RADIO
Dave's NASCAR DFS Picks (Truck Series) for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix (2025). Read his daily fantasy NASCAR advice and NASCAR Trucks DFS sleepers, values for Phoenix.
Championship Weekend has arrived! The Round of 4 has been set. Corey Heim, Kaden Honeycutt, Ty Majeski, and Tyler Ankrum are set to square off for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship. Majeski is the defending Series champion, but has yet to win a race this year. Corey Heim has had a dominant season and is the overwhelming favorite to win the title. However, he still has some work cut out for him if he wants to close the book on a historic season. Honeycutt and Ankrum are the underdog stories of the weekend. Both will probably need a wreck or some great strategy calls to prevail as champions.
The series returns to Phoenix Raceway this weekend. Phoenix has a unique flat-racing surface. Previous track history is of the utmost importance. Strong performances on similar-style tracks are also key. The Craftsman Truck Series has not run at Phoenix since last year, but several flat tracks on this year's schedule might give us some insight into what to expect this weekend.
Will Heim capture his first career Craftsman Truck Series championship? Or will Majeski win his second straight title? Let's take a look at some NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix on DraftKings. Make sure you check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for the Craftsman Truck Series, including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station. This slate locks on 10/31/25 at 7:48 p.m. EDT.
Holiday Special! Save 50% on any Premium Pass using discount code THANKS. Win more with our DFS, Betting and Season-Long Premium Pass, get expert tools and advice from proven winners! GAIN ACCESS*Please note, Craftsman Truck Series qualifying takes place on 10/31/25 at 3:35 PM EST. Check back after qualifying for any updates.*
Craftsman Truck Series DFS Preview - DraftKings
Be sure to also check out all of our other weekly NASCAR DFS articles and analyses to help you set your optimal DFS lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel.
Top NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS Plays
Corey Heim ($14K)
Starts 6th
It feels like Heim’s 2025 has been building to this moment at Phoenix. He’s just about done it all this year. Heim has 11 wins, 18 top fives, 20 top 10s, has led a ridiculous 1,525 laps, and has an average finish of 5.2.
Corey Heim holds off Daniel Hemric to WIN at Watkins Glen! pic.twitter.com/VRsR0BbWli
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) August 9, 2025
Not surprisingly, Heim has been excellent on flat tracks this year. He won at Richmond in August and New Hampshire in September and led 75+ laps in both races.
He’s won races at every type of track and is the odds-on favorite to take home the Craftsman Truck Series Championship this weekend. Heim has yet to win at Phoenix, but he finished runner-up in this race last year.
Heim is the perfect anchor for your lineups as he should score plenty of dominator and fastest lap points. Look for him to close out his historic season by hoisting a championship trophy following Friday’s race.
Ty Majeski ($11K)
Starts 8th
The defending Craftsman Truck Series champion survived the Round of 8 and has earned the right to defend his title. After winning three races last year, Majeski still has not found victory lane in 2025. This would be his first winless season as a full-time Truck Series competitor if he can’t get the job done this weekend.
Luckily, this is a track where Majeski could break his winless streak. He is the defending race winner at Phoenix and led 132 laps here last year. Majeski has also shown good speed on the flat tracks in 2025. He finished second at Richmond and led a race-high 143 laps before finishing runner-up to Corey Heim. Majeski also scored a fifth-place finish at New Hampshire.
If anyone is going to stop Heim from winning the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series championship, Majeski would be the guy. He’s been fast on this track type and is live to score his first win of the season this weekend.
Chandler Smith ($10K)
Starts 2nd
A season full of promise quickly turned sour as Smith failed to advance past the Round of 10. However, he could take out some of that frustration this weekend.
Smith won at Phoenix back in 2021 and has four top-five finishes with an average finish of 2.5 in four career Phoenix starts. He should be in contention for another win this weekend and is the best bet of the drivers outside of the championship contenders to win this race.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS Fades
Layne Riggs ($10.5K)
Starts 1st
Riggs has a pair of third-place finishes at Richmond and New Hampshire earlier this year. He did not lead a single lap in either race, but did finish 10th at Phoenix last year.
However, at this price, I want a driver who can accrue dominator and fastest lap points, and Riggs hasn't shown he can do that on this style of track. Even though Riggs qualified on the pole, I still do not feel comfortable with him at this price and am not sure he will be up front long enough to accrue a ton of dominator points.
Spend your money elsewhere and leave Riggs in the garage.
Tyler Ankrum ($9K)
Starts 21st
Ankrum has a shot to win the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series title, but he hasn’t been particularly fast on the flat tracks this year. He also does not have a great history at Phoenix.
