Welcome to The Inside Line: Truck Series. Larkin8 here and this week we will be covering all the drivers participating in the UNOH 200 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Bristol Motor 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
Ross Chastain $12,200
The truck series has spent most of its season on tracks where driver input isn’t as important as the actual speed of the truck. In the races where the driver can have the most impact such as Iowa and Gateway Ross has been absolutely amazing. Bristol is certainly a drivers track and I expect Chastain to be a real threat for the win. His price is a high so he will have to dominate a portion of the race but there are plenty of mid tier drivers who can be played along side of him.
Stewart Friesen $11,700
Friesen ended up 2nd here last year and has finished top five in 9 of 16 races this year. He is a strong threat for another top five but I am not sure how much of a dom threat he is at this point. He is always a threat but I feel like there will be better plays than him this week considering his massive price hike.
Brett Moffitt $11,300
Moffitt had a rough go of it last year but does hold a runner up finish here in his only other truck start. He is driving for the team that won here last year and he has been one of the fastest trucks throughout the season. I anticipate him being a top five truck this week and a definite dominator threat.
Johnny Sauter $10,600
Sauter has finished top ten in 8 of the last 9 races here with the other race being an 11th place finish. He won this race last year as part of the GMS race team but other than last year he has led a total of SEVEN laps in his other ten Bristol races. He is a really good driver and he will likely end up inside the top 10 but his price, which somehow still hasn’t dropped any this year makes him a really tough play.
Grant Enfinger $10,200
Enfinger has two Bristol truck races in his career and has ran top ten for pretty much the entirety of those races. He will carry top five upside but much like Sauter I feel like he will struggle to pay off his price. He has been a top driver in terms of racking up the dom points this year so we definitely need to keep our eye on him.
Matt Crafton $9,800
Crafton led 39 laps here in 2015 and 90 laps in 2017. He has finished top ten in 8 of the last 10 including two runner up finishes. I believe he is better than his Thorsport teammates Sauter and Enfinger here and comes at a more manageable price tag. Good top five upside who has been a dom in two of the last four races here.
Ben Rhodes $9,500
Solid top ten truck most races. He has three top tens in four Bristol races. He will carry top five upside but I don’t see him being much of a dom threat. Feels like a driver who will need place differential to end up on the optimal lineup.
Tyler Ankrum $9,200
The pairing of Ankrum and crew chief Kevin Manion have been clicking and running off some great finishes. I would like to think the will unload at Bristol and be fast again but it is hard to gauge what exactly Ankrum can offer this week. He finished 4th at Bristol in the K&N series last year so he does have some experience here. As for 2019 he finished 19th at Martinsville and was forced to start and park at Iowa and Gateway. We know they are elite on the high downforce, high speed tracks but these short tracks that are more about the driver are still unknowns. I believe he will be a top ten guy but we need to see how he looks in practice and adjust from there.
Harrison Burton $8,800
In the K&N series Burton won here in 2017 and finished second here last year. He did run one truck race in 2017 here and finished 18th. I expect him to qualify inside the top 10 and also finish inside the top ten with top five upside. He desperately needs a strong run and possibly a win to salvage an otherwise disappointing season and Bristol might be the place for him to get it done. KBM trucks have been really good here in recent years.
Sheldon Creed $8,600
Creed is on a roll with back to back second place finishes heading into Bristol. He is still without his crew chief, car chief and engineer for this race. This feels like a situation where he could struggle and over drive the truck leading to a wreck which we have seen multiple times this year. He is still a great gpp play because he does have speed as well as top five upside but I would be nervous this week given his lack of Bristol experience and his inconsistency.
Todd Gilliland $8,400
Started 8th and finished 5th here last year in the truck series and also won the K&N race here last year. He is a legit top five threat this week. Much like his teammate Burton he is in need of a great run to have something to show for a relatively weak 2019 season and Bristol is absolutely a place he can do that at.
Tyler Dippel $8,200
Big fan of Dippel overall as a racer but there is little to go off of in terms of Bristol history. As far as 2019 has gone he is on an absolute roll with five straight finishes of 12th or better including a 3rd place finish last week. In general I pencil him in as a top 15 truck with an outside shot at a top 10 which is exactly how things should be this week.
Austin Hill $8,100
Hill has not looked good at Bristol in three career races. His best finish is 19th and he has an average finish of 21st. Unless he shows something in practice or offers elite place differential upside I would likely look elsewhere in the mid tier.
Sam Mayer $8,000
Mayer is a 16 year old prospect signed to the GMS racing team. He is absolutely dominating the ARCA and K&N Series this year. In ARCA competition he has five top 5s in six races including four finishes of 3rd or better. In the K&N Series he has finished 4th or better in seven of the eight races including two wins, one of which cam e here at Bristol back in the spring. He is extremely young and obviously lacks some experience but he has shown elite speed and ability in everything he has driven up to this point. I believe he will end up somewhere inside the top 10.
Ryan Sieg $7,900
Sieg is driving the #33 this week for Reaume Bros. I believe he will offer top 15 upside if all goes well. He will likely start deep in the field due to the strength of competition but a solid veteran who will keep his truck out of trouble could end up with a solid finish. We will need to pay close attention to practice times to see just how much speed this truck has.
Chandler Smith $7,800
Elite Prospect Chandler Smith is back in the #51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports this week. He has finishes of 8th and 4th in his two career Truck starts. I expect him to easily be a top ten truck this week with a shot at dominating much like he did at Iowa.
