texas trucks

Pricing got a lot tighter in the Draft Kings truck contests this week.  Some of the reliable mid-priced guys like Austin Hill, Tyler Dippel and Jordan Anderson got pretty sizable salary increases.  On the flip side, we don't have Kyle Busch consuming a $15K salary spot, so that opens up some things for the rest of the roster.

Here's who I'm looking at following three practice sessions on Thursday and heading into qualifying and the race Friday night:

• Johnny Sauter -- He dominated the practice sessions.  In the last two sessions, he had the fastest single lap time and fastest 10 lap average.  In the final practice, his 10 lap average was nearly a full mile per hour faster then the second best time -- which translates to almost .2 seconds per lap.  He has three Texas wins in the last six races there.  He's my top choice for dominator heading into Friday.
• Stewart Friesen is the highest priced driver, but he hit the wall hard in the second practice and had to go to his back up.  It's a smaller team, so I doubt their backup is capable of leading laps or running many fastest laps.  He's pretty much off the board for me.
• If someone is going to challenge Sauter, I think it will be Grant Enfinger.  He's got three Top 4 finishes in the last five Texas races.  He's been very fast at the 1.5 mile tracks all season long.  In second practice he had the 2nd best single lap time.  And in final practice he had the 3rd best 10 lap average.
• Sheldon Creed once again has speed.  He was 2nd behind Sauter in 10 lap average in both the second and final practice.  He's reasonably priced at $8,600.  But he's been so prone to mistakes this year.  He's had the speed all year but always screws something up.  Despite starting in the Top 9 in all five races at 1.5 mile tracks this season, he has only one finish better then 12th place.  In 5 of 8 races overall this year, he's finished 17th or worse -- which is terrible when his truck has Top 5 speed almost every race.  Unless he botches the Q run, he's too risky for me in cash games.  He's a real good tournament option though because he does have the potential to lead laps and run fastest laps.
• Drivers in the middle tier I'm most interested in are the KBM trio of Biffle, Burton and Gilliland.  Gilliland in particular has been real solid at the five 1.5 mile tracks so far scoring between 34-49 DK points in all five races.  Last year at Texas, he had Top 6 finishes and led 60+ laps in both races.  Biffle worries me since he's been out of racing for several years.  Burton is fine if he doesn't qualify too high.
  
  • Kyle Benjamin is also a guy to watch.  He did two Truck races last year with the DGR team and finished in the Top 5 both times.  He got an inspection penalty so had to sit out a chunk of final practice -- which was real bad because it was later in the evening and was closest to what race conditions will be on Friday evening.  But, in second practice, Benjamin was 3rd in 10 lap average with a time very close to the leaders (Sauter and Creed).  He's got talent and is running with a pretty reliable team (Niece -- the same team as Ross Chastain).  He's fairly priced at $7,800.
    
  • Jordan Anderson, Tyler Ankrum, Gus Dean and Spencer Boyd are other guys around that price that I'd feel OK using if the qualifying spot is right.
    
• I'm not real comfortable with anyone in the sub-$7K range.
  • Cory Roper has had a couple of nice runs when he's started 20th or worse.  And I'd be fine using him if he starts back there.  His problem (from a fantasy standpoint) is that he's qualified in the Top 10 at half the 1.5 mile tracks he's run this year.  He sat 7th in single lap time in final practice which shows he may have the speed to qualify well again.  His status will all depend on that.
  • Jennifer Jo Cobb is a not terrible punt option.  In four races at 1.5 mile tracks this year, she's typically qualified near the back and finished +4/5 spots.  She's scored 26, 19, 36 and 25 DK points in those four races.