So we have a fun race in store for Sunday. This Playbook will be a bit brief only because the contests on DraftKings are pure garbage outside of the $8 Octane contest, and I’m not entirely convinced it’ll fill. I think I’ll make 10-15 lineups and call it a day. If you look at an overhead view of Gateway it looks like Darlington with its unique “egg” shape. It’s 1.25 miles with turns 1 and 2 resembling New Hampshire and turns 3 and 4 resembling Phoenix. We have 160 laps in store with the stages broken up into 55-55-50. That’s right, the final stage is the shortest. We have 120 dominator points in store as well so laps led carry some weight. We could see anywhere from two-to-five drivers potentially lead 20+ laps. There are roughly six or seven green flag passes per lap and drivers moving up significantly through the field isn’t entirely out of the question, but we haven’t seen too many significant PD plays the last few races here. Including Sunday, we have three races left before the Truck series starts its playoffs and only ten drivers will make the playoffs. I may add some additional drivers to the pool in the morning. I’ll note them in red and will notify the chat if I add any extra drivers. But best of luck with this race, it’s usually a fun one to watch!

Driver Pool

Sheldon Creed ($11,500; Starting P17) I like Creed this week, but I don’t love him. The PD upside will make him a popular play, but even after his win a couple weeks ago at Daytona’s road course, he acknowledged that he races hard and wrecks a lot of trucks. He’s only run here once and that was last year where he started P12 and finished seventh. I’m going to plug him into a few lineups, but we’ll probably be lighter on him than most.

Johnny Sauter ($11,100; Starting P9) Sound the chalk alarm folks because here it is. Sauter has raced here seven times and he’s never finished worse than fourth. FOURTH. Seven starts here. Seven finishes in the Top Four. It’s actually worth mentioning he’s never won here, and six of his seven results have been third or fourth, and he’s only led 33 total laps. Another Top Four finish gets him 45 points, which is fine and we normally allow the Truck guys to go without hitting 5X value. He’s a safe play but could use some dominator points to help him out as well.

Chandler Smith ($10,900; Starting P12) Smith is back in the super duper fast 51-truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports on Sunday. And if we’re being completely honest, he hasn’t had the best results this year. In three races his best finish is 20th. KBM expects better of its drivers. Fortunately for Smith he logged a Top Five finish here a year ago after starting P25. He’s mostly a GPP play as there are far safer option for Cash games. Smith is one of two drivers in this race that you could say got “practice” in yesterday’s ARCA race where he finished second.

Brett Moffitt ($10,000; Starting P2) On the off chance that Zane Smith doesn’t get out and lead the early chunk of laps, then Moffitt is a fantastic pivot. In five straight races (and six of his last seven) he’s led double-digit laps. He’s also collected double-digit fastest laps in that span as well. Unfortunately the final results just haven’t been there for Moffitt. He is in a good spot to make the playoffs but you know he wants a win. Overall he has a modest history here. He finished fifth last year and 14th the year before. But he has momentum coming into this race and is an obvious candidate for dominator points.

Matt Crafton ($9,800; Starting P3) Crafton has plenty of experience at Gateway, but he just doesn’t have any wins to show for it. He has a few top five finishes here, but also has some misfortunes by getting caught up in some accidents. But at least he’s in a starting spot where he could get some dominator points and hang around the front all day. I don’t like him enough for Cash games but I love him as a GPP play.

Zane Smith ($9,500; Starting P1) Zane’s won two of the last three races so he certainly has momentum and typically we see the pole sitter lead a good chunk of laps. Last year Christian Eckes started on the pole and led 57 laps. Grant Enfinger started on the pole in 2018 and led 36 laps. 2017 saw Chase Briscoe lead 88 laps from the pole. So, hopefully you see the point I’m trying to make. Zane is in position to lead a good portion of laps so you will want to get him into some lineups. He’s a good Cash game play for that dominator upside as well and he’s worth throwing into 25-30% of GPP builds.

Grant Enfinger ($8,600; Starting P11) Enfinger is a pretty decent price for a guy who has led 88 laps in the last two races at this track. He tends to run toward the front and has won a few stages the last couple races as well. The overall finish just hasn’t been there for him and that’s hurt him a bit. The starting spot and track history show he can move up here and get some dominator points.

Raphael Lessard ($8,000; Starting P19) I don’t like the price for Lessard but it’s what we have to pay for since he has PD on his side. He’s been hit or miss, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen from him lately and this is a spot where he can garner some positive position differential. A Top 12 can get 5X value if he can get some fastest laps. But he’s shown he can get into the Top 10 which would really help with extra value.

Sam Mayer ($7,500; Starting P15) Mayer is the other driver in the field that raced in the ARCA series race on Saturday. He finished third in that race and he’s back in the 24-truck for Sunday’s race. This has been a pretty good ride in the Gander RV series in 2020. Chase Elliott drove this truck to a win at Charlotte while Justin Haley, Chase Purdy, and David Gravel have had very good runs in this truck as well. Last week Mayer finished 15th at Dover after starting P26. So he’ll be a very strong play on Sunday and the price tag and starting spot are great for DFS.

Tyler Hill ($6,500; Starting P31) The price keeps ticking up, but I still believe Tyler Hill is a good play. He’s had some really solid runs this year including Top 20 finishes at Pocono, Kansas, and Daytona’s road course. And he fell a little short of a Top 20 at Michigan. He’s wheeled the 56-truck to some good runs and aside from Dover last week, this is the furthest back he’s started all year.

Kyle Donahue ($5,600; Starting P32) Donahue is going to be a popular target because he’s cheap, he offers PD, and this is his home track. He’s not a full-time driver as he and his brother, Kevin, typically only run a few races each year. However, he’s very much in play this weekend even in both formats due to his PD upside and familiarity with the track. He hasn’t run here in three years, but he finished 16th in that race after starting P18.

Danny Bohn ($5,300; Starting P30) Bohn is an interesting play because he’s in the truck that Brennan Poole normally drives in. Bohn just hasn’t seen a ton of action really. But the position differential is there, and it’s a good ride. Ownership could be moderate on him, I just worry about throwing him into some lineups without practice. But that’s the risk we take, right?

Natalie Decker ($4,800; Starting P29) Even at her price tag, I wouldn’t use her in Cash games, but I think she’s an okay play in GPP’s. Earlier this summer she was starting much higher than 29th and she’s the cheapest driver in the field that offers PD. She’s not a guarantee to move up by any means as she has been on the bad end of some misfortunes. She only needs a Top 25 to return value and if she gets more then you’ll take it if looking for a cheap punt.

 

Example Lineups Will Be Posted Around 10:30am ET

Note: The EXAMPLE lineups are meant to show different roster constructions that are made with drivers from the Playbook. These are not meant to be plugged and played.

DraftKings Cash Example

1. Johnny Sauter

     a. Sheldon Creed (Pivot)

2. Zane Smith

3. Grant Enfinger

     a. Raphael Lessard (Pivot)

4. Sam Mayer

5. Tyler Hill

6. Kyle Donahuge

     a. Austin Wayne Self (Pivot)

DraftKings GPP Example

1. Johnny Sauter

2. Chandler Smith

     a. Matt Crafton (Pivot)

3. Zane Smith

     a. Brett Moffitt (Pivot)

4. Raphael Lessard

5. Danny Bohn

6. Natalie Decker

     a. Kyle Donahue (Pivot)