The 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 the value of each driver.
The DraftKings NASCAR Hall of Fame 200 slate locks at 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday. Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NTS $80K Octane [$20K to 1st] (Trucks)
1. Sheldon Creed ($10,400) - There aren’t many tracks like Martinsville. The closest comparable track that Truck Series has raced at this season is Gateway. Comparing the two races is a stretch, but Creed won at Gateway.
2. Brett Moffitt ($11,400) - In five Martinsville races, Moffitt has three top five finishes. He should have earned another top five in the last Martinsville race in the fall of 2019, but that race turned into an epic wreckfest.
3. Matt Crafton ($9,400) - No other driver has close to the experience that Crafton has at Martinsville. Crafton’s 36 races puts him on top in terms of quantity, and his third best average finish at Martinsville among drivers with at least two or more races puts him on top in quality.
4. Johnny Sauter ($8,600) - He has more experience than most of the field, and that’s a big deal when there isn’t practice. More important than experience are his wins. Sauter has won at Martinsville four times.
5. Todd Gilliland ($8,900) - The last man standing in the 2019 fall race at Martinsville was Gilliland. He survived the chaos and an aggressive Ross Chastain on the final restart. Gilliland has struggled at intermediate tracks, but he’s been at his best at the short tracks in the Truck Series.
6. Austin Hill ($11,000) - At Gateway, Hill proved that he can compete outside of the intermediate tracks. He’ll have to prove it again this weekend. Hill has one top 10 at Martinsville and an average finish of 17th in his nine races.
7. Codie Rohrbaugh ($4,900) - First of all, the truck is mechanically holding up and he’s wrecking less this season. More importantly, he survived the chaos last year and finished 10th. Even if there isn’t chaos, he’ll be optimal with a 25th place finish.
8. Parker Kligerman ($12,000) - The story is always the same, but Kligerman might have an even better shot this time around. At Martinsville, some truck teams will take chances on pit road by taking two or no tires. This type of move would shuffle Kligerman to the front of the pack at a track where passing does not come easy.
9. Ryan Truex ($7,300) - This Niece truck is easily capable of a top 15 finish. Truex has two 12th place finishes in his three races this season. His price and starting position have rendered him irrelevant in most of the races this season, but this weekend he’s cheap and starting 25th.
10. Carson Hocevar ($7,600) - NASCAR might be making a huge mistake. Typically, NASCAR has three Truck Series practices to allow drivers to prepare for Martinsville. This year, there will be zero. Hocevar won a big time super late model race several weeks ago (Winchester 400), but he got to practice.
11. Zane Smith ($10,700) - There have been plenty of first time visits to a track for Zane Smith this season. A driver’s first race on a track is challenging, especially when they do not get to practice. Smith has handled the challenge exceptionally well, but Martinsville is the biggest challenge yet.
12. Christian Eckes ($9,800) - We’re going to get mad Christian Eckes this week. After Ben Rhodes intentionally wrecked Eckes at Texas, Eckes gave Rhodes the Kid Rock sideways double middle finger salute. Either Eckes goes out and wins KBM another grandfather clock or he clocks Ben Rhodes.
13. Grant Enfinger ($9,200) - Martinsville is a microcosm for his career. He has some top fives, but no wins; and some mediocre races. That’s Enfinger; he doesn’t win, but can easily earn a top five. He can just as easily do nothing for an entire race.
14. Ben Rhodes ($7,500) - He intentionally wrecked Eckes last week, and Eckes vowed revenge in his post race interview. Eckes went to Rhodes’ trailer, but Rhodes wouldn’t face him. Could have done it the easy way instead Rhodes chose the hard way. With two races left, there is a fifty-fifty chance that Eckes wrecks Rhodes this week.
15. Sam Mayer ($10,100) - Last fall at Martinsville, halfway through the race, Mayer was on his way to a top 10 finish. The nine car pile up on the lap 123 restart ended his day. This will be Mayer’s fourth race with GMS this season. He won his last race at Bristol.
16. Raphael Lessard ($7,100) - Martinsville is a challenging short track. Experience and practice are paramount, but there will not be practice this weekend. Lessard’s laps in last spring’s Martinsville race are invaluable. That was the first Truck Series race of his career and he finished 14th.
17. Tyler Ankrum ($8,200) - In his three races at Martinsville, his best finish is 18th. This is the best truck that he’s ever had at Martinsville, but his DGR Crosley trucks were just fine. It’s a skill issue, and without practice, it’s hard to trust that Ankrum will figure out Martinsville at some point in the race.
18. Trevor Bayne ($6,600) - If he cheats again, then he’s a steal. At Bristol, Bayne finished 5th with an illegal truck. If he’s driving a normal Niece truck, then Bayne is not very appealing. Bayne has looked rusty in most of his starts, and race laps at Martinsville are not the place to knock the rust off.
19. Brandon Jones ($9,600) - This might be the worst spot ever for the #51 KBM truck. Jones is an Xfinity regular and never runs at Martinsville. No practice for a truck that already struggles without Kyle Busch behind the wheel; that doesn’t sound good.
20. Spencer Davis ($8,000) - His truck has been a top 20 truck all season, but 20th is not enough points for Davis to work in cash, let alone GPPs. Davis is still in play because this race could get ugly. If it does, then Davis is somewhere between a 10th and 15th place driver, and that will work.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NTS $80K Octane [$20K to 1st] (Trucks)
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