Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog
Location: Madison, Illinois
Course: Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Format: 1.25-mile oval
Laps: 160
Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog Preview
The Xfinity Series enters its final race of the regular season on a wild-card track. While the Cup Series has been racing here for the past three years and Trucks a mainstay, the Xfinity Series will be back at Gateway for the first time since 2010.
Barring a big surprise, there looks to be only one way spot up for grabs in the playoffs. Harrison Burton currently occupies the final spot and has a 31-point cushion over his cousin, Jeb Burton. Anything is possible, but the playoff field is likely set barring a new winner.
Key Stats at Gateway
- Number of races: 15
- Winners from pole: 1
- Winners from top-five starters: 7
- Winners from top-10 starters: 11
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 0
Due to the lack of recent history at the track, we should place limited meaning on the numbers above. Just for the benefit of nostalgia and a trip down memory lane, some of the winners from the Xfinity Series include Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.
Gateway is a hybrid short-intermediate track and is relatively flat. That makes New Hampshire the most comparable track with recent results to consider, though that's also not on the Xfinity Series schedule. We have to get a bit creative piecing together rookies' past results at Gateway and veterans' results at New Hampshire, but we can still get something of a picture of what to expect.
RotoWire NASCAR DFS Xfinity Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the Nu Way 200
Based on a Standard $50K Salary Cap
Tier 1 DraftKings Values
Justin Allgaier - $11,500
Connor Zilisch - $11,000
Aric Almirola - $10,5000
Tier 2 DraftKings Values
Sheldon Creed- $9,000
Sammy Smith - $8,800
Brandon Jones - $8,300
Christian Eckes - $8,100
Tier 3 DraftKings Values
Daniel Hemric- $8,000
Nick Sanchez - $7,800
Ryan Sieg- $7,700
William Sawalich - $7,400
Jeb Burton $7,000
Tier 4 DraftKings Values
Parker Retzlaff - $6,600
Kyle Sieg - $6,100
NASCAR Xfinity Series DFS Picks for the Nu Way 200
Justin Allgaier - $11,500
Sammy Smith - $8,800
Christian Eckes - $8,100
Nick Sanchez - $7,800
William Sawalich - $7,400
Kyle Sieg - $6,100
Allgaier has slowed in the latter portion of the season, but this looks to be a good spot for him to rebound. He has a 109.4 driver rating at New Hampshire, including a win and in 2022 and six consecutive races there finishing inside the top seven. This is a bet on history rather than recent form. Zilisch would be the opposite, and both are reasonable choices to serve as the building block of the lineup.
Tier 2 is packed full of good options. Both Creed and Smith have strong histories at New Hampshire. The sample lineup opts for Smith because he's had a better season (30.5 DK points per race vs. 22.2), but they are on equal footing this weekend.
Eckes, Sanchez and Sawalich are exciting options at their price points. Anything can happen in a race, but Eckes is the closest we'll get to must-roster driver this weekend. He finished second in three consecutive races at Gateway in the Truck series prior to shifting to Xfinity. Sanchez wasn't quite as prolific, but he qualified eighth and ninth and finished eight and third, respectively, in two Truck races at Gateway. Sawalich is a bet on his recent form. Four of his seven top-10 finishes this year have come in the last seven races. He's also topped 40 DK points four times in that span.
Value/punt options aren't plentiful, but Sieg shows well on our optimizer this week and unlocks a lot of salary space to build an otherwise optimal lineup.
Best Bets for the Nu Way 200
Race Winner – Justin Allgaier (+320), Sammy Smith (+1500), Christian Eckes (+5000)
There are limited offerings at the time being, with books perhaps waiting until after qualifying to expand the available wagers. Working with what we can, the race winner odds are interesting. Despite Allgaier's recent slow stretch, he's the favorite before we get to qualifying. Both Smith, and, particularly Eckes, offer excellent values but are longshots for a reason.
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