NASCAR DFS Picks (Craftsman Truck Series): DraftKings Lineup Plays for the Mission 176 at The Glen (2025)

Dave's NASCAR DFS Picks (Truck Series) for the Mission 176 at The Glen (2025). Read his daily fantasy NASCAR advice and NASCAR Trucks DFS sleepers, values.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is back following an off weekend. Layne Riggs won the most recent Truck Series race two weeks ago at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. The victory was his second of the year.

The series heads to upstate New York this weekend as it makes a stop at Watkins Glen International. This will only be the Truck Series’ second road course race of 2025. As a result, we have a star-studded field for Friday’s race. The entry list consists of several Cup Series regulars and “road course ringers.” It should make for an exciting day of action at The Glen.

Corey Heim has been far and away the best driver in the Truck Series this year. He won the series' first road course event earlier at Lime Rock Park back in June. Will Heim’s dominant season continue with a victory at Watkins Glen? Or will someone else make a run at the checkered flag? Let's dive in and look at some NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS lineup picks for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Mission 176 at The Glen on DraftKings. Also, make sure to check out our NASCAR Premium Tools for the Craftsman Truck Series, including our DFS Lineup Optimizer and powerful Research Station. Please note, this slate locks on 8/8/25 at 5:00 p.m. EDT.

*Please note: Truck Series qualifying takes place on 8/8 at 12:40 PM. Check back after qualifying for any updates.*

Top NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS Plays

Connor Zilisch ($12K)

The current Xfinity Series points leader draws a start in #45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet. This will be Zilisch's first Truck Series start of the year, but it will be his second career road course race in the Truck Series. Zilisch won the pole and finished fourth at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) last year. That race is his only career top 10 finish in the Truck Series to date.

However, his inexperience in the Truck Series likely won’t matter here. This kid is a super-talented driver and already has several road course victories under his belt in the Xfinity Series, including a win at Watkins Glen last year. He’s the highest-priced driver for a reason.

Corey Heim ($11.3K)

Heim continues to dominate the Truck Series in 2025. He has a ridiculous 143-point lead for the regular season title with two races to go. Heim’s going to be hard to beat once the playoffs begin. That could be the case in Friday’s race at the Glen, too.

He won the series' first road course race at Lime Rock Park in dominant fashion. Heim won both stages and led 99 of the race’s 100 laps. He’s got some extremely tough competition this weekend, but you can’t bet against Heim given the way he’s been running this year.

Kyle Busch ($10.8K)

This will be Busch’s fifth Truck Series start of the season. He’s finished inside the top 10 in three of his four starts this year and has two top fives and a victory as well. Busch also has five road course victories in the Cup Series and is the best driver in the field this weekend.

With 67 Truck Series victories in just 179 career starts, it’s never a bad idea to build your lineups around Busch. He should be in contention for the win.

Christopher Bell ($10.6K)

Bell is filling in for the injured Stewart Friesen this weekend. He has seven career Truck Series victories, but hasn’t won a Truck Series race since 2017. To be fair, though, Bell has only started four Truck Series races since 2017, so opportunities have been sparse.

However, three of Bell’s 12 career Cup Series victories have come on road courses. He’s had plenty of success at this track type. Bell has also been strong at Watkins Glen and has three top 10s in four career starts, with a 14th-place finish in 2024 being his worst result.

Don’t be surprised if he’s in contention for the win.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS Fades

Chris Buescher ($10.3K)

Buescher will make his Craftsman Truck Series debut in the #66 ThorSport Racing Ford this weekend. He hasn’t been the best road course racer during his career, but he is the defending Watkins Glen winner in the Cup Series.

A LAST-LAP PASS FOR THE WIN!@Chris_Buescher gets it done at @WGI! pic.twitter.com/dKKLRsVl7X

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) September 15, 2024

While that’s a plus, Buescher is the fifth-most expensive driver on the slate this weekend, and it’s hard to justify playing him at his current price. However, Buescher could be an intriguing place differential play if he qualifies poorly. Short of that, though, it might be better to leave him out of lineups.

Ross Chastain ($10K)

Chastain is one of four Cup Series regulars racing this weekend. He has finished inside the top 10 in three of his four Truck Series starts this year but hasn’t won a race. Chastain only has 13 top 10s in 33 career Cup Series road course starts, but does have a victory at COTA back in 2022 on his resume.

While Chastain is one of the better drivers in the field, he hasn't been particularly strong on the road courses in the Cup Series this year. That makes him feel a little overpriced this weekend. We’ll list him as a fade for now, but that could change depending on how he qualifies.

Mid-Tier NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS Options

Ty Majeski ($9.2K)

Majeski was runner-up at Lime Rock Park back in June. He posted a 103.7 driver rating and had stage finishes of ninth and seventh. Majeski has yet to win on a road course, but he has a pair of third-place finishes at COTA in 2024 and at Sonoma in 2022.

The defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion is winless so far this year. However, this is a good spot to play Majeski as he is a sneaky contender to pick up a victory here.

Chandler Smith ($9K)

Smith has posted four top 10s in 7 career Truck Series road course starts. Unfortunately, he finished 40th in his last race at Watkins Glen back in 2021. However, Smith did finish sixth at Lime Rock Park earlier this year. He had stage finishes of seventh and ninth and was also fourth in driver rating with an average running position of 6.78. Look for Smith to post a solid finish at the Glen this weekend.

Ben Rhodes ($8.1K)

Rhodes has been solid at the road courses so far in his Truck Series career. He’s posted four top 10 finishes in four starts at COTA and finished fourth at Lime Rock Park earlier this year.
Rhodes also had the second-most green flag passes at Lime Rock Park. He also posted a 15th-place finish at Watkins Glen back in 2021. Rhodes is a good play this week and could be live for a top-10 finish.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series DFS Value Options

William Sawalich ($6.6K)

Sawalich has had a nice year on the road courses in the Xfinity Series in 2025. This is a good spot to throw him into lineups as a way to offset the higher prices of the top options.

Giovanni Ruggiero ($6.5K)

Ruggiero currently sits 12th in the regular season standings and only has three top-fives all year. However, one of those finishes came at Lime Rock Park. We could see another strong outing this weekend, and Ruggiero could be a nice place differential play as well.

Andres Perez De Lara ($5.9K)

Perez De Lara is currently 17th in the Truck Series standings and has only two top 10s on the year. However, he had a decent showing at Lime Rock Park. Perez De Lara finished 17th and had the ninth most green flag passes.

If he qualifies poorly, he would be an intriguing place differential play at this price, as he could climb the leaderboard for a decent finish.

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