After missing out on racing on the dirt track at Bristol Motor Speedway two weeks ago the Xfinity Series returns at Martinsville Speedway this coming Friday night for a race under the lights. This is going to be the Xfinity Series second race at Martinsville since the start of 2018. Last year’s winner was Harrison Burton who after winning this race had a two-race winning streak. Burton, the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota held off veteran and NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff contender Justin Allgaier while leading the final 53 laps of the race. With Burton winning, he became the youngest driver to every win at the track. Ironically passing a mark set by his father Jeff Burton. Coming into this race there are a few favorites to win, however they come at a very high price tag. With drivers like AJ Almendinger ($11,900), Austin Cindric ($11,500), Noah Gragson($11,000), Daniel Hemric ($10,800), and rookie phenome Ty Gibbs ($10,500) all costing you north on $10,000, this is the week to look for value in different drivers. My rule of thumb is to stay away from these high-priced drivers and focus on rounding out your lineup with value picks.
Below is a lineup that we believe can provide the best value for the Cook Out 250 at Martinsville Speedway on 04/09/2021 (DraftKings Values)
| Driver #1 | Justin Allgaier | $ 10,200 | $ | ||
| Driver #2 | Brandon Jones | $ 9,900 | $ | ||
| Driver #3 | $ | $ | |||
| Driver #4 | $ | $ | |||
| Driver #5 | JJ Yeley | $ 7,300 | $ | ||
| Driver #6 | $ | $ |
Justin Allgaier
Of all the top tier, high priced drivers this week, I like Allgaier the best. Not only because I think he can win, but also because of his relatively lower price point. With Allgaier coming in at $10,200, you get a lot more flexibility in your lineup as opposed to inserting one of the drivers I mentioned earlier who will cost you north of $11,000 dollars against your $50,000 budget. At Martinsville in 2020 Allgaier finish second, surprisingly leading no laps. Coming into this race you know that he will be out to win this one. Allgaier comes into this race the defending champion after winning a couple of weekends ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway. After a bit of a rocky start to the season, Allgaier really turned it around at Atlanta. Look for a similar performance for Allgaier Friday night.
Brandon Jones
I have mentioned a couple of times this year that I always seem to pick Brandon Jones. Jones has been great all year; he has just been very unlucky. He had a strong showing at Phoenix in his Number 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Jones was a top-five car early and looked like he had a chance until he was hit with an early pit-road speeding penalty. He did recover however and race his way back into the top-five, and in fact to the lead for a couple of laps. But of course, with his luck this year he was hit from behind. Jones’ day went from a sure as can be top-five finish to a finish in the garage. Just rotten luck. In the most recent race at Atlanta Jones was also dealt a bad hand and wound up finishing 37th. Jones is going to start this race in 24th place where if he drives like he did at Miami and Las Vegas will have no trouble reaching the top-10 or even higher. This opens the door for lots of points for Jones. Jones finished last year’s race at Martinsville in ninth place, not too bad. If he can have a strong showing, I believe this could be the week he gets his first win of the year.
JJ Yeley
This week’s sleeper pick of the week is JJ Yeley. Yeley spent the 2020 and most of the 2019 and 2018 seasons racing in the cup series. In two races in 2021 Yeley has turned in a 12th and 13th place finish, not bad considering he started 39th and 33rd respectively. For us fantasy folks that’s plus 27 and 20 place differential points. Yeley will start this weekend’s race in the 33rd position, if he can find the same success he had earlier this year and gain 27 places that accounts to a lot of point differential points. In 2020 Yeley raced Martinsville twice in the Cup Series. Starting in the rear of this race, seems like a good spot for Yeley this week.
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Below is a lineup that we believe can provide the best value for the Cook Out 250 at Martinsville Speedway on 04/09/2021 (DraftKings Values)
| Driver #1 | Justin Allgaier | $ 10,200 | $ | ||
| Driver #2 | Brandon Jones | $ 9,900 | $ | ||
| Driver #3 | Jeb Burton | $ 7,800 | $ | ||
| Driver #4 | Myatt Snider | $ 7,700 | $ | ||
| Driver #5 | JJ Yeley | $ 7,300 | $ | ||
| Driver #6 | Brandon Brown | $ 7,000 | $ |
Myatt Snider
As one of four drivers to clinch their spot into the playoffs this year with a win, Myatt Snider is trending to have his best year yet. In his first fulltime season in 2020, Snider had two top-five finishes and six top 10 finishes. So far in 2021, Snider has one win and two top 10 finishes. Snider is trending in the right direction. Snider has raced at Martinsville four time in his career. That amounts to once in the Xfinity Series where he finished 23rd and three times in the NASCAR Truck Series where he has a third place and two sixth place finishes. His only race in the Xfinity Series will leave a bad taste in his mouth as he finished 23rd, however, in the Truck Series in 2018 he finished sixth and then third. Snider is going to start this weekend’s race in the ninth position, where he will have a chance to race into the top five early.
Jeb Burton
What a year it has been for Jeb Burton so far. In five races Burton has an average finish of ninth place, considering he did not race full-time last year I would say that is quite a feat. Of course, if you want to remove his last race at Atlanta, he has an average finish of 5.8. Now you could look and say that he has also been graced with a very attractive average starting position of 5.2, but keep in mind that it’s not about where you start its where you finish. It is easy for drivers to start early and slip down the ranking early and rather quickly if they are not on their “A” game. Burton has finished top 10 in five races and top five in three of them. Burton only raced 11 times in 2020 in the Xfinity Series where he had three top five finishes and six top 10 finishes. Burton has already met his 2020 production numbers in half the number of races. I say he keeps it up this week at Martinsville Speedway. I am not saying that I think he will win, but he has as good a chance as anyone to lead some laps early and often. Burton also comes with a starting position of 11th.
Brandon Brown
Before the start of this season Brandon Brown only had one top-five finish and seven top 10 finishes to his name on the Xfinity Series. Now after a hot start to the 2021 season Brown has almost matched his career performance in five races. So far, this year Brown has one top-five finish at Phoenix Raceway. To go along with back to back top 10 finishes at the two Daytona tracks. Brown is going to start this race in the 19th position, giving him a lot of point differential potential, especially for his low cost this week. Brown, like J. Burton that I mentioned earlier have been in the top five and 10 almost all year. He is driving well and could be in for a top-five finish again this week. I don’t think you can go wrong with Brown in your lineup this week. Brown offers a lot of flexibility with his price tag and the fact that he starts near the end.
Now go win your matchup and let us know how you did. Or if I picked every driver that will be in that lap 12 crash, I encourage you to let me hear it. Either way come find us on Twitter (@FantasyDFSX).
