NASCAR DFS Playbook: In It To Win It 200

Xfinity was going great until it wasn’t. Just another day where I was up big and then Timmy Hill decided to stay out on old tires and nearly wreck the field on the restart. Add in the late penalty to Hamlin, the issues for Annett, Hemric, and Allmendinger… It was a stage three disaster.

But just in time to brush off the dust we’ve got the truck series to rebound with. The bad news is that I don’t have the greatest read on this slate so I may only make three-to-five lineups. If I find more time I’ll make 20 for the Happy Hour but I just don’t love the contests or how this slate is shaping up. I’m going to hammer the Cup series pretty hard instead.

However, we still have the Trucks in action and it’s the second race in the playoffs for these drivers. Similar to Saturday’s Xfinity series race, we have 147 laps broken into 45-45-57 segments with a competition caution following lap 15 and green flag is scheduled for 1:48pm ET.

Driver Pool

John Hunter Nemechek ($11,300; Starting P6) I’m not really going out on a limb here, but JHN is my pick to win Sunday’s Truck race. He led 65 laps here in the Spring race, had the highest driver rating out of everyone, but ultimately finished eighth. I don’t know if he’ll have as many  dominator points this time around, but he’s been the best driver in the field for most of the season. I expect him to be in the front by stage two or three to get dominator points and the win. Sheldon Creed won the opening race to automatically qualify for the next round. Now it’s JHN’s turn.

Sheldon Creed ($10,900; Starting P1) Speaking of Creed he’s a driver I really like for three-entry max contests and single-entry lineups as well. Creed won this race in the Spring and last year he was dominating this race with over 80 laps led before a sub-par finish outside the top 15. I prefer him more for DFS than for betting purposes because he certainly won’t mail this race in. Plus, he’s on the pole and can collect those early dominator points.

Austin Hill ($10,300; Starting P7) With so many people likely landing on JHN and Creed, Hill could go overlooked. He finished third here a year ago and 13th in the Spring but he’s routinely running up in the top ten here. Keep in mind Hill had a ton of momentum going into Gateway as he was coming off wins at Knoxville and Watkins Glen but just had a bad showing at Gateway. Sunday’s race will provide a good opportunity for him to potentially bounce back. 

Grant Enfinger ($10,100; Starting P12) The price is a little high, but DraftKings is clearly aware Enfinger has run well here in a couple races. And the good news is that he’s back in the 98-truck with Thorsport. Here are Enfinger’s results in the 98-truck this season: 11th, 11th, 6th, 8th, 5th, 3rd, 3rd, and 3rd. In the 9-truck for CR7 Motorsports he’s finished 7th, 17th, 4th, 14th, 36th, 38th, and 25th. Last year in this race he finished fourth and in the Spring he finished fifth. This is a track he’s performed very well at, but he does need to collect some dominator points with a strong finish to return value.

Parker Kligerman ($9,600; Starting P34) Kligerman is back in the 75-truck and he routinely moves up when he competes in the Truck series. In seven races this year he has six finishes in the top 20 with his worst finish being 26th after he wrecked in the previous Darlington race. There is top 10-to-15 upside here for Kligerman if he can run a cleaner race. He hits value if he moves up 20 spots and he’s shown he can do that. 

Ben Rhodes ($9,400; Starting P3) Rhodes could be a nice contrarian play. In a very small two-race sample size he has a win here and a runner-up. He’s led 38 laps across both races and seems like a contrarian GPP dominator target. He also finished third at Gateway a couple weeks ago. So there’s something about these egg-shaped tracks that really reign in Rhodes’ focus. The starting spot could put some people off. Rhodes is a nice way to differentiate some of your GPP lineups.

Tyler Ankrum ($9,000; Starting P25) I like Ankrum for Cash games this week given the price tag and starting spot. In GPP’s I will try being under the field because this does feel like a bit of a trap. He has been performing better lately. He didn’t have a single top 15 finish in the first five races this year but over the last 11 races, he has seven top 15’s including five top ten’s. There is also the possibility that he wrecks out, which is kind of what I’m banking on. In two races at Darlington he’s finished 14th and tenth. Realistically he only needs to finish top 12 to return value and I think a lot of casual players could jump on Ankrum because of this. He won’t be a full fade for me, but certainly a driver I don’t want a ton of exposure to.

