Welcome to The Inside Line: Truck Series. Larkin8 here and this week we will be covering all the drivers participating in the Dirt Derby 150 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway. If you have any other questions be sure to jump into the NASCAR Talk slack channel for assistance from our NASCAR coaches. You can follow me on Twitter @Larkin8
QUICK NOTE: The ARCA Racing Series runs a couple different dirt race tracks. Due to this quite a few drivers who came up on asphalt tracks have previous stock car experience on dirt surfaces in that series. These results may be the only info we have on certain drivers and there abilities for this race. I will be using the past ARCA results for several drivers for which it applies.
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Driver breakdown
Chase Briscoe $11,000
Chase is not only the latest winner in the Xfinity Series having won last weeks race in Iowa but he is also the defending champion of this race. He comes from a very extensive dirt racing background which gives him an advantage over most in the race. He will be the clear favorite to lead tons of laps but also win the race.
Grant Enfinger $10,600
The best example of a driver with past dirt racing experience especially in the ARCA Series. He has won 3 races on dirt surface while running in the ARCA Series and has finished top 5 in both his Truck Eldora starts. One of the best options and threats to dethrone Chase Briscoe.
Stewart Friesen $10,300
Friesen will come in as the likely second favorite to win just behind Chase Briscoe. Coming from a dirt modified background Friesen start his career on this style of track and has as much experience on this type of track as anyone in the field. He has finished 2nd and 3rd the last two Eldora race including leading 93 laps in the 2017 race.
Matt Crafton $10,100
Crafton came into the first Eldora truck race about as inexperienced as possible. SO he went out and bought a dirt race car and ran races to gain valuable experience. This paid off massively in 2017 when he won this race. He has finished top 10 in all 6 of his Eldora races with his best two races coming in the most recent races here.
Brett Moffitt $9,900
Moffitt early in his career did run some dirt modified races. This was short lived as he quickly made the transition to asphalt at age 16. He still has that experience and is one of the better overall drivers in the field. Not a ton of history to go off of here but he did finish 5th in this race last year. Solid play with the right position upside but don’t believe he is a threat for the win.
Ross Chastain $9,700
Chastain comes from a strictly asphalt racing background and has never competed in the truck race at Eldora. He will only be playable if he offers a lot of place differential.
Johnny Sauter $9,500
Sauter has been awful here in the truck race and really doesn’t appear to offer any value. Should be an easy fade unless he starts towards the very back.
Sheldon Creed $9,300
Creed has raced in this event three times with mediocre results. He has showed speed at times in those races but to no ones surprised struggled to stay clean and put together a good finish. He does have a bunch of off road experience and has 3 top 5s in four ARCA dirt races. Just like any week he can either finish top 5 or wreck killing lineups.
Ben Rhodes $9,100
Rhodes started 1st and led 44 laps in this race last year. Unfortunately, this is the end of all the good things. He finished 30th in the race last year and has a best finish of 23rd. I think he has the ability to run upfront however and could see lots of people avoid him due to his history here. Sneaky good gpp play, avoid for cash.
Harrison Burton $8,900
Don’t believe Burton has spent any time racing dirt. He will likely struggle to get up to speed. This could work well for DK. If he struggles early on and starts deep in the field he could posses good place diff and score well simply by staying out of trouble. See Noah Gragson last year as an example of this.
Austin Hill $8,700
Very little dirt experience. Hill finished 21st here last year and I see very little upside for him. Only playable starting from back.
Todd Gilliland $8,500
Similar situation to Hill. Burton is an asphalt guy with one Eldora truck race where he finished 22nd. Don’t expect a whole lot of upside from him.
Kyle Strickler $8,300
Strickler has been a force on the dirt scene holding 47 feature wins. He will be driving the #54 for DGR-Crosley which has been driven by Natalie Decker for most of the season. Strickler will be a strong contender for a top 5 with a shot to win as well.
Tyler Ankrum $8,100
Ankrum has the least amount of pretty much anyone in this race especially on this type of surface. He has plenty of confidence coming off back to back great finishes but I wouldn’t expect much from him. Could see him staying out of trouble though and scoring a decent finish.
Christian Eckes $7,900
Eckes comes in with a few ARCA dirt races under his belt including a win last year. This puts him a step ahead of the likes of Ankrun, Hill, etc. Good price here for a driver in one of the elite KBM trucks. Probably the second best play outside of Strickler in the upper middle tier.
