2016 Speediatrics 200 Race Predictions
NASCAR Camping World Series Betting Preview
Saturday June 18th, 8:47PM (EST) at Iowa Speedway
by Jay Horne of NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service
The Camping World Truck Series returns to action this afternoon at Iowa Speedway for the running of the Speediatrics 200. Both the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series have been coming to Iowa Speedway since 2009 and today’s event will mark the 10th race in Truck Series history at Iowa. However, the Sprint Cup Series has never made a stop in Newton and for that reason some fans may not be as familiar with Iowa Speedway as compared to other tracks. Today we take a look at what we can expect from racing at Iowa and provide our 2016 Speediatrics 200 race predictions!
For those that may not be as familiar with Iowa Speedway, it is a 7/8 mile track located in Newton, Iowa. The track was designed by Hall of Fame NASCAR Champion Rusty Wallace. Wallace designed the speedway to mirror many of the characteristics of Richmond International Speedway where he recorded 6 wins in the Sprint Cup Series. In fact Iowa Speedway nearly mirrors Richmond in terms of shape, size, and banking. As a result, it produces great short track style racing that will be on full display this afternoon in the Truck Series and once again tomorrow once the Xfinity Series takes the green flag.
For the last two years, Erik Jones has captured the checkered flag at Iowa in the Truck Series. However, Matt Crafton and Timothy Peters are the only drivers participating in today’s Speediatrics 200 that have former wins at Iowa Speedway. Peters actually has two victories coming in 2012 and again in 2013. However if you have followed the series in recent weeks then you may have noticed the emergence of young talent that has taken over. William Byron has scored multiple wins. Rico Abreu nearly shocked everyone last week at Texas. While guys like Daniel Hemric, Spencer Gallagher, Cameron Hayley and Christopher Bell have all shown strong signs that they can contend on a weekly basis.
In fact, I think we may have the most evenly matched crop of talent that has ever participated in the Camping World Truck Series. Today’s race will provide another example as I believe several drivers have a legitimate opportunity to contend for the victory. On Friday, Ben Rhodes topped the speed charts in the first practice while Christopher Bell posted the fastest lap in final practice. I personally believed that Bell would race well this week after a strong 5th place showing in his first race at Iowa last season. I still believe that will be the case but I did not get too much useful information from practice speeds yesterday. Speeds were all over the place and fluctuated each time a driver returned to the track.
William Byron and Daniel Suarez posted solid consecutive lap times in the final session. As most know, Byron has been one of the biggest surprise stories of the season. He has proved he can get the job done on the 1.5 mile tracks with two victories and has also proved he can be competitive on the short tracks with a 3rd place finish at Martinsville. Byron should be one of the leading candidates going into today’s event. Additionally, I feel like this race also sets up nicely for guys like John Hunter Nemechek, Ben Kennedy, and Spencer Gallagher. All of those drivers have displayed unique short track talent. Kennedy even flexed his muscles in the Xfinity Series on Friday leading both practices. I feel like all of those guys could have strong runs this afternoon.
However, I still feel like today’s race is mostly wide open. I don’t see anyone that has a clear advantage going into qualifying this afternoon and betting odds will likely overreact to those qualifying results. Therefore, I am going to personally attack today’s race at the H2H matchups that have been posted as I feel they have the most vulnerability. From there, I will make sure to add a few drivers for the victory that I expect to run well and also have a decent ROI after odds are reposted. Be sure to check back closer to race time for all remaining predictions that will be posted.
2016 Speediatrics 200 Race Predictions
H2H Matchups
*Early forums pick* Christopher Bell -115 over Daniel Hemric (3 units)
Timothy Peters +120 over Johnny Sauther (2 units)
