2016 UNOH 200 Race Predictions

2016 UNOH 200 Race Predictions
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Betting Preview
Wednesday August 17th, 8:46PM (EST) at Bristol Motor Speedway
by Jay Horne of NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service

The Camping World Truck Series returns to action tonight to kick off a full weekend of night racing at Bristol Motor Speedway that will feature all 3 of NASCAR’s top touring series over the next few days. Tonight the Truck Series is slated to battle it out for 200 laps in the UNOH 200 at the World Fastest Half-Mile in what promises to be an exciting race. Among the storylines will be rookie William Byron who will be going for his 6th victory of the season. Byron has already broke the record for wins by a rookie, formerly held by Kurt Busch, and he looks to build on his amazing season. Find out if we like Byron’s chances or if there are some other strong bets to watch in tonight’s field as we provide our 2016 UNOH 200 race predictions!

Tonight’s race will be the first and only event for the Truck Series at Bristol Motor Speedway this season. Both the Xfnity and Sprint Cup Series make two trips a year to the world’s most exciting bull ring. However, tonight’s action will be the Truck Series’ lone opportunity to take the spotlight at Bristol. Among the favorites tonight will be William Byron and Daniel Suarez. As stated earlier, Byron is going after an unprecedented 6th victory in just his 14th career start. Byron will undoubtedly be one of the guys to beat tonight because he has already proven himself on nearly every type of layout imaginable. Daniel Suarez is another guy that will be one of the top choices for tonight’s race. Suarez is the only driver from one of the higher touring series participating in tonight’s event and his 2nd place run at Dover back in May only enhances his value this evening.

From a practices standpoint, Suarez posted the fastest lap in final practice earlier today with a speed of 129.474mph. Byron was 3rd quick in fastest practice while teammate Christopher Bell was right behind in 4th. Bell also posted the fastest lap in the morning practice to give Kyle Busch Motorsports trucks the full sweep in today’s practices. Though Byron and Suarez are the big favorites tonight, I would not overlook Bell. He was another driver that ran really well back at Dover with a 3rd place finish and we all know he has gifted short track skills. He is in the same equipment as the other KBM guys that is more than capable of winning and he may be one of the best values on the board especially from an odds perspective.

Outside of the KBM Trucks, I believe you have to consider guys like Timothy Peters, Matt Crafton, and John Hunter Nemechek despite what practices may try to indicate. Peters is the only Truck Series regular to win since 2007 with his 2012 victory. Peters also has a runner-up finish at 2013 to his credit as well. Crafton does not have any Bristol victories to his resume but he did win back at Dover which adds some value to his line tonight. Meanwhile John Hunter Nemechek is notoriously strong on all the tracks under 1 mile in length. I know experience has not been a very important factor in the Truck Series over the last few years. Just look at William Byron’s stats for proof. However, Bristol is one of those places that experience does seem to help and I am not sure if raw speed will be as big of an advantage here for the KBM trucks as it is at most tracks.

Therefore, do not get too caught up with overall practice speeds and overlook some of the consistent short track talents like Peters and Nemecheck. Sure the KBM trucks will be strong and may end up in victory lane tonight. However, the gap between the KBM trucks and the rest of the field is not as big as it may appear. If you are looking for some drivers that may fly under the radar heading into tonight’s race but still provide some value in race match-ups, consider putting the #00 and #98 trucks of Cole Custer and Rico Abreu towards the top of the list. Both drivers looked solid in practices and should be in-line for quality runs this evening!

2016 UNOH 200 Race Predictions

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Matt Crafton +550 ( 1 unit)
Christopher Bell +1050 (1.5 units)
John Hunter Nemechek +2100 (.5 unit)

H2H Match-ups

Timothy Peters +160 over Johnny Sauter (1 unit)
Daniel Suarez -110 over William Byron (1 unit)