darlington XFINITY

Here's a few notes to help you with Xfinity Series lineups on Saturday:

• Please note it's real tough to project these races without knowing the qualifying spots.  It's also hard to interpret practice times this week because teams only had two sets of tires for both practices and fall off is huge.  Bell, Reddick and other rookies had an extra set so likely showed more speed relative to others because they could run harder.
• Only 200 miles or 147 laps, so much shorter than the Cup race.  In the last three races here, there have normally been two or three drivers getting most of the laps led and fastest laps.
• In 2017, it was Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.
• In 2016, it was Elliott Sadler, Hamlin and Kyle Larson.
• In 2015, Hamlin was largely dominant but Harvick picked up some scraps too.
• Hamlin has finished the last three races here in 1st, 2nd and 1st.  He's $1,500 cheaper than Harvick and also cheaper than Keselowski, so you'll probably want to build around Hamlin.
• Ross Chastain is probably a cash game staple too.  He's spent all year to this point in the #4 car for JD Motorsports -- which is a 2nd tier team.  He's been so good there that he's got a three race run starting with Ganassi Racing in the #42 car.  He's a talented driver now in top tier equipment, so is under priced at $7,700.
• You're probably going to want one or two Cup guys at the top of your roster, so you'll need some salary savers to go with them.   David Starr, Joey Gase, Ryan Sieg and Brandon Brown are all decent options.  Sieg in particular is a great value.  Brandon Brown started 31st and finished 20th here last year in the same #90 car.
• Don't bank on guys getting real big points for position difference.  Last year, of the Top 10 finishers, 8 started in the Top 10 and the other two started just outside the Top 10 at 11th and 13th.  Going further into the field, of the Top 20 finishers last year, all but one of them started 22nd or better.  Likewise, in 2016, of the Top 20 finishers, ALL OF THEM started 22nd or better.