Josh Berry ($8,700; Starting P20) You could ask Josh Berry to race Mario Kart on Nintendo 64 against your nephew and he’d move mountains to get there and compete. He’s willing to get behind the wheel at a moment’s notice and drive anything with wheels. So he’s running the Truck race on Sunday for the 25-truck for Rackley W.A.R. and he offers some PD although the price tag is a little tough to stomach. He basically needs a top ten for value. The problem I have is that I feel like that might be his ceiling. Realistically I think he’s more likely for a top 15.

Spencer Davis ($8,100; Starting P36) I don’t personally love this pick but he only needs a top 20 to return value. Davis ran the race here in the Spring but wrecked and finished 29th. He does have top 20 upside and he arguably has top 15 upside which would be huge for his value. I like the price tag and the starting spot, but I could also see a scenario where he just finished 25th for barely 3.5X value.

Dylan Lupton ($7,600; Starting P11) The value options are pretty horrific this week so we have to get creative. Lupton is in Kyle Busch’s 51-truck this weekend and we know how good this truck is. And he’s no spring chicken. He has raced in the Truck and Xfinity series before, but it’s been a few years since his last appearance here. Ownership will be tough to read on Lupton but I can imagine a scenario where he’s a leverage play. But again, Darlington is very tough on drivers without a ton of experience and he could be rusty.

Tanner Gray ($7,400; Starting P22) Gray is a driver that can get a top 15 any given week. But in two races here he’s finished outside the top 25, but he was also starting pretty high and not a great play on paper. This week he’s starting outside the top 20. If he finishes 14th, which is a reasonable request for a guy like Gray, then he’s hitting value. I love him for GPP’s and consider him a borderline Cash game play this week as well.

Colby Howard ($6,700; Starting P29) Howard’s stepping into the 9-truck for CR7 Motorsports. We’ve seen Grant Enfinger get some solid results out of this ride, but over the last four races for this truck it has finished outside the top 30 in three of them. Howard doesn’t have the greatest results here in the Xfinity series, but this is a good price tag for a guy offering PD that you’re hoping can squeeze a top 20 in this spot.

Dawson Cram ($6,000; Starting P28) Cram has raced here twice. Cram has crashed here twice. Third time’s a charm, right? Cram won’t wow you with his race results, but he can move up a few spots and he’s $700 cheaper than Colby Howard and he’s starting just one spot ahead of him. We saw Cram manage to move this car to 21st-place finishes at Vegas, Texas, and Charlotte which are nothing like Darlington. But at least we know he can move up. Hopefully this race isn’t as much of a disaster as the Spring race. Do not go overboard with exposure here.

Tyler Hill ($5,800; Starting P21) I wish his brother was running this race because at least Timmy has a couple top tens here. But I’ll get exposure to Tyler this week. However, I was much higher on him a couple weeks ago for Gateway. I’m not as confident in him this week because Darlington is not an easy track on newcomers. But he finished 11th at Gateway and Darlington can draw similarities to Gateway. Darlington’s just a little bit bigger and has more tire wear. The price tag is also easy to jump on Hill so I’m going to get exposure in GPP’s but I don’t think he’s a slam dunk for Cash games.

Ryan Truex ($4,900; Starting P19) Wanna get a little weird for this race? Truex is in a pretty good spot at sub-$5K for a pretty good team. He finished 11th here in the Spring and while I think he probably finishes 17th or so, this is a cheap price tag for a pretty good driver in solid equipment. In nine of his last ten races he’s finished in the top 20 and he basically hits value if he finishes where he starts.

Spencer Boyd ($4,600; Starting P26) Boyd’s coming off a 16th-place finish at Gateway a couple weeks ago and he’s finished 22nd and 26th at Darlington over the past year. If he somehow gets a top 20 that’s 6X value. However, a more realistic expectation would be for him to finish 22nd or 23rd and that would just about get us 5X value. It is also quite possible that he goes backwards but given his fortune here the last couple races I’m willing to consider him as the dumpster diving punt.

Core Drivers