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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! Each week, I break down the field 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 back, everyone! After a hiatus because of the Summer Olympics NASCAR is finally back at the track this weekend. This weekend all three series are at Watkins Glen International Raceway in upstate New York, a 3.4-mile road course featuring 11 turns.
It has been a very, VERY long time since the Truck Series has been to WGI, in fact, it’s been 21 years. This will only be the sixth race in this series here, and the last time there was a truck race here Greg Biffle won. Obviously, there is nobody in this race currently running in the Truck Series full time, in fact, only Kurt Busch is still running regularly in any of the three major series’ who ran that race in 2000. Like with all road courses this season you need to remember that we are not hunting dominator points, but instead, we are looking for finishing positions and place differential plays.
As with every week, each tier of drivers is listed in order of preference
NASCAR DFS: Dominators
AJ Allmendinger ($10,100)
Starting Position: 21st
Allmendinger was not originally scheduled to run this race, but because of a positive COVID-19 test for Chase Purdy, Dinger got the call. Purdy has been running some decent races in the #23 truck this season but Allmendinger is an obvious upgrade over him. Allmendinger is an absolute lock for me in this race. We are getting one of the premier road course races in NASCAR racing in arguably the best equipment in the Truck Series. Honestly, what’s not to like?
Sheldon Creed ($9,800)
Starting Position: 19th
Sheldon Creed starting 19th at only $9,800, SIGN ME UP! This is clear mispricing by DraftKings and he is the perfect “salary relief” to pair with an Allmendinger and another high-priced dominator. In the past two seasons, Creed has run three road course races and has three top 5’s and a win in 2020 at the Daytona Road Course. It is kind of hard to pass up this type of value today.
Sam Mayer ($10,600)
Starting Position: 40th
Mayer is going to be the most popular play on Saturday but is likely to also be the driver who scores the most DKFP as well. I have been saying it all season, do not worry about ownership when it comes to the top tier, you need to just lock in the guys we want up here and play the ownership game in lower price tiers. Mayer has run two races in the #32 this season and finished top 10 both times, and most importantly he finished 6th at COTA this season.
Kaz Grala ($10,000)
Starting Position: 23rd
This is clearly a top-heavy field when it comes to DFS on Saturday but I believe there is enough value to lock in three $10K+ drivers. Grala has run two races in the 02 truck this season, both top 10 finishes. At COTA (Austin), Grala started 2nd and finished 2nd so we know this truck can pull a top 5 and I think Grala can get there again Saturday. If it comes down to Grala and AJ, I have no problem going Grala if you need the $100 (you shouldn’t though).
If you want to be different, both Paul Menard ($10,400 – P39) and Parker Kligerman ($10,200 – P38) are good place differential plays. Both Menard and Kligerman should finish top 20, or even top 10. Their pricing combined with the other drivers mentioned above do make three dominator builds difficult. Ownership should be spread out in this tier this week but they should both come in at lower ownership than the four drivers above.
Other Options: Grant Enfinger ($9,600 – P30),Ben Rhodes ($9,100 – P5), John Hunter Nemechek ($9,500 – P6), Todd Gilliland ($9,300 – P2)
NASCAR DFS: Mid Tier
Corey Heim ($8,900)
Starting Position: 16th
Heim is an exceptionally talented teenager, but the difference between Heim and the others is, well there are two differences. One difference being that he is in a KBM truck which is arguably the best equipment in the field and second, Heim won the ARCA race here on Friday night. In two road course races in the ARCA series, this season Heim has a 7th place finish at Mid-Ohio and the win on Friday. In his only career truck race, Heim finishes 23rd at Darlington, but I’m not really worried about that finish since Darlington is one of the toughest tracks, especially for a young driver like Heim.
Taylor Gray ($7,800)
Starting Position: 32nd
This play could be risky since Gray is just 16 years old, but he is another of the future stars of the sport. Gray has never finished outside the top ten in the ARCA Series. Last season Gray finished 4th at the Daytona Road Course. On Saturday the teenager will be jumping into the DGR #17 Ford that has performed well this season with five top 15’s, three top 10’s, and a win.
Timmy Hill ($7,100)
Starting Position: 36th
Hill is one way you can go to get three $10K drivers into your builds on Saturday. In 2021 this truck (#56) has only finished 30th or worse twice, both were because of wrecks and neither time was Timmy Hill behind the wheel. Hill actually has two top 10’s in this truck this season (he is the team owner) one of them coming at the Daytona Road Course. This truck is practically a lock for plus place differential points and could be part of the optimal build and help get you a takedown.
Other Options: Zane Smith ($8,500 – P8), Christian Eckes ($7,400 – P15), Josh Berry ($7,300 – P21), Tyler Ankrum ($8,200 – P10)
NASCAR DFS: Value Tier Rankings
- Chad Chastain ($4,900 – P31) – Ross’s brother has no NASCAR experience but has plenty of truck experience. Cheap and has PD upside
- Jack Wood ($6,000 – P27) – Rough start to his career but has great PD upside at a cheap price in GMS equipment
- Will Rodgers ($6,500 – P29)
- Austin Wayne Self ($5,700 – P20) – Starts a little high but that should keep his ownership down. Self is a good road course racer as well
- Bobby Reuse ($5,400 – P35) – Of the two Reuse brothers in this race he is probably the better value
- Tanner Gray ($6,900 – P22) – For two dominator builds Gray is a good fit, he will also be very low owned (sub 10%).
- Spencer Boyd ($5,300 – P34)
- Lawless Alan ($5,900 – P24) – Another driver who starts a little high but will be signigicantly lower owned that Self. If you want to play that game, Alan is a good pivot off Self at sub 5% ownership.
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