Only a week after Ross Chastain lost out on a chance at the win, after being matted up with A.J. Allmendinger on the last lap. It would indeed, happen again this past weekend at Darlington. After Chastain and Denny Hamlin battled it out for 15 laps, Brandon Jones would finally pull up into striking distance with two laps left to go. Looking for an opening, Jones would find it as both Chastain and Hamlin brushed the wall hard, getting entangled as they were just feet away from the white flag. Jones would take full advantage of the chaos up-front of him, scooting right through the calamity and charging ahead for his third Xfinity win in 2020.
It had been six races since Jones had gone to victory lane at Kansas, and was a nice response after finishing 13th the week prior at Daytona. With the playoffs coming up in four races from now, Jones is looking to add every playoff point he can while trying to keep pace with series points leaders Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe. To Chastain’s credit, he would still put together a runner-up performance and currently sits third in the regular season standings.
We now travel four hours up the road from Darlington to Richmond, Virginia for a two race doubleheader. Richmond Raceway is an asphalt short track, just three quarters of a mile in size. Known as the Premier short track by many race fans, it would open a year after the end of World War 2. Christopher Bell has won the past three of four races at Richmond in the Xfinity Series, including last season.
So without further ado, let’s delve into the driver options for this upcoming Cup series event. Below we have high salary and value play drivers. Best of luck to everyone with your lineups this weekend.
High Salary
Austin Cindric (11,700 DK)
After a very impressive run in which he would rack up five victories in six races. Cindric has since cooled off quite a bit as of late. Richmond seems like a great course in which to get things rolling again. Consider that in the past four visits here, Richmond ranks as his third-best track in regards to average finish. It also ranks among his best tracks in terms of top-five results over that time span. His past two attempts at this short track, have resulted in back to back runner-up finishes.
With this in mind, it seems very likely that Cindric hits the winners circle at least once in this doubleheader weekend. Without Kyle Busch to worry about on Saturday, it leaves Cindric as arguably the top candidate for most points through laps led and fastest lap. The price isn’t unreasonable, as you should be able to add him without hurting the rest of your team.
Justin Allgaier (9,900 DK)
With Allgaier having just suffered a pair of rather rough finishes, expect him to come out like gangbusters this week at Richmond. Consider that in his past two visits to this short track, Allgaier has finished within the top four on each of those occasions. In fact along with his top three performance here last April he finished second among all drivers in laps led, having racked up 86 in total. Also don’t forget it was only a couple of weeks ago, that Allgaier racked up both a win and seventh-place finish in the doubleheader at Dover.
As of now, he holds 17 playoff points, in which to take with him into the tournament, and will be looking to add as many extra points to that total as possible. If he can finish with a high qualifying position for Saturday, this should give Allgaier plenty of opportunity, in which to contend for numerous points through laps led and fastest lap. Take a serious look at the No. 7 driver if you’re looking for one of the cheaper high-end options.
Value Play
Riley Herbst (7,900 DK)
Herbst comes off a solid fourth-place result at Darlington, this was after having started in 31st position. In fact, since a rather shaky pair of runs at Texas and Road America, Herbst has put together a string of five top-nine finishes in a row. Looking at the updated standings, Herbst is currently tenth in points but only has one playoff point currently. If he can put together a pair of top nine or better runs in this week’s doubleheader, it could go along way to determining Herbst playoff seeding.
He does not have a ton of experience at Richmond, as his only other visit was last April in which he finished ninth after having started in the pole position. However, keep in mind that Gibbs Racing has a strong history at this short track, having collected 51 top-tens in 102 attempts along with 10 wins. Herbst isn’t a bad selection at the price, as you look for drivers to help balance out your team’s salary cap.
Brandon Brown (7,800 DK)
Brown did not budge from his original starting position last weekend, finishing 17th at Darlington. It’s a Brown type of result, nothing flashy but very serviceable for his price tag. To be fair Brown has thrown out the odd stinker here and there, but that will happen with most drivers. Looking at the current standings, Brown is currently 45 points to the good over Jeremy Clements for that last spot in the playoffs. With this in mind, Brown is still not out of the woods with four more races left to go.
With so much at stake, Brown is going to need to keep a stiff upper lip as he looks to keep Clements at bay in this upcoming doubleheader. Along with offering a steady performance, Brown could also supply you with a handful of extra bonus points through place differential.
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