In a strange twist of events, we are given a Truck slate that actually has decent contests on DraftKings. So much so that the Truck contests are better than the Xfinity contests. The $12 Single-Entry “Engine Block” contest rewards just $300 to first place (out of 294) for XFIN while the same contest rewards $1,000 to first (but out of 392) for the Trucks. The Octane contest rewards $20,000 to first for the Truck series, while the “Spook-tane” contest rewards just $10,000 for Xfinity on Saturday. So I think this is a slate we can play pretty heavily if you have the bankroll for some GPP builds.

Martinsville is a GREAT race for DFS. Matt and I did very well with the Cup series back in the Summer so if you can target the right dominators, you can have yourself a good night. We have 200 laps on tap for tonight’s race, which puts 150 dominator points on the table. Gander RV normally races at Martinsville twice each year, but unfortunately they didn’t get to run in the Spring so this is the first race of the year at the infamous paperclip. But Martinsville is a great race and we’re in for a fun weekend of racing before we wrap up next week at Phoenix.

Driver Pool

Parker Kligerman ($12,000; Starting P37) Kligerman has PD on his side, but we’ve seen at short tracks that drivers in the back run the risk of getting lapped. Kligerman is generally better than that quality of driver and he’s moved up 20+ spots in each of his last two Truck races. The issue I have with him is the price tag because he needs 60 points to return value. He needs a Top 10 finish without any fastest laps to hit that mark. The other issue I have with him is that the price tag is so high that building around him will ultimately land many DFS players on the same lineups. I don’t worry so much about lap-down victims at Martinsville like I do at Bristol. But if the slightest thing with his ride goes wrong then you’re screwed. I’m not playing Cash games, but I don’t know if I’d play him in that format. I think there are better Cash game plays offering similar PD upside and not nearly as costly. But Kligerman makes the Playbook because I will have exposure in GPP’s. I do plan on being lighter on him than the field though.

Austin Hill ($11,000; Starting P3) Last week I ate the chalk with Sheldon Creed, which resulted in being lighter on Austin Hill. And here’s what I’ll say about that; despite making money off Creed and his dominant performance at Texas, the better play was probably Hill because ownership was so light. I still made money off Creed’s day and I’m not complaining, but if that tide went in Hill’s favor I would’ve had an awful day. Creed’s now qualified for Phoenix and Hill is going to be a very popular play Friday night.

Zane Smith ($10,700; Starting P2) Smith vs. Hill will likely be the question most DFS players ponder as they build lineups. Personally, I’m fine playing both if you can fit in cheaper drivers that can provide PD. Smith, like Hill, is currently qualifying for Phoenix based on points. But they both want to win to advance and that’s what we should see. Teammates Brett Moffit and Sheldon Creed have qualified for Phoenix. You know GMS Racing would love to get either Zane or Tyler Ankrum to Phoenix as well. Zane is on the front row and has a shot to lead laps early. In an ideal world, Sheldon Creed would let him get to the front early and force Hill backward, but that’s not in the spirit of competitive racing.

Sam Mayer ($10,100; Starting P22) I love this kid. He has a very bright future and he’s moving up to Xfinity next summer. He’s only 17 but he won at Bristol in September and he was in contention to win at Gateway as well just a couple months ago. I’d almost feel better about playing Mayer in Cash games than Kligerman. Mayer will carry less ownership and we’ve seen the upside he possesses. In three of his four races this year he’s moved up at least 11 spots and he has top five upside Friday night. A finish in the top seven or eight returns value, but this is the kind of driver who could also get some laps led as well. I will say, the one thing I don’t like about Mayer is that this is the kind of track where veterans can bully and have their way with younger, inexperienced drivers. You really need to jockey for position at Martinsville and guys like Sauter, Crafton, Friesen, Gilliland, and even the other big names know how to assert themselves and push youngsters out of the way.

Matt Crafton ($9,400; Starting P5) If we’re talking about a race where the drivers don’t have any practice, qualifying, or a prior race at Martinsville this year, then I damn sure want exposure to Crafton. He’s raced here 36 times and has won twice. Not to mention, he’s on the outside looking in for Phoenix so a win is a necessity at this point. Crafton has been the Gander RV series’ version of Michael Annett this year, but we know he’s more than that and he’ll approach this race with a do-or-die mentality that I’ll want in my GPP builds.

Grant Enfinger ($9,200; Starting P8) We’ll put exposure on Enfinger for the exact same reason we’re throwing Crafton into our builds. I wouldn’t play them together, but I want exposure to both. Enfinger has three finishes in the top seven at Martinsville over the last four races here. He needs a win to get to Phoenix as well and we shouldn’t expect him to come with a ton of ownership.

Todd Gilliland ($8,900; Starting P20) The starting spot and price tag are fantastic for Gilliland. He’s never finished worse than 15th at Martinsville and he won this race a year ago. We do need to add the caveat that we shouldn’t really put too much weight into previous track record. Remember Johnny Sauter at Gateway? In seven races there he had never finished worse than FOURTH and then 2020 comes along and delivers him a finish outside the Top 30. So get a little exposure to Gilliland but don’t go too heavy.

Stewart Friesen ($8,400; Starting P18) This guy has burned me so many times, but I have the perfect analogy for why I keep going back to him. If you’ve ever seen Sons of Anarchy, Tig Trager has a daughter named Dawn. And Dawn shows up in one episode looking for $12,000 to help her other sister get into rehab. Well through a series of sleuthing by other characters, we learn that Dawn’s sister is fine and she just wants the money for herself. At the end of the episode Tig still gives her the money, because he knows that’s the only way he ever gets to see his daughter. And he’s perfectly fine with it because she’ll be back for more money and he’ll keep giving it to her. That’s kind of my relationship with Friesen. I know he’s just using me. I buy into his “get right” race or the 2020 breakout every week. For what’s it worth he finished fifth and sixth at both Martinsville races in 2019. He’s my Dawn. And he’ll be in my lineups again this week.

