RADIO
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Kansas Speedway on Saturday for the first of two races this season at the 1.5-mile track. Last year saw Grant Enfinger and Christian Eckes win at this track.
Through the first seven races of the 2024 season, Eckes fins himself at the top of the standings. He's won twice and has six top 10s, which has propelled him to a two-point advantage over Corey Heim. Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, and Taylor Gray round out the current top five spots in the regular season standings.
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 Heart of America 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 5/2/2024 at 8:00 p.m. EST.
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Truck Series DFS Preview - DraftKings
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Kansas Race Trends
Last year's races here were on from the 11th and eighth starting spots, breaking a streak of four consecutive Kansas races where the winner started fourth or better.
In fact, last year's races saw a lot of movement around the field. When we were last here in September, just three of the top 10 finishers at the end of the race started in the top 10, though that was more about some good drivers like Corey Heim, Zane Smith, and Carson Hocevar not having great qualifying runs.
September's race featured 18 lead changes, while the race in May featured 15 of them. Grant Enfinger won the race in May, leading a race-high 65 laps. He was the only driver with a streak of 20-plus laps at the front of the field, which he did twice.
Top Plays
Note: Written Before Qualifying
Christian Eckes ($10,700) won here last year, though he only led the final two laps of that race. In eight Truck Series starts here, Eckes has four top fives and six top 10s. He's led laps in all but one of these eight starts, though he's never led more than 10 here. Could this be his first dominant Kansas race?
Pre-practice Truck sims for Kansas:
1. Corey Heim 25.9%
2. Christian Eckes 17.5%
3. Ty Majeski 10.1%
4. Zane Smith 10.0%
5. Grant Enfinger 6.0%Full win/podium/T5 sims plus values at @FDSportsbook ⤵️ https://t.co/c6FZnJ7lHh
— Jim Sannes (@JimSannes) May 3, 2024
Corey Heim ($11,000) led 40 laps when the Truck Series was last here, ultimately finishing the race in fourth place. He was second in the other 2023 Kansas race. Heim's led double-digit laps in three of his four starts here and should be viewed as a major threat to win this race. I slightly lean toward Eckes if I can only bet on one, but either is a great pick to anchor your lineup.
Zane Smith ($10,000) returns to the Spire Motorsports No. 91 truck this weekend. In his three starts this year, Smith has three top 10s and an average finish of 5.3. He also had never finished lower than 11th in his eight Truck Series starts at Kansas, including a dominant win in 2022 that saw him lead 108 of the 134 laps.
Taylor Gray ($9,200): Well, the pricing has finally caught up to Gray's performance. Following his sixth top 10 of the year, Gray's price jumped from $7,600 to $9,200. He's no longer a guaranteed play each week at this price point, but I still love him this week at Kansas, where both of his starts have resulted in top 10s, including a second-place run here last fall.
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Mid-Tier Options
Note: Written Before Qualifying
Tanner Gray ($7,400) hasn't seen the same price increase that his brother saw, which makes sense since he isn't running as well as Taylor. Still, he's ninth in points and was eighth at Texas last time out, which is another 1.5-mile track. He has just one top 10 at Kansas, finishing fourth here back in 2020. However, he led laps in both 2023 races.
Grant Enfinger ($8,500) won here last year, but that win came in a GMS truck. The truck he's in this year isn't as strong, which is why Enfinger finds himself in this second section instead of the first one. Still, he knows his way around this track, with six top fives and an average finish of 7.2 in 11 starts.
Stewart Friesen ($7,800) has run well here lately, posting top 10s in both races last year. That extended his streak of top-20 finishes at Kansas to five races. Friesen was 13th at Texas last time out, his best finish of the season so far.
Stewart Friesen recently made personnel changes, including the departure of competition director Trip Bruce and crew chief Blake Bainridge. Friesen will have a more hands-on role running the team (which has 10 employees) and finished fourth at Kansas after the tumultuous week. pic.twitter.com/nVIAXqFFgR
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 7, 2023
Jake Garcia ($7,000) has seen a drop off in his production after moving to ThorSport, with his average finish falling from 14.0 last year to 18.4 this year. He's yet to record a top 10. However, Garcia's best finish was at Vegas, another intermediate track; he finished 11th in that one. Last year, Garcia had finishes of eighth and 11th at Kansas.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Deep Sleepers
Note: Written Before Qualifying
Kaden Honeycutt ($6,500) has looked really good for Niece this year. In three starts, he has a pair of top 10s and an average finish of 9.0. He hasn't finished worse than 12th. I expect to be very heavy on Honeycutt at this price.
Ty Dillon ($6,700) has really struggled this year, with an average finish of just 21.7 through his first five races for Rackley W.A.R. I do think this could be a good week for the No. 25 truck though, as Matt DiBenedetto put this truck in third place here in September.
Daniel Dye ($6,200) had his best run of the season last time out, starting and finishing sixth at Texas. Dye gets a reputation for not being a very good driver, but he's got a solid average finish of 16.3 this season and has shown speed at intermediate tracks.
Just over 24 hours until one of our very best takes on Kansas Speedway 🏁
Cam Waters' second @NASCAR Truck Series start will be televised on Fox Sports and Kayo tomorrow at 9:30am AEST 📺 #RepcoSC #Supercars pic.twitter.com/pftNmjkLrK
— Supercars (@supercars) May 3, 2024
Cam Waters ($6,300) makes his second start for ThorSport. While he crashed out of the first one, the Australian Supercars star is a very talented driver in a very solid truck and costs so little. Worth taking some shots on.
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