2021 NASCAR Truck Series Season Preview for DraftKings DFS

Welcome everyone to the 2021 NASCAR Truck Series season preview. Here we will be taking a look at the many changes that occurred during the offseason. We will also take a look at what we can expect from these changes as well as some of the preseason top plays. This article is brought to you by DFSArmy.com and written by Ryan Larkin. You can catch up with Ryan on Twitter @Larkin8 or in the DFSA VIP slack.

The first month and a half of the NASCAR season is the best time to sign up for the DFS Army. The first week alone will have 6 DFS playable races and through the end of March, there are 21 races. We see 5 different track types including a road course and the first-ever Dirt race at Bristol. Join the winning team NOW and get the best DFS coverage in existence. Promo Code LARKIN gets you 10% off!! 

2021 NASCAR Truck Series

Once again we have a large number of offseason changes for the Truck Series. We have plenty of new drivers, crew chiefs, and teams that will certainly add a new element to the series. On top of that, we have numerous schedule changes for the Series including two dirt races and three additional road course races.  We should expect to only have qualifying for Daytona, the season finale at Phoenix, and the new races on the Truck schedule. For this article, I am going to break down the teams by organization. This will be the most efficient way considering how many driver changes and part-time drivers there will be in 2020. We will also look at the rule and schedule changes for the new season.

 

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The Teams

Kyle Busch Motorsports – 3 Trucks

The restructured KBM could have its best driver lineup ever.  Chandler Smith returns for his first full-time season in the series. Smith had a rough go of it early in 2020 but he came on incredibly strong with top 5s in 5 of the last 6 races in 2020. He is the best prospect in the sport and I expect big things from him on a weekly basis. John Hunter Nemechek will drop from the Cup Series down to the Truck Series in a move that shocked a lot of people. Nemechek is making the move for one reason, to win trophies. He has won in the Truck Series 6 times with his family-owned team and I fully expect him to win more in 2021. Lastly, Kyle Busch will run a limited schedule in the 51 and share the truck with another driver still to be announced later. The most notable thing about the 51 team is that Mardy Lindley will serve as Crew Chief for the 2021 season. Lindley had been at GMS and worked closely with Sam Mayer winning 11 of the 21 ARCA-affiliated races they ran in 2020. Lindley is essentially a replacement for Rudy Fugle who left the team for William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports.

ThorSport Racing – 4 Trucks

Thorsport haven’t announced anything driver-wise for 2021 but with trucks leaving for Daytona in less than 2 weeks I think it is safe to assume they will be bringing back the four drivers from last year.  The big change for 2021 is that Thorsport is switching back to Toyota. This is normal for Thorsport to change manufacturers. They do so once every three years and I do not expect it to hurt them very much.  Thorsport were very successful in 2020 winning 26% of the races and getting 3 of the 4 trucks into the playoffs. The only thing that stopped Thorsport from more wins and possibly a championship was the late-season surge by GMS, specifically Sheldon Creed. We should expect Thorsport to be every bit as competitive as they were in 2020. For DFS, I am going to continue being a big fan of Ben Rhodes. He is habitually underpriced and offers solid value nearly every week. Plus you can bank on his one win a year. Enfinger and Crafton should continue to be solid as hell and I expect Sauter to have a much better 2021.

GMS Racing – 5 Trucks

GMS put a stamp on 2020 by winning 8 of the last 13 races in 2020 and finishing 1, 2, 3 in the championship standings. Sheldon Creed led the way winning 5 races and the championship last year. I fully expect him to be the guy to beat in 2021. He was the fastest driver nearly every week in the 2nd half of 2020. He has that elite dominator ability the likes we haven’t seen in the truck series outside of Kyle Busch. The schedule suits his style even more in 2021 with the extra dirt and road course races, both of which are track types he is fantastic at. Creed’s biggest competition for 2021 should come in the form of teammate Zane Smith. Zane won 2 races in 2020 and finished the year 2nd in points. Tyler Ankrum will return as well but he needs to make a huge leap in performance to contend with his teammates.

The GMS newcomers

Chase Purdy ran 7 races for GMS in 2020 with very limited success. Much like Ankrum, he will need to make a huge leap in performance. He will be full-time in the #24 this year and if DK continues to price him below $7,000 then he will regularly be a solid play. Lastly, Raphael Lessard will make the jump from KBM to GMS for 2021. I am not too high on Lessard overall but he now has a decent amount of experience and should have the equipment to run well. Pricing will determine his DFS viability.

Niece Motorsports – 3 Trucks

Niece has a very good 3 truck lineup for 2021. The biggest change will be Brett Moffitt jumping over and driving the #45 full time. Moffitt has been one of the top drivers in the series for the last 5 years and will bring a bunch of knowledge and experience to the team. He will very likely be overpriced however and will be someone to potentially fade for a lot of 2021. The Niece trucks will run between 10th-15th and occasionally contend for top 5s. Considering Moffitt is consistently a top 5 priced driver, he will struggle to reach value unless Niece becomes more of a top contender or DK gets their pricing right. Ryan Truex and Carson Hocevar will both run full time in 2021 for Niece after part-time runs in 2020. I like both drivers for DFS almost on a weekly basis. Top 10 upside at great pricing made them top value plays on a weekly basis in 2020.