I don’t think he’ll have the speed to seriously contend for the title, and I am not interested in playing him this weekend.
Daniel Hemric ($8.2K)
Starts 19th
Hemric missed out on the chance to race for a title after he had some issues at Martinsville. It may have been for the best, as he hasn’t been particularly strong at Phoenix during his Craftsman Truck Series career.
Hemric has never finished inside the top 10 in three Phoenix starts, with his best results being a pair of 13th-place finishes in 2016 and 2013. He also finished outside the top 10 at Richmond and New Hampshire earlier this year.
There are better plays available at this price point, and DFS gamers should leave Hemric in the garage.
Brent Crews ($7.8K)
Starts 3rd
Crews scored top 20 finishes at Richmond and New Hampshire. This will be his first Truck Series start at Phoenix, but given his results on the other flat tracks this year, he could wind up being a decent play.
Update: I initially listed Crews as a play, but I am changing that after he qualified third. There is just not a lot of room for improvement at that starting position, and he now becomes an easy fade.
Ben Rhodes ($7.7K)
Starts 10th
Rhodes is a two-time Truck Series champion and has five top-five finishes and seven top 10s in 10 career Phoenix starts. However, he has had middling results on flat tracks this year. Rhodes did finish eighth at Richmond after starting 17th, but finished 24th at New Hampshire and scored negative place differential points.
Even though Rhodes' history at Phoenix is good, Something just hasn’t clicked for him this year. We will see how he looks in practice and qualifying before making a final call, but for now, I am fading Rhodes because he has been very inconsistent in 2025.
Mid-Tier NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS Options
Kaden Honeycutt ($9.5K)
Starts Fifth
Honecutt is a long shot to capture the title this weekend, but he has been pretty good on flat tracks this year. He finished 10th at Richmond and also finished seventh at New Hampshire after starting 15th. He has also finished inside the top 10 in all three of his Truck Series starts at Phoenix, with his best result being a seventh-place finish last year.
Honeycutt should have another quality outing this weekend and is a good bet to finish inside the top 10.
Grant Enfinger ($8.5K)
Starts 23rd
Enfinger finished sixth at New Hampshire and scored positive place differential points in that race. However, he also finished 13th at Richmond and scored negative place differential points there.
Still, he has been pretty good at Phoenix in his Truck Series career. Enfinger has three top fives, five top 10s, and an average finish of 9.5 in eight career Phoenix starts. After qualifying 23rd, Enfinger also offers value as a place differential target.
Corey LaJoie ($8.1K)
Starts 12th
LaJoie continues to post quality results in the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. He has six top 10 finishes in eight starts this year.
This weekend will be his first Truck Series start at Phoenix, but LaJoie did finish fifth at Richmond and eighth at New Hampshire earlier this year. He should be a fine play for DFS gamers again this weekend.
Gio Ruggiero ($8K)
Starts 9th
Ruggiero has really come into his own to close the 2025 season. He scored his first career victory at Talladega two weeks ago and has three top-five finishes in his last four races.
Ruggiero has also been very good on the flat tracks this season. He finished sixth at Richmond and fourth at New Hampshire and scored positive place differential points in both races. Even though this will be his first career Phoenix start, we should expect his hot streak to continue.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS Value Options
Bayley Currey ($6.9K)
Starts 17th
Currey finished inside the top 20 at both Richmond and New Hampshire. He has a 10th-place finish at Phoenix back in 2017 on his resume, too.
Andres Perez de Lara ($6.6K)
Starts 16th
Perex de Lara finished 21st at Richmond but scored a top 15 at New Hampshire, and scored positive place differential points in the process. I like targeting him as a place differential play this weekend.
Dawson Sutton ($6.1K)
Starts 22nd
Sutton finished 14th at New Hampshire after qualifying 21st. I like targeting him as a place differential play.
More Fantasy NASCAR Analysis
The Keys to Weekly NASCAR Success
NASCAR is back, and it's time for you to win more with RotoBaller! Our NASCAR Premium Package for DFS and betting features several heavy hitters and proven winners.
Jordan McAbee anchors the team with his exclusive NASCAR DFS and betting picks, DFS projections and algorithm-predicted finishing order! Jordan had a 60+ unit betting profit in 2024 NASCAR, and a 25% average annual profit since 2018. He won the FSWA Racing Writer Of The Year award in 2023, and has been nominated for DFS Writer Of The Year in 2024.
Five-time NASCAR Racing Writer of the Year finalist and fantasy industry legend Scott "The King" Engel is also in the crew, bringing you his weekly strategies and lineup picks. Set your winning DFS lineups with our award-winning team. He has been nominated once again in 2024 for this award.
