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The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to Gateway—otherwise known as World Wide Technology Raceway—on Saturday. One change this week: one of the top drivers in the series, Corey Heim, is missing this race because of illness. Considering Heim won here last year, that opens things up a little more for this year's visit to St. Louis.
Last week, the Truck Series raced at Charlotte and was the only one of NASCAR's top three series to not have its weekend messed up by rain. Ben Rhodes won that race, while Corey Heim finished second and saw his lead in the points move to 26 points. But with Heim out this week, Ty Majeski might find himself leading the standings after Saturday's race.
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 Craftsman Truck Series. Let's look at some NASCAR Truck Series DFS lineup picks for the Toyota 200 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 6/3/2023 at 1:44 p.m. ET.
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Zane Smith - $10,800
Starting 6th
Zane Smith's never won at Gateway, but with the way he's run here in the past, he's got to be considered one of the favorites, especially with last year's winner not racing this weekend.
Smith has run four races at Gateway and while his best finish was fifth, he's led double-digit laps in three of his starts here, including leading 45 of the 160 laps in the 2020 race before fading to seventh at the end.
I'm not sure I'd call Smith the favorite, but he should be in the mix all day. Starting sixth doesn't offer much in the way of place differential upside, but if you think Smith's easily a top-five driver in this race, which I do, then there's a little bit of added bonus there, and that could sometimes make a big difference.
Christian Eckes - $9,500
Starting 3rd
I'd put Eckes just slightly higher than Smith in my "who would I place a bet on to win Saturday's race" power rankings. Eckes was faster on Friday, going second-quickest in practice and then qualifying third.
Eckes had a lot of bad luck here earlier in his career, with three DNFs in five Gateway starts. But he's also led 100 laps here in his career and finally put it all together last season, finishing second here and leading nine laps in the process. The truck he's in this season might not be as consistently good as his old ride, but Eckes has had higher highs, with a career-high two wins already through 11 races. He's been getting things done, and I wouldn't at all be surprised to see him in victory lane on Saturday.
Matt Crafton - $8,700
Starting 34th
Now that we've looked at a couple of drivers starting near the front, let's get to our place differential drivers, starting with Matt Crafton.
In practice, Crafton showed a lot of speed, going fourth fastest. Thorsport as a whole looked fast in practice, with three of the top five trucks belonging to the team.
But Crafton failed inspection before qualifying and has to start from the back. Bad for him from an IRL perspective, but it makes him an easy play in DFS—even if he won't be contending for a win like he might have been had he got out and turned a qualifying lap, he should be able to go +20 or better in place differential.
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Rajah Caruth - $7,400
Starting 35th
Another big place differential play here is Rajah Caruth, who was unable to run a qualifying lap and starts 35th.
Caruth's first full-time Truck Series campaign hasn't gone as well as I expected it to, with one top 10 and an average finish of 21.5 through the first 11 races of the season. But the last two races that he didn't crash in were his two best finishes of the year, as he was sixth at Darlington and 11th at Charlotte.
Last year, Caruth made his Truck Series debut here in the Spire No. 7 truck, starting 19th and finishing 11th. That solid showing combined with his recent increase in performance should mean a lot of place differential points will be coming Caruth's way on Saturday, assuming he keeps the truck clean.
Dean Thompson - $7,100
Starting 16th
Dean Thompson has had a weird season. He's shown a lot of speed at times, but already has five DNFs. FIVE. In just 11 races!
But when he finishes a race, he does pretty well, including last week when he finished third at Charlotte. He's had top 10s in two of the last three races, with the exception in the middle being North Wilkesboro, where he crashed.
So, yeah...Thompson is risky because he's always in danger of just crashing out of a race. But I also think some of these crashes are pretty fluky—wrong place, wrong time, you know? If he keeps it clean, he's got a great shot at gaining some positions and getting a top 10.
Conner Jones - $6,300
Starting 24th
Jones was 14th in practice, finishing a good bit behind the other Thorsport trucks but still showing decent speed. In qualifying, Thorsport trucks took the top two spots, and Jones was 24th. He definitely isn't performing like his teammates.
But the fact that this team as a whole has been fast this weekend gives me hope that Jones will find some speed as the day goes on on Saturday. Jones has run twice in this truck so far this season, and while one ended with a mechanical failure, the other saw him finish 18th at Martinsville.
If Jones can keep the truck clean, I think he could sneak into the top 15. At $6,300, that makes him a pretty good value.
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