RADIO
The NASCAR Truck Series heads to the sport's shortest track, Martinsville, on Friday night for some bumper-to-bumper action on the half-mile paperclip-shaped oval.
Two weeks ago, the series was in action at COTA, with Corey Heim winning his first race of the season. With the victory, Heim has the top spot in the standings right now, 10 points ahead of Ty Majeski. Tyler Ankrum sits just one point behind Majeski in third while Taylor Gray and Rajah Caruth round out the top five.
Here at RotoBaller, we want to help you make informed decisions about your DFS lineups, which is why I'll be breaking down the slates for the Craftsman Truck Series. Let's look at some NASCAR Truck Series DFS lineup picks for the Long John Silver's 200 on DraftKings. Be sure to also check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for Truck Series including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station. This slate locks on 4/5/2024 at 7:30 p.m. EST.
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Martinsville Race Trends
One thing about this track is that while it's small and that leads to crashes, those crashes aren't always huge. We had six cautions and the race was shortened by almost 80 laps by rain last year, for example. Four of those cautions came via wrecks. However, every truck that started the race was running at the finish.
The last time we got a full 200 laps was in 2022, a race that saw 11 cautions, but just six DNFs and just three officially ruled as out for "crash." So trucks are going to get together, but that won't necessarily end your day.
Another thing here is that where you start matters, but not if you're in a good truck. Corey Heim and Kyle Busch started in the top four last year and were the only drivers to lead laps, but two good trucks that started outside the top 20—Taylor Gray in the 17 and William Sawalich in the 1—finished in the top 10.
In 2022, William Byron and Johnny Sauter finished one-two after starting outside the top 30, but no one else who finished in the top 10 started outside the top 12 spots. A good truck can get through this field, but a truck that isn't usually fast will likely get mired in traffic. Target good drivers for place differential, not necessarily chaos drivers.
Drivers Who Could Dominate
Note: Written Before Qualifying
We start with Corey Heim ($11,000), the current points leader in the Truck Series. He won this race last year, leading 82 of the 124 laps that ran before the rain arrived. Heim got around Kyle Busch on Lap 43 and never looked back. With Busch not running this week, Heim has a great shot to make it two wins in a row at this track.
Corey Heim wins an eventful Truck Series race at COTA, his sixth career victory and second on a road course.
Connor Zilisch finishes P4 in his NASCAR debut.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) March 23, 2024
Sammy Smith ($9,300) is dipping down from the Xfinity Series for this one to pilot the Spire Motorsports No. 7 truck. Smith lacks Truck Series experience, running just one race in the series, but he does have three Xfinity Series starts at Martinsville, which includes two top fives last year. In the second of those two races, he led 147 of 256 laps and finished third. Smith has a chance to really run away with this thing.
Ty Majeski ($10,700) is a good short-track driver and finished fourth here last year. He's another top contender for the victory, though I'd rank him third of these three drivers as far as his chances.
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Mid-Tier Options
Note: Written Before Qualifying
Taylor Gray ($7,800) is having a really good season but the DraftKings pricing isn't caught up to that yet. He has four top 10s in a row, including a runner-up showing at COTA. He averages 44.7 DraftKings points per race and has two top 10s in three Truck Series starts at Martinsville.
Taylor Gray’s greatest moment of his career: the only kid in the history of Martinsville to flip. pic.twitter.com/LZWPvA0LRc
— Doug Ivey 2024 (@DGIveyNASCARFan) August 1, 2021
Ty Dillon ($7,600) has been relatively mediocre this season, but he's coming off a season-best finish of 11th last time out. Matt DiBendetto was seventh here in this truck last season. Meanwhile, Dillon has a ton of experience at this track, including 12 Cup Series starts here. Those starts have resulted in an average finish of just 22.8, but the Truck Series isn't nearly as competitive as Cup is.
Tanner Gray ($7,300) might not be having as much success as his brother this year, but his results have been solid, including posting his first top 10 of the year last time out. I greatly prefer Taylor, but if you want to mix things up then Tanner is a solid option. He finished fifth here last year.
Also, because this is being written before qualifying, any driver who costs $8,000 or more who starts outside of the top 25 probably has the speed to be a good place differential option.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Deep Sleepers
Note: Written Before Qualifying
William Sawalich ($6,900) is set to run the eighth Truck Series race of his career. This track was also the site of his very first start last season, a race that saw him start 22nd but finish ninth. He had three top 10s last season, all at short tracks. Love this price for a talented young driver like Sawalich.
It’s Raceday at @MartinsvilleSwy with @TRICONGarage. #TeamToyota pic.twitter.com/hXAiFbZB5Q
— William Sawalich (@WilliamSawalich) April 5, 2024
Kaden Honeycutt ($6,300) has run well so far for Niece, finishing sixth at Atlanta and 12th at Bristol. He's back in the truck this week at Martinsville, which is admittedly a track he's struggled at in the past. Still, at $6,300, there's upside.
Bret Holmes ($5,500) is running solid this year, with an average finish of 17.4 through the first five races. His average start is 22.6, so there's been some place differential upside there.
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