darlington trucks

Not a lot of history to go on here. Before last year, the Trucks had not raced here since 2011. And last year's race was a hotter, day time race whereas Friday's race will be in the cooler evening into the night. The closest comp for this year is probably Atlanta because of how both tracks chew up the tires very quickly. But Atlanta was also a day time race. So really nothing great to go on. It's going to be a bit of a crap shoot.

• Hard not to like John Hunter Nemechek again. He's been the best Truck Series regular throughout the year. He also has several races here in both the Cup Series and Xfinity Series -- so has more track experience then most of this field.
• A harder question is what to do with a second spend up option as between Grant Enfinger, Sheldon Creed and Parker Klingerman.
  • To me, this boils down to whether you want to be a bit more aggressive and play for some potential laps led/fastest laps upside with Creed or be safer with Klingerman. Enfinger is the clear third option in my view. I'm leaning Creed. He ran well at Atlanta, showed some speed last week and also was fast here at Darlington last year. I think this could be a Top 5 truck and could lead laps if Nemechek falters at all. Klingerman is still the much safer play, with a solid floor and fringe Top 10 upside.
• We've got three sub-$7k options in play this week.
  • Ryan Reed starts 19th in the #24 GMS truck. This is the team that had Raphael Lessard for the earlier races this season. Lessard had to bow out of the ride this week because his outside funding dried up. This is Top 10-12 equipment, so we just need Reed to get something close to what the Truck should get to make this work.
  • B.J. McLeod will be in a Reaume truck, so he's going to be pretty slow. But we'll probably have lots of cautions, which could help him hold onto the lead lap. He's a veteran driver that doesn't make a lot of unforced errors starting 39th. A real good mix for cash games.
  • Spencer Boyd is similar. He's unlikely to screw up, but these Young Trucks have been pretty unreliable this year. Don't love this, but he's cheap and offers a safe floor starting 34th.
  • Some may mention Corey Heim in a Kyle Busch truck. He's got some good ARCA results, but I'm not going to use a guy making his first start at a track like Darlington with no practice. No way he is in a cash game lineup for me.
• Mid-rage targets are Bayley Currey, David Gilliland and Timmy Hill.
  • Currey is back in a Niece truck. He ran 12th with this team last week at Kansas. I like the combination of him having some track experience and starting 38th. I could see him finishing around 15th or so. Don't love the price though.
  • Really the same thing with David Gilliland.
  • Timmy Hill back for his regular appearance on my list. He rarely disappoints and is a veteran who is unlikely to screw up. There's not a ton of upside here though for this price. He should be able to get into the Top 20, but I'm not sure how much further he can go.
  • I could possibly see Derrick Kraus here too. He starts 20th and should be able to move up at least 5+ spots from there. But I just don't see him as having enough upside to justify paying $9k. 

Bets

• Ankrum +155 Heim