2023 Worldwide Express 250 Race Picks

NASCAR Truck Series Betting Predictions
Date/Time: Saturday July 28th, 2023. 7:30PM (EST)
Where: Richmond Raceway
TV: FS1

Just a few hours after the Xfinity Series wraps things up at Road America, NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series will wave the green flag for the Worldwide Express 250 under the lights at Richmond Raceway. While I am excited to watch the Trucks in short track action under the lights at Richmond, I am having to simmer my fan excitement to ground by betting approach. I thought Friday’s on-track activities left a lot to be desired in terms of confident expectations and perhaps bettors should be cautious going into Saturday’s Worldwide Express 250.

Truck Series teams and drivers had the opportunity to get their first taste of on-track activities on Friday back to back practice and qualifying sessions. At the end of qualifying, Ty Majeski emerged as the pole winner with a fast lap of 119.000mph for his 2nd pole win of the season. Thus far, Majeski is still winless on the season after breaking through with 2 victories last year. However, Majeski appears to be the guy to beat going into Saturday’s main event, especially after an impressive performance in this race last year. With that being said, I am still taking a cautious approach to Saturday’s race because I realize that track conditions will be significantly different from Friday’s afternoon sessions. Therefore, we should expect some comer and goers once the green flag waves.

Interestingly, Grant Enfinger is the only former Truck Series winner in Saturday’s field. Enfinger captured his Richmond victory in 2020 and finished 4th in this race one year ago. Considering the breakout season that Enfinger is having with two victories already, I have the driver of the #23 closely monitored on my betting radar this weekend. Unfortunately, Enfinger did not offer a ton of optimism in Friday’s sessions but I would not rule him out completely either. Honestly, Richmond Raceway is one of those venues where track conditions change throughout the race and that is a reason that sometimes surprise contenders can emerge. Therefore, I would not rule anyone out solely based on Friday’s observations.

Practice Observations

As mentioned earlier, Ty Majeski owned on-track activities on Friday by being fastest in both practice and qualifying. It is worth noting that Majeski won the pole in this race last year and led 73 laps before finishing 3rd. Needless to say, Majeski has an excellent chance to duplicate or best last year’s performance. Behind Majeski, it gets really interesting. Matt Craftson, Christian Eckes, Conner Jones, and Carson Hocevar were also in the top 5 in single lap speed. However, I was more focused on lap averages because long-run speed is very important at Richmond even in this relatively short race.

In terms of 10 lap averages, Christian Eckes led all drivers over the likes of Zane Smith and Carson Hocevar. Granted, most lap averages were the first 10 laps at the coolest track conditions. In observing raw data times, Majeski and Corey Heim were also really strong on the speed charts despite hitting the track a little later than others. I would also throw Enfinger and Matt Craftson into the bucket of drivers that looked strong towards the end of practice for whatever that is worth. On the other end of the spectrum, Nick Sanchez, Corey Heim, and Matt DiBenedetto were among the guys that overall appeared to be trending in the wrong direction based on opening odds.

Betting Targets

Obviously, I would give the green light to back Majeski in all formats on Saturday. I think he has an excellent opportunity to stay out front all night especially with cooler/better handling track conditions. Behind Majeski, I’m not overly confident in any single driver. Obviously, Hocevar and Smith are the best talents in the field. However, Smith has never been overly impressive at Richmond and I don’t consider Hocevar a “short track” talent at least at this point in his career.

Therefore, I am not going for any of the other big names in this field. Instead, I would consider guys like Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger as live dogs. I really like Enfinger as a H2H target after a relatively less than stellar Friday afternoon. I fully expect Enfinger to get better as this race unfolds and he has plenty of upside value based on current odds. Another driver that is also on my radar that is further down the talent pool includes Tyler Ankrum. Ankrum has been really solid at Richmond and on other flat surfaces through his career. For a bottom-tier driver, Ankrum could also yield value in all formats as well.

Draftkings Worldwide Express 250 Optimal Lineup

2023 Worldwide Express 250 Race Picks

*Final*

Ty Majeski +300 (1.5 units)
Grant Enfinger +1000 (.75 unit)

H2H Match-ups and Props

Ty Majeski -135 over Zane Smith (2 units)
Matt Crafton -115 over Bayley Currey (2 units)
Tyler Ankrum -115 over Jake Garcia (2 units)