NASCAR Truck Series Predictions at Lucas Oil IRP
Grant Enfinger giving the fans a smoking burnout following his win at Lucas Oil IRP in 2022.
It’s time to begin the Playoffs for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, as they head into Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for the TSport 200 tonight at 9PM EST on FS1.
Grant Enfinger won the race last season, passing John Hunter Nemechek with two laps to go and never looked back.
Ty Majeski enters as the favorite to win tonight’s 200 lap race, following his strong 2nd place finish at the regular season finale in Richmond. Last year, Majeski led 71 of the 200 laps but could only manage an 8th place finish. In 2023, Majeski has an average finish of 3rd on short tracks, with finishes of 2nd on Bristol Dirt, 4th at Martinsville, and 2nd at North Wilkesboro. He’ll be looking to open to Playoffs with a win tonight at Lucas Oil IRP.
Corey Heim won the regular season championship following Richmond, earning himself an extra 15 bonus points heading into tonight. Heim finished 5th last year for Kyle Busch Motorsports, but has been arguably better this season in TRICON Garage equipment. He has a win at Martinsville this year and back-to-back 6th place finishes at the short tracks of North Wilkesboro and Richmond. He’ll look for momentum to continue into tonight.
Carson Hocevar won the last Truck race at Richmond, earning his third win on the 2023 season. He’s heading into Lucas Oil IRP with as much momentum as anyone can with the way his second half of the regular season has played out. In the first eight races of 2023, Hocevar had an average finish of 21st. His last eight races tell a different story, with an average finish of 5th, including two wins and six Top 5’s. Hocevar will be looking to add a 4th win on the 2023 season tonight.
Grant Enfinger won last year’s event and is the most complete driver in the 2023 Playoff field. He’s completed all but two laps on the season, and has averaged a start and finish of 9th. He knows how to keep the truck in one piece and finish at the end, hence how he stole the race last year leading only 13 laps, including the final two laps. He’ll look to go back-to-back at Lucas Oil IRP tonight.
Shane Van Gisbergen will be making his Craftsman Truck Series debut for Niece Motorsports, before returning to the Indianapolis road course on Sunday for Team Trackhouse in the NASCAR Cup Series. Don’t expect his Truck debut to go how his Cup debut went back in Chicago, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he runs inside the Top 10. His teammate, Carson Hocevar can give him some pointers on how to tackle the short track ovals on Friday Night.
Odds to win Outright (FanDuel)