2015 WinStar World Casino 350k Race Picks
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Betting Preview
Friday November 6th, 8:49PM (EST) at Texas Motor Speedway
by Jay Horne of NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service
Last week Matt Crafton gained 13 points on Erik Jones in the race for the Camping World Truck Series points championship with his victory at Martinsville Speedway. What once looked like a comfortable lead has now been narrowed down to just 13 points between Jones, Crafton, and Tyler Reddick. Therefore every position will be extremely important in the championship race later tonight when the Camping World Truck Series goes racing at Texas Motor Speedway in the WinStar World Casino and Resort 350k. For the reigning back to back series champion Matt Crafton, he returns to Texas where he dominated back in June looking to score his 2nd straight victory. However, an extremely talented field awaits tonight’s race that promises to shake things up. Take a look as preview tonight’s race and provide our 2015 WinStar World Casino and Resort 350k race picks!
Back in that June race, Crafton led 77 of the 167 scheduled laps to score the victory over Daniel Suarez. Erik Jones actually had the dominate truck for the first half of that race leading 4 different times for a total of 68 laps from the pole position. However, halfway through the race the #4 truck started experiencing electrical issues and had to change a battery which ultimately took him out of contention. Therefore barring any further bad luck, Jones should have no trouble contending for the victory later tonight along with Crafton. Another guy I expect to challenge this evening is a guy I mentioned up above that ran well back in the June race by way of the #51 truck in Daniel Suarez.
Suarez finished 2nd back in the June race and if you look at his body of work this season in the Camping World Truck Series then you may understand why he is a threat for tonight’s race. In 10 starts in the Truck Series this year, Suarez has captured 5 top 5 finishes. Interestingly enough he has excelled on the 1.5 mile tracks finishing 4th at Atlanta, 6th at Kansas, 2nd at Texas, and 4th at both Kentucky and Chicagoland most recently. Despite some struggles at other layouts, Suarez has been great on these 1.5 mile tracks in both the Truck and Xfinity Series. The #51 actually practiced better than the other favorites tonight in Crafton, Jones, and Ryan Blaney. Of course we are talking about practice, but I do believe Suarez will once again be in the mix tonight given his strength on these 1.5 mile type layouts.
Ryan Blaney is a name that I have not yet mentioned but many expect to contend tonight. Blaney is obviously one of the most talented drivers in tonight’s field but I am not buying into the hype too much simply for the fact he is wearing a firesuit tonight. The #29 truck did not show anything overly impressive throughout Friday’s sessions and Blaney has scored just 4 wins in 57 Truck Series starts. To cast that doubt to a higher degree, none of those 4 victories have come on a 1.5 mile sized tracks. More importantly than the statistics, neither of the Brad Keselowski Racing trucks looked really good in practice between the #29 and #19. Therefore, I am not convinced that either of those trucks are going to be in the victory discussion at the end of 147 laps this evening.
However, there were a few trucks that did impress from the practice stages that you may want to consider in H2H situations that have the capability of running really well tonight. In particular, I really like the way Brandon Jones has been running in recent weeks on all different track styles. Jones has posted finishes of 5th, 2nd, and 7th from Las Vegas, Talladega, and into Martinsville. The #33 truck looked good on short runs and if they can get some more consistency they should be able to put together another quality run tonight. Additionally, keep your eye on the #00 truck of Jeb Burton. Burton will be making his first start for JR Motorsports but he has plenty of Truck Series experience as he raced full-time in the series in 2013 and 2014. Burton’s lone victory come at Texas back in 2013 and we know he is good equipment again tonight. Burton’s speeds looked really strong in practice so do not be surprised if he hangs out at the front of the pack.
2015 WinStar World Casino and Resort 350k Race Picks
Daniel Suarez +600 (1.5 units): great on 1.5 mile layouts, finished 2nd back in July race, unloaded strong
Jeb Burton +1700 (1 unit): 2013 Texas winner, 2nd in final practice, starting 8th, great odds
Two Team Parlays
Matt Crafton +250 wins WinStar World Casino 350k
Slot 2 – Open
Risking 1 unit to win: TBD
H2H Matchups
Jeb Burton -105 over John Hunter Nemechek (2 units)
