What’s up everyone?! Welcome to The Inside Line: Truck Series. Larkin8 here and this week we will be covering all the drivers participating in the Gander RV 150 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway on July 27th. 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
With the Truck Series we often end up with late driver and team news.
This info will be updated as it becomes available.
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Driver breakdown
Brett Moffitt $11,500
One of the favorites to win this week. Moffitt ran 3rd here in 2016 but ran into issues here last year. The GMS team has been really solid here the past couple years as well. Lots of competition for the top spots this week but Moffitt is certainly a top contender.
Ross Chastain $11,000
Chastain has not been anywhere near as good on the high speed tracks this year but that isn’t all that surprising. While I do think there is a bit more ability for the driver to have an impact at Pocono I still expect him to struggle to finish top 5. Hard to pay off at his price without an elite run. Fade for me.
Stewart Friesen $10,600
Won stage two here last year and ended up finishing 4th. Friesen is a strong contender for the win. He seems to struggle in qualifying which would only add to his value. Really like Friesen this week.
Grant Enfinger $10,200
Enfinger has finished 13th and 6th in his two truck races at Pocono. Nothing jumps out to say is a threat for the win but he has been really strong over the last couple months in 2019. He is also a really good qualifier which will likely hurt his upside if he isn’t able to dominate some of this race. Safe play but likely not an optimal play.
Johnny Sauter $9,900
Sauter has been good but not great at Pocono. Even in the best equipment and situations he was a 5th to 8th place truck most races here. 2019 has been a struggle as well. Unless he qualifies poorly and overs good place differential I don’t see Sauter being of much value.
Matt Crafton $9,700
Very similar to his teammates Sauter and Enfinger Crafton hasn’t been a real threat for the win. He is a strong contender to finish 5th to 8th as well. Obviously with multiple drivers in really good equipment one of these drivers can certainly do better than 5th but it will essentially be a guessing game of which one does better than the others.
Ben Rhodes $9,500
Kind of crazy that all 4 Thorpsort trucks are priced directly on top of each other. Rhodes comes in as the cheapest of the group. He finished 2nd in 2017 but also finished outside the top 10 in his other two races here. Much like the other top tier priced drivers he either needs to be the lone dominator or needs to score some serious place differential to end up in the optimal.
Harrison Burton $9,300
Burton won the ARCA race here in 2018 and followed it up with a 4th and a 6th in the two most recent races here. While this is his first truck start at the track the previous experience gives me hope about his ability for this week. His KBM team has dominated Pocono the last few years and I have Burton as one of the favorites to potentially win because of this. Burton and teammate Gilliland are on the outside looking in on the playoffs and this week could be one of their best chances to get in.
Austin Hill $9,100
Hill ran really good here the last two years driving for Young Motorpsorts. Considering his jump up in equipment in 2019 I am excited about his upside for this week. He has been better this year on the bigger tracks. Top 5 upside for Hill this week.
Todd Gilliland $8,900
Started 2nd and led seven laps before eventually finishing 7th last year. Driving for KBM who has won four straight here with three different drivers. I am a fan of his this week as I believe the truck will be the best in the field. It will be up to the driver to deliver a great finish this week and I believe he is capable of doing so.
Tyler Ankrum $8,700
Ankrum is the Truck Series most recent winner in an awesome drive at Kentucky. While I don’t believe he will be able to replicate that but a top 10 or even a top 5 is not out of the question. Strong leadership and good equipment has given Ankrum the opportunity to run towards the front on a weekly basis.
Sheldon Creed $8,500
Jeff Stankiewicz has taken over as crew chief for Creed starting with this weeks race at Pocono. Stankiewicz and Creed are extremly familiar with each other having won the ARCA championship together last year. Creed also finished 2nd in both Pocono races in the ARCA series last year. I am a BIG fan of him this week. This truck finished 3rd last year with Dalton Sargeant driving. I believe he has that high end upside as well. As always it is about staying out of trouble for Creed but with only 60 laps there are less chances to mess things up.
Christian Eckes $8,300
Eckes led 57 laps in his last race at Gateway driving the #51 truck. Since then Brandon Jones has looked like a driver actually capable of winning a race. This is completely due to the team and the level of performance of the truck. Considering KBM is great here and this truck in particular looks amazing every week Eckes has a really shot at contending for the win. He is young and capable of making mistakes but definitely a great play especially at this price.
