As excited as I was for last week’s slate of DFS for NASCAR, I was wildly disappointed from a DFS perspective. The races were fun, but for someone who had to cover the Xfinity race, that weather screwed with so many aspects of my builds. All in all, the chalk prevailed with A.J. Allmendinger and Chase Elliott winning at the Roval last weekend while the Trucks got the week off. We’ll turn our attention to Kansas where we should get some better weather on Saturday although for the Cup race it’ll be a pretty cold race on Sunday. Always give the Track Breakdown from Matt Selz a quick glance so you get an understanding of the track layout each week. This is a 1.5-mile track and for the Truck series we will get 134 laps (Stages: 30-30-74) with NO competition caution. That’s great news for those starting on the front row, or for whoever just gets out to the lead early on. As far as my entries for this race are concerned, I’m throwing $20 into the Happy Hour to max that contest out while also playing about $30-$50 in Double Up contests. With the contests getting a little weaker, I haven’t been investing as much in the Truck series, but I’ll get my DFS fix while I can since we only have four weeks left in the season.

To recap the remaining playoff drivers we have: Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger, Brett Moffitt, Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, and Tyler Ankrum.

 

Driver Pool

Parker Kligerman ($11,100; Starting P35) Kligerman’s back in the Truck series and he has plenty of position differential on his side so we can hit the smash button here. He will be about 70% owned in Cash contests (if I had to venture a guess). Without any laps led or fastest laps, he’ll need a Top 12 to return 5X value. But considering if he’s moving his way up through the field he shouldn’t have trouble getting a few fastest lap bonuses. In three of his last four races this year he’s finished in the Top Ten, but he did experience engine failure at Dover. He last ran the Truck series at Kansas four years ago and wrecked out, but he also has a pair of Top 12 finishes as well. With the PD on his side, he’s worth throwing into Cash and GPP builds.

Austin Hill ($10,700; Starting P8) Hill is a guy that can offer PD and dominator upside at this starting spot. And he will certainly need to log some dominator laps to really take off at this price tag. In the first Truck race at Kansas in July he started P6, led 65 laps, and registered 19 fastest laps en route to a win. He followed that up finishing sixth with 19 laps led in the second race of that double-header. We haven’t seen too many five-figure drivers hit value but Hill is a driver we can rally around on Saturday. He’s never finished worse than 12th at Kansas and based on his run here in July he’s going to be a popular play once again.

Brett Moffitt ($10,300; Starting P3) If looking for a general laps led dominator, Moffitt is always on the table for that. In the first race here in July he led 21 laps and had 21 fastest laps while finishing second. In the second race, he didn’t finish due to a wreck, but he still led 11 laps and had ten fastest laps. He finds his way to the front at just about every track and I’m expecting more of the same from him on Saturday.

Zane Smith ($10,100; Starting P9) Zane is strictly a GPP play on Saturday considering it’s not necessarily a lock he dominates this race similar to the second Kansas race in July. But while we’re on the topic it’s worth mentioning he did lead 50 laps and register 15 fastest laps in the second Truck race at this track. He also led 17 laps in the first race. In general, Zane has been good on 1.5-mile tracks although his two wins this year came at Michigan and Dover. He’s a really good GPP play to build around though because he brings speed every single week.

Grant Enfinger ($9,500; Starting P6) Enfinger’s write-up is simple: he has an average start of 10.6 and an average finish of 6.4 in five races here. He finished third in both July races in 2020 so we’ll keep this portion short to keep him under the radar. He’s still alive in the playoff hunt, but he’s just not known for leading or dominating races despite three wins this year. He’s a well-rounded GPP play if we’re talking about drivers that exceed they’re average running position.

Todd Gilliland ($9,200; Starting P17) The Toddfather is going to get some heat for his performance at Kansas but he rarely starts this far back. He has an average starting spot of 4.7 and an average finish of 11.0, so even if he manages to finish 11th from P17 that’s 39 points but he has the upside to finish inside the Top Eight. He doesn’t make a ton of noise especially since he’s shown a tendency to finish outside the Top 15 lately. But this is an upside GPP play at his price tag. But as experienced GPP players we know there are other PD drivers to identify.

Tyler Ankrum ($8,400; Starting P7) Consider this a gut play, but I’m on board with Ankrum this weekend. This is similar to Kurt Busch at Vegas. Ankrum is still in the playoff hunt and a win would really piss off the rest of the field as it would qualify him for the Championship race in Phoenix. To be honest, he hasn’t been a great DFS play lately, but he knows he likely needs a win to advance to the next round so getting exposure in GPP’s is a worthy shot.

Derek Kraus ($8,200; Starting P12) Kraus only has two races at Kansas under his belt and both came in July’s double-header. He finished fifth and seventh in both races, but he’s currently on a bit of a cold streak at the moment. I do believe ownership could be light, and if so, great! I’ll take advantage and throw him into four of my 20 builds. He needs 41 points for 5X value and if he goes out and returns another Top 7 finish here, then we’re getting that value. For what it’s worth, his average running position for both July races was in the Top 10 so it’s not necessarily like he lucked into those finishing spots.

