Martinsville Speedway provided lots of fast paced tight corner racing on Saturday for the Draft Top 250. The days winner was the driver of the Number 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Harrison Burton. Burton was able to hold off NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff contender Justin Allgaier by a mere 0.35 seconds at the finish line after leading the final 53 laps of the race. Burton’s win at Martinsville was a record win as he became the youngest driver to ever win at Martinsville Speedway. Unfortunately for Burton his back to back wins at Texas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway come too little too late as he fell out of championship contention a couple of races ago. Burton has raced at a championship level two weeks in a row and will look to do the same this weekend for the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 at Phoenix Raceway. Having a non-playoff driver win the last two races allowed three of four drivers to make it to the final round on points. Allgaier’s second place finish gave him his birth in the final round, joining Martinsville’s 10th-place finisher Austin Cindric, 12th-place finisher Justin Haley and seventh-place finisher Chase Briscoe. Briscoe was the only driver to get into the final round with a win after he won the first race in the round of eight at Kansas Speedway. Major lap leaders on the day were Burton with 81, AJ Allmendinger with 68, Cindric with 42, Ross Chastain with 31, and Noah Gragson with 23.
Today’s free pick is the driver of the Number 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Michael Annett ($9,000 DK). Annett will start this weekends race at Phoenix in the 10th position. On the season Annett has three top five finishes, 21 top 10 finishes and has led 37 laps. Annett has seen some success at Phoenix Raceway in his career. Since the start f the 2017 season he has raced at Phoenix Raceway seven times. In those seven races he has three top 10 finishes. His best finish being eighth. With this being the final race of the playoffs, expect the championship drivers to be aggressive in their bid to win; this could open much needed lanes for Annett to move up spots in the race.
Starting at $5 per week subscribers can expect to find high value plays that are well priced on DraftKings. We have DFS Potential Dominators, DFS Place Differential Options and who to avoid for the upcoming Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200.
Potential Dominators
Harrison Burton: The driver of the Number 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Harrison Burton ($9,900 DK) will start this weekend’s race in the fifth position. Burton is on a hot streak after winning the past two races at Texas Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. This season Burton has four wins, 15 top five finishes, 21 top 10 finishes and has led 291 laps. His only race at Phoenix Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity series came earlier this year when he finished second after starting in the third position. On the shorter flat tracks this season Burton has raced well where he adds a fourth-place finish at Richmond Raceway. In Burtons NASCAR Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series career he has raced at Phoenix Raceway two times where he has a third and seventh place finish.
Justin Allgaier: Starting in the pole position and in first place is playoff contender Justin Allgaier ($10,900 DK). In the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Allgaier has three wins, 10 top five finishes, 18 top ten finishes and has led a series most 932 laps. Two of his three wins this year came back to back with his wins at Richmond which is the other short flat track on the circuit. In seven races at Phoenix Raceway since the start of the 2017 season Allgaier has two wins, three top five finishes, four top 10 finishes and has led 366 laps. These short flat tracks seem to be Allgaier’s bread and butter race tracks.
DFS Place Differential Options
Daniel Hemric: Starting in the 18th position for the Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 200 is Daniel Hemric ($9,500 DK). Hemric has had a good season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series where he has seven top five finishes, 12 top 10 finishes and has led 10 laps. Hemric was the 2019 Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Cup Series. Hemric has seen success at Phoenix Raceway in the Xfinity Series. Since the start of the 2017 season Hemric has in five races, two top five finishes, four top 10 finishes, and has led 1 lap. His best finish coming in the 2018 fall race at Phoenix Raceway where he finishes second. Hemric has finished top five in his last four races and will look to race to the front of the pack for the season finale this Saturday.
DFS Picks to Avoid
Brandon Jones: Yes, not picking the reigning champion at a track is hard to do but with the colder weather and Brandon Jones ($9,300 DK) not racing well the past couple of weeks, I will keep him out of my lineup this week. Jones best finish in the last nine races was a fourth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway. He has finished ninth, 25th, ninth, 10th, and 4th in his last five races. At the similar track to Phoenix, Richmond Raceway, Jones has two races this year where he started second in both races and finished in 14th and then eighth place.
MY TOP-FIVE OVERALL AT PHOENIX RACEWAY
- Chase Briscoe
- Austin Cindric
- Harrison Burton
- Justin Allgaier
- Noah Gragson
