Hy-Vee Perks 250
Location: Newton, Iowa
Course: Iowa Speedway
Format: 0.88-mile D-Shaped Oval
Laps: 250
Hy-Vee Perks 250 Preview
Connor Zilisch continued his dominant run with a win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last weekend, his third consecutive victory and fourth in his last six races. Needless to say, he's lived up to the considerable hype that followed him for his first full season in the Xfinity series. Zilisch leads the series in wins and is second in top-five finishes, helping him rapidly reel in Justin Allgaier for the regular season championship.
We've also had only seven unique winners that have earned automatic playoff bids, leaving plenty to race for in the final five races of the regular season. Also relevant to the playoff picture is the fallout from Austin Hill's right rear hook to Aric Almirola last weekend. Hill will be sidelined for this weekend's race at Iowa – Austin Dillon will replace him in the 21 car – and has lost all of his playoff points, a brutal blow for his championship hopes.
Key Stats at Iowa
- Number of Races: 21
- Winners from Pole: 2
- Winner from top-five starters: 16
- Winners from top-ten starters: 20
Previous 10 Winners at Iowa
2024- Sam Mayer
2019 – Chase Briscoe
2019 – Christopher Bell
2018 – Christopher Bell
2018 – Justin Allgaier
2017 -Ryan Preece
2017 – William Byron
2016 -Erik Jones
2016 - Sam Hornish, Jr.
2015 -Ryan Blaney
As has been the case frequently across the last few months, we don't have a significant recent sample of any NASCAR series at Iowa. Xfinity has been the most consistent, as the Cup Series only raced at the track in 2024 while the Truck series hasn't visited since 2019.
While we don't have a big sample, Iowa is a short, flat track that is comparable to Richmond. Given the lack of history at Iowa, it could be useful to also reference driver history at that track.
RotoWire NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Hy-Vee 250
(Based on Standard $50K salary cap)
Tier 1 DraftKings Values
Justin Allgaier -$12,000
Connor Zilisch - $11,800
Ross Chastain - $11,000
Jesse Love- $10,500
Sam Mayer - $10,000
Tier 2 DraftKings Values
Brandon Jones - $9,300
Taylor Gray - $9,000
Christian Eckes - $8,200
Ryan Sieg - $8,000
Tier 3 DraftKings Values
William Sawalich - $7,500
Harrison Burton - $7,100
Tier 4 DraftKings Values
Dean Thompson - $6,800
Jeb Burton - $6,700
Parker Retzlaff - $6,400
NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Picks for the Hy-Vee 250
Connor Zilisch - $11,800
Taylor Gray - $9,000
Christian Eckes - $8,200
William Sawalich - $7,500
Dean Thompson - $6,800
Parker Retzlaff - $6,400
The field is top-heavy this week, as we get both Ross Chastain and Carson Hocevar joining the Xfinity field. As noted, there hasn't been much opportunity for drivers to build up a significant track history, making it tough to differentiate among the most talented drivers. Zilisch has to be considered due to his recent form, while Chastain is also a top optiongiven his prowess on short tracks in the Cup Series. He also saves about $800 for the budget relative to Zilisch.
There's a strong case to be made for every driver in Tier 2. Jones has been very quick in recent weeks and has a solid 84.6 driver rating at Richmond in the last three years. Selecting Gray would also be primarily banking on recent form, as he's ripped off six top-10 finishes in the last seven races while also have a third a third-place finish under his belt at Richmond in the Xfinity Series in 2024. Finally, Sieg has spiked excellent performances in the last few weeks and is one of the few drivers with a history at Iowa.
Sawalich is a cheaper version of Gray. He's young and inconsistent, but has big upside for his price. He is a priority to roster and pops as the third-best value on our optimizer this week.
There is also some flexibility at the bottom of the driver pool. Thompson has been a bankable 30 points nearly all season yet has rarely hit the $7,000 price threshold. Retzlaff has had the opposite season but has shown flashes at both Richmond and Iowa and his price is right.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Best Bets for the Hy-Vee 250
Race Winner: Ross Chastain (+400), Sam Mayer (+1100)
Head-to-Head Matchups:
Taylor Gray (-110) vs. Sammy Smith
Brandon Jones (-120) vs. Sheldon Creed
Sam Mayer (-115) vs. Jesse Love
The odds for race winner largely mirror the DraftKings prices, so Chastain also represents the best value among he, Allgaier and Zilisch. One driver to keep an eye on with longer odds is Mayer. He won at Iowa in 2024, and it was no fluke as he qualified fifth and finished the stages third and second.
The logic for the head-to-head matchups also follows the logic of the DFS section, but there are a few other angles to consider. Smith finished fifth at Iowa last season, but he qualified 17th. He's hung around the fringes of the top 10 recently, but Gray has been even better.
Mayer and Love is also a very close matchup and is more of a coin flip on paper than the rest of the matchups.
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