NASCAR DFS Playbook TSport 200: Top DraftKings Picks

The playoffs are officially here for the Craftsman Truck Series as they’ll get the Round of 10 kicked off Friday night under the lights at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park while the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series have some road course racing just up the road at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. IRP was added back to the Truck Series schedule last year and it didn’t disappoint. Grant Enfinger won but we saw a handful of drivers run up front collecting dominator points as well. And while this is a playoff race, we don’t need to solely target the ten playoff drivers for our NASCAR DFS lineups on Friday night. That would certainly restrict our budget allocation, so we’ll see which drivers have thrived on short, flat tracks this year. Here are the top NASCAR DFS drivers and strategies for Friday night’s TSport 200!

IRP looks to be a pretty unique racing complex. It features a drag racing strip which hosts an NHRA event, but also has its own road course measuring in about two miles in length. But sitting within the infield of the road course lies a 0.686-mile asphalt oval with about 12 degrees of banking. It’s a little bit longer than Martinsville but not as long as Richmond. It’s shaped more like Martinsville as a pure oval but IRP does have a wider turn radius at both ends of the track. We can also draw some comparisons to North Wilkesboro which the Truck Series did run earlier in the year, as well as Gateway and possibly Phoenix.

Friday night’s race is scheduled for 200 laps so there are plenty of dominator points to consider for the Truck Series; about 120-130 if I had to guess. The stages will be broken into 60-60-80 lap segments. Last year’s race saw ten cautions for 78 laps but keep in mind it was the first time most of these drivers got to race here aside from some of the older veterans. This is also a short track so NASCAR is generally quicker to bring out a yellow for even the slightest of cautions. But we did see five drivers lead double-digit laps here including a trio lead at least 30 laps. Now because of the excess in cautions that did allow most of the field to stay on the lead lap. 26 of the 36 trucks finished on the lead lap while two others finished a lap down. Only five drivers (Colby Howard, Josh Reaume, Lawless Alan, Blake Lothian, and Spencer Boyd) finished more than three laps down. If this is a cleaner race with longer green flag runs then we’ll see drivers starting deeper in the field in lesser equipment potentially lose the lead lap and struggle to regain track position.

This is one of those races with a tough scheduling window. So I’m releasing the NASCAR DFS Playbook Thursday evening just to have a preview up, but with qualifying and practice being run later in the afternoon on Friday, I’ll have updates in RED, prior to the race going green around 9:00pm ET Friday night.

PRACTICE NOTES

NASCAR DFS Driver Pool

Ty Majeski ($11,100)

Majeski has been finding his groove lately after a fairly underwhelming regular season where he didn’t claim a single win. But remember, last year he started heating up right around this time and collected a pair of wins in the playoffs. More recently, he started P34 at Pocono and finished sixth and had the pole a couple weeks ago at Richmond and finished second while earning 78.9 dominator points. He’s been solid on the shorter, flat tracks this year too. We already touched on Richmond two weeks ago, but he was also fourth at Martinsville and second at North Wilkesboro. He did lead 71 laps in this race a year ago so he’s a clear candidate to contend for a win. Update: Heim was fastest in practice but Majeski ran fewer laps and saved tires to post a faster qualifying lap. He'll have the luxury of starting on the front row next to Christian Eckes. Majeski is likely in better position for early dominator points.

Corey Heim ($10,700)

I won’t completely rule out Zane Smith ($10,900) if he looks impressive in practice and qualifying. It does feel weird to gloss over him when he’s the defending series champion. But considering what Corey Heim is doing right now, I’ll take the ceiling (and floor) for Heim. Heim’s been showing up with speed almost everywhere of late. In 15 races this year, he’s finished eighth or better in 13 of them. And in the two races he did poorly he wrecked at Atlanta (high variance track now) and he finished 15^th at a dirt track. But at the more “predictable” tracks he hasn’t finished worse than eighth and he’s led laps in each of the last nine races. He won Martinsville leading 82 laps back in April. He finished sixth at North Wilkesboro despite leading 75 laps. He only led nine laps and finished sixth at Richmond but Majeski just had the best ride that day. Heim has made massive strides this year with TRICON and I’m assuming he’ll have a good run Friday night. He finished fifth at IRP in 2022. Update: Fast in practice but qualified P3. Still has plenty of win equity and should be competitive tonight.

Grant Enfinger ($10,400)

When you play Grant Enfinger in NASCAR DFS tournaments you really just need to be prepared to limit exposure to just Tournaments. He kind of just shows up out of nowhere and leads 60+ laps in a winning effort. Last year he won this race with only 13 laps led, but we did like him a year ago at a sub-$9K price tag. This is a stiffer price tag and he might be popular based off what he did last year. He led 65 laps at both Kansas and Gateway this year and won both races. But he hasn’t led a lap over his last four races so if you’re paying this price tag you absolutely need dominator points because a good finish won’t cut it. I wouldn’t fault anyone for maybe fading him for Carson Hocevar $10,200 who has three wins this year and led 34 laps at IRP a year ago but finished outside the top 20. Who knows, maybe I’ll be picking everyone’s brains in Discord to see what the approach is with Enfinger this week. 

