Drivin for Lineman 200 Race Picks
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Saturday June 14th, 2014. 8:49PM Eastern
Where: Gateway Motorsports Park
TV: FS1
By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service
Tonight the Camping World Truck Series will mark NASCAR’s return to Gateway Motorsports Park when the green flag drops on the Drivin for Lineman 200. It has been 4 years since any of NASCAR’s touring series visited Gateway. However, drivers have had 3 full practice sessions to prepare for tonight’s event and get familiar with the 1.25 mile racetrack. Despite the Truck Series being at a new venue this week and battling the unknown factor, we believe we have found solid value in our Drivin for Lineman 200 race picks. So let’s get to it.
Our opening odds pick from early in the week was Erik Jones who will be driving the #51 Truck often driven by Kyle Busch. Jones became the youngest winner in Camping World Truck Series history last year at Phoenix which is a track that shares some characteristics to gateway especially in turns 1 & 2. Jones opened at generous 13.5 to 1 odds and he has been solid since unloading on Friday. Jones has finished inside the top 7 in all 3 practice sessions this week and has shown that he can get around this racetrack. If Jones can get a good qualifying effort later tonight, we will like his chances even more but regardless we are locked in with the #51 Truck.
One of most consistent guys in practices throughout the weekend has been Matt Crafton. Crafton and Kyle Busch are the only winners through 6 Camping World Truck Series events this season. Crafton has won each Truck Series event that did not feature Sprint Cup guys and he will have to chance to make it 3 for 3 this Sunday. A few other guys that have shown some quickness over the weekend on a consistent basis include some unfamiliar names in Chase Pistone, Cole Custer, Joey Coulter, and even Darrell Wallace Jr.
Chase Pistone is making just his 3rd career start in the Truck Series and was signed on to NTS Motorsports back in March for 12 races. Pistone has had a few starts in various series in the past but he has not shown much potential to challenge the field at this point in his career. Darrell Wallace Jr is known by most fans as Bubba has performed well on flat tracks. Bubba’s only win in the Truck Series came at Martinsville and he has run good at similar style tracks. Wallace’s main problem is staying out of trouble but if he can do that, perhaps he can mix it up with the leaders later tonight.
Two other guys that we feel like can shake things up and possibly end Crafton’s dominance are Joey Coulter and Cole Custer. Custer is a guy most people have never heard of but this 16 year old is very talented. Custer will be making just his 3rd start in the Truck Series after finishing 12th and 14th in his other two starts. However, the young talent has won at plenty of venues in NASCAR’s K&N Pro Series East and K&N Pro Series West. Custer has won at places like Phoenix, Iowa, and New Hampshire which have some similarities to Gateway Motorsports Park. Joey Coulter has been getting better with each passing week and has climbed into the Top 10 in the points standings. Coulter finished 9th last week at Texas and 5th the week before at Dover. So far this week, Coulter has shown plenty of speed and perhaps he makes another push closer to the front again this week.
Drivin for Lineman Race Picks
Erik Jones +1350 (1 unit)
Field Bet at 5Dimes: +400 (.5 unit)
H2H Bets
Joey Coulter -115 over Germain Quiroga (2 units)
Darrell Wallace Jr -105 over Jeb Burton (1 units)
Matt Crafton -145 over Ryan Blaney (4 units)
Erik Jones -190 over Timothy Peters (2 units)
