American Ethanol 200 Race Picks
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Friday July 11th, 2014. 8:47PM Eastern
Where: Iowa Speedway
TV: FS1
By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service
The Camping World Truck Series will kick start the race weekend on Friday night with the running of the American Ethanol 200. While the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series is off in Loudon, New Hampshire this weekend, the Camping World Truck Series will take part in a two night racing double header at Iowa Speedway. The Truck Series will get action started with the drop of the green flag at 8:47PM (EST) on Friday and Saturday the Indycar Racing League will take center stage for some rare Indycar short track racing at Iowa Speedway. Needless to say, we have a full weekend of racing ahead. Let’s get the weekend started off right with our American Ethanol 200 race picks:
To start things off, we wanted to bring bettors up to speed regarding the basics of Iowa Speedway. Many people may not be very familiar with Iowa Speedway because it is one of the newest tracks that any NASCAR touring series visits. The 7/8th mile oval first broke ground in 2005 and was designed by NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace. Wallace’s intentions were to create a track similar to Richmond International Speedway which has been one of NASCAR’s most exciting tracks throughout history. Iowa Speedway first opened in 2006 and immediately made a name for itself in 2007 after holding the first NASCAR sanctioned event in what is now known as the K&N Pro Series. The race made headlines when 17 year old Joey Logano went toe to toe with Kevin Harvick during the final laps for an exciting battle for the victory. Logano eventually edged out Harvick to score the win which was quite the upset considering Harvick had just won the Daytona 500 just a few months prior. Not only did it create a promising future for the young heralded Logano but the race immediately put Iowa Speedway on the map as a new venue that provided fantastic racing.
This Friday we feel confident Iowa will continue to provide exciting racing just as it has done throughout several different racing series over the past several years. For bettors, Iowa is a place that has been pretty consistent in terms of driver trends. For a rule of thumb, drivers that have performed well at places like Richmond and Phoenix often run well at Iowa as all 3 tracks share several similarities. The only difference Iowa Speedway has to the latter two tracks is that it has a more rigid surface. Drivers often complain about getting through the bumps in the turns which is the key to speed off the corners. Some drivers seem to have a handle on those bumps and some drivers seem to struggle. The good news is those performance trends have been pretty consistent throughout recent Truck Series races at Iowa which gives us some strong expectations for this Friday night’s American Ethanol 200.
Our main pick this week includes the #17 Truck of Timothy Peters. Peters has won the last two July races at Iowa and has been in contention for other wins at Iowa in recent races as well. The 33 year old Truck Series veteran has won multiple races in each of the last two years and has won at least one race in the Camping World Truck Series going back to the 2009 season. Peters is winless thus far in 2014 but has been knocking on the door in recent weeks. Peters has put together two straight top 5 finishes in the last two races which includes a 3rd place finish at Gateway Motorsports Park which also has some similarities to Iowa Speedway. Needless to say, we feel Peters is due and his winless streak will come to an end this Friday night at one of his best tracks.
Obviously the likes of Ryan Blaney (former Iowa winner), Darrell Wallace Jr (2014 Gateway winner), and Matt Crafton (2 wins in 2014) stand in the way. In fact, a couple of youngsters outside of those big names also stand in the way this week with the talents of Erik Jones and Cole Custer. Jones has been excellent on flat surfaces especially at Phoenix Raceway and nearly got the win at Gateway a few weeks ago but was spun out by German Quiroga on a late restart. Not only has Jones’ been great on similar style racetracks but he is driving the #51 Truck for Kyle Busch Motorsports which is among the best equipment in the series. Also, keep your eyes on Cole Custer this week as well. The 16 year old will be driving the #00 from Haas Automation and he has the talent to shock everyone this Friday night. Custer led all 150 scheduled laps of the K&N Pro Series West race at Iowa last August. In the K&N Pro Series West in May at Iowa Speedway, Custer was racing for 2nd but was caught up in an accident before battling back through the field for a 13th place finish. Obviously the competition will be tougher this week, but do not be surprised to see the youngster keep that #00 Truck towards the front of the pack all night.
*Practices and Qualifying for the American Ethanol 200 will not take place until Friday afternoon. Check back close to race time for potential added plays and H2H wagers
American Ethanol 200 Race Picks
Timothy Peters +700 (1.5 units): Won last two July races at Iowa, two straight top 5 finishes, 3rd place finish at Gateway (similar surface)
Erik Jones +750 (1 unit): Excellent driver on flat surfaces, 2013 winner at Phoenix, wrecked racing for win at Gateway.
H2H Matchups
Ryan Blaney -160 over Johnny Sauter (3 units)
Tyler Reddick -115 over John Hunter Nemechek (1 unit)
