As we say goodbye to Auto Club Speedway as we know it, we head to Sin City as all three series will be on display this weekend. After a shortened race at Daytona that saw Zane Smith win for the second time in as many years, the Craftsman Truck Series will venture into the desert for the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It’s going to be an explosive weekend in Vegas with the return of Jon “Bones” Jones taking on Cyril Gane at UFC 285 for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Title. Valentino Shevchenko will be putting her title on the line for what seems like the eighth straight time as she looks to continue her dominance in the women’s flyweight division. Add in some NASCAR and Vegas is in line for one hell of a weekend. Coincidentally enough this will be a Kyle Busch race as this is his home track and we typically see him participate in every race on the Vegas schedule so he can put on a show for the hometown. Coming off his first career win with Richard Childress Racing I fully expect Busch to look to propel either himself or one of his drivers to victory lane for the truck race. Let’s dig into the NASCAR DFS preview for Friday night’s Craftsman Truck Series race from Vegas!

 

Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile tri-oval that draws comparisons in shape to Kansas, Charlotte, Texas, and Atlanta. But really Kansas, Charlotte, and Homestead draw the greatest comparisons to this track given the layout, banking, tire wear, etc. Vegas is mostly considered a medium tire-wear track but we aren’t too far off from considering it a higher tire wear track as the surface continues to get older. We don’t have too many weather concerns for Friday, it will be on the colder side with temps in the mid 50’s at the beginning of the race but possibly dropping into the 40’s as everything progresses throughout the night. Luckily practice and qualifying for both the Truck and Xfinity races will be held Friday afternoon and there will be plenty of rubber laid down on the track for this race, which will be 134 laps with roughly 93.8 dominator points available.

And now we discuss lineup construction strategies. I will write up Kyle Busch separately down below given his personal success on this track. But the strategies boil down to building Kyle Busch lineups and non-Kyle Busch lineups. If you plug him into your lineup you likely won’t be able to fit another dominator in. So if you do go with Kyle Busch, you should just try to find five other drivers that can finish well and offer PD. If you’re paying the premium for Busch just treat the lineup construction as if you think he’ll dominate and win the race because he’s going to need a 70-80 point performance to pay off the price tag. If you’re fading Busch, then it’s easier to construct lineups and you have a great hedge against the rest of the field. But in case you were wondering, Busch has been phenomenal at this track in the Truck Series over his last five races, so fading him completely is a very bold strategy.

NASCAR DFS Driver Pool

This is a loaded field for a Friday night Truck Series race and I didn’t want to write up everybody in the field. So as always, just view this as a preview of some of the drivers I like right now, but there will be updates in RED following practice and qualifying.

Kyle Busch ($14,500)

It’s really not that hard. It’s difficult to fade Kyle Busch at his home track. He’s finished first or second in each of the last five Truck Series races at Vegas that he’s run. Although technically last year he finished third but Zane Smith was disqualified and Busch moved up to second. Either way, he tends to qualify well here and is always a candidate to dominate the race. In his last five races here he’s led a total of 320 laps with three wins under his belt. He’s also posted driver ratings over 100 in each of those races. This price tag is very high, but ownership will also be very high. While I recommended being underweight on Ross Chastain for last week’s Xfinity Series race, I can’t do the same for Friday’s race regarding Busch. You just play him in your Cash lineup and want at least 40% exposure in Tournaments and find ways to differentiate your builds. Update: He's on the pole for tonight's race. Still a great play in all formats.

Ross Chastain ($12,000)

I wasn’t anticipating Chastain running a second race this weekend, especially after his dud of a performance in last week’s Xfinity Series race. However, he still returned something in that race despite not being competitive. But he’s back with Niece Motorsports for Friday’s race and he’s priced at just $12,000 which means you can realistically build him in two-dominator lineups. Chastain won last year’s Truck Series race at Charlotte and he won the Kansas race back in 2019. Surprisingly he’s the second-most expensive driver in DFS, but DraftKings Sportsbook has him at +700 to win, which truly isn’t awful if you want to lay 0.5 units on that. Update: Starts outside the top 20 so he's a great PD play in Cash games if you do choose to fade Busch. But he did have a mechanical issue towards the end of practice so be weary of that.

Zane Smith ($11,500)

Smith’s average finish is dragged down because he was disqualified after last year’s runner-up finish. The rest of his resume here isn’t terrible. He has a few top ten’s here from his time with GMS Racing. But he did win Kansas last year while leading over 100 laps, he was top five at Charlotte leading 52 laps and he finished second at Homestead a year ago while leading 26 laps. The presence of Kyle Busch is a little concerning just because of how good Busch will be, but Zane makes sense in non-Kyle Busch lineups given how well he ran with Front Row Motorsports a year ago on intermediates and let’s not forget, he did beat out Kyle Busch here last year before the DQ. Smith is originally from California, but he considers Vegas a bit of a home track because he cut his teeth on this Bullring track when he was younger. Update: Starts P7 and likely goes under-owned given KB's presence and Chastain's starting spot. Very good Tournament play.