John H. Nemechek $7,700
Crazy price here for John Hunter Nemechek but I will gladly take advantage of it. JHN has raced here in the Truck Series five times and has finished 8th or better in every one of them. He also has three third place finishes and was the biggest dom of this race last year leading 104 laps. In my opinion he is the best play on the slate due to this ridiculous price.
Austin Wayne Self $7,600
Self is another driver on a good run as of late with finishes of 6th, 15th, 13th and 5th. During that stretch he has a positive place differential of +50. He finished 13th here at Bristol last year. I believe he is a top 15 threat as again this week and with the right place diff can be a valuable mid tier play.
Timothy Peters $7,400
Peters is a really strong short track racer with tons of truck series experience. He has 11 Truck wins including this race in 2012. He is driving the #92 truck this week for Robby Benton. The #92 truck has run a few races a year for quite a while now and often end up with strong finishes inside the top 10-15. If Peters can make the race he can be a strong value play.
Jesse Little $7,200
Little has had a rough go of it so far in 2019. After even races with a finish of 16th or better in 13 starts, Little only has two such finishes in his seven races this year. He will has top 15 upside this week but we need to be slightly more cautious based of his performances so far this year.
Parker Kligerman $7,000
Really liking Kilgerman this week driving the #75 for Henderson Motorsports. In two career races at Bristol with the team he has finishes of 8th and 4th. He has a total of four top 10s in his five Bristol truck races. He realistically is a top 15 truck with top 10 upside if everything works out well. Really good price for him.
Raphael Lessard $6,900
Lessard will be driving the #46 truck for KBM this week. He has been rather average in his three truck starts this year he is set up for a top 15 run with top 10 upside but based on everything we have seen so far that is about it. Luckily he has a decent price attached to him and can still be viable.
Landon Huffman $6,700
Huffman is taking the place of Spencer Boyd in the #20 Young Motorsports truck for this week. He is an average driver but is still probably slightly better than Boyd. He will likely finish somewhere inside the top 20 and perform fairly similar to how Boyd has done so far this year.
Dylan Lupton $6,500
Lupton is returning to the #15 for DGR-Crosley. He has done a really solid job in the two races so far this year with them scoring two top 10 finishes. He is still a crash risk based off what we saw last year in the Xfinity Series but he does offer top 15 and maybe even top 10 upside at a great price.
Brennan Poole $6,400
Poole is another driver who runs part time in the Truck Series. They do this to try and maximize their performance in the select races they run. Poole and his #30 team have done just that scoring five top 15 finishes in their last six races. He cost $8,300 his last time out and there is really zero reasoning for this price drop. In the Xfinity Series Poole had two top 10s and four top 15s in his five career races. I see him similar to Kligerman in terms of being more talented than a lot of this lower tier and will offer top 10 upside. AT this price he can be extremely valuable.
Jennifer Jo Cobb $6,200
Cobb is going to be at real risk of not making this race. If she does she will need a lot of carnage to truly pay off. This field is stacked and she will struggle beat anyone straight up.
Jordan Anderson $6,100
Anderson is a solid driver who will do his best to stay out of trouble and get as good of finish as possible. With the deeper field that is likely to be somewhere around the 20th position. If he qualifies poorly he can offer some solid place diff to make him a good play. Otherwise his upside is limited.
Gus Dean $5,900
Dean took a massive price drop this week which gives him value we haven’t really seen all year long. Two weeks ago he cost $7,800. I expect him to finish around 18th this week but he does have an outside shot at a top 15. He has been a bit of a crash risk this year but at this price he is definitely worth some ownership if he qualifies 20th or worse
Cory Roper $5,800
Roper shows up to the track fast every time and should have no problem qualifying his way into the race. Depending on where he qualifies he can either be of great value here at $5,900 or be a risky play because he is starting too far forward.
Codie Rohrbaugh $5,700
Rohrbaugh has ran a couple solid races as of late finishing 14th and 17th. He is relatively inexperience and there is a crash risk involved but he can score a solid top 20 at a really good price. He will need to qualify his way into the race but I don’t anticipate that being an issue.
Clay Greenfield $5,500
My gut feeling is Greenfield will struggle to qualify for the race. If he does qualify he will end up needing some help but can score a top 20 finish. At this price anyone who can score 25-30 points can be a good play so he could be worth a shot this week.
Angela Ruch $5,300
Ruch is back in the #44 this week. I don’t have much hope for her breaking into the top 20 without others having issues. Should be locked into the race based on owner points and could offer some place diff if she qualifies poorly so might be a good enough play at this price. We will have to see how things shake out to she how viable she is.
Natalie Decker $5,100
Decker and Bristol seems like a scary combination. The truck is capable of a top 15 but I expect her upside to be around 18th if she can stay out of trouble. Based on her high crash rate I would be careful relying too much on here but this price is great and definitely makes her worth some exposure to.
Timmy Hill $5,000
I am not expecting Hill to make the race but if he does he will be similar to Greenfield and Rohrbaugh. Can maybe sneak into the top 20 and score 30ish points.
JJ Yeley $4,900
Yeley is listed in the #34 for Reaume Bros. Yeley is a solid enough driver and this team has put together some decent runs this year. If he qualifies for the race I believe he can score a top 20 and be a viable punt play.
Lou Goss $4,800
I honestly can’t imagine a scenario where Goss qualifies for the race. If he does he will likely be one of the slowest on track in have an upside solely relying on the DNFs of others.
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.