Welcome to the first NASCAR DFS Playbook for the Truck Series! We’ve seen enough questions and inquiries in the NASCAR DFS chat and decided to start offering this up. I’m going to do my best to offer up a Playbook for these races going forward. With my new work schedule I can’t always guarantee a Playbook, but I will do my best. There won’t be a Table similar to what I’ve done for the Xfinity Playbooks. Again, if I have the additional time for it I’ll add it, but it’s not always going to be a guarantee. Between my full-time job, podcast recordings, Xfinity content, MLB and NFL starting up soon, etc. It’s a pretty full plate but I’ll still offer up my favorite plays to target for each race. For now we’ll roll forward with this week’s drivers to target…

Quick Note: There is NO competition caution for the Truck race Saturday night. We’ll get 167 laps with stages divided up into 40-40-87 segments. As always, I’ll add drivers and updates in RED if there are some drivers I find myself building around or if I think I overlooked someone.

Driver Pool

Kyle Busch ($16,000; Starting P4) – Call me crazy, but I like Kyle Busch more in the Truck series than the Xfinity series. He’s $1,000 more for Xfinity and starts P28, but he really needs a win and laps led to return value. There’s no doubt that for the truck race he’ll need to win and lead laps as well, but the path to laps led is a little easier for him in this race. Last year he started P4 and went on to win this race with 97 laps led and 15 fastest laps. That equated to about 81 points on DraftKings, which is 5X value at this price tag. He looked great at Charlotte and Atlanta despite the 21st-place finish at Atlanta, so he’s a safe lock in lineups this weekend. If making ten lineups, he should probably be in four or five of them.

Ross Chastain ($11,500; Starting P24) – The Watermelon Man makes for a great PD play this week rolling off P24. Last month he started 27th at Atlanta and finished 6th with 17 laps led and he had a great showing at Charlotte just a few weeks before. He’s an elite driver in the Truck series so he’s definitely worth playing in some of your non-Kyle Busch lineups. He needs a Top 5 for 5X value, but that’s well within reach for him. If he moves through the field effectively he should be in line for some fastest laps as well. The big concern with Chastain will be his propensity to get a little aggressive with other drivers, which may not bode well when there’s no practice and we typically see about eight cautions each race in Texas, and possibly ten DNF’s.

Johnny Sauter ($10,900; Starting P21) – Sauter’s in a great spot similar to Chastain. He has three wins in his last seven races here dating back to the Fall of 2016. He’s capable of leading laps and moving up. Now with Kyle Busch starting P4 the laps led may be harder to come by. But he’s starting outside the Top 20 and has an average finish of 6.4 at Texas throughout his career. He’s typically done well on these 1.5-mile tracks despite a crap result at Atlanta earlier this summer.

Austin Hill ($10,200; Starting P3) – Hill is going to be a good pivot for non-Kyle Busch lineups. The results at Texas are just okay although he did lead 34 laps here last summer. However, he’s looked great this year in the 16-truck for Hattori Racing Enterprises. He finished second at Atlanta with 36 laps led and he finished ninth at Charlotte with 26 laps led. Even though he’s starting right next to Kyle Busch he’s gotten to the lead in races Busch has run in.

Matt Crafton ($9,500; Starting P15) – Crafton can be a massive pain in the ass for DFS. He’s definitely that guy that crushes your lineups when you play him and then you’re kicking yourself when you fade him. I’m on board with him this week. He has a TON of experience at Texas. In 38 career races here he has an average finish of 8.76 with 17 straight finishes in the Top 10. The only downside is that he hasn’t led a lap here since 2017 and with Kyle Busch racing on Saturday it’s unlikely he leads many laps, but the good news is there is still PD available for him to pounce on.

Stewart Friesen ($8,900; Starting P18) – Friesen is priced down and I don’t quite get it. Just a couple weeks ago at Pocono he was $2,000 more so we’ll take advantage at sub-$9K with some PD potential available. His resume speaks for itself with two runner-up finishes in the last four races here. Last summer he had a suspension issue that resulted in negative PD, but still a Top 20 finish. He can run very well here and make some noise. If he can finish eighth or ninth then he’ll get 5X value. 44-45 points is pretty high, but he can get there. He’s tough to fit in Kyle Busch builds but if you can do it then more power to you.

Tyler Ankrum ($8,500; Starting P9) – Ankrum’s sample size at Texas is small, but it’s a nice looking profile. In both races last year he started in the Top 10 and finished 6th and 3rd. A Top 5, which is reasonable for him, would get that 5X value we covet, but value expectations in Truck races should be tempered a little bit. He didn’t wow anybody at Charlotte or Atlanta so you may keep exposure on the lighter side, but he found some success last year at Texas.

Zane Smith ($7,900; Starting P6) – Smith’s price tag is a bit too cheap for a guy who collected Top 5 finishes at both Atlanta and Charlotte. The PD is minimal and the laps led might be minimized with Kyle Busch and Austin Hill starting in front of him. But it’s a long race and who knows what could happen. You can’t play him in Cash games, but he’s in play for GPP’s. If he holds serve or gets another Top 5 finish then he gets 5X value, but he needs to run a damn good race similar to Atlanta and Charlotte.

