NASCAR heads to the smallest track on the schedule this week for a race weekend at Martinsville. Track position is going to be very important so we could see some two tire strategy calls throughout the race depending on how the cautions fall. With the track being so small, going a lap down is a big concern for drivers starting towards the back. Finding the right balance of drivers with place differential potential and being far enough forward to stay on the lead lap is going to be important. There are also more dominator points than most races with so many laps on the short track, so getting the right dominators is going to be crucial to your lineups this week as well.
Potential Dominators
William Byron
Cory Heim
Ty Majeski
Byron is the Cup driver this week coming down to run the truck race for Spire Motorsports. He is going to be fast as he is good at Martinsville and had speed in practice. My concern with him is he is going to have to lock up a lot of the dominator points due to his high salary, and if he doesn't he may not be worth the high salary when some of the other regular truck series drivers score high as well. Heim is one of those drivers that is likely to contend throughout the race. He had the fastest 15 lap average in practice and should lead laps early from the pole giving him a good shot to win the race at the end of the night like he has most weeks in the Truck series this season. Majeski was the truck series ace last season on short flat tracks in the truck series and I expect him to be one of the best trucks tonight.
Place Differential Plays
Ben Rhodes
Grant Enfinger
Tyler Ankrum
Rajah Caruth
Rhodes was 2nd in 10 lap averages in practice and starts in 20th. He has some of the most place differential potential of the top drivers and should be a great play for the race. Enfinger did not stand out in practice but usually runs well on short tracks. He has a good amount of place differential starting 19th and is a solid option for the race tonight. Ankrum will be a top place differential play starting back in 24th and will have a lot of upside for the race. He had top 5 speed in lap averages in practice and is a good value for DFS. Caruth had good speed in practice and has a little room to move forward starting in 10th. He is a solid value option tonight.
Cheap Options
Dawson Sutton
Luke Baldwin
Matthew Gould
Sutton was solid in practice and should have top 15 potential if he can get track position. He starts in 22nd and has some room to move forward and should have enough buffer to not get lapped early in the race. Baldwin was really good in practice with top 5 lap averages in his first career start in the truck series. I don't expect crazy results being his first race but he starts in 27th so he has some room to move forward and should be a good option for DFS. Gould starts in 19th but had solid lap times in practice. I think he likely finishes around where he starts but he is more likely to avoid getting lapped early if they start with a green flag run.