RADIO
The NASCAR Truck Series heads to the Dallas-Fort Worth area this weekend as part of a tripleheader weekend of NASCAR's top three series. The Truck Series gets things rolling on Friday night with the SpeedyCash.com 250.
Last weekend at Martinsville, Christian Eckes dominated, leading 133 of the 200 laps on his way to his second win of the season. He sits fourth in the point standings, 11 back of leader Ty Majeski. Corey Heim and Tyler Ankrum are tied for second, seven points behind Majeski. It's early, but the battle for the regular season title looks tight.
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 SpeedyCash.com 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 4/12/2024 at 8:41 p.m. EST.
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Truck Series DFS Preview - DraftKings
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Texas Race Trends
People aren't really fans of Texas Motor Speedway these days, because the racing just isn't great. For example, before he crashed in overtime of last year's race, polesitter Nick Sanchez had led 168 of the 171 laps. Any time he lost the lead, it was only for one lap. If he doesn't crash on that final lap, he's pulling off a dominant first-career victory.
But maybe that was just the last race? Well, 2022's race did see 18 lead changes, though of the four drivers who led double-digit laps, all of them started the race in fifth or better. So we had more passing up front, but it was still a race dominated by track position.
In 2021, polesitter John Hunter Nemechek won the race after leading the most laps. In 2020, Sheldon Creed led 131 laps from the pole to win. In fact, the last time this race was won from deeper than a fifth-place starting spot was in 2019 when Greg Biffle won from sixth. The last time the winner at Texas came from outside the top 10 was 2017 when Christopher Bell won from 21st.
Drivers Who Could Dominate
Note: Written Before Qualifying
Normally I'd write about specific drivers here, but I'll get to that part in a minute. My main advice is that you should wait until after qualifying is over and then build a lineup centered around whoever the polesitter is. Clean air is huge, so you want someone who opens the race with a clean track ahead of them. You could sprinkle in the second-place starter as well, or heck—play 'em both.
Anyways, onto some drivers who have run well here.
Nick Sanchez ($9,000) was the dominant driver here last year as I mentioned above. He was cruising toward a win before he crashed in overtime. Good shot for a revenge race here.
Nick Sanchez led 98.25% of the laps at Texas (168/172).
This is the most dominate performance in the Truck Series since Timothy Peters led all 204 laps at Bristol in August 2012, more than a decade ago.
This is a lap led % that even Kyle Busch has never achieved in Trucks pic.twitter.com/tmM02FzKTA
— Trey Ryan (@TreyRyan99) April 2, 2023
Kyle Busch ($14,500) is like, prohibitively expensive, costing $4,000 more than Corey Heim. Still, if he starts on the pole, I'll have some exposure, even though he makes lineup-building really tough. My hope would be that we get a mid-priced driver starting top five who we can play because of the importance of track position, plus we get some potential place differential plays.
Christian Eckes ($10,000) ran well here last year, leading 40 laps and finishing in second place. He has wins at Vegas and Kansas during his Truck Series career, which are both intermediate tracks that are somewhat comparable to Texas.
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Mid-Tier Options
Note: Written Before Qualifying
To echo the comments above, if anyone under $9,000 starts on the front row, hammer that play. Sure, we could have a 2023 Nick Sanchez situation where the truck gets crashed, and you lose a lot of DFS points because of that, but I'd trust the clean air.
Other than that, some drivers to consider:
Taylor Gray ($7,600) remains the best value in the Truck Series. His worst finish since Daytona is seventh, giving him a five-race streak of top 10s. He's had 35 or more DraftKings points in five consecutive races, and yet he's cheaper than a lot of drivers who aren't running this well. Keep playing Gray until the price catches up to the performance.
P6 in the truck last night. One more opportunity today!!! #teamtoyota pic.twitter.com/CJnibRj30e
— Taylor Gray (@TaylorGray17_) April 6, 2024
Stewart Friesen ($7,800) hasn't run well this season, but he's a former winner at this track. In 11 starts here, Friesen has five top-five finishes, including a third-place run last year.
Layne Riggs ($8,000) hasn't had the year that people might have expected from this 38 truck, but this is a fast truck that should contend for a top 10 if Riggs can keep it clean.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Deep Sleepers
Note: Written Before Qualifying
Johnny Sauter ($7,000) struggled in his only other start this season, but the veteran driver has been really good at Texas Motor Speedway, winning here five times in his 26 starts with 17 top 10s. He isn't the same driver he used to be, but at just $7,000, I'll take a chance on him.
Howdy, Johnny.🤠
Johnny Sauter will return behind the wheel of the No. 45 at Texas Motor Speedway!@JohnnySauter | @TeamChevy pic.twitter.com/PSMMaIT1pp
— Niece Motorsports (@NieceMotorsport) April 8, 2024
Stefan Parsons ($6,000) has made three starts this year. He has three top 20s and finished with positive place differential in two of those races, while in the other he finished where he started.
Mason Massey ($5,500) finished 11th last week. He's had a positive place differential in five of the six races this season. Massey is one of the cheaper drivers in this field, and as long as he starts outside the top 25, I'll consider him a must-play driver, especially if I have Kyle Busch in the lineup and need the extra salary savings.
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