Pennzoil 250
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Course: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Format: 2.5 Rectangular Oval
Laps: 100
NASCAR Xfinity Pennzoil 250
Connor Zilisch is hitting his stride at the right time and becoming a true contender to challenge for a championship in his first full season in the Xfinity Series. He’s won three of the last five races (Pocono, Sonoma, Dover) and finished second and fourth in the two races he hasn’t won. That has him second in the overall points standings, only 56 points behind Justin Allgaier for the lead.
That leads us into the Pennzoil 250, a track with limited recent history in the Xfinity series.
Key Stats at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
- Number of Races: 9
- Winners from pole: 4
- Winners top-five starters: 8
- Winners from top-ten starters: 9
Previous Eight Indianapolis Winners
2024 – Riley Herbst
2019 – Kyle Busch
2018 – Justin Allgaier
2017 – William Byron
2016- Kyle Busch
2015- Kyle Busch
2014- Ty Dillon
2013- Kyle Busch
2012 – Brad Keselowski
There’s limited relevant track history, though it is worth noting that qualifying will be very important. Each of the last eight winners has come inside the top three on the starting grid, and the worst starting position to win was eighth (2012).
Pocono Is another point of context, as they share characteristics of being a 2.5-mile asphalt track, and will be referenced in our picks below.
NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Tools
NASCAR Lineup Optimizer
NASCAR Projections
DraftKings Value Picks for the Pennzoil 250 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
Tier 1 Values
Kyle Larson – $13,000
Justin Allgaier – $11,500
Connor Zilisch – $11,000
Aric Almirola – $10,500
Tier 2 Values
Jesse Love- $9,500
Sam Mayer – $9,000
Brandon Jones – $8,800
Taylor Gray – $8,600
Carson Kvapil – $8,400
Tier 3 Values
Christian Eckes – $7,900
Ryan Sieg – $7,700
Jeb Burton – $7,200
Dean Thompson – $7,000
Tier 4 Values
Josh Williams – $6,600
Anthony Alfredo- $6,500
NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Picks for the Pennzoil 250
Connor Zilisch – $11,000
Brandon Jones- $8,800
Carson Kvapil- $8,400
Christian Eckes – $7,900
Dean Thompson – $7,000
Josh Williams – $6,600
The top of the price pool is flush with choices. Kyle Larson and Aric Almirola join the field this weekend, giving four solid choices to build your lineup through. Zilisch’s current form can’t continue forever, but he’s shown the ability to excel on this style of track and remains underpriced relative to the way he’s currently driving.
Jones shouldn’t be mentioned with the elite options, but he does have tracks where he can compete with the drivers listed in Tier 1. Indianapolis could be one. He qualified sixth at the track last year and has a 92.6 driver rating across the four races at Pocono, so he is a worthwhile investment. Kvapil is very similar. He has four top fives and eight top 10s this season, highlighted by a sixth-place finish at Pocono. Kvapil also finished 10th at Indianapolis last season.
Eckes and Ryan Sieg are both excellent value options, as reflected by the optimizer. Eckes had a 106.3 driver rating at Pocono in the Truck Series, then went from 15th to third in his first Xfinity race at the track. He has a chance to qualify well and finish even better. Sieg profiles as more of a steady option, though he also moved up the field from 27th to 11th last year at Indianapolis.
Thompson and Williams are both decent cheap options to make the salaries work. They put up 34 and 39 DK points at Pocono this season, respectively. There is some pretty significant risk to rostering both, so for cash games or a small tournament, an alternative build is to pick one of Kvapil or Jones while rostering both Eckes and Sieg with Williams.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Best Bets for the Pennzoil 250
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 11:30 AM ET Saturday
Race Winner:
Connor Zilisch (+350), Aric Almirola (+750)
Head-to-head Matchups:
Jesse Love (-140) vs. Sheldon Creed (+105)
Connor Zilisch (-140) vs. Justin Allgaier (+105)
The wagering options are a bit more limited this week, with fewer head-to-head matchups than we’ve seen lately. Starting with potential race winners, the group of four drivers in Tier 1 all have the shortest odds and it seems pretty likely one of them will take the checkered flag. We didn’t talk about Almirola much during the DFS section, but he has performed very well on a limited Xfinity schedule this season, finished inside the top three in half of his eight races. He rightfully has the longest odds to win of the elite four drivers, so there is some value.
As for the head-to-head matchups, Creed vs. Love is interesting to dissect. Creed finished fifth at Indianapolis last season but qualified only 12th and hasn’t had a particularly strong history at Pocono. That gives me the lean to Love, but there is a case for Creed given the combination of his value and previous strong finish.
Zilisch vs. Allgaier is more of a toss-up, so I’ll simply lean on the value side of that head to head.
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The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it’s possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Dan Marcus plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: marcusd91
DraftKings: dmarcus87.
