The Camping World Truck Series will kick-start a double header Saturday with the running of the Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway. Truck Series drivers had the privilege of accompanying the Sprint Cup Series to Pocono this weekend while the Nationwide Series will race tomorrow night at Iowa Speedway to conclude an action packed Saturday of racing. For the Camping World Truck Series, this will be just the 5th race the Truck Series has ever run at Pocono Raceway. For the past two seasons, Truck Series regulars have won this event with Joey Coulter in 2012 and then last year with Ryan Blaney. Tomorrow some of the Truck Series regulars look to keep that streak going against Sprint Cup rookies Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson who are favored to win the Pocono Mountains 150. Take a look as we breakdown tomorrow’s Truck Series race and provide our Pocono Mountains 150 race picks!
Out of the two Sprint Cup rookies in tomorrow’s field, Austin Dillon is the only driver with any Truck Series experience at Pocono Raceway. Dillon wheeled the #3 Truck to a 7th place finish in 2010 and then a 5th place finish in 2011. Dillon was solid in practices this morning finishing 6th and 5th respectively in the morning sessions. Based on Dillon’s experience and continued development, most would expect Dillon to contend once the green flag drops tomorrow afternoon at 1:19pm (EST).
On the other hand, Sprint Cup rookie Kyle Larson does not have any Truck Series experience at Pocono Raceway. Larson had not even seen Pocono Raceway prior to the Sprint Cup Series visit back in June. Larson took advantage of participating in an ARCA race at Pocono back in June, which he won, to prepare for his Cup Series debut at the Tricky Triangle. The seat time proved valuable as Larson wheeled his way to a 5th place finish in the Pocono 400 which was an impressive feat for the Cup Series rookie. Larson entered this week’s event as a heavy favorite and he proved why earlier today in practices. Larson paced the field in the first practice Friday morning and finished 2nd in final practice. Then in the afternoon hours Larson earned his first Sprint Cup Series pole and will lead the field to the green flag in the GoBowling.com 400 on Sunday which will only strengthen his case as the favorite to win tomorrow’s Pocono Mountains 150.
Outside of the two favorites, we have to turn our attention back to the Truck Series regulars who hope to pull out another win tomorrow afternoon. Joey Coulter has possibly had the most success out of any of the regulars at Pocono Raceway. Coulter finished 9th and 11th in the two practices on Friday. Perhaps the bigger problem with Coulter is that he has not truly contended for a win since a 2nd at Kansas in April of 2013. Perhaps the best options from the Truck Series ‘regulars’ camp includes Ryan Blaney and Timothy Peters. Blaney won this race a year ago and was very solid in both practices this morning. Blaney has been coming on strong with 5 Top 5 finishes in the last 6 races and he has proven that he can get the job done on some of the bigger tracks.
Meanwhile Timothy Peters was lightening fast in practices this morning. Peters finished 2nd behind Larson in Practice #1 and then topped the charts in final practice. Peters does not have a great track record at Pocono and is actually better known for his short track ability. However, it is hard to ignore the speed the #17 Truck showed off the hauler earlier today. Some of the popular names like Matt Crafton, Darrell Wallace Jr, and Erik Jones found their selves down a bit on the speed charts today. Jones will be making his first Pocono start which is a difficult task for any driver in their first visit to the Tricky Triangle. Darrell Wallace Jr, fresh off his huge Eldora win, finished 7th in this race last year but was outside the top 10 in both practices.
Veteran Matt Crafton got off to a dominating start earlier this year but lost the points lead last week to Ryan Blaney after Eldora. Crafton is one of the very few drivers in tomorrow’s field that has started all 4 previous Pocono Truck Series events. Crafton has the best average finish out of any driver with multiple starts which includes two Top 5 finishes and has finished no worse than 8th in any Pocono start. However, Crafton has also never led a single lap at Pocono Raceway either. Still, Crafton will need a strong run tomorrow if he plans to retake the Camping World Truck Series point lead and perhaps they can build off a 3rd fastest showing in final practice.
*Update: Sprint Cup veteran Clint Bowyer will fill in for John Wes Townley and drive the no. 05 Zaxby’s Athenian Motorsports Toyota Tundra in Today’s Pocono Mountains 150. Townley was involved in a crash during qualifying for the ARCA race and will set out for 7 days as a precautionary measure. Bowyer has never raced in a Truck at Pocono but has 3 wins including 7 top 5 finishes in 12 career Camping World Truck Series Starts
Pocono Mountains 150 Race Picks
Ryan Blaney +525 (1 unit): Blaney was our opening pick at appeasing odds. The 2013 winner has been very strong in recent weeks and should be a force again on Saturday. Blaney was 6th and 7th in practices on Friday but expect him to race better. *Update: Blaney qualified 8th and can now be found at +800 odds
Kyle Larson +150 (2 units): 1st in practice 1, 2nd in final practice, starting on pole in Trucks and Cup Series, laps time in racetrim were very strong
H2H Bets
Joey Coulter +105 over Tyler Reddick (2 units)
