TSport 200 DFS Picks & NASCAR Playbook: Indianapolis Raceway Park

It’s the final weekend for NASCAR DFS contests as the premiere stock car racing series takes a few weeks off so as to not compete with the 2024 Paris Olympics for ratings nor television time slots. This weekend marks the penultimate race for the Craftsman Truck Series regular series. Corey Heim scored his fifth win of the season last weekend at Pocono Raceway. He easily had the most dominant truck in the field, and he’s now led at least 55 laps in six of the last seven races this year. 

This weekend NASCAR heads to Indianapolis. However, while the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series go to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Truck Series will head just down the road to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, also known as IRP. The trucks haven’t raced here all that much, we only have a two-race sample size over the last decade. But we do have some comparable data to consider and have a fairly good idea of who should be good here. Let’s dive into the top NASCAR DFS picks and strategies on DraftKings for Friday night’s TSport 200!

TSport 200 NASCAR DFS Lineup Picks

IRP is a short, flat track. It’s highly unlike what we’ll see from the Xfinity and Cup Series this weekend. This track measures in at 0.686 miles in length. It’s slightly larger than Martinsville, but not as big as Richmond. This track also has a wider turn radius than Martinsville.

This race will feature 200 laps and it can be a relatively quick one. Two years ago this race saw 10 cautions for 78 laps and clocked in just over two hours. And last year’s contest saw five cautions for 41 laps and was finished in 1 hour and 49 minutes.

Because we have 200 laps there are 140 dominator points on DraftKings to target. Two-dominator approaches will be popular. But it is worth noting that Ty Majeski led 179 laps in this race last year, and you can only assume that team was cheating given the news that dropped at Milwaukee last year. 

In 2022 we saw two different drivers (Ty Majeski and John Hunter Nemechek) lead over 70 laps with at least 25 fastest laps. It’s still difficult to gauge how last year’s race would’ve played out had Majeski’s truck not been juiced. But there are also plenty of moves to be made and there will likely be an abundance of position differential targets to consider.

Friday’s race schedule is a bit similar to last week, but at least we have more of a window to finalize our lineups. The Truck Series will get practice underway at 3:30pm ET with qualifying set 30 minutes later. The race will go green at 8:30pm ET. You can, as always, expect updates in RED once we know the starting lineup.

TSport 200 Practice Results

Top Price Core Plays

Christian Eckes ($10,700)

Let’s give Corey Heim ($10,500) the week off from the Playbook, shall we? I’m sure we’ll all pay him come Friday but we’ll take a break from writing about his awesomeness. As far as Eckes goes, he might just be better equipped for the short, flat tracks. Heim dominated and won at similar tracks like North Wilkesboro and Gateway. But when Eckes has won this year he’s absolutely crushed the field.

Eckes has three wins on the year and in each he’s led over 130 laps. He’s won at Bristol, Martinsville, and Nashville and those tracks certainly vary in size, but the fact he won at Martinsville and Bristol does stand out to me.

He only led three laps in this race last year, but he did finish as the runner-up with a 120.4 driver rating. He’s finished top 10 in 12 straight races and he’s finished sixth or better in 10 of those races. Both the floor and ceiling make him a promising play Friday night.

Ty Majeski ($10,300)

Cheating or not, Majeski has been flat out AWESOME at IRP. Two years ago, he started P6 and finished eighth with 71 laps led. And last year, when the truck was suspiciously fast, he scored a perfect driver rating of 150 in a winning effort and 179 laps led.

Majeski has not been as dominant this year. He’s come close, but he doesn’t have a win on the 2024 resume yet. However, he’s led 35+ laps on five occasions this year including Martinsville, North Wilkesboro, and Gateway.

Even if the playing field is levelled and the truck isn’t historically fast like it was last year, I do think Majeski can get out front and lead a significant portion of this race and possibly win.

Update: Rolls off P4 but can still get to the front. Only has to maneuver around Caruth and Enfinger and he had the fastest truck in practice.

Ross Chastain ($10,000)

Chastain is an okay play once again for a little PD. But he doesn't offer nearly as much as he did last week. He can still grab a top five finish here, but he starts P16 and that would barely get us to 5X value. You will need him to lead laps to hit value.

Grant Enfinger ($9,300)

I don’t often write Grant Enfinger up. Truthfully, I am not fully convinced the equipment is elite nor worthy of this price because it does feel like a downgrade from the GMS ride he had last year. But in two races with GMS at IRP he grabbed a win (2022) and he was 12^th last year but his average running position was in the top eight.

Now previously, with GMS Racing, we could expect Enfinger to win a race or two each year. And he’d do so in dominating fashion. But with CR7 Motorsports he’s led just 28 laps this year and 25 of those came at Daytona and Atlanta. 

The recent trends have been good at least. He finished second at North Wilkesboro and he was the runner-up at Pocono last week. But again, this is a hefty price to pay for a driver that doesn’t get many dominator points.

Update: Enfinger will start P2, so I'm a little more comfortable getting exposure to him. He has the track history to certainly run up front but I'm not 100% sold the truck is good enough to win.

Mid-Price Core Plays

Ben Rhodes ($8,500)

Rhodes is a good enough mid-range play when you consider he’s a two-time Truck Series champion. Not many in this series can say that. But the Thorsport equipment has been surpassed. It’s still good but we’ve seen TRICON and McAnally-Hilgemann’s trucks gain on them.

Rhodes started P21 and finished 16^th in this race last year but had an average running position of 11^th. Two years ago at IRP, he started P9 and finished second with a 103.0 driver rating. 

