North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Race Picks
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Betting Preview
Friday May 15th, 8:49PM (EST) at Charlotte Motor Speedway
by NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service
The Camping World Truck Series returns to action tonight immediately following the Sprint Showdown providing a full night of racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. After the Sprint Showdown determines the final two participants in tomorrow night’s All-Star Race, the green flag for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 will wave at approximately 8:49PM (EST). Several big names will suit up for tonight’s event including Erik Jones, Matt Crafton, Brad Keselowski, and Kasey Kahne who will be making a rare Camping World Truck Series start. Take a look as we provide our North Carolina Education Lottery 200 race picks!
18 year old Erik Jones looks for redemption tonight after losing a heartbreaking race last week at Kansas. Jones lead 151 of the 167 scheduled laps but ran out of gas with just 5 laps to go resulting in a 11th place finish. Tonight Jones is among the favorites to win the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 especially after such a dominate performance last week on a similar 1.5 mile sized track. However Jones will have some serious competition tonight with the likes of Brad Keselowski and Kasey Kahne coming over from the Sprint Cup Series. Keselowski has run several Truck Series races over the last few years and captured his first win at Bristol last fall. Keselowski’s resume in the Truck Series has been underwhelming compared to his performance in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series. Nevertheless, Keselowski will still be a threat tonight once the green flag drops.
Kasey Kahne who is making a rare Camping World Truck Series start may be an even bigger threat. Kahne has 4 wins and a runner-up finish in 5 career Truck Series starts which is nothing short of impressive. Furthermore, Kahne was solid in practices yesterday finishing fastest in the first session and finishing 4th in final practice. We were able to see Cole Custer contend in the JR Motorsports Truck earlier this year so we know that the #0 is capable of winning with Kahne behind the wheel. Of course there are a number of other guys outside of Jones, Keselowski, and Kahne that could contend tonight. Matt Crafton has been great this year on the 1.5 mile tracks with two wins including last week’s victory at Kansas. Crafton is also the only driver in tonight’s field that has a Truck Series win at Charlotte Motor Speedway on his resume. Crafton won last week’s race with the help of a few guys running out of gas in the closing laps but he has still been really solid this year on the 1.5 mile size tracks Atlanta and Kansas.
If you are looking for a dark horse pick to back in H2H action or even take a flyer for the victory, I would consider the #19 Truck of Tyler Reddick. Reddick has been very fast everywhere this season finishing in the top 5 in 3 of his first 4 races. Last week Reddick finished 13th but he was in position to nearly pull out the victory leading the race with 4 laps to go. Unfortunately, the #19 Truck ran out of gas which ruined his streak of top 5 finishes. However, let’s not forget that this #19 Truck has been very fast all year and he should be worth considering again tonight for those reasons alone. In fact, I will go ahead and make a bold prediction tonight stating that Reddick will finish if front of his boss and teammate in the #29 Truck in Brad Keselowski. Keselowski has not really impressed on these 1.5 mile tracks throughout his career in the Truck Series and I believe he is always over valued in these races.
North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Race Picks
Erik Jones +200 (3 units): best car in race trim, dominate performance last week at Kansas, fastest in final practice
Matt Crafton +1150 (.5 unit): two wins on 1.5 mile tracks this season, 6th in final practice, starting 9th
Tyler Reddick +2500 (.5 unit): finishes top 5 in 3 of 4 races this year, nearly won last week at Kansas before running out of gas, looked good again in race trim Thursday in practices, starting 7th
H2H Match-Ups
Kasey Kahne -100 over Brad Keselowski (2 units)