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The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Richmond on Saturday night. This is the second race of the playoffs, with Grant Enfinger winning last week to lock his way into the next round.
Playoff drivers finished first through fourth in that race, with three more in the top 10. Carson Hocevar's 21st was the worst showing from one of the playoff drivers.
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 Worldwide Express 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 8/13/2022 at 8:07 p.m. ET.
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John Hunter Nemechek - Starting 7th - $11,400
Nemechek has raced here once in the Truck Series. That start came last year and the 4 truck dominated, with Nemechek leading 114 laps and winning the race despite starting 18th.
JHN rolls off a little closer to the front of the grid on Saturday night as he starts seventh. There's a tiny bit of place differential upside here, but the main reason that you would play Nemechek in fantasy is that you think he can win the race. And I do.
Nemechek hasn't been quite as dominant this season as he was last year, with just one victory all season. Still, he's got seven top fives, 12 top 10s and is always a threat.
Corey Heim - Starting 16th - $10,100
Like Nemechek, Heim is in a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck, though Heim isn't running the full season, so he doesn't have to think about the championship. His goal is just to go out there, be fast and win the race.
That goal has already been accomplished twice this season. Heim's had consistency issues with top 10s in just half of his races, but he's a fast driver in a fast truck.
And on Saturday night, Heim has something he doesn't usually have, which is place differential upside. His average start this season has been 6.1, but he rolls off 16th for this race.
Matt Crafton - Starting 15th - $8,700
Like Heim, Crafton starts outside of the top 10 and should have top 10 speed, making him a strong play, albeit a bit of a boring one.
Crafton hasn't been great at Richmond if you take a long view look at his career here, but if we only look at the last two seasons since the series ended its 15-year break from racing here, the numbers look good.
In 2020, Crafton led 25 laps and finished second here. In 2021, he only finished 18th here, but he was competitive during the race, leading 11 laps. Crafton is a sneaky pick to win this race based on his performance here the last two years. I'll probably throw a bet on a Crafton top five.
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Rajah Caruth - Starting 28th - $7,100
Now we get to some more value plays. I'll be honest here: I don't necessarily love the value plays on this slate. Lot of drivers who I just don't really feel like I want to play.
But a nice mid-priced driver that I will play is Caruth, who starts 28th in the Spire truck. He has a lot of place differential value. In his only other Truck Series start, Caruth finished 11th in this truck at Gateway.
Caruth also has experience at this track, as he ran the Xfinity race here earlier this season, finishing 24th in an Alpha Prime Racing car.
Layne Riggs - Starting 4th - $6,900
Here's my most controversial play of this race.
Layne Riggs, the son of long-time NASCAR driver Scott Riggs, is set to make his second Truck Series start. At IRP, he started 23rd and worked his way up through the field, finishing seventh.
If he had qualified around there again, he would have been a must-play. But instead, he qualified fourth.
This is scary. Inexperienced driver starting fourth...that could blow up on us. He could easily make a mistake and finish with negative fantasy points.
But at the same time, Riggs ran a really good race two weeks ago. He could definitely stick in the top 10, at which point getting a driver who finishes top 10 at just $6,900 could really pay off.
I won't go super heavy on Riggs, but I want some exposure despite the risk.
Chad Chastain - Starting 33rd - $5,500
Ross Chastain's little brother starts 33rd in the Niece 44 truck.
Niece hasn't been particularly good this year outside of the 42 truck of Hocevar, but this team should still have more speed than a host of trucks that start around it.
Chastain was 30th in his only start this year, but he ran as high as 25th. If I'm taking a chance on someone this cheap, Chastain is definitely in play, though I'd probably rather find a way to get Jack Wood ($6,000) or Joey Gase ($5,900). But with the premise I use for this article, which is to suggest six drivers who all fit into a lineup together, Chastain is my favorite option of what I have left over. Which isn't a ringing endorsement, but hey—gotta have a chaos play sometimes.
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