Spencer Davis ($8,000; Starting P36) If we’re talking about cheaper drivers with similar PD upside to Kligerman, then Davis is right in our wheelhouse. Davis probably doesn’t have the top ten upside that Kligerman has, but Davis does have top 20 upside and at this price tag and starting spot a top 20 finish is all he needs to return 5X value. He has only one Martinsville race under his belt and that came in May of 2019 where he finished 20th. He hasn’t raced in over a month, but this is a guy who can return 5X value easily. He has seven top 20 finishes this year and an additional P21 finish at July’s Texas race.

Ben Rhodes ($7,500; Starting P7) Playing Rhodes means you’re running the risk of him getting dumped by a KBM driver. Martinsville is typically a track we see retaliation, but I’m hoping the KBM drivers at least have the foresight and maturity to let Rhodes try and win the race. If he doesn’t, then he could get retaliation next week at Phoenix. The narrative is that Rhodes was sick of Eckes running him out of the groove, and he tried to save his truck from wrecking but made contact with Eckes. I highlighted the Thorsport drivers as a collective group last week, but only one of them can feasibly move on to Phoenix. Rhodes really needs a dominant performance, but he’s very much in play.

Ryan Truex ($7,300; Starting P25) I never include Truex in the Playbook. So you know he peaks my interest if he’s qualifying this week. He’s not a full-timer at the Truck level but when he’s raced this year, even without practice, he’s had some good runs. He had Top 12 runs at Vegas and Kansas and in his last four races at Martinsville he has an average finish of 12.25 with an average starting spot of 16.75. So from this starting spot we’ll definitely take advantage of the PD he presents.

Trevor Bayne ($6,600; Starting P21) So last week I finally went to the well with Bayne and that didn’t go well in the few lineups I played him. I lucked out because a lot of my Bayne lineups also featured Rhodes, so those builds were screwed anyway. But I’m going back to Bayne this week. He hasn’t ever driven a truck at Martinsville, but he has experience at the Cup level. He knows the importance of track position and asserting yourself. And I should also mention this is the cheapest he’s been all year and he just needs to move up five spots and finish 16th for 5X value.

Timmy Hill ($5,900; Starting P23) Whether it’s Timmy or Tyler, we need to get exposure to whoever is in the Hill Mobile. Tyler’s been a reliable PD play, as has Timmy at times. A year ago he actually finished fifth at Martinsville but that’s been his only top five finish here. This is strictly a GPP play. In their last six races coming into Martinsville, Timmy and Tyler Hill have driven this car to six straight top 20 finishes and three of those have been top 11 finishes. No, I’m not going to acknowledge Gus Dean’s performance in this truck because that would ruin my argument… Moving on!

Tate Fogleman ($5,600; Starting P27) Yes, I can feel your eyes rolling as you see me write up Fogleman once again. I’ve taken a shot on him the last couple races and it hasn’t worked out particularly well. But it’s been a few months since Fogey’s started this far back and while I do have concerns he could get lapped, I think he can do enough to return value even if he finishes the race two or three laps down. If he can finish in the top 22, you’ll be happy with that if you pair him with the right dominators.

Other Drivers In Play – I’m going to keep the upper driver pool relatively tight to just 14 drivers. Normally I try to include 17-to-19. But if you’re only building a few lineups I’d target those drivers, but give these guys a look as well. Christian Eckes isn’t eligible for Phoenix, but he definitely wants a better performance following last week’s disappointing ending. Brett Moffitt is a tough read. He’s punched his ticket for Phoenix. I believe GMS is looking to get Zane Smith the win. However, Moffitt is damn good at Martinsville. A year ago he started on the front row, won the first stage, and led 80 laps. He finished 29th due to an accident, but in his previous four Martinsville races he had an average finished of 3.5. Again, he’s already qualified for Phoenix so his focus is obviously on the championship, but I think we could see another performance where he leads a good amount of laps. I’m not that interested in Sheldon Creed this week, but I will play plug him into a few lineups with him on the pole. I initially had Brandon Jones in this section but removed him due to lack of experience, but I still love the truck he's in. Carson Hocevar is another PD guy that we can look at as well with a reasonable price tag. And Codie Rohrbaugh is a cheap punt we can play around with. He’s been a GPP darling the last few races and in his one race at Martinsville he finished tenth after starting 18th. BJ McLeod is someone that just needs to move up a few spots and can pay off a very cheap price tag. Don’t go overboard with exposure.

Example Lineups

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

1. Austin Hill

     1a. Zane Smith (Pivot)

2. Todd Gilliland

3. Spencer Davis

4. Carson Hocevar

     4a. Tate Fogleman (Pivot)

5. Ryan Truex

6. Trevor Bayne

     6a. Matt Crafton (Pivot)

It might be a good strategy to focus on drivers who have experience here if you're playing Cash games tonight. I love Mayer's upside but he's new to Martinsville. The same inexperience factor does apply with Zane as well. Sheldon Creed is growing on me as a Cash play.

DraftKings GPP

1. Zane Smith

     1a. Austin Hill (Pivot)

2. Sam Mayer

3. Stewart Friesen

     3a. Todd Gilliland (Pivot)

4. Ben Rhodes

5. Ryan Truex

     5a. Ryan Truex (Pivot)

6. Timmy Hill

     6a. BJ McLeod (Pivot)