RADIO
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is back, and I mean that in two ways. First, the actual series returns to the track Friday for the first time this season with the NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona. And second, Craftsman is back as the title sponsor! The tool company sponsored the series from 1996 until 2008, after which Camping World took over.
What will this season bring in the Truck Series? Can Zane Smith repeat as champion? And how will all the team and manufacture changes—many spurred by Kyle Busch leaving Toyota—impact how the series goes?
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 NextEra 250 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 2/17/2023 at 7:39 p.m. ET.
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Truck Series DFS Preview - DraftKings
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Post-Qualifying Updates
Check back later for updates after qualifying, which will usually be in the form of a linked Twitter thread.
UPDATE: some thoughts on this race after qualifying:
What Happened Last Time
Since we won't have the starting lineup until really close to the start of Friday night's race, let's start by talking about what to expect at this particular track based on recent races here.
Unlike Cup and Xfinity, the Truck Series makes just one visit per year to Daytona, and just because of the nature of the lower series, that means we don't have a lot of great data on a big part of this field. Still, we know some things.
For one, we know that Zane Smith won this race last year, though he only led three of the 106 laps. We also know that the entire top five finishers for the race started outside the top 10, and that 13 drivers recorded a DNF.
That last part is what matters here. We had a big wreck on the penultimate lap of last year's race, which collected drivers like Grant Enfinger and Corey Heim. And crashes right at the end of Daytona have tended to really screw things up here. 2021? Crash on lap 95, which knocked out some good trucks. 2020? Crash on lap 98 for another big one. 2019? Another lap 99 crash, which was the second big wreck of that race. Only nine drivers even finished on the lead lap that year.
The point of all this? Daytona's unpredictable. I mean...Jesse Little and Danny Bohn had top 10s here last year. Expect the unexpected. How I usually handle Daytona in DFS is that I build more lineups than usual and enter them in lower-priced contests. I don't want to bankrupt myself for a race like this, so I just keep it small and try to survive the week.
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Pre-Qualifying Favorites
Here's how I expect to play Daytona: I'll likely build my lineup around the two favorites who start the deepest in the field, giving me place differential upside and also helping to account for some of the chaos involved at this track. You can't predict who'll wreck, but you can mitigate how much crashes hurt you by not playing drivers who start near the front since you'll lose a lot of PD points if/when those drivers crash.
The obvious favorite here is Chase Elliott ($10,600), the former Cup Series champion who is piloting the 35 truck for Bill McAnally. Elliott has a Daytona win in Xfinity and a Talladega win in Cup, but I'm also wary of him, just because I think he ends up being overplayed.
Zane Smith ($10,300) won this race a year ago and should be considered a strong candidate to do so again. I also like Parker Kligerman ($9,500) a LOT if he doesn't qualify in the top 20. He knows how to finish at superspeedways and was fifth here last year.
Corey Heim ($9,100) feels like a decent value among the higher-priced drivers. I'd expect his new team, TRICON Garage, will have some good equipment since they're now Toyota's new developmental team.
Pre-Qualifying Sleepers
At Daytona, a ton depends on the starting lineup, so it's possible that none of these drivers end up being good plays, or even making the race, as there are 42 drivers entered and just 36 spots up for grabs.
I think Rajah Caruth ($7,200) is the obvious name here, as he was the fastest in practice and is in a GMS truck, so he should have speed. Yes, that's the logic that we used last year to continually trick ourselves into playing Jack Wood, but Caruth is significantly better than Jack Wood.
I also think Hailee Deegan ($7,400) is interesting. She moves over to ThorSport this year, which is a really good team. She still has a lot to prove, but this is her best shot to prove it, and the pricing here is really nice.
Nick Sanchez ($6,600) is a name to watch as well. He won't cost this little by mid-season, as the Rev Racing truck he's driving is part of an alliance with Kyle Busch Motorsports. I expect Sanchez to challenge for a playoff spot.
And then, of course, there's always the need for some chaos sleepers here. We don't know who'll actually make the race yet, so I won't give names, but 11 drivers cost $5,500 or less. At least one of those drivers will be part of the optimal lineup this week, because that's just how Daytona works. We can revisit this after qualifying, but knowing which one to play kind of just comes down to luck.
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