This article is part of our NASCAR DFS series.
SpeedyCash.com 250
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Course: Texas Motor Speedway
Format: 1.5-mile quad-oval
Laps: 167
SpeedyCash.com 250 Race Preview
Tyler Ankrum grabbed a vital 2025 victory at NASCAR's return to Rockingham Speedway two weeks ago. In doing so, he joins Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, and Daniel Hemric as the drivers locked into the playoffs through victory so far this season. This week, the series heads west to Texas Motor Speedway in what will be the 51st NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at the track. This race kicks of a hectic stretch toward the start of the playoffs, too. Friday's contest will be the first of six straight races in as many weeks, the longest span of the season, which ends at Michigan. After this run, only five chances will remain for drivers to claim their spot among the playoff contenders. All that is to say that the 2025 season is picking up pace and the time to move is now.
Texas could be a great time for series regulars to flex their muscle, too. While Kyle Busch won last year's race, this week's field is wide open. Five different drivers have won the last five races at this track, and only Matt Crafton, Stewart Friesen, and Carson Hocevar are previous series winners here. However, Corey Heim may be the one to beat. He holds the best average Texas finish of 5.3 from three races, including a runner-up effort last season.
Key Stats at Texas Motor Speedway
- Number of races: 50
- Winners from pole: 7
- Winners from top-five starters: 30
- Winners from top-10 starters: 42
- Winners from 21st or lower starters: 2
- Fastest race: 158.002 mph
Previous 10 Texas Winners
2024 - Kyle Busch
2023 - Carson Hocevar
2022 - Stewart Friesen
2021 - John Hunter Nemechek
2020 fall - Sheldon Creed
2020 spring - Kyle Busch
2019 fall - Greg Biffle
2019 spring - Kyle Busch
2018 fall - Justin Haley
2018 spring - Johnny Sauter
Texas Motor Speedway is one of five 1.5-mile ovals the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races on this season. Its quad-oval layout resembles both Charlotte and Atlanta, but the three tracks are all quite different. In particular, Texas features lower banking in turns 1 and 2 than it does in turns 3 and 4. That difference makes the track a bit more sensitive to handling changes than its other 1.5-mile oval cousins. Track position is an advantage at this track, and a top qualifying effort can lead to a top race finish. No driver has won this race starting lower than sixth since 2017.
Last year's race featured seven lead changes and seven cautions as Kyle Busch swept stage victories along with the race win. Only three other drivers besides Busch led laps that day. In contrast, Carson Hocevar led just one lap to win this race in 2023 while Nick Sanchez dominated with two stage wins and 168 circuits out front. All three of those drivers just mentioned started inside the top five, and that is where fantasy players should be focusing their choices for this week's prize.
RotoWire NASCAR Truck Series DFS Tools
DraftKings Value Picks for the SpeedyCash.com 250 (Based on Standard $50K Salary Cap)
DraftKings Tier 1 Values
Corey Heim - $11,000
Carson Hocevar - $10,700
Nick Sanchez - $10,000
DraftKings Tier 2 Values
Layne Riggs - $9,800
Chandler Smith - $9,500
Ty Majeski - $9,200
Daniel Hemric - $9,000
DraftKings Tier 3 Values
Grant Enfinger - $8,800
Tyler Ankrum - $8,600
Rajah Caruth - $8,400
Kaden Honeycutt - $8,200
DraftKings Long-Shot Values
Ren Rhodes - $7,800
Stewart Friesen - $7,700
Gio Ruggiero - $7,200
Andres Perez de Lara - $6,300
NASCAR Truck Series DFS Picks for the SpeedyCash.com 250
Corey Heim - $11,000
Ty Majeski - $9,200
Tyler Ankrum - $8,600
Ben Rhodes - $7,800
Matt Crafton - $7,000
Andres Perez de Lara - $6,300
Statistically speaking, Corey Heim should be the driver of choice this week at Texas. While he has yet to win at the track, he boasts the best average finish of the field and he has been the leading driver so far this season. From three Texas starts, Heim has three top-10 finishes and he was the runner-up finisher last season. Backing him up is Ty Majeski. The ThorSport Racing driver has three top-10 finishes from four Texas visits, two of which were top-fives. His best result at the track was his fourth-place finish in 2023. Majeski has yet to score a win this season but sits sixth in points despite entering this week's race with consecutive finishes outside of the top 30. This trip out west could be just the medicine he needs to end this little slump.
Tyler Ankrum paints the opposite picture, fresh off of his first series win since 2019. Ankrum led 29 laps to win at Rockingham and has a best Texas finish of third. However, in his last three stops at the track, he DNF'd twice and was involved in a late crash and finished 26th in the other. Ankrum's momentum from last week should help him turn in a decent finish this week at a track he has had some success at in the past. Unlike Ankrum, Rockingham was not a fond memory for Ben Rhodes. The ThorSport driver entered that race on the back of consecutive fifth-place finishes before a power steering issue ruined his third-place start. He is hoping to bounce back this week at Texas where he finished second in 2018 and claims five top-10s from 14 series starts.
Teammate and veteran Matt Crafton is a two-tie Texas winner. At one point in his 44-race career at this track, he landed 19 consecutive top-10 finishes. Crafton sits 17th in points as of today, but he only finished outside of the top 15 at Texas once since 2011 and should be able to make up some ground in the standings this week. Spire Motorsports and Andres Perez de Lara finish the lineup after a 12th-place finish last time out at Rockingham. Were it not for a late fuel stop, a top-five finish might have been in reach. He sits second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings and this will be his first series start at Texas.
NASCAR Truck Series Best Bets for the SpeedyCash.com 250
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 12:30 PM ET Friday
Race Winner - Nick Sanchez +700
Top-Three Finish - Ty Majeski +300
Top-Five Finish - Matt Crafton +1100
Corey Heim may be the favorite to win this week's race, but Nick Sanchez offers some attractive odds. Sanchez is doing double duty this weekend with the trucks and NASCAR Xfinity Series and has two series starts at Texas. He qualified on pole for both of those races and led 168 of 172 laps in 2023 before an incident on a late restart left him to finish 16th. Sanchez could be just as competitive as Heim this week but with significantly better odds.
Another compelling wager may be Ty Majeski for a top-three finish. Majeski is yet to win in 2025 but has two top-fives from Daytona and Las Vegas. His fourth-place finish at Las Vegas was his best 1.5-mile oval result of the year so far, and he should feel confident of replicating that performance this week at Texas. Majeski finished third in this race in 2023 and finished in the top five in two of his last three Texas tries. A top-three finish could be in the cards for him this week, and he offers some of the better odds than other options to do so.
A longer-shot option to consider is Matt Crafton for a top-five. The odds for this are good since Crafton has just one top-10 finish so far this season and no top-fives yet. However, Texas has historically been a good venue for him. I mentioned above how he went 19 straight races finishing in the top 10 at this track. With two wins, 17 top-fives, and 30 top-10s from 44 series starts at this track, Crafton knows how to take advantage of opportunities and could spring a surprise top-five on the field this week.
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