Overview
The XFINITY cars make their way to Sin City and hit Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the third race for the series this season. The first two races of the season have been filled with action and this should be no different. LVMS is a 1.5-mile asphalt oval that has very similar characteristics to Kansas Motor Speedway. The two drivers on the front row for this race are the two drivers that won the two races at Vegas last season, A.J. Allmendinger and Josh Berry. Unlike the Truck Series race last night, this article is being written with qualifying already in the books. Let’s talk strategy.
Strategy
The drivers will run 200 laps for 300 miles making dominator points more relevant than that of the Truck Series race. As always place differential will be important in finding those drivers that can make their way through the field. In both XFINITY races at Vegas, last season four drivers in each race led 20 or more laps suggesting that the dominator points available are typically widespread as we saw a similar outcome in one of the two LVMS races in 2020. I’ll be looking at two dominators in each lineup for this race based on the qualifying results and the nature of this race.
Most comparable tracks: Kansas Motor Speedway
*Note: all pricing is DraftKings focused
Dominators
A.J. Allmendinger ($10,200), Starting on the Pole
Dinger’s pole victory gives him two in a row as he led 13 laps from the pole last week at Auto Club. He won the March race here last year when he led 44 laps and started 10th. In the second race, he struggled a bit leading 20 laps but finishing seventh. After a banner season of 18 top fives in 2021, Allmendinger has picked up right where he left off and is a top dominator here.
Josh Berry ($9,700), Starting 2nd
After a great run last season in 22 races, Berry landed a full-time ride with Jr. Motorsports this season and this is a track that was good for him last season. Berry won the second Vegas race after leading 38 laps and finished a respectable seventh in the first race. There’s a bit of a discount with him being priced under 10K and he’s worth a look.
Also Consider:
Noah Gragson ($10,800), Starting 4th
- Gragson had the best practice times running 16 laps and in this race last season made up a ton of ground finishing ninth after starting 34th. This track fits Gragson’s driving style and his aggressive driving style could propel him to lead some laps.
Daniel Hemric ($9,900), Starting 6th
- The defending series champ returns to a track where he had a great deal of success at last season. In the first race Hemric led 74 laps and finished second behind now-teammate A.J. Allmendinger and posted a seventh-place finish in the fall race.
Place Differential Targets
Brandon Jones ($9,500), Starting 21st
Jones has gotten off to a horrific start finishing 33rd and 17th to start the season in the Joe Gibbs 19 car. Jones had top-10 finishes in both Vegas races last season including finishing third and leading 28 laps in the first race. There’s always the worry that Jones will make a boneheaded mistake but a good driver in exceptional equipment with good track history (seven top 10’s in 10 races) makes for a tough fade starting 21st.
Myatt Snider ($8,000), Starting 34th
The car and equipment aren’t nearly as good as what Snider had last season but the talent is still great and he’s starting way back at 34th. Snider is simply a mid-priced option that is in play if you’re looking for a floor. I think that the talent is great like I said but I simply don’t think that the equipment will be good enough to win a race.
Jeb Burton ($7,500), Starting 38th
Burton should be chalk starting 38th in a solid Our Motorsports car. Despite the change from Kaulig Racing to Our Motosports, Burton is still a solid driver with a ton of place differential available starting way back at 38th
Also Consider
Justin Allgaier ($10,400), Starting 16th
J.J. Yeley ($6,600), Starting 30th
Anthony Alfredo ($7,800), Starting 25th
Jesse Iwuji ($4,900), Starting 37th
GOOD LUCK!!