RADIO
The Truck Series is back after a week off and will be part of a busy weekend at Pocono Raceway, including a pair of Cup Series races.
But before those Cup Series races start, the weekend begins with the Pocono Organics 150. One of NASCAR's weirdest tracks -- it's basically a 2.5 mile triangle -- will be an interesting race, and Pocono always seems to produce some strange outcomes. Fuel mileage races. Extremely wide restarts. Cool stuff!
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. Let's look at some NASCAR Truck Series DFS lineup picks for the Pocono Organics 150 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
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Ross Chastain #40 ($11,500)
Starting 16th
Ross Chastain will be the most owned high-priced driver on this slate because of his 16th place starting spot, so I understand if you want to resist the temptation to play him and instead go with someone like Stewart Friesen instead, but I think Chastain's got an upside that's far enough above Friesen to justify using him as your top guy.
For one, Chastain's average finish this year is 8.4, which is higher than all but three drivers in the series and all but two who are racing on Saturday. He's run in the top 15 on 79.2 percent of his laps this season.
In three Truck Series races at Pocono, Chastain has been very, very good. He took a Bobby Dotter truck to a 10th place finish in 2012, then finished fifth in 2013. Then in 2019, Chastain won here, leading 54 of the race's 60 laps. He's also taken underfunded Johnny Davis rides to three top 20 finishes in the Xfinity Series here over the last four years.
So yeah, Chastain will be pretty heavily owned, but with his place differential upside, I'm fine with paying up for him.
Matt Crafton #88 ($9,700)
Starting 18th
Matt Crafton's 2020 season is starting to worry me. He's only 12th in points with two top 10s in five races and has only led seven laps.
But he's still 10th in average running position, and while the Thorsport team hasn't shown the same speed that we're used to seeing out of it, I don't think we should be writing Crafton off yet. He's not done.
Pocono has been a good track for Crafton, as he's finished in the top 10 in 70 percent of his starts here, with an average finish of 9.8. He hasn't led much -- just one total lap led at Pocono -- but he's run solid laps, and he's got place differential upside coming from the 18th position.
Parker Kligerman #75 ($7,300)
Starting 40th
Alright. Kligerman's going to be heavily owned on Saturday, but for understandable reasons: he starts last and should be able to finish a good bit higher than last.
That's not to say this Henderson Motorsports team is going to be super fast, but it's worth noting that in three starts in this truck last year, Kligerman had finishes of 20th, 13th, and 10th. In 2017, Kligerman had five top 10s in seven starts. This truck is significantly better than the trucks around it on the starting grid, and Kligerman should be a riser through the field.
Are there enough laps for him to rise to the top 10? Maybe not, but he's still set to finish with a lot of place differential points as long as he keeps the truck clean.
(If I have one worry here, it's that this team hasn't run yet this year. We're assuming they have the speed they've had the past few years, but it's possible that we're wrong about that.)
Brennan Poole #30 ($7,500)
Starting 29th
In the four races Poole has finished, he's finished on the lead lap and in the top 20, so he's got that going for him. It's the main reason why I'm taking him in my lineups -- with a 29th place starting spot, Poole finishing around 15th or so gets a solid number of place differential points.
Poole's team isn't getting the same results he did in his part-time campaign last year, but this 30 team is usually somewhere around the 20th fastest truck on the track and seems to do a good job keeping the truck in one piece. His average running position is 19th, though he's managed to finish better than 19th in three of his five races.
I don't love Poole this week, but there's enough upside there for me to roster him.
Ty Majeski #45 ($7,100)
Starting 19th
Majeski is 16th in average green flag speed this season and has two top 10s in the last three races. This Niece Motorsports team is improving. They aren't at the level that teammate Ross Chastain's truck is at, but Majeski's becoming a solid driver, someone who can run 15th most races and occasionally land in the top 10.
In terms of a range of projections for Majeski this week, it seems like a better bet to say he finishes ahead of where he starts than that he doesn't based on how he's runt this year, which is a big part of why I'm picking him this week.
Like with Poole, Majeski isn't an exciting driver to choose. But he does have more upside than Poole and is driving for a race team that won this race last year, albeit with their top driver and not their secondary driver.
Jordan Anderson #3 ($6,900)
Starting 32nd
An upside pick because of starting position, Anderson's 2020 season has been a roller coaster, and the past three races have been the part of the roller coaster ride where you start to think the whole thing's about to break down. Early issues at Charlotte and wrecks in the last two races have led to finishes of 31st, 37th, and 31st.
But this isn't a 30th place car. Sure, the second place finish at Daytona was because this is Daytona, but at Vegas he finished 20th, and his average running position at Homestead was 22nd. I pretty firmly believe Anderson's team is about a 20th-25th place truck, and if he can avoid having all the issues that have plagued him lately, his place differential upside makes him a solid pick to round out your DFS lineup.
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