NASCAR Trucks DFS Bristol. Let’s face it, everyone could use help. And this weekend will be one of the most thrilling race weekends of the year. Never fear, Garage Guys Fantasy Sports are here with the best NASCAR Trucks DFS Picks.
The UNOH 200 will eliminate two drivers from the Camping World Truck Series Playoffs and narrow the championship field down to eight. The Garage Guys are en route to the Last Great Coliseum this week as Bristol boasts one of the more phenomenal places to spectate a race in person.
I attended my first Bristol race back in 2005. I watched the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) with my Dad on a rainy Friday night. Ryan Newman held off Greg Biffle to win what was his third consecutive win in the Busch Series. We planned to stay for the Cup race on Saturday night, but Hurricane Katrina derailed our plans, and we drove back into Mississippi to help our family brace up for the impending storm.
I’m done with my brief storytime. Just know that race back in 2005 is an unbelievable memory for me. After attending that and several more Bristol races over the years, I believe Bristol is the greatest place to watch a race on this planet. I think there are many other people who will tell you the same.
Moving on, as you are here for NASCAR Trucks DFS Bristol Picks.
What to Watch For?
It’s Truck Night in America! Thursday night action at the Last Great Coliseum is gonna be quite the show. Eight drivers will survive the first round of the playoffs. Sheldon Creed and John Hunter Nemechek have already advanced, leaving six remaining spots to advance to Las Vegas.
Matt Crafton and Stewart Friesen have enormous cushions over the playoff cut-line, so they would have to suffer catastrophic troubles to find themselves outside the Top 8. Ben Rhodes, Todd Gilliland, Carson Hocevar, and Austin Hill are slightly above the cut-line as only fifteen points separates the four drivers from elimination. Zane Smith and Chandler Smith find themselves five points and twelve points outside the cutline, respectively.
You may be asking how the playoff picture impacts the betting slate for Thursday’s race, and I’ve got answers.
John Hunter Nemechek and Sheldon Creed are dealing with absolutely no pressure heading into this race as they will advance to the next round regardless of their outcomes on Thursday. JHN hasn’t won a race since Pocono in June, and Creed has won two consecutive races to open the playoffs.
Aggression is the best option for these two.
Crafton and Friesen are both likely to advance pending they don’t DNF on Thursday, so I’d expect a safer strategy and less on-track aggression based on their positions in the standings. Friesen is good here. I think he will have a strong run.
The other six guys I’d expect to see very high aggression in strategy and on-track performance as it may become a scramble for who makes the Top 8 based on points. Winning is the best recipe to squash all the point concerns.
Don’t forget about the non-playoff drivers that will be in the mix as well: Sam Mayer won this race last year as a seventeen-year-old kid. Grant Enfinger is a solid short-track racer with multiple Top 5’s here in recent years. Parker Kligerman ran 5th in this race a year ago, and Tanner Gray ran 3rd.
It’s gonna be a wild one. Let’s get right into my NASCAR Trucks DFS Bristol Picks.
One of the best wheelmen alive. Big things ahead for this dude. https://t.co/7WbfKh4559
— dale tanhardt (@daletanhardt) September 14, 2021
NASCAR Trucks DFS Bristol Picks for DraftKings
John Hunter Nemechek: #4 KBM Toyota – $11,000
JHN is gonna be really hard to beat on Thursday.
He. Is. Due.
My boy Sheldon has certainly stolen the thunder from JHN to open the postseason, but Nemechek is a guy who has excelled at short tracks over the years, and since he has no pressure whatsoever, I believe he will be upfront leading a bunch of laps en route to a very high-scoring night.
An interesting fact here: JHN ran every race here from 2014-2019. For someone who looks like he’s about twelve years old, he has plenty of experience at Bristol. If you exclude a 2019 crash, his finishes from 2014-2018 in much lesser equipment than he drives now are 6th, 3rd, 8th, 3rd, and 3rd.
Did I mention he’s due? Book JHN as a top play.
Zane Smith: #21 GMS Racing Chevrolet – $9,700
The pressure is on for Zane this Thursday. 2021 has been a tough one for this kid, but the driver and team potential to make a run at this championship is there. While his GMS teammate Sheldon has been gobbling up wins, Zane has been in the mix to compete for wins week after week, but self-inflicted issues and bad luck have plagued the #21 team throughout the season.
Zane was very strong here last year with a Top 3 run before suffering handling issues in the waning laps that relegated him to a P16 finish. Zane is also solid at short tracks, and as I stated earlier, has a lot on the line on Thursday. The speed is there and the driver talent is there. Full-race execution might send Zane over the top and into victory lane.
He’s gonna be fast. They just gotta put a full race together and finish. I think Zane gets a Top 5 run and competes for the win on Thursday night.
Taylor Gray: #17 DGR Ford – $8,100
The younger brother of Tanner Gray, Taylor has some solid ARCA experience and two starts this season in the trucks. He finished 36th at Watkins Glen and 12th at Gateway. This is a guy who has a lot of question marks as a young driver trying to prove his driving abilities. Questionable on-track incidents have overshadowed his driver talent and solid performance in ARCA throughout this season.
Just to be clear: I am high on Sam Mayer. I’m going to be playing some Mayer. But, I believe Gray is a very solid alternative to Mayer considering his price is $3,900 cheaper.
Place-differential is the key here. He is expected to start around 35th with what has been a lightning-fast truck all season long. I love the low floor here, and if he keeps it clean, he should run in the Top 15 with a Top 10 ceiling.
Clay Greenfield: #11 Spencer Davis Motorsports Toyota – $6,800
Greenfield has only run one race this season. He finished 19th at Darlington after starting 38th just a couple of weeks ago. He will be teaming up with Spencer Davis racing equipment similar to what he is accustomed to. I know the seldomness of Clay running might concern some people, but there are some promising statistics here.
Dating back to 2018, Clay and has 30 total races. They have finished 29th or better in 24 of those races. Since 2017, he’s averaged a 23.8 finish or better in each of those seasons. In his last four races at Bristol, his finishes are 26th, 20th, 26th, and 22nd.
Greenfield will likely start around 34th, so his floor is low and his place-differential potential can lead to a high-scoring night if he finishes in the Top 25. I think that outcome is very possible and a Top 20 is certainly not out of reach with the calamity that ensues at Bristol. Book Greenfield as my favorite punt play for the night.
NASCAR Trucks Best Bets
To win:
John Hunter Nemechek +350
Zane Smith +800
Chandler Smith +1200
Longshot:
Parker Kligerman +3500
Matchups:
Zane Smith over Todd Gilliland -120
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