NASCAR Truck Series DFS: DraftKings Lineup Picks for IRP TSport 200 (7/19/24)

Top Drivers

Note: This was written before qualifying. Feel free to ask me over on X if you have specific questions post-qualifying!

Corey Heim is the hottest driver in the series right now. After winning his fifth race of the season at Pocono last week, Heim now has five consecutive finishes of third or better, with three wins in that span. Heim led 18 laps here last year, ultimately finishing in eighth place. He was fifth in 2022.

While Heim leads the series in wins, Christian Eckes is still the points leader and has three top-three finishes in a row coming into this race. Eckes was second here last year and also has a 2018 win at this track in ARCA.

Looking to pivot off Eckes and Heim since they'll likely be heavily rostered on Friday night? Consider Ty Majeski, who dominated this race in 2023, leading 179 of 200 laps to win. In 2022, he finished eighth here after leading 71 laps.

Sammy Smith jumps into the Spire No. 7 truck this weekend for his third start of the season in the Truck Series. He was eighth at Martinsville and fifth at North Wilkesboro. This is his first start at IRP in one of the NASCAR touring series, though he's run here in some lower series with strong results. He's definitely a dark horse to win this one.

Nick Sanchez has run well on short tracks this season, finishing fourth at Martinsville and seventh at North Wilkesboro. He was 11th here last year. Sanchez has two wins this season and should be in the fight on Friday.

Ben Rhodes finished second here in 2022. He's struggled a bit on short tracks in 2024, but all time he has an average finish of 11.4 with 19 top 10s in 36 Truck Series short track races.

It's been a disappointing year for Layne Riggs as he has just three top 10s all year, but this is a good spot for a turnaround. In two career starts at IRP, Riggs has finishes of seventh and third.

Johnny Sauter will run this race in the No. 16 truck for Hattori, a part-time team that used to be weekly contenders when it ran full-time. Sauter hasn't run particularly well in two starts for Niece this year, but this is better equipment. Sauter has an ASA win here in 2001 and two top fives in Trucks. He brings a lot of experience to the track.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Sleeper Picks

This price feels really low on William Sawalich, who has struggled in two starts this season but who has a good track record at IRP. He was sixth here last year in the Truck Series as well as fourth that same day in ARCA.

He’s added two more @ARCA_Racing wins since he last strapped in the No. 1.@WilliamSawalich is back. 😤 pic.twitter.com/9sKdr9SICQ

— TRICON (@TRICONGarage) July 19, 2024

Luke Fenhaus - $6.5K

Luke Fenhaus is set to make his third Truck Series start of the season on Friday. He was 10th at Gateway earlier this year. In his one career start at IRP, Fenhaus was second in last year's ARCA race, leading 24 laps.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that Jake Garcia's move to ThorSport was the most disappointing move of the season. Despite being in arguably better equipment than last year, Garcia's average finish has dropped from 14.0 to 17.7. Still, he has a late model win at this track and was 13th here last season in the Truck race, so this could be one of his better races of the season.

Jack Wood is struggling in his part-time schedule this season, posting an average finish of 19.3, but that is still two spots better than 2023. Incremental improvements, I suppose. Wood was 18th here in 2023. Not an exciting play, but Wood has top 20s in two of his three most recent Truck Series starts, so there's some upside.