On February 17, Zane Smith roared to victory in the NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway, the first race of 2023 in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series. The defending series champion benefited from the rain, which shortened the scheduled 100-lap race to just 79. The night featured five different rain showers, making it impossible to keep the track dry. Smith had taken the lead on Lap 65, and the race would only run four more laps under a green flag after that. Tanner Gray took second despite getting involved in two different multi-car wrecks and taking minor damage. Christian Eckes, Colby Howard, and Grant Enfinger rounded at the top five, giving Howard the first top-five result of his career.
This Friday, the series moves to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200. The race starts at 9:00 pm Eastern time, with the broadcast on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM. Check out our NASCAR Truck Series betting preview for this prime-time race.
NASCAR News: Craftsman Truck Series Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 Preview
The truck series remains on superspeedways, and with Kyle Busch Motorsports and ThorSport Racing walking away from Toyota to join Chevrolet and Ford, respectively, and with David Gilliland’s TRICON Garage joining Toyota, there could be some shifting in the field, particularly on a track such as Las Vegas. Last year, there were five Truck Series races on three intermediate high-speed tracks in 2022, and Toyotas took the victory three times. In fact, the three Toyotas raced by Kyle Busch Motorsports led 86 of Las Vegas’ 134 laps last year, as Kyle Busch was the runner-up, just behind Chandler Smith.
Moving to Chevrolet will likely impact Kyle Busch Motorsports, but the exact effect is still unclear. Toyotas have won nine of the last 10 races in Vegas, but Kyle Busch Motorsports took five of those wins, with Busch winning three of those races himself. John Hunter Nemechek will pilot the No. 17 Toyota for TRICON in this race, and he has the shortest odds in the Toyota group at +800. Corey Heim is also with Toyota and is right behind Nemechek at +1000.
Busch is the heavy favorite at +150, but betting on him to win outright doesn’t make a lot of sense given the number of changes at the manufacturer level. Smith’s win two weeks ago seems to indicate that the order of things in the truck series won’t change much, but we also have to remember that the race was shortened by the rain, keeping the late-lap movements from becoming a factor.
Another way to wager on races involves picking drivers to finish in the top five. Busch and Nemechek are likely locks in the top five. Smith is the second favorite in this prop at -115, behind Busch. Ross Chastain comes in at +100, ahead of Nemechek (+115). Heim, also with TRICON, comes in at +140, just ahead of ThorSport’s Ty Majeski (+170).
Toyota Racing Development has put a lot of resources into the Craftsman Truck Series, which contributed to the success that ThorSport and Kyle Busch Motorsports had over the last few years. TRICON’s move to Toyota should give their drivers an advantage in speed, at least as the year gets underway. Last year at Las Vegas, trucks built by TRD led almost 75% of the laps.
As always, it will be hard to beat Busch, but if you’re wagering on NASCAR Truck top five finishes, the driver you pick doesn’t have to beat him for you to win. Kaz Grala (+500) and Tanner Gray (+650) are two other drivers to consider. In five starts at Las Vegas, Gray has cracked the top five twice, and Grala has one top-five result in two starts.
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