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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 if you are new the WinDaily Sports or to my NASCAR content, welcome! 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.
We have a busy schedule at Pocono this weekend with four races in two days and the Truck Series kicks it all of Saturday at noon eastern. This track runs similar to a Superspeedway with long laps and drafting being key. One difference is that we don’t generally get too many cautions, and the lap count is usually lower. We only have 60 laps on Saturday afternoon so chasing dominator points is not necessary and we need to focus more on place differential and finishing position.
As with every week, each tier of drivers is listed in order of preference
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
Kyle Busch ($15,000)
Starting position: 22nd
This will be the last time we see Kyle Busch in the Truck Series this season and the last chance we have to decide if he’s worth the salary. Pocono has been a great track for Busch in the Truck Series, but he hasn’t run a truck here since 2018. I am not concerned with the three-year gap because it’s not like Kyle hasn’t been racing competitively since then. I will focus on his last race here primarily, but he does have 2 wins and three top 5’s in four races. In 2018, Busch led 43 of 60 laps on his way to victory lane. I think we see a very similar performance on Saturday from Kyle and the #51
John Hunter Nemechek ($11,000)
Starting Position: 7th
Like Busch, Nemechek has not run a truck race here in years, but when he did run, he ran well. In his three races here from 2015-17, Nemechek never finished lower than 13th. Nemechek is a much more experienced driver and is running in the series’ top equipment this season and should compete for the win here.
Grant Enfinger ($9,600)
Starting Position: 31st
Enfinger is a having a great 2021 season and has been doing it for two different teams. Because he missed a race this season and doesn’t have a full time ride Enfinger isn’t eligible for the playoffs so he is just racing for wins. This week Enfinger is back in the #9 for Codie Rohrbaugh which he has two top 10’s in and has not finished lower than 17th. Enfinger and Busch will be chalky I believe, and can easily be played together, but I love that combo so much so that I will ignore the ownership on them and find ways to be different in the mid and value tiers. Both Enfinger and Busch has top 10 potential and could be 1-2 in DraftKings points at the end of the day.
Christian Eckes ($9,000)
Stating Position: 16th
Eckes is driving the #98 ThorSport Toyota this week that Enfinger drove to a 3rd place finish last week. This will be Eckes’s 6th race this season and outside of COTA (suspension issue), he has not finished lower than 11th. Adding Eckes to our Busch/Enfinger build is one way to make our lineups different.
Other Options: Ryan Preece ($9,800 – P8), Sheldon Creed ($10,500 – P10), Todd Gilliland ($10,300 – P1): Gilliland is an LF GPP play only, he has some upside but is very risky starting P1
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Josh Berry ($7,500)
Starting Position: 20th
Berry will be running his 3rd race this season for Rackley W.A.R. and his 4th Truck Series race overall in 2021. In his previous two races, Berry has finishes of 11th and 19th. We have seen him have great success in the Xfinity Series this season and with his run there over for the season, Berry will focus more on the few Truck Series races he has remaining starting with this week. Looking at paths to lineup building this week, I like how Berry slots in perfectly with a Busch and Nemechek build.
Johnny Sauter ($7,300)
Starting Position: 12th
Sauter had his streak of six straight top 10’s at Pocono snapped last season when he finished 13th, but this week he can start a new streak! Pocono has been one of Sauter’s better tracks in his career where he has an average finish of 10.4 in 11 races. In his 11 starts here at Pocono, Sauter has only finished lower than 11th once in his career (2012). While I mentioned using Berry with a Busch/Nemechek build on Saturday, Sauter could be the lower owned GPP play to pair with them for similar upside.
Bayley Currey ($8,700)
Starting Position: 27th
Currey is back in a Niece Chevrolet this season for the 5th time and will look to continue his good run of races. Now, while I do like Currey, I do think he is a bit overpriced but the upside is certainly there for him. Currey does have three top 20 finishes this season, and I think he can easily pull that off again this weekend. If you need to be different and have the salary, Currey is the guy. If you think, like I do, that Kyle Busch will get the lead and not relinquish it and only want to pay up for him, Currey makes for a great pivot off Enfinger.
Other Options: Chandler Smith ($7,800 – P11), Ty Majeski ($7,100 – P14), Stewart Friesen ($8,200 – P6)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings
- Derek Kraus ($6,500) – P24: Top overall FPTS/$ play on the slate
- Tyler Ankrum ($6,300) – P18: I love the idea of pair him with Kraus in Busch/Efinger builds. They are both two of the projected higher owned value tier plays but most won’t play them together
- Tyler Hill ($6,700) – P30: Hill is a nice piece to put with Busch/JHN builds with good place differential upside.
- Spencer Boyd ($5,200) – P34: Is not expected to be popular, but he should be. Boyd has the salary relief and limited downside to make any build work
- Carson Hocevar ($6,900) – P13: Expected to be sub 20% owned, good GPP pivot off Kraus/Ankrum
- Ryan Truex ($6,100) – P23
- Jack Wood ($6,00) – P9: Carried almost no ownership last week and expect the same again on Saturday starting in the top 10. Wood is driving great equipment and should finish around the top 10.
- Austin Wayne Self ($5,800) – P21: Starts a little higher for his price, but a top 20 is not out of the question
- Danny Bohn ($5,700) – P28
- Bryan Dauzat ($5,400) – P39: Starts last, can’t really hurt you but I will probably not have any exposure. I’d rather save the $200 in salary and play Boyd.
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