The DFS Army are the absolute best when it comes to NASCAR DFS. That isn’t hyperbole, on a weekly basis we beat everyone. If you want the best, most accurate content then be sure to sign up and join the winning team. Join the DFS Army today to gain access to our NASCAR Research Station (Cup/Xfinity/Truck Series), NASCAR Domination Station Optimizer (Cup/Xfinity/Truck Series), Coaches Notes/Driver Picks, NASCAR Tools, Coaching, Chat, and more! The DFS Army now offers a NASCAR specific package if you are looking for focused coverage. If you are looking for DFS coverage of every sport though, the DFS Army also offers a complete VIP package that gives you access to every single DFS sport.

 DGR/Front Row Motorsports

Todd Gilliland will return for “Front Row” and will look to bounce back after a rough 2020 season. Tanner Gray technically hasn’t announced a return but his family is deeply tied to DGR and I would expect him back full time in the #15. Both should be good DFS options on any given week. Now for the most exciting and interesting part. Hailie Deegan will be making the jump to the Truck Series for 2021. Running the Full schedule, there will be tons of attention on Deegan. She probably will struggle to live up to the unrealistic expectations of people in general but for DFS she should be a very viable play. There will be growing pains, all drivers go through them just look at Chandler Smith last year, but I expect to see a very cheap price for her on a weekly basis and top 15 upside. She is great at taking care of equipment as well which means she will deliver a solid score most weeks.

Halmar Friesen Racing

Friesen was my favorite play heading into the 2020 season. That did not go well. After switching to Toyota for the 2020 season, we saw Friesen struggle to contend for top 10s let alone race wins like we were used to. Towards the end of the year, he started finding speed though and became someone who could score solid top 10 finishes. I believe Friesen will offer good top 10 speed and should contend for more top 5s than he did last year.

Hattori Racing Enterprises

Not much to say here with Austin Hill. He should continue to be a top threat for wins on the intermediate tracks. The schedule changes aren’t ones that favor him which hopefully will drive his price down on DK giving him great value to exploit at the tracks we know he will be great at. Hill finished 202 with the best Avg finish in the series 9.0.

MCANALLY-HILGEMANN RACING

Derek Kraus will return to the #19 in 2021 after a very impressive rookie year. He ranked 1st in green-flag passes and 3rd in total laps. Both are strong numbers for a rookie, especially considering the lack of practice. Matt Noyce will join the team in 2021 leaving Ben Rhodes and Thorsport. Matt Noyce is one of my favorite crew chiefs in the series and I believe he can have a positive impact on the team right away. I look for Kraus to contend for a playoff spot in 2021.

Quick Hits

For this section, we are going to take a quick look at the rest of the notable teams for the 2020 Truck season.

• Young Motorsports – #02 will be driven by Kris Wright who is replacing Tate Fogleman. #20 will be driven by the returning Spencer Boyd.
• Jordan Anderson Racing – Jordan Anderson Racing will see several different drivers in it this year as Jordan Anderson makes his way to the Xfinity Series with his own team.I would expect Anderson to run a few races in the truck series but for the majority of the races to be driven by paid drivers.
• Hill Motorsports – Brothers Timmy and Tyler Hill will again split this ride again in 2021 and should offer incredible value yet again. They were the best pure value plays on a weekly basis in 2020
• Cram Racing Enterprises – Dawson Cram will be back for a full-time effort. He was solid at times in 2020 and should be paid attention to as a value play on DK
• Clay Greenfield Motorsports – Clay Greenfield is back with what should be 3 races and then having a paid driver in the truck for the other 19 events.
• AM Racing – Will see Austin Wayne Self again return in the #22 for 2021
• Spencer Davis – Spencer Davis will run full time with his own team. As a part-time effort last year they offered decent value.

 

What can the DFS Army do for you!!!

I want to take a quick break to let everyone know exactly what we offer in detail here at DFS Army. For the new NASCAR season we will offer the following of premium VIP content:

• Direct coaching from our NASCAR staff via VIP Slack chat – Every VIP member is welcome to ask questions, talk strategy or just have fun talking NASCAR. We even started an iracing league out of the friendships built here.
• Weekly articles specific to each NASCAR DFS series previewing each race
• Post qualifying DFS breakdown articles for Cup Series races
• Post qualifying VIP coaches notes for ALL THREE series
• VIP Research Station tailored to each individual race for all three series
• VIP Domination Station optimizer for each race of all three series
• We will also be offering tutorial podcast and articles throught the season to help our members learn how to be better DFS players.

Our group strives to bring you the most up to date information for one of the most time-sensitive DFS sports. We love what we do and it shows in the top quality content we produce week in and week out. The only way to get access to all this elite content is to Come join the best team in NASCAR DFS and become a VIP member. Use promo code LARKIN for 10% off membership for life.