Tanner Gray ($8,000; Starting P19) This is the spot where you can start either Tanner Gray or Trevor Bayne. I’ve underestimated Bayne so far this year, but the starting spot is too high for him. Based on that, I’ll lean Gray in GPP’s since Gray has flashed Top 5 upside at times this year and he has more positive position differential on his side. In the first Kansas race in July, Gray started 13th and finished 18th. That’s a Top 20 finish, but not a great one. In his second effort he went out and started 18th and finished fourth. He also finished third at Michigan, Bristol, and Las Vegas so he has performed on a variety of tracks. A Top 12 finish is what we’re looking for to return value and given their price tags we’ll trust Gray over Bayne in this case, but both are worthy in GPP contests.

Timothy Peters ($7,700; Starting P22) Peters is a guy most of us aren’t familiar with. Over the last few years he’s stepped in and raced a couple Truck races here and there, and he’s actually pretty good. He raced five times in 2018, and got four top ten finishes including a win at Talladega. He raced in four races last year and got three Top 12 finishes across Daytona, Vegas, and Atlanta. He’s 40 years old, so he knows how to handle these trucks. It’s been over three years since he raced at Kansas, but in his last six races here he had an average starting spot of 10.8 and an average finish of 8.5 with a couple Top Five finishes as well. This week he’s in Stewart Friesen’s ride and he’s starting P22. He’ll return plenty of value if he can safely move his way up and finish 14th. We haven’t really had too many opportunities to take advantage of value like this so Peters might be among my most heavily owned drivers this weekend.

Hailie Deegan ($7,100; Starting P34) I am so torn on my approach to Deegan this weekend. The starting spot and price tag make for an intriguing Cash game play. However, this is her first time driving in the Truck series and she’s doing it without practice. She’s definitely a name to keep an eye on and it’s exciting to see her get an opportunity in the Truck race. Personally, I think I’m settling on just keeping exposure to GPP’s since it’s possible her ownership will be over 20% in Cash contests. We saw half the field fail to finish on the lead lap in both Truck races in July and while that won’t necessarily kill her value, I do expect her to have some first-time struggles in the Truck series. She’ll need to basically finish 22nd or better to return value. I’m not confident she gets there in Cash games.

David Gravel ($6,500; Starting P25) This recommendation makes me uncomfortable on many different levels. Gravel has one start at the Truck level and it came this year at Michigan where he started 12th and finished 10th so there are some unknown factors with playing him. But he’s in the 24-Truck and this ride has had success this year. Chase Elliott drove it to a win at Charlotte and Sam Mayer drove it to a win at Bristol. Mayer also came close to driving this truck to a win at Gateway and Elliott drove it to a top five at Homestead. Long story short, this is a damn good ride that’s cheap and starting outside the Top 20. There is clear upside here if Gravel can somehow maneuver this ride inside the Top 18.

Tyler Hill ($5,900; Starting P28) I took a shot on Hill in July’s Kansas race and it paid off so I’ll go back to the well for this race. Hill started P19 in July and finished 16th to return 5X value. He’s $100 cheaper this time around and start nine spots further back. Finishing 21st will do enough to return value this weekend and he has the ability to get a couple more spots as well.

Spencer Boyd ($5,700; Starting P31) Boyd just might go overlooked in most contests, but let’s keep in mind that Boyd actually performs well at Kansas. He has an average starting spot of 25.3 and an average finishing spot of 19.5 so what exactly do you think he can do when he’s starting 31st? In the first July race he started 30th and finished 23rd. If he simply matches that end result from this starting spot he’s easily hitting 5X value. If he can crack the Top 20 then we’re talking 6X value. The problem with Boyd is that momentum isn’t necessarily on his side with three straight finishes outside the Top 25. But keep the optimism alive and experiment with your builds involving Boyd as a cheap-ish punt.

Tate Fogleman ($5,400; Starting P23) It’s the smallest of sample sizes (two races) but in July Fogleman moved up five-to-six spots in each race so he’s in play here on Saturday. Five of Fogleman’s last six Truck races have finished with him inside the Top 22. The downside is that he’s starting right around where he typically finishes so how much upside does he truly have? If he simply moves up three spots and finishes 20th or better then when have a 5X play on our hands.

Colin Garrett ($5,200; Starting P20) Garrett is stepping in for Natalie Decker in the 44-truck this weekend. Garrett has raced sparingly in the Xfinity series but in July he started 37th and finished 16th in the XFIN race at Kansas. We MUST add the disclaimer that the XFIN cars and the Gander Trucks are completely different rides, but this is the cheapest you can go in GPP’s. He’ll carry very low ownership, but if he can simply hold his position you’ll be happy in GPP formats.

 

Example Lineups

The EXAMPLE lineups are meant to show different roster constructions that are made with drivers from the Playbook. These are not meant to be plugged and played.

Cash Lineup Example

1. Parker Kligerman

2. Brett Moffitt

     a. Zane Smith (Pivot)

3. Derek Kraus

     a. Tyler Hill (Pivot)

4. Timothy Peters

     a. Tanner Gray (Pivot)

5. David Gravel

6. Tyler Hill

*I’m not in love with this Cash lineup at the time of this publishing. I will post updates leading up to lineup lock regarding this example build though.*

GPP Lineup Example

1. Parker Kligerman

     a. Todd Gilliland (Pivot)

2. Brett Moffitt

3. Tanner Gray

4. Timothy Peters

     a. Tyler Ankrum (Pivot)

5. Hailie Deegan

     a. Derek Kraus (Pivot)

6. Spencer Boyd