RADIO
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is in Charlotte this weekend as part of NASCAR's big Memorial Day weekend tripleheader—or, quadrupleheader if you count Friday's ARCA race. Whatever you call it, it's a huge weekend of racing action at the 1.5-mile track.
Last weekend, Corey Heim won the Truck Series race at North Wilkesboro, leading 66 of the 250 laps to earn his third win of the year. Heim is currently second in the Truck Series point standings, four points behind leader Christian Eckes. The battle for the regular season title looks to be down to the two of them already, with Ty Majeski 64 points back in third place.
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 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 on DraftKings. Be sure also to check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for Truck Series, including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station. This slate locks on 5/24/2024 at 8:48 p.m. EST.
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Truck Series DFS Preview - DraftKings
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Last Year At Charlotte
The 2023 North Carolina Education Lottery 200 saw Ben Rhodes wind up in victory lane. He led 37 laps, claiming the win over Corey Heim, who led 49 laps and finished second. Carson Hocevar was fourth after leading 43 laps.
It was a race dominated by three drivers. Tanner Gray led the first three laps and Chase Purdy had a two-lap turn at the front, but otherwise it was just these drivers trading it off, and until the latter part of the race it was actually just Heim and Hocevar taking turns.
That race saw a lot of movement through the field, as just four drivers who finished in the top 10 started in the top 10. That suggests that fantasy managers should be on the lookout for place differential plays on Friday night's slate.
Top NASCAR Trucks DFS Lineup Plays
Christian Eckes ($10.8K) - Starts 35th
Tanner Gray wins the pole for tonight’s Truck Series race at Charlotte.
It’s his second career pole.
Corey Heim will join him on the front row while Ty Majeski, Rajah Caruth & Layne Riggs rounded out the top five in qualifying. #NASCAR
— Cameron Richardson (@therichreport) May 24, 2024
Christian Eckes wasn't able to qualify after an incident in practice, so the N0. 19 truck is coming from all the way back in this one. Eckes, the points leader, might not contend for the win from the 35th starting spot, but he can easily get a top 10, and who knows—with how strong this truck has been, Eckes could find a way to battle for the victory.
Corey Heim ($11.0K) - Starts 2nd
Corey Heim should be viewed as the clear favorite to win this race based on a number of factors. There is, of course, the fact that he's already won three times this season. Another is that Heim led 49 laps and finished second here in 2023. With many of the top trucks starting slightly deeper in the field, Heim could dominate the early stages of this race.
Nick Sanchez ($10.3K) - Starts 16th
I love Nick Sanchez as an under-the-radar place differential option this weekend. Just feels like the 11-20 range of starting spots can get ignored sometimes, but there are still 10-plus points available for a driver with seven top 10s this year who was third at Texas and sixth at Kansas.
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Mid-Tier NASCAR Trucks DFS Lineup Options
Tyler Ankrum ($8.5K) - Starts 34th
Trouble for @TylerAnkrum but he saves it! pic.twitter.com/qZeKHTFsXt
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) May 24, 2024
Tyler Ankrum will start way back in 34th after a spin in qualifying, making him a clear place differential option for this race. Ankrum hasn't run very well at this track, but he has three top 20s in five starts, and if he can get up to around 15th then he'll deliver big fantasy numbers.
Brett Moffitt ($9.2K) - Starts 19th
Brett Moffitt is in the No. 1 truck for Tricon this weekend. It's his second start of the year in the truck, with the first coming at Kansas. In that race, he started 19th, just as he will on Friday night. He ended up fifth. Considering this is another 1.5-mile intermediate track, keep an eye on Moffitt on Friday night.
Tanner Gray ($8.0K) - Starts 1st
For the second year in a row, Tanner Gray is on the pole at Charlotte. Last year, he couldn't stay up front and finished way back in 27th, but I think he has a chance to stay up in the top five for much of this race. Risky play because he could lose you a ton of points, but I'll probably sprinkle the polesitter into some lineups.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Sleeper Picks
Daniel Dye ($6.5K) - Starts 36th
Daniel Dye wasn't able to run a qualifying lap and will start back in 36th. While part of me worries he'll get bogged down in traffic, a bigger part of me loves this as a place differential play. Dye has four top 10s this season, including at three of the four 1.5-mile tracks that the series has visited. Barring a DNF, I'd expect at least a top 20, which would be a minimum of 16 place differential points. My top value play.
Kaden Honeycutt ($6.7K) - Starts 9th
Kaden Honeycutt qualified ninth in this Niece Motorsports No. 45 truck. In four Truck Series starts this season, Honeycutt has an average finish of 7.8 with one top five and three top 10s. Some risk here for negative place differential since he's a young driver starting in the top 10 for just the third time ever in his Truck Series career, but worth the risk, in my opinion.
"My inexperience absolutely kicked in right there ... So stupid on my part."- Kaden Honeycutt pic.twitter.com/7n5jDnLnKI
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 24, 2024
Note: make sure he doesn't go to a backup truck though, since he had an incident with Christian Eckes in practice. If he has to start from the back, he's no longer an option since he'll still be scored from ninth for DFS purposes.
Mason Massey ($5.7K) - Starts 29th
Mason Massey has run pretty well lately. He enters this race with five finishes in a row of 23rd or better, including a 20th at Texas and a 21st at Kansas. Could be a really cheap source of 10 place differential points.
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