Welcome to The Inside Line: Truck Series. Larkin8 here and this week we will be covering all the drivers participating in the Chevrolet Silverado 250 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. 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 $10,700
Ross is clearly the best driver in the series this year. Due to his pure talent I think he can finish inside the top 5 but I do like some other drivers more for the win. I wouldn’t go too heavy but he is certainly capable of delivering a win at any track.
Brett Moffitt $10,400
Moffitt is personally my favorite to win this week. He has won 3 of the last 8 races and has 6 top 5s during that stretch. Last year he finished 3rd here at CTMS in a lesser quality truck than he has this season. He was fastest in final practice by half a second. Very, Very good play here. There are a couple other really strong contenders but Moffitt is at the top of the list for me.
Alex Tagliani $10,100
Tagliani is driving the #51 for Kyle Busch. He comes from the open wheel ranks of Indy Car and currently races in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. He won the here at CTMP last year in the Canadian series. He has run a few Xfinity races on road courses including 3 runner up finishes and has run this race in the truck series 4 times. This is by far the best truck he has driven here and is one of the favorites for the win. He has struggled to close out some of these races in the past when he should have won but he has been close numerous times.
Stewart Friesen $9,800
Friesen will be going to a back up truck after a practice crash and will start the race from the rear of the field. He will be scored from where he qualifies. I believe he can finish top 10 this week but a top 5 seems a bit too much. If he takes it easy on his qualifying lap and offers some solid place differential he can still be a great play.
Grant Enfinger $9,500
Based off everything Enfinger has done in the pass he is a borderline fade here. FInished 17th and 13th in two races here and was 10th and 14th in the two practice sessions for this race. I don’t think road racing is something he is very good at and I expect him to struggle to get inside the top 10. Worth a shot if he qualifies 15th or worse but again I expected a very limited upside
Johnny Sauter $9,300
Sauter has finished between 6th and 8th in five straight races here. He also gained 3 or more place from his starting position in four of those five races. He isn’t someone I believe will contend for the win but a solid top 10 with some positive place diff and he can definitely deliver a good score.
Matt Crafton $9,100
Crafton has been really good here with four finishes of 6th or better in his last five races here. The other race he had an engine failure. I would consider him a top 5 contender who can maybe sneak out a win with some help from others having issues. If he qualifies outside the top 10 he is a top play.
Ben Rhodes $8,800
Rhodes qualifies on the pole here last season and led the first six laps before finishing 2nd at the end of stage one. The race went downhill from there and he ended up finishing 14th. I think he has the potential for a top 5 but will likely end up somewhere around 8th. Not the best play but could have the speed to sneak into a good finish.
Tyler Ankrum $8,600
Ankrum has very little road racing experience and his upside is a bit of a question mark. He was 15th in first practice and 4th in final practice. I don’t think he has the experience to get into the top 5 but a top 10 from a talented driver in good equipment is definitely possible.
Sheldon Creed $8,400
Creed will be going to a back up truck after a practice crash and will start the race from the rear of the field. He will be scored from where he qualifies. Creed actually has some road racing background running in the trans-am series. He also ran a couple Xfinity races for JD Motorsports. I think he can make his way into the top 10 and if he saves his tires and qualifies deeper in the field can offer good place diff. As always he is risky because of his high crash rate but he also is really talented and can deliver a great finish.
Harrison Burton $8,100
Burton did run here last season but looked very mediocre in doing so. I don’t have high expectations for him and I see him as a fringe top ten driver for this week but has very limited expectations.
Todd Gilliland $7,900
Unlike Burton I am very high on Todd Gilliland. Gilliland led 11 laps here last season and was one corner away from winning this race before having then teammate Noah Gragson dive inside of him causing both drivers to wreck. He was fastest in first practice and 5th fastest in final practice. Truck appears to have great speed and the driver has shown he can run up front here. Top 5 upside and might be able to grab a win as well.
