RADIO
The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series is back! The Truck Series schedule is always light at the beginning of the season; factor in the COVID-19 shutdown, and Tuesday's race is the first time we'll see the series since February 21st. It'll only be the third race of the entire season: we had Grant Enfinger's season-opening win at Daytona, followed by *yawn* Kyle Busch winning at Vegas.
The Truck Series usually features a 32 driver field, but NASCAR has expanded that to 40 now, and 47 trucks were on the entry list for this race. The larger field complicates a lot of things for DFS purposes, as there are now more points to go around. (Also, I've decided to not write about Kyle Busch today. I'm tired of writing about Kyle Busch.)
Here at RotoBaller, we want to help you make informed decisions about your DFS lineups, which is why I'll be breaking down the slates for the Truck Series moving forward. So, let's look at some NASCAR Truck Series DFS lineup picks for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 on DraftKings. (And if any other DFS providers want to start doing Trucks, we'll do those too!) Be sure to also check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for Truck Series including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station.
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Truck Series DFS Lineup Picks - DraftKings
Be sure to also check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles and analysis to help you set your optimal DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.
John Hunter Nemechek #8 ($14,000)
Starting 38th
Yeah, you could spend just $1,000 more to get Kyle Busch, who starts 16th, but I really like the idea of John Hunter Nemechek coming from 38th. This race team as a whole isn't the best funded one in the series, but when JHN is in the No. 8 truck, Joe is fielding a team that's got more speed than the No. 87 truck he usually fields has.
JHN finished ninth the last time he was here in a Truck, and he led four laps at Charlotte in Xfinity last year. This is a team that has top-10 potential on Tuesday and huge place differential upside.
Ross Chastain #42 ($12,000)
Starting 27th
Chastain has an average finish of 11th in two races this year. He ranks ninth in the series in average running position and is fifth in fastest laps. Last year, Chastain did a good job for Niece on 1.5-mile tracks. His finishes: Atlanta (6th), Vegas (10th), Texas (7th), Kansas (1st), Charlotte (10th), Texas (10th), Chicagoland (7th), Kentucky (4th), Vegas (2nd), and Homestead (4th).
Chastain might have more upside than anyone else in this race. Am I a little worried about this race team running four trucks this week and being stretched thin? Ehh, maybe, but I think Garrett Smithley will be the driver hurt the most by that, not Chastain.
Zane Smith #21 ($8,500)
Starting 30th
Smith is coming off a sixth-place run for GMS Racing and sits sixth in the points standings, but he's starting this race way back in 30th. There are some good drivers and trucks starting this far back, but Smith might have the best vehicle under him of anyone starting 30th or worse, even if he's not the best driver back there.
Smith's shown good long run speed, ranking fifth among Truck Series drivers this year, so if we get a relatively clean race, Smith should be able to make up a lot of ground. Smith's finishes this season feel a little bit lucky, but sometimes being lucky is fine, and while his short-run speed ranks are worrisome, Smith's bound to finish a good bit better than he's starting.
Brennan Poole #30 ($6,600)
Starting 32nd
Poole finished second in this race last year, and while the No. 30 truck didn't show a ton of speed in the first two events of 2020, this is still a top-15 ride that's rolling off the grid from 32nd. Poole's also seventh in the series in fastest laps run and tied with seven drivers for first in percentage of laps run on the lead lap.
He makes up for speed concerns by being a consistent driver who keeps the truck clean, which is part of how he managed to take this machine to four top 10s in 2019 despite not leading any laps.
Ty Majeski #45 ($6,100)
Starting 7th
I realize these picks have featured mostly drivers starting in the back-half of this 40-truck field, but that's because I think there's a lot of good value there and a lot of trucks that should have speed back there and the randomness of this starting lineup has things looking weird.
But if you want an affordable driver starting up front, I think Ty Majeski is a good one to target. He finished 13th at Vegas, a fairly comparable track to Charlotte, and two of his three top-15 runs in Xfinity last year came on 1.5-mile tracks. Ross Chastain piloted a Niece truck to a second-place finish in last year's points standings, so this isn't a situation where a backmarker ends up starting near the front.
And while there's one cheaper driver starting in the top 10 --Tanner Gray -- I just don't really think I want any part of Tanner Gray from the third starting spot, as there's not enough upside there. If you want someone starting near the front to balance out how many guys deeper in the field you have, think about Majeski.
Natalie Decker #44 ($4,600)
Starting 13th
So, here's the thing: Natalie Decker's career in the Truck Series has gone poorly. But like Majeski and Chastain, she's racing in a pretty decent Niece truck -- yeah, I went heavy on Niece here, didn't I? --, and her pricing is rock bottom.
Decker's a great option to throw in with a bunch of higher-priced drivers, and at Vegas she did finish eight spots higher than she started. I know Decker's propensity for getting caught up in accidents is worrisome, but *motions to her DFS pricing* when taking this risk means you can upgrade at other spots with your lineup, I'd be willing to risk it.
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