Pocono Trucks

Short articles with all the things to cover this weekend--

• Kyle Busch - Yes. It's worth it since he's got +20 position difference built in starting from 22nd. The race is only 60 laps and already has two scheduled cautions, so there won't be a lot of fastest laps and laps led points available, which limits his upside. But he doesn't care about stage points, etc. and can follow a strategy most likely to get him to the front for a race win.
• Tyler Ankrum - I've mentioned it a lot this season, but a sub-$6,500 salary for a GMS truck is just ridiculous. Ankrum isn't great, but has plenty of experience now in this truck and should be able to at least finish in the Top 15. 
• Grant Enfinger and Christian Eckes - I wanted to talk about these two together since they have shared the #98 ThorSport ride this year. That's a really good, top tier truck that should finish in the Top 10 every week.
  
  • Eckes is in that truck this week and starts 16th, so offers a good +5 position difference with more upside in there. He was going to win this race last year in the #18 KBM truck until he got a flat tire in the tunnel turn while leading pretty late in the race.
  • Enfinger is in the #9 Rhorbaugh truck this week. This is not nearly as good as the #98 and probably won't have the strength to challenge for a Top 10 at a big track like Pocono. I'd say a mid-teens finish is a best case scenario and I'm not sure that's going to cut it with such a high salary.
• J.H. Nemechek - He's simply been the best in the series this season and we've seen him go toe-to-toe with Kyle on a couple of occasions. He starts 7th and should move forward for a Top 3 finish. And I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him lead a few laps and/or run some fastest laps since he's starting much closer to the front and could get there before Kyle. The KBM trucks were really, really fast here last year, so I'd expect them to have a good set up. And Nemechek and Busch are both far better then the drivers who were in these trucks last year at this race.
• Derek Kraus - This truck has run into a host of issues this season, but the price and starting spot are hard to pass up here. There is +10 position difference upside here.
• Austin Wayne Self - He's gradually turned from an overly aggressive loose canon into a pretty reliable option. In 12 races this year, he has 9 Top 20 finishes and no finish worse than 27th. He starts 21st with a reasonable salary that can work out fine if he sneaks into a Top 20 finish.
• Spencer Boyd - With the long laps and short stages, it's pretty easy to stay on the lead lap here. I trust Spencer more than everyone else starting from 30th on back (other than Enfinger) and think he can get you +5 position difference just keeping his truck clean. With the weak back end of the field, there's no chance he loses spots unless the truck breaks down or he gets wrecked. Not a sexy pick, but can get you points and give you some salary flexibility.
• Ty Majeski - Two Top 10 runs in this truck so far this year and it's definitely Top 12 or better equipment. Not a ton of upside here, but a pretty safe and reliable piece at a very reasonable salary.