This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Focused Health 250 Preview
Location: Hampton, Georgia
Course: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Format: Quad-Oval
Length: 1.54 miles
Laps: 163
NASCAR Xfinity Focused Health 250 Preview
Connor Zilisch walked away with an impressive race win at Pocono and is rising up the driver standings rapidly. That keeps us locked in with six full-time drivers with wins this season with nine races to go before the playoffs begin.
Looking forward, we head into a weekend of racing with a unique schedule as the Xfinity Series will race on Friday at 7:30 pm ET with the Cup Series 24 fours later. We get the second race at Atlanta of the season after Austin Hill took home the win in February. The Richard Childress duo of Hill and Jesse Love should remain some of the top favorites to take home the race win, though Aric Almirola is back in the field for the weekend and should not be dismissed as a contender.
Key Stats at Atlanta Motor Speedway
- Number of Races: 38
- Winners from Pole: 7
- Winners from Top 5: 21
- Winners from Top 10: 30
Previous Winners at Atlanta Motor Speedway
2025 – Austin Hill
2024 - Austin Hill
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
After a break, we return to some of the drafting tracks that dominated the early portions of the schedule. We'll see a lot of pack racing in rows, including (potentially ill-fated) bumps and fuel saving.
There are also some macro trends we can take away from the recent winners. Since the track was reconfigured in 2021, there have been nine races. Of those eight, Chevrolet has been the manufacturer of six winners and Toyota three. Be careful about drawing conclusions from that, however, as that statistic mostly comes from Hill's dominance at the track.
On the other hand, qualifying does matter. Since 2021, every winner has started from sixth position on the grid or better.
RotoWire NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Tools
DraftKings Values for the Focused Health 250
Based on a Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 DraftKings Values
Austin Hill - $11,000
Jesse Love - $10,700
Aric Almirola- $10,500
Tier 2 DraftKings Values
Carson Kvapil -$9,100
Sammy Smith - $8,800
Taylor Gray - $8,500
Brandon Jones - $8,300
Nick Sanchez- $8,000
Tier 3 DraftKings Values
Harrison Burton - $7,800
Daniel Dye - $7,700
William Sawalich - $7,500
Jeb Burton - $7,300
Tier 4 DraftKings Values
Matt DiBenedetto - $6,600
Brennan Poole- $6,300
NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Picks for the Focused Health 250
Austin Hill - $11,000
Sammy Smith - $8,800
Taylor Gray - $8,500
Harrison Burton - $7,800
Jeb Burton - $7,300
Matt DiBenedetto - $6,600
Hill is the obvious choice based on his dominance. His performance earlier this season should have been particularly demoralizing to the rest of the field, as he didn't appear to have the fastest car but still held off all challengers. Until further notice, he's the king of Atlanta Motor Speedway. Both other Tier 1 options are viable pivots, and Almirola in particular shouldn't be concerned about challenging Hill.
The crux of constructing rosters from there is deciding how much to trust the very small sample of racing that we've seen from some of the top rookies in the Xfinity Series. Many had success at both Daytona (a very comparable track to Atlanta) and Atlanta in February. In addition to those results, it's worth looking at the driver's form in the Truck Series and also how they qualified in the spring.
Gray is one option I'd consider based on those factors. He qualified second and sixth at Daytona and Atlanta, respectively, banking a fifth-place finish at Daytona to begin the season. He also has a fourth-place finish at Atlanta in the Truck Series on his resume. Sanchez is another driver is a similar type of option in the same price range with a wide range of possible outcomes.
Elsewhere in the sample lineup, Smith has four consecutive finishes inside the top 10 at Atlanta, while Harrison Burton has a track record of success at superspeedways in both the Xfinity and Cup series. Both Jeb Burton and Matt DiBenedetto are steady plays to make the salary fit.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Best Bets for the Focused Health 250
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 2:00 PM ET Thursday
Outright Winner
Austin Hill (+220), Jesse Love (+400), Aric Almirola (+1000), Taylor Gray (+2200)
As of Thursday morning, there was a more limited selection on sportsbooks after we saw head-to-head wagers available the past few weeks. Superspeedways tend to have a significant amount of greater variance than intermediate tracks, so this could be the weekend to try to capitalize on longer shot options, regardless of what offerings may pop up in the next 24 hours.
The appeal of each of the four drivers has already been discussed a bit in the DFS section, so this is about trying to find the right value. Hill is the obvious choice and his odds are likely to get even shorter after qualifying, so getting a bet in on him early makes some sense. Almirola is the sweet spot in terms of intersection of value and likelihood of success , while Gray offers some long-shot appeal.
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