Christian Eckes ($10,000)

Eckes won the pole for tonight's race. He arguably has a top five truck but the challenge will be that Majeski, Heim, and a pair of GMS trucks will be chasing him down. He'll have the luxury of clean air but if he can hold off Majeski and Heim he has a path to 20+ dominator points in the first stage.

Ben Rhodes ($9,800)

Four drivers in the $9K range this week on DraftKings and as of Thursday night, Rhodes is really the only one I’d consider. I do think that Matt Crafton ($9,100) will come into play after practice and qualifying for two reasons: 1. He did make the playoffs and needs to run very well to make the Round of Eight, and 2. He’s qualified poorly quite often this year. So I think he’ll become a PD play and he did finish ninth here last year. But I prefer Rhodes because he’s possibly the cheapest potential dominator we can find in this race. There’s an argument you can make for each of the six $10K drivers to dominate and Rhodes is in that group as well, but just cheaper. Over his last six races he hasn’t finished worse than 12^th and he has five top tens in that span, including a win at Charlotte. The midseason crew chief change has certainly helped him out and he’s been running better. He finished second in this race a year ago with a dozen fastest laps without leading a single lap. Update: We've seen this from Rhodes a couple times this year, but he just didn't qualify well. He should still move up into the top ten and contend from there. Just a poor qualifying effort. Probably limits his dominator potential, but there's still PD we can target. Matt Crafton is a viable pivot if you maybe want to target cheaper dominator points. His truck was very fast in practice. He was competing with Majeski and Heim in terms of speed.

Matt DiBenedetto ($8,900)

A very consistent and under-the-radar playoff driver for Friday’s race. I haven’t written him up that often this year and perhaps that’s a disservice to you all. I generally don’t think the equipment is great, but he has definitely gotten the most out of it. Prior to Richmond, where he finished 17^th, Matty D had six straight top ten finishes and he’s run well on the flatter tracks this year. He was seventh at Martinsville, third at North Wilkesboro, and sixth at Gateway. That’s kind of “on par” with being a decent flat track racer as he had good runs on the comparable tracks in 2022. He started P18 in this race last year and finished 11^th. We probably need a little PD out of him this year, but I don’t think it’s too wild to say that he could finish top five regardless of where he starts. Update: Wasn't overly impressive in practice and had a poor showing in qualifying. But we've seen what he can do on shorter, flat tracks and it's entirely possible the truck is set up for cooler track conditions. I'd be surprised if he didn't move up into the top 15.

Shane van Gisbergen ($8,700)

Name recognition alone could draw significant exposure to SVG. He made a lot of noise winning the NASCAR Cup Series inaugural street race in Chicago and there are rumors he could be joining Trackhouse on a full-time level. This is actually a pretty solid price tag given that he’s in the same truck that Ross Chastain has run seven times this year for Niece Motorsports. Ross has a pair of top five finishes but was also 12^th at Martinsville and 9^th at North Wilkesboro. The big question is going to be how does he do on ovals? But there’s upside and he’s in good equipment for Friday night’s race. Update: There's no sugar coating it. He looked uncomfortable with this ride. He even commented how weird it was driving this truck in corner entry. The equipment is still good, but perhaps this is a driver that we match exposure to with the field. I don't think it's a bad idea to maybe fade him because he will be so popular. Probably a good enough cash game play, but you could also just pivot to Ankrum for more PD.

Tyler Ankrum ($8,500)

Ankrum showed up with a fast ride here last year and finished sixth. This price tag is right around where I’m fine playing him, but I do wish there was more of a discount. He’s finished 13^th or better in four straight races and if he had this form all season, he may have had a better shot at making the playoffs. I might be cut off from playing him if he qualifies in the top ten, but I think he’ll start just inside the top 20 and contend for his second straight top ten finish at IRP. Update: Ankrum sustained some damage during practice when he got in the wall. He'll start towards the tail end of the field. The truck will require some work but there's plenty of PD to target here.

Taylor Gray ($8,300)

Gray came on strong to finish the season but missed out on the playoffs. But he still finished the season well and offers a ton of position differential after getting loose in qualifying. He'll start P34 and should easily be the most popular option in this range since Ankrum's team has to fix damage.

William Sawalich ($7,300)

Sawalich has run three races this year with top ten finishes at Martinsville and Richmond. I do like that there’s some short track correlation to this play. He’s had speed and the equipment is great since he’ll be driving for TRICON. He could very well grab another top ten Friday night. But our DFS exposure will depend on where he qualifies. He started P22 at Martinsville and finished ninth for 48 DraftKings points. But at Richmond he started P3 and finished tenth for only 30 points. Still a solid price tag and hopefully this is a driver that can provide some PD. Update: Starting a little high at P10 but we can work with this. If he moves up or even just finishes in the top ten we'll take that at this price tag.

