DFS Picks for The Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway for October 17, 2020

This past weekend the NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Drive for the Cure 250. The race was the final instalment in the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. The standings post-race are as follows with Chase Briscoe in first followed by Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Brandon Jones, RossChastain, and Ryan Sieg. The next length of the playoffs will feature races at Kansas Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway. A.J. Allmendinger left Charlotte victorious after a hard-fought race that ended in overtime. It was a rainy day at Charlotte and Allmendinger was able to overcome the conditions and beat Championship hopeful Noah Gragson by a minuscule 0.45 seconds. Check out the race recap here (https://youtu.be/N_24g0VZryw). With his win last weekend A.J. Allmendinger won his second race of the season, a great feat as he started in the 22^nd. Allmendinger has been an attractive place differential option the past few weeks and the race this past weekend was the race that choosing him for your lineup payed off. 

Today’s free pick is going to be Brandon Brown ($ 7,100 DK). When the NASCAR Xfinity Series first raced at Kansas Speedway earlier this year Brown started 22^nd and had a great race where he finished 11^th. Brown at intermediate courses this year has shown that he can overcome starting in the back of the field after races at Texas where he started 19^th and finished 10^th. At Kentucky where he started 27^th and finished 13^th. At Las Vegas where he started 19^th and finished 11^th. On the season he has started on average 14.9 and finished 13.91. On intermediate courses he has one top ten finish. Starting 16^th for the Kansas Lottery 300, Brown should be able to see some of the same success he has had this year at intermediate tracks. If he has the same type of race, he had at Kansas earlier this year there is no reason to believe that he will not be able to get to the front pack of drivers. 

Potential Dominators

Brandon Jones: I will start by saying that I am surprised with the price of Brandon Jones ($ 9,300 DK) this week. Jones won the earlier race this year at Kansas after starting second. In races that Jones has finished this year on intermediate tracks he has an average finish of 7.13. In those eight races this year on intermediate tracks he has two wins: one at Kansas and one at Darlington, three top five finishes, and six top ten finishes. Jones has been good on mile and a half tracks this year to say the least. Jones currently sits sixth in playoff standings entering this next round of the playoffs and will need to be aggressive this week to get playoff points, whether it be winning stages or the race. 

Daniel Hemric: The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series has had its ups and downs for Daniel Hemric ($8,700 DK). In 2020 he has six top five finishes and 11 top ten finishes in 19 races. If you dive in deep to look at the races that Hemric has finished, he has an average finish of 6.75. Specifically, on intermediate tracks he has finished on average 5.17. On intermediate tracks Hemric has been excellent this year. With Hemric starting this week’s race third I would expect Hemric to be in contention for the win, the most laps led and fastest laps. Since 2017 Hemric has raced at Kansas three times, in those three races he has led 128 laps, placed second once and had another top ten finish. Overall Hemric is set up to have a great race at Kansas. 

DFS Place Differential Options

Anthony Alfredo: In his rookie season Anthony Alfredo ($9,500 DK) has one top five finish and eight top ten finishes in 16 races. I like Alfredo this week because of his proven ability this year to finish better than he starts. This season he has started on average 13.38 and finishes on average 11.31. This will be his first race at Kansas in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, however, he at intermediate tracks this year has fared well. On intermediate tracks he has one top five finish and five top 10 finishes in eight races. Starting 25^th this week puts Alfredo in an excellent place to get place differential points as he looks to better his 10.75 average finish on intermediate tracks. 

DFS Picks to Avoid 

Chase Briscoe: For all the success that Chase Briscoe ($10,500 DK) has had this year, some of his worst finishes have come at mile and a half race tracks. On DraftKings this week Briscoe is the most expensive driver and after starting second at Darlington and finishing 11^th a couple of weeks ago, starting sixth at Kansas and finishing 14^th and starting eight at Charlotte and finishing 20^th can be left out of your lineup this week. Briscoe also has not raced well the last two races. At Talladega he was awarded the pole and ended up finishing 19^th. That success was not there also at last weekend’s race at Charlotte where he started eighth and finished 18^th. 

MY TOP-FIVE OVERALL AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY

1. Noah Gragson
2. Brandon Jones
3. Daniel Hemric
4. Austin Cindric
5. Justin Haley