Grant Enfinger ($7,500; Starting P2) – The only thing I hate about Enfinger this week is that Kyle Busch is starting right behind him. Enfinger has a solid history at Charlotte, Atlanta, and Texas especially after he won the Atlanta race last month. In six races at Texas he’s finished in the Top 4 on four separate occasions and he led 44 laps at this track last summer. There’s also the contrarian possibility that he jumps out and leads laps early. I’d be surprised if he held off Kyle Busch, but crazier things have happened. It’s not advisable to play him in your Kyle Busch builds.

Tanner Gray ($7,300; Starting P20) – Gray is rolling into Texas with some solid momentum and he’s sadly priced up this week, but I still love the value that he could return. He’s rolling in with four straight Top 12 finishes and he’s shown 40-point upside lately. He’s never run at Texas, but he looked great at Atlanta last month where he finished 11th. He will need at least a Top 15 finish to help your lineups, but he is very capable of that output.

Raphael Lessard ($7,100; Starting P16) – Lessard is a tough read. Since the season re-started about eight weeks ago, Lessard has performed pretty well without practice or qualifying. He has four Top 20 finishes and the one race he didn’t finish was a wreck at Pocono which was a mess for most of the drivers in that field (just ask Matt Crafton). He finished 15th at Charlotte and 18th at Atlanta. A Top 12 finish can return 5X value. He’s a solid GPP play because ownership is normally relatively light for him which can help you differentiate yourself from the field.

Brennan Poole ($6,800; Starting P29) – Poole can easily return value from this spot. The only time he’s struggled is when he’s had to park the truck due to NASCAR’s damaged vehicle protocol (DVP). He can easily move into the Top 20 though. We haven’t seen him crack the Top 15, but a Top 20 gets him 5X value and that’s a feasible accomplishment for Poole. He nabbed Top 10 finishes in both Texas races last year.

Jordan Anderson ($6,600; Starting P28) – Anderson started in the exact same spot a year ago and got a Top 15 finish. He doesn’t even need that much success, but a repeat performance wouldn’t be so bad. If he can move up and get a Top 20, that’ll return 5X value as well. He didn’t have the best luck earlier this summer at Atlanta and Charlotte, but he’s had some success at Texas and can redeem himself for his earlier 1.5-mile track woes.

Derek Kraus ($6,300; Starting P17) – If you put into perspective Kraus’ performance last week at Kentucky, it’s pretty impressive. He was scored from P17 but had to drop to the rear on the pace laps for failing pre-race inspection. The race was scheduled for 150 laps but was cut short to 71 due to weather. So, despite starting at the rear and in a shorter race he still moved back up and finished in the top ten. And for whatever reason he’s $1,000 cheaper this week. He looked great not too long ago at Atlanta and he followed it up with a more modest finish at Charlotte. But at this price tag you have to jump on him because there are drivers starting ahead of him that can be passed. If he moves up two spots and gets a Top 15 finish he’ll get you 5X value, but he’s very capable of exceeding that and delivering a Top 10 this weekend.

Tate Fogleman ($6,100; Starting P31) – Fogleman’s truck has looked like a Top 20 ride lately. He wrecked out of Pocono (as did plenty of drivers), but he looked good at Kentucky, Homestead, and Charlotte. He had a disappointing result at Atlanta, but he navigated his truck through the field the last few races and this starting spot is juicy for him. If he can move up and finish 22nd then he’ll get you 5X value. Anything better than that will simply be gravy.

Austin Wayne Self ($5,900; Starting P26) – There are some cheaper options I would prefer in Cash games, but AWS is worth exposure in GPP’s. He has five straight Top 20 finishes at Texas and we’re getting him at a discount this week. He’s normally a little risky when he’s around $6,500 but at a sub-$6K price tag with great position differential, he’s a great GPP play. A Top 20 finish yields 5X value.

Cory Roper ($5,500; Starting P30) – Roper’s best track is arguably Texas. In three races here he has an average finish of 16.3 including a pair of Top 12 finishes last year. He’s starting further back which lends him to more PD and you don’t even need a Top 15 for 5X value. If he finishes 23rd that’s 5X value and Top 20 will be 6X. He fits into all Kyle Busch builds perfectly.

Codie Rohrbaugh ($5,400; Starting P32) – Rohrbaugh’s results lately have been traaaaaash. He’s wrecked out of his last two races and hasn’t finished in the Top 25 in over a month. So if you play him you’re hoping his luck turns around. And he has plenty of PD to move up and he only needs 27 points for 5X value. When he starts high he tends to fall back. When he starts at the back, he can move up. He’s largely a GPP play as there’s too much risk for Cash. I’d feel better paying up for AWS or Roper in Cash games.

Example Lineups

DK Cash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trucks GPP1 Example

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trucks GPP 2 Example

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trucks GPP 3 Example