DraftKings NASCAR DFS Picks for Martinsville: Fantasy NASCAR Strategy and Picks for the Xfinity 500

There are just two races left in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season as teams and drivers head to Martinsville for the penultimate race of the year.

Martinsville is a half-mile flat track, making it a very unique style of racing that plays well to certain teams and drivers.

In addition to track history, we do have a 20-minute practice session on a new tire compound for this weekend, which should shake things up a bit as well.

Before we jump into my picks, don’t forget all my NASCAR projections can be found in the NASCAR Models on FantasyLabs, complete with floor, ceiling, median, and ownership projections.

Let’s not skip the best part — my Perfect% metric — a metric that tells you how often certain racers appear in the optimal lineup when running 10,000 race simulations.

And don’t forget about the tools that FantasyLabs has to offer, like our Lineup Optimizer to effortlessly create up to 300 lineups or our Lineup Builder if you like to hand-build your lineups.

Here are my NASCAR DFS picks for Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway.

Martinsville DraftKings DFS Cash Game Picks

Martin Truex Jr ($11,000):  Truex starts on pole for this one, and with teammate Ty Gibbs starting alongside of him, he’ll have the wingman he needs to lead these early laps.

Truex also runs really well at Martinsville traditionally, but that all came prior to the Next Gen car. From 2017 to 2021, he had a top-three finish each year.

Truex took third earlier this year at Martinsville, albeit on a bit of strategy that got him to the front. He also never made a 10-lap run in practice, so there’s some potential to fade him in tournaments, but in cash games you have to play a guy with his track history while starting on pole.

Chase Elliott ($8800): Elliott starts 14th on Sunday and could be in a good spot to move forward.

An Elliott win would lock him into the owners’ championship, and with teammate William Byron looking strong to advance on points, Hendrick Motorsports could advance three cars to the owners’ title with an Elliott win.

Elliott has been the strongest driver at Martinsville in the Next Gen car. Last year he had the second-best average running position in the spring race and the best average running position in the fall race. This year, he made his return from a broken left leg here, so I’m willing to give him a pass as that was his braking leg at a track that requires heavy braking.

My model gives Elliott the second-highest chance to end up in the optimal lineup.

Martinsville DraftKings DFS Tournament Picks

Ryan Blaney ($10,400): Blaney looked strong over the long run in practice, but he didn’t quite have the single-lap speed on his qualifying run to make the top 10.

Martinsville is one of Blaney’s better tracks, so when we combine a good driver fit and a strong practice session with a driver who must have a strong race to preserve his championship position, Blaney makes a great fit for a tournament play.

Alex Bowman ($7500): Bowman may be the under-the-radar driver this week thanks to all the championship implications of several other drivers, while he sits on the outside of the playoff picture quietly ignored.

Bowman has a win at Martinsville, and he has top-12 finishes in five of his last six race at the paperclip.

Bowman also doesn’t pop on the practice charts, but he did go out in the slower second practice group, so those times could be a bit misleading. That might keep people off of him while he remains one of the stronger drivers in the field at this track.

Austin Cindric ($5700): If we do want to go by practice times, Cindric seems like a nice pivot off of two other drivers I expect to get some attention.

First, Corey LaJoie topped the practice charts in several metrics, which will garner him huge ownership at $5400. Additionally, everyone has been all over Todd Gilliland all week as a driver who is a great match for this track.

However, Gilliland fires off 17th at $5900. Instead, we can pivot to Austin Cindric, who starts 21st at a $5700 price tag. Cindric posted top-four times across all the long run metrics in practice. That comes as part of that strong Team Penske contingent, where teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano, along with affiliate Harrison Burton, all posted top-five times among the second group.

All of Team Penske has rolled off fast, and at a track that could provide some late-race chaos, Cindric may be around to capitalize thanks to his fast car.