The 2022 NASCAR Truck Series season continues on Friday, May 20, with the 2022 SpeedyCash.com 220. The race is set to happen at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, and it will mark the ninth race of the NASCAR 2022 schedule, where the top drivers will compete for crucial points that would help them break away from the pact.
The last three races all produced a different winner. Ben Rhodes won at Bristol, John Hunter Nemechek claimed the title at Darlington, and Zane Smith collected his third victory of the season in Kansas.
And if the offered NASCAR odds are correct, one of the three is likely to claim another W at the SpeedyCash race, but are any of the three solid picks?
SpeedyCash.com 220 Betting Picks
John Hunter Nemechek
John Hunter Nemechek travels to Texas as one of the most in-form drivers on the season. He kicked off the year with a streak of three disappointing placements, including 24th at Daytona, 25th at Las Vegas, and a 24th-place finish at Atlanta. But since then, Nemechek looked like a completely different man.
Over the next five races, the 24-year-old has not placed worse than sixth and has finished outside of the top four only once, placing sixth at Kansas in the previous round. That’s still an impressive placement, but elsewhere, Nemechek was phenomenal.
He was second at COTA, fourth in Martinsville, third in Bristol, and he won the Darlington race. And if his form isn’t enough to convince you, Nemechek also won the 2021 SpeedyCash race.
Nemechek checks all the marks of a potential winner. He is in excellent form and has already won the Texas race. But who else can step up and impress?
Matt Crafton
Matt Crafton has yet to find his footing his season, but there was some improvement in his driving of late. He kicked off the year with a 27th, seventh, and 25th-place finish but has since collected four top-10s across the next five races.
Moreover, he has placed inside the top-nine across his last four starts, including a seventh-place finish at Martinsville, ninth at Bristol, fifth at Darlington, and ninth at Kansas. Obviously, Crafton’s results are not as impressive as that of Rhodes or Nemechek, but he has been showing solid form.
But even though we are impressed with Crafton’s improvement, we must also note that he is an excellent driver in Texas. He won this race in 2014 and 2015, and even though he has not claimed another victory since, Crafton has placed inside the top-10 in ten of his last 11 starts. He also finished inside the top-5 six times over that stretch.
Admittedly, he could only manage a 20th-place finish last year, but that was the only time Crafton placed outside of the top-10 since 2011.
Zane Smith
Zane Smith is currently ranked as the no.3 on the 2022 NASCAR Truck Series ladder, with 298 points and three wins to his name. This makes him the only multi-winner of the season, but he hasn’t been the most consistent driver.
Besides winning at Daytona, Smith also won at COTA and claimed his third W last weekend in Kansas. Between the COTA and Kansas racer, Smith has collected three top-10s with a ninth-place finish at Martinsville, 10th at Bristol, and eighth at Darlington.
Looking at those results, it seems like Smith either finishes inside the top-10 or is in the front, competing for the win, making him one of the best but also one of the most inconsistent drivers of the season. Nevertheless, he has a solid upside, which makes him an interesting pick.
Smith has also achieved solid results in Texas before. He placed 19th in his debut in 2020 but quickly improved his average with a third-place finish in the fall race, adding a sixth-place finish last season.
SpeedyCash.com 220 Betting Trends
- Matt Crafton is the only back-to-back winner (2014-2015) of SpeedyCash since Todd Bodine in 2009 and 2010.
- Crafton is also the only driver in the field to win the race more than once.
- Kyle Busch Motorsports and Germain Racing are the most successful teams in Texas, with four wins apiece.
- Toyota cars have historically dominated this race, with 11 wins to the manufacturer’s name, followed by Chevrolet with eight.
- The last six races have been won by either Kyle Busch Motorsports (2021, 2019, 2017, 2016) or GMS Racing (2020, 2018).
SpeedyCash.com 220 Betting Prediction
Although there are many drivers capable of winning the race, it’s tough to look past Hunter Nemechek as the most obvious NASCAR betting picks for this race. Not only is he in exceptional form, but he had also delivered on this track in 2021 and is the only previous champion of the race to attend this weekend’s race besides Crafton.
Admittedly, the offered odds on Hunter Nemechek aren’t high, but there is a good reason for that. Barring any surprise events, the 24-year-old should come out ahead and collect his second W of the season, which will help him overtake Ben Rhodes at the top of the standings.
Crafton is a driver that can be considered as one of the best longshot NASCAR picks, but we will stick to Hunter Nemechek as our main and only prediction.
Prediction: John Hunter Nemechek to win
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