2025 NC Education Lottery 200 Race Picks

Date/Time: Friday May 23rd, 2025. 8:30PM (EST)
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway
TV: FS1

While Sunday is officially known as the Greatest Day in Motorsports, NASCAR will kick off Memorial Day weekend racing festivities on Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway with back to back races in the ARCA Menard Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. The Truck Series will wave the green flag late Friday evening which will kick off 3 straight days of racing among NASCAR’s top touring series leading into Sunday’s Coca Cola 600. As we prepare for a full weekend of racing, let’s start by turning our focus to Friday’s NC Education Lottery 200 and the first betting opportunity of the weekend.

Last week, I handicapped the Truck Series race at North Wilkesboro perfectly. However, a last lap wreck not only took away our winner but it also wiped away our two biggest H2H match-ups which turned our betting card upside down. It’s been that kind of luck recently but if we keep firing out the correct picks; things will obviously turn around. Fortunately, I believe we are getting to the point in the season where handicapping becomes easier because we are starting to establish performance patterns.

In the Truck Series alone, this Friday’s return to Charlotte will mark the 3rd race at a 1.5 mile venue in just the last 4 weeks. Needless to say, we should be able to identify the drivers that have been performing well in recent weeks at the 1.5 mile tracks because those performance trends are likely to continue at another cookie-cutter 1.5 mile track that races very similarly to the likes of Texas and Kansas in recent weeks. As a result, I believe we should be able to identify the drivers that warrant betting consideration or perhaps those drivers that could be faded in H2H formats.

Charlotte – Truck Notes

Kyle Busch has the most wins (8) all-time at Charlotte.
Matt Crafton, Ross Chastain, and Ben Rhodes are also former winners at Charlotte.
Kyle Busch has finished 1st (6) or 2nd (4) in 10 of his last 11 starts at Charlotte.
Grant Enfinger has finished in the Top 5 in each of the last 3 races at Charlotte.
Ben Rhodes has finished in the top 5 in 5 of the last 7 races at Charlotte.
Corey Heim has posted incredible average driver ratings of 134.7 and 142.2 through two starts at Charlotte. *Heim’s best finish is 2nd (2023)
Layne Riggs has finished runner-up in 2 of the last 3 races at 1.5 mile venues.
Corey Heim has posted an incredible 124.5 average driver rating or higher in all 4 races this season at 1.5 mile venues.
Tyler Ankrum has finished in the Top 5 in 6 of the last 7 races this year.
The eventual race winner has started outside the Top 10 in 3 of the last 5 races at Charlotte.
There have been just 5 cautions in each of the last 4 races at Charlotte.

Betting Targets

I realize that Charlotte has been Kyle Busch’s best track in the Truck Series but I also realize Busch is no longer driving the best equipment in the series. The Spire Motorsports trucks have been fast in recent weeks but not exactly dominant. As a result, I am going to put Corey Heim at the #1 spot again this week because the #11 team has shown elite speed throughout the season at the 1.5 mile tracks. More importantly, Heim has been exceptionally good at Charlotte despite failing to find victory lane thus far. As a result, I will look to target Heim in all formats as my #1 betting option for this race.

Behind Heim and Busch, I would consider the teammate duo of Chandler Smith and Layne Riggs as the biggest threats. Riggs has been really strong at the 1.5 mile tracks and has been in position to win each of the last two weeks. Deeper into the field, Grant Enfinger has some value appear due to the way his performance has been trending over the last few races combined with his Charlotte resume. Meanwhile, drivers like Ben Rhodes, Jake Garcia, and Tanner Gray appear to be poised to outrun their current projections. Rhodes has been very solid at Charlotte with 8 straight top 10 finishes and enough upside to warrant consideration in all formats. Garcia and Gray are more ideal in prop bet formats!

Draftkings 2025 NC Education Lottery 200 Optimal Fantasy Lineup

***TBD After Qualifying***

2025 NC Education Lottery 200 Betting Picks

*More plays may be added. Check back closer to race time until “FINAL” status is displayed* Layne Riggs +1000 (.75 unit)
Grant Enfinger +1800 (.5 unit)
Ben Rhodes +4000 (.5 unit)