Ben Rhodes ($9,700)

Rhodes is another guy you can build around in two-dominator lineups. He does have a win here from way back in 2017, but he had arguably the best truck in this race last Spring where he won the first two stages, but wrecked in stage three, and given the level of talent in the field, this is a bit of a discount on the 2021 Truck Series Champion. Update: Similar diagnosis to Zane. Starts inside the top ten and is a nice contrarian pivot.

Corey Heim ($9,500)

It might be a surprise that I'm not including JHN. But we can save over $1,000 with Heim who is starting right behind him with just as much upside. Will I play JHN? Maybe, but I really like this discount on Heim starting P15 with top five upside as long as he stays clean. He won two races last year on a part-time schedule and I think he has a good enough run in him tonight to perform well if you can afford him.

Grant Enfinger ($9,200)

Fantastic tournament play right here and a driver who is going off at +1800 to win this race which is tempting. He won this race in the Fall of 2018 and grabbed a few top tens in 2020 and 2021 at this track. At Kansas, he’s scored five top five finished in the last three years so he’s more than comfortable on this style of track. He also came close to winning Charlotte last year before ultimately finishing second. The level of competition is stiff for this race but he’s a veteran with plenty of experience and can still finish in the top five and possibly win the whole damn thing. Update: Love Enfinger starting P17. Offers PD with top five potential. Has arguably a similar ceiling to Ross Chastain and he saves you $2,800.

Stewart Friesen ($9,000)

Friesen was great on this style of track a year ago. He won Texas, which isn’t the greatest comparison to Vegas despite it being a 1.5-mile intermediate, but 2022 was a great year for Friesen overall. He’s finished in the top six at Vegas in each of the last four races, posting driver ratings over 100 in the last three. I don’t see him having a ton of win equity here, but he has plenty of experience and is one of the more reliable competitors in this series. Update: Good play starting outside the top 20.

Christian Eckes ($8,600)

Eckes is a great driver and one that can certainly elevate this TRICON team. His lone career win came at Vegas back in 2021 to go with three other top ten finishes here. His average finish here is skewed a bit because he wrecked out of this race a year ago while he was leading with less than ten laps to go, but I still love the prospect of getting exposure to Eckes in DFS. He tends to go under-owned in Tournaments and has slate breaking potential as a dark horse dominator. He’s also run very well at Kansas having never finished worse than 13th, but also four finishes in the top six. Update: Starting P12 and might be safer than Enfinger who starts further back.

Tanner Gray ($7,800)

I’m not quite sure what Gray’s deal is at Vegas but lady luck is seemingly on his side when the Truck Series rolls through Sin City. In five races at this particular intermediate track, Gray has three finishes in the top eight including an additional 12th place finish. Twice he’s posted a driver rating over 100 and in general this is just one of his better tracks. Now he might go out and qualify very well which limits him to just Tournament lineups but that may also provide us with some leverage which we’ll need for any Kyle Busch lineups. But Gray was fifth here last year, sixth at Charlotte, and 16th at Kansas. Update: Starts P16 and the truck looked solid. Don't think there will be significant ownership and I like the potential in Tournaments.

Chase Purdy ($7,700)

Purdy is not a terrible driver and he’s now in pretty solid equipment. Honestly, being a Kyle Busch Motorsports driver in a race with Kyle Busch is a pretty sweet deal. In previous races we’ve seen KB help his employees to wins. This happened in 2021 with John hunter Nemechek who scored a win while Busch finished second. It happened again last year with Chandler Smith scoring the win. But the problem for Purdy is that he isn’t the caliber driver that JHN or Smith are. They were contending and running up front to even be in position for Busch to help them get the wins. If Purdy is there then I believe Busch will give up the win to get a KBM driver into the playoffs. But if Purdy isn’t there then we likely see Busch run away with a victory. But overall, Purdy is still in top tier equipment and he has a pair of top 15 finishes in his last two races at Vegas in lesser equipment. He also ran the comparable intermediate tracks very well in 2022 with top 15’s in the Kansas and Charlotte Spring races. Update: Starts very high and with all the drivers starting behind him you have to imagine he gets passed and goes backward. He's okay in Tournaments but overall he doesn't shape up to be a very good play unless Kyle Busch helps him win.

Kaz Grala ($7,500)

Grala had an engine issue in this race last year and finished 30th. But that was in a Young’s Motorsports truck. This year he rolls into Vegas with a TRICON truck so that’s a significant equipment upgrade. He’s more of a road course ringer, but he did manage a top 20 at Kansas last year even in that crappy truck for Young’s Motorsports. This is actually a great price tag on a talented driver that has top 12 upside in this kind of equipment. Update: The truck is very fast and he starts P10. I think that's a good spot for him but I do wish he offered more PD. I may lighten exposure but will still sprinkle him in some builds. 

Rajah Caruth ($7,200)

Caruth is a bit of a gamble but he's in a good spot starting outside the top 20 and he's in good equipment. I don't think that he has a tremendous ceiling but he could grab a top 15 from the P24 starting spot.

