Rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on the highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by value of each driver.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NTS $40K Octane [$10K to 1st] (Trucks)
1. Matt Crafton ($9,000) - Similar to Austin Hill, Crafton won at Kansas, but he was not a dominant driver. His win and spot at the top of the DFS scoreboard was a direct result of starting the last restart in the right spot and having a good restart on the final run of the race.
2. Austin Hill ($10,700) - In the first Kansas race, he led the most laps (65) and won, but that does not necessarily mean that he was the best driver in the best truck. Hill lined up in the right spot and had the best restart on the longest green flag run of the race.
3. Brett Moffitt ($10,300) - Arguably, Moffitt was the best driver at Kansas. He earned the most fast laps in the night race and the fourth most fast laps in the day race despite only running 94 laps. In race 1, he lined up too far back on the final restart. In race 2, he wrecked.
4. Zane Smith ($10,100) - The final restarts did not work out for Smith, but he was great in the other parts of both races. Smith scored the most hog points (fast laps and laps led points) during the Kansas double header.
5. Christian Eckes ($10,400) - On the last run of the second Kansas race, Eckes closed in on the leader, but then Crafton pulled away. There have been several almost wins for Eckes this season, but he might finally break through this weekend. His daytime setup was much better than his night setup, and crew chief Rudy Fugle has two wins at Kansas.
6. Sheldon Creed ($9,900) - His Kentucky win doesn’t count, and neither does his Daytona road course win. His Gateway win does count because he finally proved that he can finish the job in a GMS truck. The book on Creed has not changed. This truck is fast and Creed makes it faster, but too fast has been a problem. It should be no surprise that Creed wrecked in one of the Kansas races.
7. Grant Enfinger ($9,500) - The ThorSport trucks have not been the best on the track this season, but this is a track where they can get away with being very good. This race will come down to pit strategy and restarts. Enfinger doesn’t need speed, he needs luck.
8. Ben Rhodes ($8,600) - This seems like a race where Rhodes plays games on pit road, and leads laps. He tried that in the second Kansas race and it didn’t work. At Darlington, his pit strategy only worked because the dominant cars started too far from the front during the overtime shootout.
9. Johnny Sauter ($9,700) - Finally, Johnny Sauter won some DFS players money, but it was Talladega. He’s been DFS poison since the birth of DFS NASCAR Trucks. The last race was great for DFS players, but not so much for Sauter — he finished 11th.
10. David Gravel ($6,500) - The No. 24 GMS truck has been strong this season. Gravel is the most inexperienced truck driver to take a turn in this truck, but he’s not an inexperienced driver. He wheeled this truck to a 10th place finish at Michigan, but be careful because his driver rating in that race ranked 24th.
11. Todd Gilliland ($9,200) - The last four races have not been great for Gilliland, but the schedule has been diverse. The problem is that the diverse schedule should have been good for Gilliland. The intermediate tracks are not his strength. He can earn a top 10 this weekend, but it will be his pit crew that earns it. A little known fact is that Gilliland has the fastest pit crew in the Truck Series.
12. Parker Kligerman ($11,100) - The price is a deterrent. Can Kligerman be efficient? The gut reaction is that he is safe in cash, but point per dollar wise, he will not fit into an optimal lineup. At Michigan, Kligerman was optimal with a $10.8K price tag. He drove from 35th to ninth, but that was a 100-lap race and many of the hogs had issues.
13. Raphael Lessard ($7,400) - He’s not done yet. It appeared that Lessard’s truck racing career was over, but in a must win spot, he won at Talladega. Lessard has shown improvement without any practice each week, and now he has a win. If he has the money, this KBM ride is his next year.
14. Colin Garrett ($5,200) - DFS players are familiar with Garrett in the Xfinity Series where he has run a few races for Sam Hunt Racing. He’s talented enough, but the big draw here has little to do with Garret. This price is too low for a Niece Truck.
15. Tyler Ankrum ($8,400) - On lap 93 of the second Kansas race, three GMS drivers wrecked into each other. With friends like that, who need enemies? In the first race at Kansas, Ankrum suffered a mechanical failure and finished 22 laps down.
16. Chandler Smith ($8,800) - It’s hard to trust Smith without practice. Last season he was great in his part-time races with Kyle Busch Motorsports because he got to practice and he was working with legendary crew chief Rudy Fugle. This season, he doesn’t get to practice and his crew chief, Danny Stockman, is in his first season with KBM.
17. Hailie Deegan ($7,100) - Controversies aside, all that matters are the numbers. Deegan has three K&N West wins running for Bill McNally. The K&N West series isn’t the toughest division, but that’s more NASCAR wins than most drivers in the Kansas field. She is currently third in the ARCA standings. Everyone knows that the ARCA series could fold at any moment — and third in ARCA is comparable to third place in the summer midwest lawnmower racing series — but at least she’s getting reps.
18. Tate Fogleman ($5,400) - There isn’t a lot of value on the slate, so Fogleman is going to be an option at Kansas. He has nine top 20 finishes this season, and 20th is all that DFS players need at this price. Excluding Talladega, Fogelman is averaging a 17th place finish over his last five races.
19. Ryan Truex ($7,600) - This is a fair price for a Niece truck. Unfortunately, Truex has not done anything in his part time opportunities with this truck. He’s had some bad luck, but that’s not an acceptable excuse. Truex can blame other drivers for racing poorly around him, but it’s the Truck Series. What does he expect?
20. Spencer Boyd ($5,700) - This is a pure punt. If the other $5K drivers go backwards or have issues, then Boyd might work through attrition. He’s not the most talented driver and his Young Motorsports truck is not the best in the stable, but it can turn laps. If this is a caution filled race, and Boyd is not one of the cautions, then he can easily slide into the optimal lineup.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NTS $40K Octane [$10K to 1st] (Trucks)
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above.