EnjoyIllinois.com 300 Race Picks
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Saturday July 19th, 2014 8:45PM Eastern
Where: Chicagoland Speedway
TV: ESPN2
By:NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service
The NASCAR Nationwide Series will take center stage tonight under the lights at Chicagoland Speedway with the running of the EnjoyIllinois.com 300. A mixed bag of talent in tonight’s field promises to provide some intriguing racing action. The Nationwide Series is typically dominated by Sprint Cup drivers on a weekly basis but tonight’s race at Chicagoland will provide plenty of opportunities for some of NASCAR’s young guns. Kyle Larson and Kasey Kahne are the only two ‘Cup’ drivers in tonight’s field as the Sprint Cup guys have a rare week off before the Brickyard 400. While both Larson and Kahne are among the favorites to win tonight, there will be plenty of young talented drivers looking to steal the spotlight. Outside of your normal Nationwide Series regulars, part time drivers like Sam Hornish Jr, Ryan Blaney, Cale Conley, and Erik Jones will all have an opportunity to prove they can get the job done later this evening.
Nationwide Series teams and drivers participated in two practice rounds on Friday in preparations for tonight’s EnjoyIllinois.com 300. If we learned anything from practice, it was the simple fact that tonight’s race is pretty wide open in terms of predicting who will visit victory lane. While both Larson and Kahne appeared solid in race trim as expected, several guys showed speed that could contend when the lights turn at Chicagoland Speedway. We documented in our practice 1 recap that Brian Scott and the RCR cars have continued to show speed this week. Scott paced the first practice session and also finished with the 2nd best 10 lap average in the final session. Scott has been really fast in practices the last several weeks but has yet been able to convert those fast times into a winning performance. The same can be said for other Nationwide Series regulars like Ty Dillon and Chris Buescher who were also fast in Friday’s practices.
One of the Nationwide Series regulars to watch tonight will be the young phenom Chase Elliot. Elliot’s fame has faded a bit since winning two races early this season in rather stunning fashion. However, the talented 2nd generation driver could benefit from a rather inexperienced field tonight. Elliot led the majority of the final practice session before slipping back to 7th as cars switched over to qualifying trim. Still, Elliot has been very solid at the cookie cutter tracks this year and need we remind everyone that his first win back in April was at another 1.5 mile speedway at Texas.
A few other part time drivers could easily contend tonight as well. Sam Hornish Jr will be driving the #54 Toyota normally driven by Kyle Busch. Hornish already has one win this year in his part time role back at Iowa speedway. In fact, Hornish has finished inside the Top 5 in 3 of his 4 Nationwide Series starts this year. Needless to say, he is receiving some heavy attention heading into tonight’s race. A couple other part time drivers that people should keep their eye on tonight include both Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones. Both drivers are products of the Camping World Truck Series and have promising futures.
Blaney runs the Truck Series full time but has been impressive in his few starts in the Nationwide Series. Blaney captured a surprise victory last year at Kentucky Speedway which has some similarities to Chicagoland. Blaney will be driving the #22 car that has been extremely strong in Nationwide Series competition this year between Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. While Blaney did not overly impress in Friday’s practices, I would be surprised if he does not find his way to the front of the field. Erik Jones meanwhile will be making his first Nationwide Series start of his career. Perhaps you remember Jones, as we picked him to win the Camping World Truck Series race just two weeks ago at Iowa. Despite being just a part time Truck Series driver, Jones delivered by leading 131 of 200 laps to get the victory. This week Jones steps into a Nationwide Series car for the first time which will obviously be a bit different. However, he is a very talented racer and appears to have caught on quickly judging by Friday’s practice times. He may not be a threat to win tonight, but do not be surprised if the kid runs really well in his first start.
EnjoyIllinois.com 300 Race Picks:
Ryan Blaney +850 (1 unit): finished top 5 in his last two Nationwide Series starts, finished 5th most recently at Kentucky, and 6th fastest 10 lap average on Friday.
Kasey Kahne +550 (1 unit): Excellent driver on 1.5 mile tracks, 7th fastest in practice 1, and fastest 10 lap average in final practice.
H2H Bets
Brian Scott -130 over Ty Dillon (2 units)
