Categories: NASCAR Betting

Lucas Oil 200 Race Picks

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Friday May 30th, 2014. 5:45PM Eastern
Where: Dover International Speedway
TV: FS1
By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service

The Camping World Truck Series will take the first green laps of the weekend later today in the Lucas Oil 200 at the Monster Mile namely Dover International Speedway. On Thursday rain nearly washed out both of the scheduled practices for the Lucas Oil 200. Drivers were able to complete a handful of laps before rain officially washed things out and final practice has been rescheduled for 12:40pm today. As a result, qualifying for tonight’s event has been cancelled and drivers’ will start according to 2014 owner’s points when the green flag drops at 5:45pm (EST). Take a look at our preview and Lucas Oil 200 race picks for this afternoon’s Truck Series event.

Since rain washed out qualifying and the starting grid has been determined by owner’s points, Kyle Busch will start on the pole for this evening’s race. Busch has been perfect this season in the Truck Series with 3 wins in his 3 starts. Additionally, Busch’s last two starts have been wins from the pole position. If you need to know more, Busch has also won his last two starts at Dover in the Truck Series including last year’s Lucas Oil 200. As a result of those trends, the fact of Busch being the only Sprint Cup Series driver in the field, and his sheer dominance in the Trucks, Busch is an overwhelming favorite tonight that is currently listed at -145 to win.

Obviously Busch is the man to beat tonight but it’s hard to bet on a driver that is laying chalk even if it is someone who has been as dominant as Busch. So who can challenge Busch tonight? In truth, there are only a handful of guys that have the talent, equipment, and maybe even the luck to upset Busch tonight. Those challengers include Matt Crafton, Ryan Blaney, and Darrell Wallace Jr. Crafton and Blaney finished 2nd and 3rd last year to Busch in this race. Crafton has the most experience in a Truck at Dover and is the only driver not named Busch to win this season in the Camping World Truck Series. Crafton won earlier this year at Martinsville. From a track comparison, Martinsville also has a concrete surface in the turns similar to the Monster Mile but with a lot less banking. Still Crafton has been challenging Busch fairly consistently in recent weeks and he may be the best option outside of the #51.

The other two guys we mentioned in Ryan Blaney and Darrell Wallace Jr look to play the spoiler role. Blaney has been running good this season but just not good enough to win a race. Blaney has been solid on the short tracks during his Truck Series’ career so he is worth consideration. ‘Bubba’ Wallace is a driver that we really like tonight that is receiving generous odds. At nearly 16 to 1, Bubba is a good longshot considering his short track talent. Last year, Wallace led 119 laps of the Lucas Oil 200 before sliding back to a 9th place finish late in the race. Still, Wallace has been extremely impressive on the short tracks between Dover and Martinsville. As most are aware, Bubba’s only Truck Series victory came at Martinsville where we already mentioned some of the surface comparisons with Dover. Considering the longshot odds, Bubba can be considered a legitimate long shot.

Lucas Oil 200 Race Picks

Darrell Wallace Jr +1550 (1 unit): Starting 15th, fast in Thursday’s brief practice session, strong on similar track types.
Kyle Busch -145 (3 units): Starting from pole, won last two Dover races, fastest in rain shortened practice on Thursday, won in all 3 starts in CWTS in 2014.