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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 as well to make sure you are ready and have an understanding of 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 that has contests for all three series (Trucks, Xfinity, Cup) and is the site I mainly play on. All plays in the Cup Series article will translate to FanDuel if that is where you play.
Last time we saw the Truck Series they were on the dirt at Bristol, luckily they are back on pavement and this race should be more predictable. This race is typically a two dominator race because we have 250 laps to pick up points, but this is a Kyle Busch ($16,500) race. With Kyle running this race we could see him leading the majority of laps. Now, at this high price and the limited place differential upside I can see a reason to fade Kyle this weekend. I will probably be underweight on Busch this weekend. There is another driver who has similar equipment to Kyle and has better place differential upside.
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
John Hunter Nemecheck ($11,500)
Starting Position: 18th
If you take out the dirt race (and I do), Nemechek has not finished lower than seventh this season. Nemechek drives for Kyle Busch Motorsports and was able to hold his own against his owner a few weeks back at Atlanta he came home third behind Busch. JHN has never raced a truck at Richmond, but in 21 races at similar tracks (Martinsville, Loudon & Phoenix) he has 1 win, 8 top 5’s, and 12 top 10 finishes. I will have plenty of exposure to Nemechek this week as I think he is the real main threat to Kyle this weekend and could lead some laps and has that PD upside we like.
Zane Smith ($9,800)
Starting Position: 6th
Last season Smith led 44 laps at Richmond and had 8 fastest laps on his way to finishing 11th. Smith spent the entire race running inside the top 15 last season as well and had an average running position of 6.1. In 2020 at comparable tracks (Martinsville & Phoenix), Smith had top 5 finishes in both races and led 68 laps in those two races. Also, if you believe in these types of things, Smith posted a picture on Twitter of himself finding a four-leaf clover this week, so maybe he has some luck heading into Saturday’s race.
Sam Mayer ($9,200)
Starting Position: 40th
Sam Mayer is one of the best up-and-coming drivers in NASCAR and is extremely unpriced this week. Mayer will be chalk this week and I am ok with eating some of that chalk because the upside is there with him. Mayer is not in the best truck he’s ever been in, but he is so good he can make the most of it. Last season in this race, Mayer finished 19th after starting from P25 but he ran as high as fourth place. I can see Mayer coming home with a top 10 this week and potentially picking up some fastest lap dominator points.
Other Options: Grant Enfinger ($9,500 – P3) – Enfinger dominated this race some last season on his way to a win. Sheldon Creed ($10,500 – P9)
Here is a special FADE play for this week:
Tyler Ankrum ($11,000 – P30) You may be tempted to play Ankrum for the place differential, but he and his team have just been horrid this season. I need to see something from this truck before I can consider using him this season. Ankrum has not finished higher than 17th in 2021 and has negative fantasy points in 3 of 5 races.
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Matt Crafton ($8,700)
Starting Position: 7th
Crafton turned out a solid performance in this same race last season leading to a second-place finish. In 2020, Crafton led 25 laps, had 27 fastest laps, had an average run position of 7.3 in this race. Crafton hasn’t really led many laps this season, which is normal for Crafton. I like him for GPP’s because I believe the #88 doesn’t garner much ownership this weekend and has top 5 potential.
Ben Rhodes ($8,300)
Starting Position: 1st
Kyle Busch will most likely take over this race at some point, but before he does Ben Rhodes should lead the majority of the early laps. Last season at Richmond, Rhodes led the most laps with 66 and also had 39 fastest laps. I know he is on the pole, and generally, we stay away, but Rhodes has been the best overall truck this season and I think he ends up top 5.
Timmy Hill ($7,000)
Starting Position: 34th
Hill has only run one race this season, Daytona RC, and he finished 9th after starting from P34. Last season at Richmond, Hill started 15th but came home in P9. Hill didn’t lead any laps, but he did have 3 fastest laps. I think Hill could be a very popular option on Sunday because of his price and starting position.
Other Options: Todd Gilliland ($7,200 – P8), Chandler Smith ($7,900 – P23), Derek Kraus ($8,500 – P19), Spencer Davis ($7,400 – P25)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings
- Ryan Reed ($5,300) – P39
- Jett Noland ($6,800) – P36
- Danny Bohn ($5,700) – P28
- Howie Disavino ($5,200) – P35
- Tate Fogleman ($4,900) – P24
- Carson Hocevar ($5,500) – P13
- Kris Wright ($4,800) – P22
- Keith McGee ($4,500) – P32
- Josh Reaume ($5,100) – P37
- Dawson Cram ($6,300) – P31
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