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Welcome to the NASCAR DFS Pit Stop for the Truck series for the 2021 season! If you’ve been with us before then, you know the drill, but welcome if you are new to WinDaily Sports or my NASCAR content! I break down the field each week and give you my favorite plays for each race in three different price categories.
Make sure to check out my NASCAR DFS Tutorial to make sure you are ready and understand how I break down the races and build lineups (https://windailysports.com/nascar-dfs-pit-stop-2021-introduction-to-nascar-dfs/). You will notice that all pricing is for DraftKings in these articles since they are the only site with contests for all three series (Trucks, Xfinity, Cup) and the site I mainly play on. All plays in the Cup Series article will translate to FanDuel if that is where you play.
Welcome to (the real) Bristol week! After racing on the “dirt” at Bristol earlier this season, the Truck Series returns to Bristol for a traditional short track race on the pavement.
I want to just start by talking about place differential since I mentioned it in discord on Wednesday night. We must be careful about what drivers starting towards the back that we use on Thursday. Being that this is a short track, certain trucks just don’t have the speed to move through the field fast enough to avoid going one lap (or more) early in this race. There will be some wrecks throughout the field so there is a chance some can pick up a few spots, but they could just end up locked into a spot and not move all race. A driver like that could kill your team early, but I do have a few drivers starting towards the back that are in good enough equipment to stay on the lead lap for a good portion of this race.
As with every week, each tier of drivers is listed in order of preference
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
John Hunter Nemechek ($11,000)
Starting Position: 2nd
Rinse and repeat.
Play Nemechek.
This is what we do every week. Nemechek will lead a good amount of the 250 laps on Thursday and will compete for the win. Outside of the one time he wrecked here, Nemechek has finished no worse than 8th and has three top 5’s in five races.
Sheldon Creed ($10,600)
Starting Position: 1st
See above.
Creed has won back-to-back races and will look to sweep the first round of the playoffs on Thursday and it’s kind of hard to doubt him. I really believe that we could see Creed and Nemechek lead 200 of the 250 laps in this race on Thursday. Pricing is kind of soft which means playing these together is pretty easy.
Sam Mayer ($11,900)
Starting Position: 39th
Even at this high price, I think Mayer could be chalky because of the plethora of cheaper options in this race. As I mentioned, pricing is soft this week so fitting all three of these drivers in is pretty feasible. I will have at least of these drivers in every lineup and will have all three in some as well. At this race last year, Mayer led 30 laps on his way to victory lane.
Tyler Ankrum ($9,000)
Starting Position: 18th
Ankrum finished 7th here in 2020 and led 53 laps in the process. Overall in his career, Ankrum has three top 10’s and two top 5’s in 9 short-track races. Ankrum is a top 10 candidate and if his truck doesn’t betray him he could even lead a few laps and there at the end racing for a win. With everyone focused on the top guys in the tier, I think Ankrum goes completely overlooked.
Other Options: Grand Enfinger ($9,400 – P6): Enfinger is the 98 ThorSport truck which is the better of the two he drives. Should finish top 10. Parker Kligerman ($10,300 – P14), Zane Smith ($9,700 – P9)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Ben Rhodes ($8,800)
Starting Position: 11th
Ben Rhodes under $9K starting from P11 seems is pretty ridiculous. I expect Rhodes to be higher owned for those not rostering three top tier drivers. Rhodes has performed exceptionally well at Bristol in his career with four top 10’s and a top 5 in six career races here. At the end of the day, I expect Rhodes to finish with his fifth top 10 at Bristol.
Chandler Smith ($8,000)
Starting Position: 7th
Smith is just 19 years old but seems to have a grip on how to race at Bristol. In just two races here, Smith has two top 5’s including a second-place finish here in 2019. Smith has become something of a short track specialist in the Truck Series. In five career short track races, Smith has four top 10’s and three top 5’s. It’s hard to see Smith finishing anywhere outside the top 10 on Thursday.
Timmy Hill ($7,300)
Starting Position: 32nd
Timmy Hill is another driver who has done very well in a small sample size at Bristol. In two career Truck Series races, Hill has finishes of 17th (2019) and 20th (2020) which would be more than enough for him to make value on Thursday. Hill is probably too cheap, so he could be popular but there are enough ways to be different in this race that I am not worried about his ownership.
Other Options: Taylor Gray ($8,100 – P35), Johnny Sauter ($8,400 – P13), Matt Crafton ($8,500 – P4)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier
- Ryan Truex ($5,400) – P26: Truex has eight top 20’s in his last ten races.
- Clay Greenfield ($6,800) – P34: It’s been 11 years since Greenfield finished higher than 20th, but he doesn’t need that to be optimal. Greenfield as four straight mid to high 20’s at Bristol.
- Tate Fogleman ($4,800) – P31: Fogleman is a a mid 20’s driver who, if the race falls his way, could end up with a top 10
- Cory Roper ($6,100) – P37: Roper is a good upside play on Thursday. Ir has been four years since Roper raced here, but he finished 25th in that race.
- Hailie Deegan ($6,600) – P23: Deegan has not raced here in a Truck yet, but she does have a 6th place finish in the ARCA Series.
- Colby Howard ($6,300) – P20
- Chase Purdy ($5,900) – P19
- Danny Bohn ($5,000) – P22: Bohn is cheap, but risky.
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