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Just three races remain on the Truck Series schedule this season. Saturday, the Trucks will run the second race of the Round of 8. Ty Majeski won last race at Bristol to look his way into the Championship 4. Will someone join him, or will we see someone not in the playoff picture win on Saturday?
Considering this is Talladega, I think you should be betting on the latter. With big packs and big wrecks, Talladega is the last real wildcard this season. At Homestead and Phoenix, the DFS picture will probably be pretty easy to predict, as both tracks are built to reward talent. Talladega is built for chaos. It's the last time you can get away with playing multiple backmarker trucks and hoping for place differential from guys who usually struggle. It's the last time this season in Truck Series DFS that we can really just throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks. Some of you might find that fun. Others might want to take a week off because of the randomness.
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 Chevy Silverado 250 on DraftKings. Be sure to also check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for Truck Series including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station. This slate locks on 10/1/2022 at 12:30 p.m. ET.
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Parker Kligerman ($10,400) - Starting 21st
We'll be looking pretty exclusively at guys with place differential upside on this slate. Simply put, I expect too much chaos in this one for me to feel comfortable recommending anyone from the top 10. Someone like John Hunter Nemechek or Chandler Smith is still a decent upside play, but all it takes is one of those guys getting mired in the pack for their day to be over.
Kligerman will start 21st on Saturday. He's been extremely "checkers or wreckers" in his Truck Series career at Talladega, as he's got three DNFS in six starts...and also two wins.
Kligerman's a good driver. If he can survive the madness—which, you know, is going to be tough to do, considering last season just 15 drivers finished on the lead lap here—then Kligerman will be in the battle to win this one.
Grant Enfinger ($8,600) - Starting 16th
I think some people might go too far in their search for place differential upside, leaving guys starting in the 15-20 range underutilized. That's why I love Enfinger on Saturday.
Enfinger has made eight Truck Series starts here. He's finished six of those races, which includes a win in 2016. His ability to stay out of trouble in the majority of his starts here is definitely a skill worth monitoring. He's also led laps here in half of his starts.
Ben Rhodes ($8,200) - Starting 15th
This is the highest starting driver that I'm going to recommend. Rhodes starts 15th, which is right around where I stall out when it comes to drivers I'm comfortable playing. (Comfortable probably isn't the right word, but you know what I mean, I hope.)
Unlike the previous two guys on this list, Rhodes doesn't have a win here, and he doesn't have a lot of good finishes. He's only had one top 10 here, a fourth in 2020. But Rhodes has four finishes in a row of 16th or better at Talladega, and he's someone who has the experience to make sure he's in the right spot at the right time to avoid any kind of big issues. Which, of course, means he'll probably be collected in the Big One early in the race or something...
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Matt DiBenedetto ($7,900) - Starting 30th
Now we get into one of the deeper PD plays.
DiBenedetto will fire off in 30th on Saturday. He's never run a Truck Series race here, but he does have a lot of Talladega experience from his time in the Cup Series, making 14 starts here.
Just one of those resulted in a top 10, when he was fifth here in the spring race last year, leading 28 laps in the process. But he led at least one lap in his final four Cup Series starts here. I think that experience will come in handy on Saturday.
Tyler Ankrum ($7,700) - Starting 20th
Like I mentioned earlier, I think the guys in that 15-20 range on the starting grid are going to go overlooked. Talladega is chaotic, but last year, three of the top 10 finishers started in that 15-20 range, including winner Tate Fogleman. There's value in guys who start deeper, as two of the top 10 drivers last year started below 30th, but also three of the bottom four finishers started below 30th too.
The point of all this: we don't know what's going to happen, so finding drivers who have place differential upside but who won't be rostered in a ton of GPPs is a smart strategy.
If I need to say something positive about Ankrum, it's that he has two top 20s at this track. But he's also crashed out of every start he's made at Daytona, a track that's a lot like Talladega, so...yeah, this is a process play, not a "past results" play.
Chase Purdy ($6,300) - Starting 26th
Alright, we need one more driver. Why not Chase Purdy? He starts pretty far back, and since we're playing Ankrum, let's play his teammate too. You need drafting partners at this track, so if both survive until the end, that could end up mattering a little.
Purdy was ninth here last year and led four laps. He crashed out in his other Talladega start. Overall, his lack of experience here is definitely a little worrisome, but like Ankrum, this is about the process. He starts far enough back. He costs little enough. He could wind up scoring a bunch of DFS points, and he can't lose you too many points either.
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