This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt
Location: Bristol, Tenn.
Course: Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track
Format: 0.5-mile dirt oval
Laps: 150
Race Preview
Bristol's dirt track greets the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series as they face their second short-track race in as many weeks. William Byron won last week's trip to Martinsville, leaving just Zane Smith and Chandler Smith as the lone full-time series winners so far this season. While the trucks are no strangers to racing on dirt, the series will battle it out on Bristol's dirt surface for just the second time. Last year Martin Truex Jr. dominated a caution-filled debut race at the circuit. The Cup Series champion led 105 of 150 laps to sweep the stages and go on to win the race that featured 14 cautions. The start time of this year's race will move to the evening, putting the race under the lights in hopes of delivering a better racing surface, as the race experienced some growing pains in last year's debut.
Key Stats at Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track
- Number of races: 1
- Winners from pole: 0
- Winners from top-5 starters: 0
- Winners from top-10 starters: 0
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 0
- Fastest race: 41.096 mph
Previous 10 Bristol Dirt Winners
2021 - Martin Truex Jr.
Practice and qualifying heats will give fantasy players a chance to see which drivers might make good roster selections for Saturday's race, but the biggest lesson learned from last season's race is that track position is a huge factor in the outcome of the race. Four 15-lap heat races taking place Saturday afternoon will set the field, and only green-flag laps will count to the race totals. Drivers will attempt to make the feature race by making passes and finishing as high as possible. The drivers with the most points from their respective heat race will advance into the field for the 150-lap feature event. That starting position will be highly coveted, too. With so few passes for the lead having happened last year, teams know track position out of the gate will be a necessity. If the starting position isn't what they want, the teams will have to fight tooth and nail to get their drivers off of pit road first in order to move forward and consolidate as high of a position as possible.
DRAFTKINGS VALUE PICKS (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Joey Logano - $10,900
Chase Elliott - $10,700
Stewart Friesen - $10,400
John Hunter Nemechek - $10,000
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Grant Enfinger - $9,800
Chandler Smith - $9,700
Ben Rhodes - $9,500
Austin Dillon - $9,100
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Carson Hocevar - $8,700
Christian Eckes - $8,400
Harrison Burton - $8,200
Matt DiBenedetto - $8,000
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Parker Kligerman - $7,400
Tanner Gray - $6,800
Jessica Friesen - $5,300
Tate Fogleman - $5,200
My Picks
John Hunter Nemechek - $10,000
Ben Rhodes - $9,500
Harrison Burton - $8,200
Matt DiBenedetto - $8,000
Parker Kligerman - $7,400
Tanner Gray - $6,800
This week's unique race may be the opening John Hunter Nemechek needs to get his first win of the season. He crashed out of last year's race, which gives fantasy players little insight to his potential on the surface, but this will be his eighth series start on a dirt surface, on which he's earned one top-five and four top-10s. Ben Rhodes led three laps and finished second in this race last season. Rhodes is also winless this season, but started racing on dirt early in his racing career and is expected to be a player in the outcome Saturday again. Cup Series regular Harrison Burton will be using this Truck race to get some track time ahead of Sunday's Cup race. He has two Truck Series starts on dirt surfaces with finishes of 15th and 31st. This will be his first time on the Bristol dirt surface and he'll be working to hone his skills and knowledge. The unique race could also be a good thing for Matt DiBenedetto. He has been competitive early in his first full-time season in the series. He spent a lot of time early in his racing career on dirt tracks in California and finished 13th on Bristol's dirt debut in the Cup Series last season. Parker Kligerman is also no stranger to dirt racing. He finished eighth in this race last year. This week will be his fourth race in the series this season. Another good option for fantasy rosters should be Tanner Gray. He started 18th and finished 13th in last year's Bristol dirt race and started this season with three straight top-10 finishes. He also began his career -- and still spends some of his off time -- racing micro sprints on dirt surfaces.
