NASCAR Trucks Offer Best Betting Value of the Weekend

The Preakness is clearly the biggest race of the weekend, but it's also an exciting time of year for motorsports bettors with NASCAR's All-Star Race set to run Saturday night, leading into Memorial Weekend's Monaco GP, Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 triple-header.

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This weekend's All-Star Race festivities start Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the Camping World Truck Series under the lights (8:49 p.m. ET).

NASCAR's Monster Energy Cup Series isn't exactly popular among sports bettors, never mind a lower series such as the trucks. However, therein lies the value.

Because there isn't much exposure for oddsmakers to worry about, there are often soft lines and therefore profitable betting opportunities for sharp motorsports bettors. This is especially true for Friday's North Carolina Education 200 as books have incorrectly posted a legitimate top-5 contender at a true long shot price.

With Kyle Busch in the field and garnering the most attention as a +125 favorite, books are overlooking Stewart Friesen, who is currently listed at a whopping 40-1.

Friesen has never won a Truck Series race and was terrible at 1.5-mile racetracks, such as Charlotte, in 2017, posting an average finish of 19.0 at similar track types, including 23rd in this race last year.

However, Friesen has been exponentially better in 2018, with finishes of 6th, 5th and 3rd at the three 1.5-mile racetracks (Atlanta, Las Vegas and Kansas) the truck series has visited so far this season.

Sportsbooks are clearly overvaluing 2017 while not adjusting for how this team has performed this year, especially on this type of racetrack. While Friesen isn't priced as a favorite, and nor should he be, the value of 40-1 for a driver who can run in the top 5 is too much to pass up and a great start to any North Carolina Education 200 betting card.

At the time of publication, multiple offshore sportsbooks are offering Friesen at 40-1 or better while the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook is already down to 10-1.