Rhodes only has two top five finishes this year and those came at Darlington and Charlotte. His performances on the comparable tracks haven’t been great this year, but there’s always sneaky win equity with Rhodes any given week.

Update: Perfectly fine playing Rhodes since he's starting P15.

Tanner Gray ($8,300)

I don't have an extensive write-up on Tanner Gray because of the time crunch to get lineups set before this slate locks. However, he starts P21 and is a chalky pivot off Tyler Ankrum (below) who starts P4. IRP hasn't been a great track for Gray but he finished 15th here a year ago but was top 10 in each of the first two stages. He's having a pretty solid year and he's fighting for a playoff spot.

Tyler Ankrum ($8,200)

Ankrum was essentially a large-field GPP type play last week after he qualified P4. Those who read between the lines saw that he was most likely going to go backward.

I’m willing to give him another shot this week at IRP. On the year, we’ve seen more top 10 and top five equity than most seasons with Ankrum. For starters he finished fifth at Martinsville, eighth at North Wilkesboro, and fifth at Nashville. I also won’t complain that he was the runner-up at Vegas early in the year.

Ankrum starting P11 and finished sixth with Hattori Racing Enterprises two years ago but failed to finish last year’s race at this track due to an electrical issue. He’s in better equipment this time around and in good shape to avenge the poor performance last week.

Update: Slight downgrade before he qualified P4. Still worth maybe 10-15% exposure if building 20+ lineups.

Layne Riggs ($7,800)

It’s pretty clear that Riggs has really enjoyed IRP being on the Truck Series schedule. In 2022, he ran in an additional truck for Stewart Friesen’s team. He started P23 and finished seventh that year. Then last year he started P12 and finished third with Spire Motorsports.

This year, he’s obviously landed the full-time ride with Front Row Motorsports. It hasn’t all been great but the results on the comparable tracks stand out. Bristol isn’t a great comparison because of its banking but he did grab a top 10.

And to actually look at comparable tracks he finished top five at North Wilkesboro and Gateway. He even qualified P3 at Martinsville but finished 15^th. I wouldn’t say there’s much dominator potential or win equity with this play. But he’s affordable and in a good truck at a track he’s impressed at.

Update: He will be popular starting P17 so heed that warning.

Value Price Core Plays

Johnny Sauter ($7,200)

It’s always a special occasion when Johnny Sauter gets into a truck and runs a race nowadays. The Truck Series is a very niche motorsports series. But those in the know are aware of his background as a former series champion.

Sauter led 24 laps at Daytona to kick off the season but was caught in a wreck. He then started P18 and finished 17^th at Texas. Obviously not the greatest results, right? Those two races were run with Niece Motorsports, who can provide good enough trucks. 

But this week he’s running with Hattori Racing Enterprises. This is actually the first race of 2024 for HRE after Tyler Ankrum drove for them the last two years, and before him it was Austin Hill. That tells me that the equipment is okay at best, but a good driver can propel the ride to a great finish. As long as Sauter keeps a level head he can provide value at this price tag and we know he has to go out early in the qualifying session.

Update: Starts P28 so he might be a little chalky? Ty Dillon is an okay pivot starting P20 if you need a pivot but Sauter's good enough to hit value at this price tag. 

William Sawalich ($6,600)

I’ll never pass up an opportunity to mention Sawalich so long as he’s in the 1-truck for TRICON Garage. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s at a track that suits his strengths. 

In 2023, he grabbed top 10 finishes at Martinsville, Richmond, and IRP. All three are short, flat tracks and obviously the sixth-place finish at IRP is great heading into this week. The results this year haven’t been as fruitful. He’s only run two races and he finished 21^st at Bristol, then 26^th at Martinsville but his average running position in both races was inside the top 20.

Given the quality of the equipment and the performance in last year’s race, we are likely looking at a popular value play so we’ll see where he qualifies to determine if he’s better for cash games or tournaments.

Update: Starts P26 and might have a top 10 ride.

Luke Fenhaus ($6,500)

I’m willing to go right back to Fenhaus this week. He started P28 and finished 22^nd last week at Pocono. But realistically, he could’ve finished better and he ran as high as 11^th at one point.

Fenhaus grabbed a top 10 at Gateway at the beginning of June and finds himself back in the 66-truck for Thorsport. We’ve already mentioned previous Thorsport drivers in the last two tiers so it seems fitting to put another in here.

As always, we will need to monitor where he starts, but that’s been in our favor in his two previous races in 2024. If he goes out early in Friday’s qualifying run then he likely starts deep in the field and lines up as a good value play with PD on his side.

Update: Great speed in practice but he starts P14. That may lower ownership but we need to be disciplined. Maybe worth 20-25% exposure.

Bayley Currey ($5,800)

Now we get to the bottom of the Truck Series DFS Playbook. And this is usually where I write up Timmy Hill ($5,600) or Bret Holmes ($5,500). Bayley Currey certainly stands out at this cheap price tag.

Currey’s coming off a strong run at Pocono last week after starting P20 and finishing 17^th. And for what it’s worth, Currey grabbed top 20 finishes at Martinsville and North Wilkesboro.

This is mostly grasping the low hanging fruit of a driver at a nice discount. But it’s always smart to spread exposure amongst this tier and we have plenty of options this week.

Update: Starts P22 which is probably fine. Doesn't feel like too many people will play him from that starts spot with Timmy Hill and Bret Holmes starting behind him… And per usual, I will be playing those drivers as well.

TSport 200 NASCAR DFS Driver Pool