Spencer Boyd $8,100
I do not understand this pricing again. He actually jumped up $400 after finishing 29th and scoring 11 points. He has a limited upside and lacks the ability to out drive his contemporaries. If he offers place differential he is worth a shot but his upside is going to be somewhere around 15th at best.
Tyler Dippel $8,000
Dippel has an upside of around 12th but that isn’t the worst thing from a guy in his price range. He is fairly consistent overall and unlike the drivers around him in price rarely makes a mistake. He is a really good cash play and if he qualifies outside the top 15 can be a strong play for tournaments as well.
Anthony Alfredo $7,900
Alfredo has been fairly solid in his races so far this year for DGR-Crosley. He is likely to be an 8th-12th place finishing truck. Solid price again for Alfredo.
Austin Wayne Self $7,700
Self is coming off his best ever Truck Series performance finishing 6th last time out in Kentucky. He has shown better speed the last couple races but overall is still a truck hoping to finish inside the top 15. His career history at Pocono is nothing to get excited about which makes me skeptical of what he can deliver this week.
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Jordan Anderson $7,500
Has finished between 14th and 18th in all four of his Pocono races. Pretty safe driver overall who stays out of trouble. He is likely to once again finish in that same range. If he qualifies outside the top 20 he could end up being on of the better plays this week.
Gus Dean $7,300
His upside is 15th but his ability to wreck is even better. Not an awful play in gpps depending on where he qualifies but I will never trust this guy in cash games.
Jennifer Jo Cobb $7,200
Cobb has been amazing at riding around and scoring as good of a finish as possible. This has yielded an average of 27.7 points per race which is rather strong. I do not anticipate her being about to duplicate her higher end performances this week however due to the lack of wrecks this race has produced. My expectation is 20ish points which won’t be good enough at this price.
Josh Reaume $7,000
Reaume and his trucks have been running fairly well in recent weeks even offering top 20 upside. He is a better version of Cobb. I always get nervous with teams like this but overall they have been a safe play the last couple months.
Natalie Decker $6,900
If she doesn’t wreck she can end up scoring a top 15 but that is the biggest if in the history of the sport. The truck is good the driver is a risk. Worth a stab in tournaments but don’t go too heavy or she will make you pay for it
Bryant Barnhill $6,700
Young driver making only his 2nd start for Reamue Brothers Racing. The #32 truck that he is driving has failed to finish both races this year which makes me believe this will be a start and park situation. Definitely some risk here. There is a sponsor listed which always gives hope to running the entire race but this is sketchy at best and he is expensive compared to others.
Norm Benning $6,500
Will ride around and likely finish 28th. Not much upside unless it is a wreck fest of a race. Probably gets parked for not making minimum speed.
Bayley Currey $6,300
Currey is driving the #44 for Niece Motorsports. This truck has lacked speed in recent weeks and I don’t expect a whole lot out of them this week either. The speed isn’t there but luckily it is a team that seems to have no intention of start and parking and will ride around scoring a top 20 finish.
Daniel Sasnett $6,100
Belief is that he is driving the #0 for Jen Jo Cobb Racing. This means he has a strong potential to Start and Park. I personally will not let Sasnett touch any of my lineups this week. Even if he doesn’t park the upside is so limited he is unlikely to pay off.
Mason Massey $6,000
Driving the #34 for Reaume I expect him to run the full race. Has top 25 upside but top 20 is far fetched without lots of help. Not the worst play for $6000.
Bryan Dauzat $5,800
Mr. Dauzat has only ran a handful of races with the super speedways being his main action. He did attempt the 2017 race at Pocono where he started 27th and finished 22nd. The team he is driving for only runs a couple races a year and always attempts the whole race. They ran 20th in both 2015 and 2016 with Ryan Ellis driving at Pocono. Probably the most upside of any driver from $6,700 on down.
Ray Ciccarelli $5,700
Should attempt to run the entire race. Not the fastest truck but likely a step up speedwise from Benning and Cobb. Probably ends up around 25th. Not the worst play for a punt but I do think there are better options out there.
Joe Nemechek $5,500
Based on everything this truck has done this year. Start and Park. Fade
Anthony Mrakovich $5,400
Driving the #8 for Nemco. Has a sponsor listed for this week which makes him less of a lock to start and park. At only 60 laps this wouldn’t be the hardest race for a team like this to ride around and actually finish.
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.