Austin Wayne Self $7,700
Realistically Self is a top 15 truck who can maybe get into the top 10 if all goes well. Not expecting much from him though. Place differential play in the right situation.
Austin Hill $7,400
Hill started 9th and finished 8th here last year. He looked really strong in practice and I think he can get a top 10 finish. Solid play at only $7,400
Ray Ciccarelli $7,000
Ciccarelli is driving the #0 for Jen Jo Cobb. Full expectation is that this is a start and park. He ran only 2 laps of practice and was 25 seconds off the pace. Could be a situation where he still see some ownership due to recent performances. I personally will not be playing him. Too risky
Gary Klutt $6,700
Klutt comes from a road racing background in the Canadian NASCAR series. He has ran this race in the Truck Series twice finishing 11th with KBM in 2016 and 24th for a lower end team in 2017. He will be driving the #44 for Niece Motorsports and will be roughly a 15th place truck. If all goes well I think he can find his way to around 12th or so.
Raphael Lessard $6,400
Driving the #54 truck this week instead of Natalie Decker. I couldn’t find any history where Lessard had race a road course race in any significant series. He was 12th and 18th in the two practices and that is basically the range I expect him to finish in. Could be a situation where he qualifies poorly due to his inexperience and offers some solid place differential. During the course of the race he gets better and better and ends up somewehre in the 10th-13th range for a solid score.
Dylan Lupton $6,200
Lupton is driving the #20 this week that has been driven most the year by Spencer Boyd. I couldn’t find any extensive road racing background for Lupton but I did find quite a few solid finishes in other series on road courses. Most impressive was his 9th place Xfinity finish at Mid Ohio. I like him for a strong top 15 finish this week. 7th in final practice even if on a mock qualifying run is very impressive.
Roger Reuse $6,000
Apparently Roger and is brother Bobby are just successful business owners who like running random road races for teams that will let them. Roger is driver the #04 for Cory Roper and due to the small field has an upside of around 20th. No real talent here.
Jordan Anderson $5,900
Jordan had a fairly significant accident in practice. They are not going to a back up truck. He has done alright here in the past scoring three finishes of 16th or better. The damage definitely has me worried but there are a lot of poor trucks in this field. If his truck can hold up then he has s hot at a top 15. Little concern here but I expect they got most the damage fixed.
Jennifer Jo Cobb $5,700
Jen Jo has not been a start and park driver this year so I don’t expect that. However, she was 15 seconds off the pace in practice. I think she can end up around 20th with a few DNFs but she is going to be way off the pace.
Gus Dean $5,500
Dean was way off the pace compared to similar level of trucks in Practice. His team is decent enough for him to get to around 17th but the speed just doesn’t seem to be there.
Bobby Reuse $5,300
Bobby is driving the #54 for Timmy Hill. Like his brother Roger will finish roughly 20th and isn’t expected to do a whole lot. He did show a bit more speed than his brother and cost less so if you have to play a Reuse then play Bobby.
Norm Benning $5,100
I can’t believe Norm went to Canada. He was 27 seconds off the pace in practice and only ran 2 laps. Seems like a possible start and park but at best a ride around and finish 24th situation. Fade.
Joe Nemechek $4,900
I don’t even know what to say here. Josh Reaume drove the #8 for 3 laps in practice and was 25 seconds off the pace. It could be a situation where Joe shows up and races tomorrow. Maybe parks it but they haven’t parked in a few races. Could also be Reaume driving and parking. I personally will avoid this truck. Just far too much risk.
Jason White $4,700
The Canadian Jason White has run some quite a few NASCAR Canada series races and has also raced here last season for Josh Reaume. He finished 23rd in that race. He is in the #34 this week and will end up a top 20 truck. If you have to play someone in the ultra punt area White is definitely the best of the bunch.
Dan Corcoran $4,500
Driving the #33 for Josh Reaume. He will be a good step off his Teammate White in terms of speed but will likely beat a lot of the other punt plays. I expect him to compete with the Reuse bros around 20th position. Nothing special.
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.