of the circuit, making it difficult to optimize the setup of the car for both ends of the track.
While tough, there is more predictability at this track than last week's superspeedway race. Qualifying is also very important, as 21 of the last 23 winners have started inside the top 10 and 16 of 23 inside the top five.
NASCAR Xfinity DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200
Based on a Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 Values
Justin Allgaier - $10,700
Cole Custer - $10,300
Tier 2 Values
Austin Hill ($9,600)
Joey Logano ($8,600)
AJ Allmendinger ($8,500)
Noah Gragson ($8,300)
Riley Herbst ($8,100)
Ross Chastain ($8,000)
Tier 3 Values
Jesse Love ($7,800)
Sammy Smith ($7,500)
Parker Kligerman ($7,300)
Carson Kvapil ($7,200)
NASCAR Xfinity Picks for the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200
Justin Allgaier - $10,700
Joey Logano - $8,600
Noah Gragson - $8,300
Jesse Love - $7,800
Parker Kligerman ($7,300)
Carson Kvapil ($7,200)
In contrast to last week's stars and scrubs build, the Sports Clips 200 offers the chance for a more balanced roster. The obvious omissions for the top tier are Christopher Bell ($10,300) and Chase Elliott ($10,000). It would be reasonable to roster them for fairly obvious reasons, but Allgaier has an excellent history at this track and some of the cheaper Cup drivers have also been excellent at Darlington. The choice ultimately came down to how to allocate the budget.
Tier 2 offers a wide range of options, so specific roster choices will come down to making the budget fit. Prioritizing the Cup drivers in this section makes sense. Gragson in particular stands out. While in the Xfinity series, he has four races at Darlington and has tallied two wins and never finished outside the top five. Riley Herbst is another name to highlight from the tier. After a slow start, Herbst has been on a tear since mid-June. He's also at his lowest price point in his last four races despite finishing 11th, first and fourth in that span.
Moving into the $7,000 tier, there are more great options to consider. Love has had an inconsistent, but two things are interesting for him this week. First is that his price has dropped significantly. For the last three races, he's been overpriced between $9,600-$9,800. It's potentially worth buying the dip, especially he logged an eighth-place finish at the track earlier in 2024. Kligerman has a poor history at the track, but is in good form (43 or more DK points in each of his last five races) and is underpriced as a result. Last but not least is Kvapil. He drives in Xfinity only part time but has four top-ten finishes in seven chances this season.