IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250
Location: Martinsville, Virginia
Track: Martinsville Speedway
Format: Oval
Length: 0.5 miles
Laps: 250
NASCAR Xfinity IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 Preview
It's been an interesting Round of 8 in the Xfinity Series. Unlike what we've seen in the Cup series, none of the drivers still in the hunt for a championship have locked their way into the Championship Race with a win. Instead, Austin Hill and Aric Almirola have been our last two race winners.
As for the playoff standings, both Justin Allgaier and Connor Zilisch have locked themselves into the final four due to points. That leaves two additional spots remaining to be decided Saturday night. Jesse Love should be in a good position, sitting 40 points above the cut line. Carson Kvapil is currently the driver on the right side of the bubble but he has only 11 points of cushion over Sammy Smith. The rest of the field – Brandon Jones, Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer – will likely have to win their way into the Championship, but that isn't mathematically the case just yet.
It should be a compelling weekend of racing.
Key Stats at Martinsville
- Number of Races: 44
- Winners from Pole: 6
- Winners from top-five starters: 21
- Winners from top-10 starters: 34
Previous 10 Martinsville Winners
Spring 2025 – Austin Hill
Fall 2024 – Aric Almirola
Spring 2024 – Aric Almirola
Fall 2023- Justin Allgaier
Spring 2023- John Hunter Nemechek
Fall 2022- Ty Gibbs
Spring 2022- Brandon Jones
Fall 2021- Noah Gragson
The Xfinity series will return to Martinsville for the first time since one of the more eventful and controversial races of the season. Sammy Smith drew the ire of Taylor Gray and Jeb Burton specifically after causing a pileup on the final lap on an ill-advised (to put it nicely) move. Smith was also docked 50 points and fined $25,000. That fallout might be enough to keep racers on the better end of the range of behavior at Martinsville, but it's still the shortest track on the NASCAR calendar and there is still going to be plenty of bumping and potentially greater contact between the drivers.
RotoWire NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the IAA and Ritchie Bros. 250 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Justin Allgaier - $11,500
Connor Zilisch- $11,000
Aric Almirola - $10,500
Sammy Smith - $10,300
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Sheldon Creed - $9,500
Brandon Jones- $9,300
Carson Kvapil - $9,000
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Taylor Gray - $8,400
Nick Sanchez - $8,000
Christian Eckes - $7,800
DraftKings Tier 4 Values
Daniel Dye- $7,100
Dean Thompson - $6,900
Josh Williams - $5,700
Blaine Perkins - $5,500
NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Picks for the IAA and Ritchie Bros 250
Sammy Smith - $10,300
Sheldon Creed- $9,500
Carson Kvapil - $9,000
Taylor Gray - $8,400
Daniel Dye - $7,100
Josh Williams - $5,700
This is a boom-or-bust weekend at Martinsville in a lot of ways, and it may be the route to building DFS lineups as well. There are a lot of proven names with strong track records at track. Despite the negative attention Smith drew in the spring, he is excellent at Martinsville, having finished inside the top 10 in five of his last six races and each of the last five. Three of those have been top-three finishes. He's not in a must-win situation, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him take the checkered flag. Aric Almirola is another name worth a lot of consideration in Tier 1.
Creed and Kvapil are the other two remaining playoff drivers recommended. Creed is in very close to must-win territory to keep his championship hopes alive, and he's finished second in two of his last four races at this track. Kvapil has less experience at Martinsville but has finished fourth and qualified second in his second two races. He has also has stage finishes of fourth and second (twice). He should be hanging around toward the top of the field all race.
The interesting part of the build is the plentiful punt options. Williams unsurprisingly hasn't qualified well at Martinsville anytime recently, but he has shown the ability to move through the field better than anticipated to finish in the teens regularly. While unremarkable in the NASCAR world, those are great DK performances for his price. Perkins is another great punt option under a similar theory. They open up a ton of salary to build through the proven commodities toward the top of the price pool
Best Bets for the IAA and Ritchie Bros 250
Race Winner: Aric Almirola (+400), Sammy Smith (+750), Carson Kvapil (+2000)
Top Five: Sheldon Creed (+160), Carson Kvapil (+220)
Head-to-Head Matchups:
Sheldon Creed (+100) vs. Sam Mayer (-135)
Austin Hill (-120) vs. Carson Kvapil (-110)
Aric Almirola (-140) vs. Sammy Smith (+100)
It's hard to question the sportsbooks, because they get a lot more right than they do wrong. This weekend does appear to have some value, however, and there's a few common drivers throughout the best bets selected. Most of that is my belief that the market is undervaluing Kvapil, Creed and Smith. Creed probably doesn't have winning upside, but he's a good top-five and H2H selection. Kvapil is probably a similar story, but his odds to win are long enough that it could be worth considering. Smith is my favorite driver of the weekend, and I expect him to get into the Championship race either by winning or finishing highly.
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