NASCAR DFS Playbook Worldwide Express 250: Top DraftKings Picks

And just like that, we have made it to the end of the 2023 Craftsman Truck Series regular season. We still have plenty of racing left, but Saturday night’s race at Richmond, under the lights, is the regular season finale for these drivers. It’s the last chance for anybody to win their way into the playoffs and there is a lot on the line after an eventful race last weekend at Pocono that shook up the bottom of the playoff standings. Corey Heim, Zane Smith, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger, Carson Hocevar, and Ben Rhodes are the only drivers locked into the playoffs this year with a win. Ty Majeski also solidified his spot last week, despite not having a win yet this year. But he’s 110 points over the cut line so he’s locked in. Matt DiBenedetto is 31 points to the good, while Nicholas Sanchez is 21 points above the cut line. I don’t believe they’re 100% locked into the playoffs, but they have a good enough cushion with points that they probably aren’t too worried and will likely race for stage points to pad their numbers. The spicy battle will be between Matt Crafton and Stewart Friesen for the final playoff spot. Crafton has a nine point lead over Friesen so both will be on our radar given that they’ll essentially be racing each other, while drivers further down in the standings basically need a win to steal the last place spot from both drivers. Saturday night should produce a very exciting race so let’s begin our NASCAR DFS research for the Worldwide Express 250!

We’ve seen Richmond plenty of times as it marks the second trip of the 2023 season. Unfortunately, the Xfinity Series ran here a few months ago while the Truck Series was in Texas. But we have enough of a sample size with the Craftsman Truck Series running this short track. This is a 0.75-mile D-shaped flat track with high tire wear. This is a great track for the final regular season race of the year because track position and strategy will be key. Do you stay out at the end of the stage for points? Do you break up the field while pit road is open to take fresh tires and likely gain track position for the start of the following stage? So many options, and I can’t wait to see how this unfolds.

Unfortunately, for the final Truck Series race of the regular season, we didn’t get to see practice and qualifying. We have Pockrass’ notes from his tweets earlier this afternoon that I’ve posted below. It’s a little disappointing that so much is on the line and we couldn’t visually see who was fast and how qualifying unfolded. But we’ll make due. Saturday’s race will have a whopping 250 laps. This is the complete opposite of last week’s race where Kyle Busch won at Pocono, but wasn’t in the optimal lineup because Pocono had only 60 laps. This will be different and we can confidently look to target multiple dominators for our lineups. Passing is difficult at Richmond, but fortunately with the stage breaks, strategy will come into play and shake up the field.

Worldwide Express 250 Practice Notes

NASCAR DFS Driver Pool

Corey Heim ($11,200; Starting P2)

Corey Heim has been on an absolute tear over his last eight races. It’s hard to really say any other driver has more momentum than Heim. In his last eight races he’s led double-digit laps in each of them and hasn’t finished worse than eighth. And even that eighth place finish at Darlington has an asterisk because he was a few seconds away from a late caution being called and he would’ve restarted with the freshest tires and could’ve potentially won that race. Either way, he grabbed a top five finish in this race last year and he starts on the front row. I’ll address the significance of the front row shortly when we get to…

Ty Majeski ($10,700; Starting P1)

As mentioned in the intro, Majeski doesn’t have a win this year. But you have to imagine he wants one ahead of the Craftsman Truck Series playoffs. He was in a similar situation last year where he was struggling to find that first win. But this was around the time that Majeski really kick started his season. IRP was before Richmond a year ago, but in the last race of July at IRP he led over 70 laps on his way to a top ten finish. Then at Richmond he started on the pole and finished third, but again led over 70 laps. Later on in the playoffs he’d eventually get a pair of wins, but we saw Majeski find that next level around this time last year and that could very well be the case in 2023. Now I mentioned the front row in Heim’s section. The significance of the front row is that they can be played together at a track like Richmond. The front row last year combined to lead 249 of 250 laps. As you can see I skipped over Zane Smith ($11,000; Starting P15). Smith is a perfectly fine play for Saturday’s race. However, if I’m paying this price tag I want to target dominator points. I’ll be playing both Heim and Majeski in some Tournament lineups. Hell, I’ll even play Zane Smith in a few because he has win equity and posted better long run averages than the previous two drivers. But I feel slightly better about the upside of Heim and Majeski starting up front.

Grant Enfinger ($10,500; Starting P13)

Enfinger offers the perfect combination of PD and dominator potential. He qualified right around where he was running in practice and was surprisingly average (at best) in the longer run. So why is he in the Playbook if I sound more bearish than bullish on him? Well, it’s mostly a gut call based on track history and comparable races. In three races here, Enfinger has never finished lower than fifth in the first two stages. He won here in 2020, was 8^th in 2021, and then 4^th in 2022. He didn’t lead any laps a year ago but did lead 71 in 2021. He won IRP last year, won Gateway this year, and is always a contender on higher tire wear tracks. I prefer him more in Tournaments because it’s entirely possible that his truck might be set up for cooler tracker conditions and we’ll find out Saturday evening.

Christian Eckes ($10,200; Starting P6)

This could sneakily be a Christian Eckes race in stages two and three. While Heim and Majeski qualified on the front row, their tire fall off in the longer averages in practice were outside the top ten. Eckes posted the third-fastest single lap in practice but had the best ten-lap average which suggests he might be pretty good in the long run. We don’t have too many comparable tracks to consider for the Truck Series this year, but Eckes did win at a high tire wear track like Darlington and he was second at Gateway (shorter, flat track) earlier this summer. If you want a PD option in the $10,000 range it’s obviously Carson Hocevar ($10,000; Starting P17). He was top five in practice speed and for whatever reason qualified outside the top 15.

