Hello everyone and welcome to the Truck Series Setup. I’m RyanLarkin88 and you can follow me on twitter @Larkin8. This week we will be looking ahead to the Truck race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Xfinity race and Truck race will be on the same day back to back at Atlanta. Be prepared for a bit of a chaos period getting lineups and predictions up day of. I will be giving my post qualifying predictions and answering questions inside the DFSArmy VIP Slack. If you are not a VIP member sign up and use code Xfinity to save 20%!!
Quick Note: I am super proud to say the DFSArmy were able to have Truck projections available for last week at Daytona. The other guys didn’t. That is just another reason why being a member of the Army pays off. Elite guys who care about doing everything possible to help the VIP Members be prepared for every event.
Atlanta is ultra rough on tires and due to that we see a ton of tire fall off throughout a pit cycle. This is super important to keep in mind as a truck may be great for 1 lap in qualifying but fall back fast during the race. It will be important to look at practice speeds this week. When looking at the practice speeds pay close attention to who is good over the long run. 10 lap and 20 lap averages will give us the most info. We often see young driver under estimate this and wear out their tires early. We have only seen 1 OT in the last 13 races. There have been very few cautions for accidents in recent years.
Be sure to utilize the Domination Station and Research Station when making lineups. Atlanta lends itself perfectly to both and should help you cash big. One of our DFSArmy members absolutely crushed Daytona and you can do the same with content from the best. If you aren’t a VIP then sign up and use code Xfinity for 20% off the membership!!
Lineup Building for Atlanta
Picking a dominator will be important. We see the dominator lead anywhere from 65-100 laps. They are usually capable of closing the race well and finishing in the top 3. I also think a strong #2 will be needed. This driver tends to lead 30-40 laps and will collect a decent amount of fast laps. Even if this is the pole sitter who falls back to 5th they will still score in the 60-65 point range. Next up will be finding drivers with position upside starting outside the top 10.
In each of the past four races we have seen 4-5 drivers start 11th-25th finish inside the top 10. Lots of position upside to be had. I believe everyone should have no problem fitting anyone they want into their lineups based on the pricing we got last week. Do not be afraid to play veteran drives who may be in lesser equipment.
There should be no problem playing mid range guys to fill out a lineup. I don’t anticipate the need for a punt. I believe there will be 7-10 drivers who would outscore the best punt play. The best punt scores in the 30-35 point range.
Holman 25th to 9th. Chastain 24th to 10th. Snider 19th to 7th. All 3 happened in consecutive years. It will be important to nail this low/mid tier driver if you want to win any tournament. They will likely end up being the 3rd or 4th highest scorer of the race.
Note for qualifying – Due to how rough the track is on tires if a team struggles on their initial qualifying run they will often not attempt another. This is to save the tires for the race. Don’t be shocked to see 1-2 drivers have this issue and start deep in the field.
Quick Facts
Race: Atlanta 200
Laps: 130 Stages: 40/80/130
Drivers: 32
Average # of DNFs: 4.25
Average Cautions: 4.17 excluding stages
Defending Champ: Brett Moffitt
If you are new to NASCAR check out this article I wrote explaining lineup creation!
I will be giving my plays and fades in the VIP article prior to the race.
I will also answer any questions you may have in the VIP Slack!
This will conclude this edition of The Truck Series Setup. If you would like to reach out and talk NASCAR Follow me on twitter @Larkin8 or Become a VIP and join me as well as our other DFS Army NASCAR contributors (Brady Miller, Taco, and NillyJay) in the NASCAR coaching channels.