Gus Dean $7,800
Has run 4 of the ARCA dirt races with mixed results. While I don’t think he is a really threat to do anything special I like that he has some experience on non asphalt surfaces the last couple years. Wouldn’t be shocked if he ended up somewhere inside the top 15.
Tyler Dippel $7,600
Dipps early career started running big block mods on dirt tracks in New York. He transitioned into asphalt stock cars shortly after and at 19 is a promising young talent. He finished 13th in this race last year and is someone I am very high on for this race. Great mid range price here for someone I believe has an shot at a top 10.
Mike Marlar $7,400
Marlar is driving the #33 for Josh Reaume this week. Marlar is a phenomenal dirt late model race with two massive wins at Knoxville Nationals in 2016 and 2017. He comes in at a pretty solid price and offers top 10 ability. I wonder how strong the Reaume equipment will be but the driver can definitely get things done.
Austin Wayne Self $7,300
Self in another driver who has run a few of the ARCA dirt races but with limited success. He had a best finish of 10th. He has also run the Eldora truck race a couple times with finishes of 9th in 2016 and 18th last year. While he does have limited upside he is the type of driver who can stay out of trouble and finish inside the top 10.
Jeffrey Abbey $7,100
Abbey is driving the #44 for Niece Motorsports. Abbey has run here at Eldora twice with finishes of 17th and 14th. The 20 year old has a very strong record on dirt including winning the 2016 IMCA Southern Sport Modified National Championship. Good car and Good driver with some strong upside.
Justin Shipley $6,900
Will be driving the #80 for Jacob Wallace Racing. He has run this race the past three years and showed some decent potential before reliability issues caught up to him. He is a dirt super late model driver with tons of dirt experience. I believe he has top 15 potential but three years of struggling to get a good finish makes him a tough driver to trust.
Mason Massey $6,800
Massey who has made a few starts for Reaume this year comes from the dirt short tracks of Georgia. Massey has shown some promise and has given the Reamue Brothers team some of its best finishes of the season. Couple the positive showings he has had in recent weeks with returning to dirt and Massey could be a sneaky good play who might be over looked in favor of the other more well known dirt racers.
Landon Huffman $6,700
Huffman will be subbing for Spencer Boyd this week. Huffman has such little overall major racing history it is hard to draw any reasonable conclusions as to what he offers. I don’t expect much from him in general but once again anyone who starts towards the back and offers positive place differential could be quite valuable.
Mark Smith $6,500
The Selinsgrove Soeedway dominator is making his Truck debut in the #38. This truck is a joint venture between Jordan Anderson and Niece Motorsports. Loads of dirt experience and a legit top 10 threat. Should be a fun driver to watch.
Norm Benning $6,300
Norm Benning has found some success here simply by doing his normal stay out of trouble routine. The dirt has worked as a bit of an equalizer for him and he has scored a 19th and 13th place finish here in the past. If he starts towards the back he might be worth a shot in some gpp lineups
Colt Gilliam $6,100
Colt is driving the #8 for Nemco. He comes from the same dirt late model ranks and at $6,100 comes in cheaper then most of the other dirt specialist. Not a lot of major stats to go off of here but could be a solid punt play if starting towards the rear.
Jennifer Jo Cobb $6,000
Probably the worst play on the slate. Cobb has been horrific on the dirt so far failing to qualify twice for main race and finishing 26th and 27th in the other two attempts. Easy fade for me.
Tim Ward $5,800
Dirt Modified racer driving for an unknown team who put together a truck simply to run this race. Upside is expected to be limited but could be a solid punt play depending on where he starts.
Devin Dodson $5,700
Dodson is driving the #34 for Reaume Bros. He comes from a dirt modified background and has been running asphalt late models and K&N series races in recent years. Solid combo of truck and driver who could offer good value to go along with those ultra expensive top tier favorites.
Carson Hocevar $5,500
Hocevar is a talented young racer who has had a solid beginning to his career in the ARCA series. He comes from zero dirt experience however. He is driving the #3 normally driven by Jordan Anderson. Truck is decent and Hocevar is a good driver. Depending on how well he adapts to the track in practice will determine his upside come race time.
Jake Griffin $5,400
Griffin is yet another dirt specialist who is also driving for one of the one off teams who built a truck specifically to run this race. He has competed here once before starting 11th and finishing 4th for the #11 which at the time was Red Horse Racing. This is a great sign of a driver who can do well here. At this price he is great value especially if he can get near the top 10.
This will conclude this edition of The Inside Line: Truck Series. Please follow me on twitter @Larkin8 and make sure to join me in our NASCAR talk slack channel for more coverage.