Nicholas Sanchez ($7,000)

Alright we finally get a chance to see what Sanchez can do with this Rev truck. Sanchez had a rocket ship at Daytona where he won the pole. I think that’s a good indicator of what kind of speed this truck can have. Sure, it’s Daytona and he finished outside the top 20. But during qualifying, during solo laps, he was flying in this truck. The affiliation with Kyle Busch Motorsports probably helps, but that just gives him an extra driver to work with in this race. He doesn’t have a ton of experience at Vegas, BUT he did win a pair of races at Kansas in the ARCA Series on his way to the 2022 series championship. Update: The truck is fast. But he qualifies P2. I don't think it's a playable spot unless you're building 150 lineups.

Hailie Deegan ($6,800)

Deegan doesn’t have great track history at Vegas, but Kansas is a very close comparison and she finished 22nd, 17th, 13th, and 16th in four career races there. She’s another driver priced down given the presence of Busch, Chastain, and JHN in this race. However, she’s still in top equipment with the move to Thorsport. Do keep in mind that she has wrecked here in her last two races so spread exposure evenly among the value options. Update: Don't love the play anymore starting P5. She mostly likely goes backward. Colby Howard is an okay pivot that likely doesn't have as low of a floor as Deegan because he offers more PD but his equipment is very questionable.

Max Gutierrez ($6,500)

I don’t love the price tag on Gutierrez. I honestly thought he would be sub-$6K but if you can fit him in I think there’s leverage here as a value option. Gutierrez ran four Truck Series races last year for AM Racing and gained at least five spots of PD in each race while finishing 26th at Charlotte, 21st at Pocono and Homestead, and eighth at Nashville. The result at Charlotte isn’t great, but still it was his debut and he started outside the top 30 by comparison. As long as he keeps the truck clean, I do think he can finish 20th-25th with some PD. It’s not slate-breaking but given the higher end options on the board, we need to save salary while getting points from these value options. Update: He starts P30 and I think he's fine in all formats. The car wasn't incredibly fast in practice, but against he can still move up and finish in the top 25 which won't kill your build. Also, he is racing tonight with a heavy heart as he lost he brother five weeks ago so there's a little extra motivation for him tonight.

Bret Holmes ($6,300)

Bret Holmes didn’t run a full-time schedule last season, but he did run some intermediate tri-ovals similar to Vegas and honestly, the results were pretty good for his small team. He actually grabbed a top ten in this race a year ago after starting outside the top 30 and he was 15th at Texas and 17th at Kansas. He routinely started outside the top 25 and flashed upside almost weekly. He also finished 11th at Vegas back in 2021. Small sample size? A bit, but don’t sleep on him scoring another top 15 finish here on Friday night. Update: Starts P6 which is unfortunately too high.

Timmy Hill ($6,100)

Hill will likely get some love for Friday’s race regardless where he starts. Casual DFS players may view his 44 points at Daytona two weeks ago as something we should come to expect from Hill. Realistically he probably starts outside the top 30 and squeaks his way to a top 25 finish. He did score top 20 finishes at Vegas and the second Kansas race in the Fall so he certainly can move his way up through the field and he seems to understand he can improve his standing in the race by not being too aggressive and letting others wreck out. He’ll likely be popular and safe for Cash games, but I might aim to be underweight in tournaments because he may attract more ownership than other drivers priced around him. Update: Starting P26 which honestly might be too high. I might let others target him in Tournaments and I'll look elsewhere.

Jake Garcia ($5,800)

Garcia is one of my favorite value options on this slate. Simply put, he’s in some of the best equipment when considering drivers in this range. He’s in arguably the exact same equipment as Christian Eckes who we already touched on as a dark horse to win the race. Garcia ran five races last year for this team but those were on shorter, flatter tracks so we can’t draw too much from those races. But we’ll need to take some risks and if he looks fine in practice and offers PD, then I won’t hesitate to get exposure here. For a slightly more expensive option, Dean Thompson deserves some consideration. He’s now with TRICON which is a well-funded team and Thompson had a great run here a year ago, but it’s also fairly likely he finishes outside the top 25. Update: Garcia starts P14 which is a little high, but I'm okay getting exposure because there is a realistic chance he manages to finish in the top 20 or even the top 15 and he's still in the optimal lineup in tournaments. I do feel pretty good about Dean Thompson starting P25 in a TRICON truck though. Kaden Honeycutt can be considered but I'd rather go with Garcia or Thompson truthfully.

Spencer Boyd ($4,500)

As I write up Spencer Boyd, I'm reminded of a conversation I had with Ryan Larkin (@Larkin8 on Twitter). He told me about the time he took down a Tournament and he had an absolute back marker in his lineup because that was the only remaining driver he could fit. All five other drivers exceeded value and all he needed from his last driver (I think it may have been Josh Bilicki) was just to not wreck. That's essentially what Boyd is. He might not even finish the race. Young's Motorsports equipment is very bad. But if you have a great Tournament lineup that you like with five guys that can crush it and you need a punt, then Boyd is the call as the cheapest driver in the field. His ceiling might be a top 25, but with this play you just want him to finish the race and not wreck.

NASCAR DFS Core Plays

The Core Plays for Friday night’s Truck Series race from Las Vegas will be published around 8:00pm ET.

 

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