 

Schedule Changes

We have a massive schedule shake up for this coming season. Personally, I am very excited about it as a fan. As for DFS, I am a little nervous about how it will affect things. We will technically have 6 new tracks for the 2021 season. The new schedule will see two new dirt track races and 3 road courses. We will also see the addition of Nashville Superspeedway. Five of the tracks are very new to those involved with the series while Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, technically isn’t a new track. CTMP lost its race in 2020 due to COVID but will return for 2021.

• CTMP – Of course, not that new to the series but the track is returning to the schedule after a year hiatus. It will serve as the only road course in the playoffs.
• Circuit of the Americas – COTA will host its first NASCAR races in 2021 in late May. The track has hosted everything from F1 to Rallycross to V8 Supercars. It is one of the best road course facilities in the country and should put on a stellar show
• Watkins Glen – Watkins Glen is not a mystery to the NASCAR world but it is to the Truck Series which hasn’t raced there since the year 2000. It will take the place of Michigan on the schedule
• Bristol Dirt – Yeah that Bristol will be covered in dirt and will host NASCAR races on the surface for the first time in 2021. As a racing fan who actually got experience the World of Outlaws race at Bristol on dirt in person back in 2001, I am a bit nervous about how this race will play out. Hopefully, Bristol can get the track in good condition for these races.
• Knoxville Raceway – Perhaps the greatest dirt track in the world will host its first NASCAR race ever. I love new tracks and new experiences and this is probably my favorite across all three series for 2021.
• Nashville Superspeedway – The Truck Series will race on the 1.3 mile track for the first time in 10 years. The most notable feature of Nashville SS is that its racing surface is made of concrete instead of the traditional asphalt that we see at all other intermediate tracks. It will likely be a one-groove track but new is fun and I will be excited to see the race.

Top DFS Plays for 2021

Sheldon Creed – Sheldon Creed led the Truck Series in lap led last year with 587 (18.5%) which was 118 laps more than Moffitt who led the 2nd most. Creed also had 275 fast laps which ranked 2nd. Just 6 less than Moffitt and 70 more than Zane Smith who ranked 3rd. He was the top dog when it came to dominator points and he also led the series in race wins in 2020 with 5. He can be hit or miss but when he hits then he is a must-have for any lineup. The additions of 2 dirt races and 3 road courses favor him probably more than any other driver as well. Daytona road course winner last year and finished 2nd at Eldora in 2019 on the dirt.

Ben Rhodes – Rhodes is consistently underpriced which means he offers great value on a near-weekly basis. He ranked 4th in the Truck Series in fast laps last year and was 7th in laps led. 9 top 5s in 2020 which was tied for 3rd with series champ Creed and Matt Crafton. If DraftKings is going to keeping pricing him below $9,500 then he is someone that will need a ton of attention.

Carson Hocevar – I am a big fan of Hocevar in general. I think he is a solid and very underrated prospect. He finished last year with 3 top 15s in his last 6 races and was unlucky to not have a couple more. He is in a solid truck and is likely to be priced under $7,000 a lot to start the year. If we get this kind of value then he is someone we will want to play a lot. I anticipate him having a decent overall season in 2021

Top DFS Fades for 2021

Brett Moffitt – Personally, I love Brett Moffitt. He is a fantastic driver. He led the series in fast laps and was 2nd in laps led in 2020. The problem for Moffitt in 2021 is his change in team. He goes from the best team in the series with GMS to a team in Niece Motorsports that was at best a 10th place truck most weeks. There will be an acclimation period for the team as well. It simply will come down to pricing for Moffitt’s viability. With limited dominator potential, Moffitt will struggle to pay off the price tag he will have to start the year. If DK adjusts his price then he could be viable but it took them a year and a half to figure out Johnny Sauter wasn’t dominating races.

Todd Gilliland – I am off of the Gilliland train until he can prove he deserves attention. He finished 2020 with only 1 top 10 in his last 8 races. He was 17th in avg finish and was involved in way too many incidents. Todd is too inconsistent and doesn’t have the upside needed. If DK drops him below $8,000 then he will offer some value but he is also a crash risk weekly.

Tyler Ankrum – Ankrum is in elite equipment but there seems to be something missing. He can’t carry the speed of his teammates and I am not sure where he can excel on the 2021 schedule. Limited dirt and road course experience doesn’t bode well for him. I just do not see where he can continuously run top 5 which is really where he needs to run. I expect he will start in the no-mans-land of 8th-12th most races and be priced just too high for him to reasonably have a value worth playing. This will be a massive, potentially make or break year in Ankrum’s career.

Check out some of our other DFS Army NASCAR content for the 2021 season!!!

2021 NASCAR Cup Series Season Preview

2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Season Preview

DFS Army Strategy Series – NASCAR Scoring Fanduel vs Draftkings

This will conclude the 2021 Truck Series Preview. I hope you enjoyed it and picked up some extra knowledge to help going into the new season. If you would like to follow me on Twitter you can @Larkin8. Most importantly I hope you will join us at the DFS Army and become a VIP member. Join today and use my promo code LARKIN for 10% off membership