Matt Crafton ($9,300; Starting P8)

It’s not that I don’t like Stewart Friesen ($9,500; Starting P23) in this range, it’s just that he’ll be so popular starting outside the top 20 and it’s clear he needs a solid finish to make the playoffs over Crafton. From a DFS perspective, everyone will go for the PD. Friesen does have three top 13 finishes in three races at Richmond, so the play is sound. But Crafton has finished seventh or better in three of his last four races at Richmond. He posted the second-fastest single lap but then fell off over ten laps. Purely from a leverage perspective he should at least be considered in Tournaments, but I do wish he was a few hundred bucks cheaper.

Tyler Ankrum ($8,300; Starting P21)

He’s likely a popular Tournament play given the starting spot. Ankrum’s track history alone makes him an interesting play. With GMS Racing he grabbed a pair of top fives at Richmond in 2020 and 2021. But last year he started P11 and finished 13^th. He has finished in the top 12 in the last three races entering the season finale. He’s 71 points out of the playoffs so he does need a win to catapult himself into the last spot. 

Taylor Gray ($8,100; Starting P19)

Taylor Gray has a bigger hill to climb than his brother. Let’s face it, they both need to win to make the playoffs. With that said, Gray is the better DFS play from a position differential perspective. Gray hasn’t finished worse than 15^th in his last five races and was even third last week at Pocono. He grabbed a top ten earlier in the year at Martinsville. He started P24 and finished sixth in this race last year. 

Bayley Currey ($7,800; Starting P11)

I missed out on Currey at Nashville after he started P2 but still managed a top five finish. I don’t want to list him purely because of FOMO but he has a pair of top fives in four races this year. Granted, one of those races was Atlanta. Currey posted a top ten lap in single-lap speed but doesn’t appear to have run ten consecutive laps so the long run speed is somewhat up in the air. As long as he stays clean the floor is likely a top 15 finish, but he has top five upside as we’ve seen so I love the play in Tournaments because he probably won’t attract significant rostership. And on another note, he doesn’t need to race for stage points. He’ll likely be going for a win or as good a finish as he can get.

Jake Garcia ($6,800; Starting P12)

Just a baffling price tag on Garcia and likely a driver I’ll be overexposed to in Tournaments. Garcia was $8,200 for Mid-Ohio and Nashville and didn’t do anything to really warrant the price drop heading into Pocono. But then he wrecks last weekend and he’s still under $7,000? This is Christian Eckes’ teammate and we already like his potential to contend. Garcia only finished 20^th at Richmond last year but did finish 16^th at Phoenix in the 2022 Truck Series championship race. So far this year he’s grabbed six top ten finishes in 14 races. The knock against him is that he’s a young driver. He doesn’t know how to manage his tires as well as the more experienced veterans in the field. That’s my one concern. But I still think he has a top ten in him for this race and if he somehow finishes eighth or better, then he likely finds the optimal lineup. For what it’s worth, he needs to win the make the playoffs, which likely won’t happen but he’s still an upside play.

Conner Jones ($6,500; Starting P24)

We’ve done this song and dance with Jones a few times already this year. He had a good run at Martinsville, but in his last three races he’s finished outside the top 25. To be fair, he had mechanical issues in each of those races.  But the equipment is still very good so it’s nice to get a ThorSport ride at just $6,500. He did post a top five lap in practice, but he may only be good for a top 20 finish. Colby Howard ($6,600; Starting P27) is another cheap PD play. But I’m going to be underweight there because we’ve seen Colby Howard chalk bust plenty of times this year.

Bret Holmes ($6,300; Starting P26)

I’ll be honest, I never really know what to make of Holmes. He did finish 15^th in this race last year and put up a quick lap in practice. He even grabbed top 15 finishes at Gateway and North Wilkesboro so maybe he has a thing for shorter, flat tracks? He’s finished 29^th or worse in three straight races entering this weekend so it’s likely he won’t be a popular play. But for Tournaments and maybe even Cash games he’s an intriguing play. If he finishes 19^th he’s basically hitting 5X value. And if he can grab another top 15 finish, he’ll hit 6X value and is possibly optimal in Tournaments.

Timmy Hill ($5,800; Starting P30)

Timmy Hill is back baby! A week after surrendering the ride to his brother, Ole Reliable is back this weekend at Richmond. Hill’s results here vary. He grabbed a top ten in 2020, then was 21^st after starting P34 in 2021, and last year he finished 31^st after starting P36. You’re probably just hoping for a similar result to that 2021 race since he starts P30 on Saturday. Hill does have some decent results on high tire wear tracks in his career and he’s run well at Gateway. He’s just a solid value play offering position differential per usual.

Christian Rose ($5,600; Starting P35)

I don’t love the play and think he’s a touch overpriced, but I have written up the relative speed of the 22-truck this year in previous Playbooks. In a 12-race sample size, the 22-truck has finished top 25 on nine occasions this year. Sure that’s not a high bar we’re establishing but Rose does start second-to-last for this race. It’s unknown how well he can manage his tires and he probably finishes a lap or two down. But he did have top 15 speed in ten-lap averages and if you can squeeze 20-25 fantasy points out of him you take it and run.

Spencer Boyd ($5,100; Starting P32)

Boyd is about as cheap as I’ll go in Tournaments for this race. And with this play you’re kind of hoping he can hit his average on DraftKings which is about 20-22 fantasy points. He has three straight top 25 finishes entering this weekend. His results at Richmond are a bit scattered. He gets 20 fantasy points if he finishes 27^th and anything better than that is gravy. He finished 23^rd at Martinsville, 27^th at North Wilkesboro, and 26^th at Gateway. 

NASCAR DFS Core Drivers