texas

It will be Xfinity only for me this weekend. I'll post my notes here late Friday night after practice and qualifying.

Looks like we'll have some real popular drivers in cash games and single entry tournaments. Here is how I see most lineup builds going--

• Grab at least two of the decent guys starting from 32nd on back
  • Landon Cassill -- Plenty of experience here, good car, should be able to finish in the Top 12
  • Anthony Alfredo -- He's finished 17th or better in ten out of eleven races this season and will easily hit value if he does so again
  • Alex Labbe -- He's finished inside the Top 20 in eight of the last nine races this season and has experience here
  • Jeffrey Earnhardt -- This team has a couple of Top 5 finishes with John Hunter Nemechek driver, but has otherwise struggled for consistency - maybe a little pricey for the risk and limited upside you're getting
• Grab one or two potential leaders
  • Noah Gragson - starts up front and it's hard to pass here under the green flag - wasn't the fastest in practice, but also did not fall off much at all over his long practice run
  • William Byron - expensive, but has both position difference and lap leader potential - he might take a little while to settle in to the car after being away from Xfinity for several years, but I expect him to be fighting near the front as the race moves along
  • Ty Gibbs - the #54 team won both Texas races last year with Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek driving - but this is Ty's first Texas race, so can he continue the streak? 
  • Justin Allgaier - running as well as anyone right now and has a ton of Texas experience
• Fill it out
  • Ryan Vargas - got loose in practice and qualifying, but had good speed - finished pretty well on lower wear 1.5 mile tracks last season (24th and 22nd at Texas)
  • C.J. McLaughlin - sub-$5k is just too cheap for a halfway decent car that can't really go backwards - he finished 24th earlier this year at Las Vegas, which is a reasonable expectation here
  • Sheldon Creed - priced way down at $8,100 in a car that should have Top 10 speed and maybe a bit more