Colby Howard ($7,000)

I’m always worried he won’t finish the race whenever I write him up, but I’d say he has top 20 upside in this race. He finished 17^th at Martinsville and 12^th at Gateway but was 24^th at North Wilkesboro. He’s taken on a downgrade in equipment this season but still has GPP appeal. He wrecked in this race last year but had a top 15 truck arguably. But again, entirely different team this time around. Expectations should be kept in check, but I do like him for Tournaments if he starts outside the top 20. Update: Downgrading a little bit because he's starting P16.

Jake Drew ($6,600)

I’m really hoping Jake Drew doesn’t qualify too far to the front where he becomes unplayable, but I also don’t want him starting too deep in the field where he becomes chalk. Because where he sits in pricing is very interesting. He’s $200 cheaper than Jack Wood, who isn’t good, but still gets to drive for Kyle Busch Motorsports. But Drew is also $100 more than Conner Jones who is an okay play. He’s in ThorSport equipment so it’s going to hold up, but we’ve played with the Conner Jones experiment plenty this year. He’s a good play, just not a great play. But people could also just pivot down to the next driver I’ll write up or maybe even Hailie Deegan who is coming off back-to-back top 15 finishes and is still in the low $6K range. Drew is interesting because he’s a good driver and will be in the 61-truck for Hattori Racing Enterprises. This is comparable to Tyler Ankrum’s equipment. Drew grabbed a top 12 with ThorSport at Nashville earlier this summer. Ankrum showed up last year with a top 12 truck with Hattori and managed to finish sixth. Looks like they’re trying to double down with good finishes in 2023 at IRP. Update: Love this starting spot. Has PD on his side and might get lost in the fold when people start building lineups. I might aim to be overweight compared to the field.

Layne Riggs ($6,300)

This seems to be a massive pricing error on DraftKings if we’re going to just consider speed and Riggs’ upside. He ran this race a year ago for Stewart Friesen’s team and finished seventh after starting 23^rd. And keep in mind, he has a background that fits this track. This 7-truck for Spire Motorsports has been okay this year. Kyle Larson drove it to a win at North Wilkesboro, but it also has a couple top 20 finishes with a few other drivers. This is more of an investment on Riggs than the ride though. He should be able to pay this price tag off in a big way with a good finish. Update: Qualified P12 but he's likely optimal if he finishes top ten and we saw him do that last year. He was fastest in Group A but there were “lesser” drivers in that group session.

Daniel Dye ($5,800)

Not a great play by any means and I’d probably give more exposure to the next driver if we’re being honest. But Dye is good enough to finish top 20 as he’s done a handful of times this season. In nine races since May he’s finished top 20 seven times. But he hasn’t finish worse than 22^nd in those nine races. The downside to Dye is that he usually qualifies inside the top 20 which limits his upside for DFS. He’ll mostly run right around where he qualifies but he has eclipsed 30+ fantasy points in six races this year which is what we’re targeting. The equipment is still pretty good and if he keeps it clean he can finish well and likely won’t garner much rostership. Update: Ehh. He probably goes backward.

Tyler Hill ($5,600)

It’s not the preferred Hill brother, but Tyler’s done okay this year. In this three-race sample size he’s finished top 25 in all of them and has been a fantasy value because he’s provided PD. He’s returned scores of 23, 28, and 36 fantasy points on DraftKings. Not bad for a driver in the $5K range. We can probably assume he’ll start P30 or worse and usually ownership isn’t too high because people find more comfort playing Timmy Hill (who did finish 17^th here last year). Tyler’s still a fine play for what he’s costing you. Update: Hill starts P30 which is what we were expecting. He can probably move up and finish between 22nd-24th so there's an okay floor here. If you want to save money you can consider Lawless Alan ($5,300) who starts dead last. He did spin twice in practice and the second wreck required repairs to the left rear side of the truck. Not a slam dunk, but just another cheap PD option.

Logan Bearden ($4,800)

I’m hoping I won’t land on Bearden a ton but he’s probably the cheapest I’d go given that he’s in the 22-truck for AM Racing. Greg Van Alst ($4,700) does offer a little more salary relief. He’s an experienced driver in the ARCA Series but will be driving for Young’s Motorsports. I prefer Bearden’s ride a bit more. I’m probably still hyping up how well a variety of drivers did in this ride to start the year. Even Bearden himself finished 22^nd at COTA after qualifying P14. But the results of late haven’t been very good and that could also be because of the drivers that have rotated in and out of the ride. But truthfully if there’s a path to 20 points for him then he’s in play. Austin Wayne Self grabbed a top 20 finish at IRP in this truck last year. Update: Wish he was starting a little further back because there are drivers starting behind him that'll likely pass him. But I do still think he can finish top 20 so I don't hate the play if punting into this range.

NASCAR DFS Core Drivers