NASCAR Truck Series Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Predictions, Picks & Odds

Tonight, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will take on the oval at Richmond Raceway for its regular-season finale, the Worldwide Express 250 (7:30 pm ET, FS1).

While the Xfinity Series will be doing its thing at Road America in Wisconsin, both of the other major NASCAR series will be on the Richmond oval this weekend.

Tomorrow, the 2023 Cup Series season will continue with the Cook Out 400 (3:00 pm ET, USA). Tonight, the Truck Series will wrap up the pre-playoffs portion of its campaign with 250 laps round and round the oval.

Entering tonight’s race, three spots in the ten-driver Truck Series playoffs field are still up for grabs.

Will the three spots be claimed by a trio from the quartet of Matt DiBenedetto, Nick Sanchez, Matt Crafton, and Stewart Friesen? Or will someone like Chase Purdy, a regular finisher inside the top ten this season, snatch a spot with a win?

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Worldwide Express 250 Odds

Odds are via Bovada as of 2:00 pm ET.

• Corey Heim +275
• Ty Majeski +300
• Zane Smith +400
• Christian Eckes +700
• Carson Hocevar +800
• Grant Enfinger +800
• Ben Rhodes +1400
• William Sawalich +1600
• Nick Sanchez +2500
• Taylor Gray +2500
• Matt DiBenedetto +3300
• Matt Crafton +4000
• Stewart Friesen +4000
• Matt Mills +4000
• Bayley Currey +5000
• Chase Purdy +5000
• Tanner Gray +6000
• Rajah Carruth +6500

Worldwide Express 250 Predictions and Picks

One order of business in tonight’s race at Richmond will be deciding the Truck Series regular season championship. With a 42-point lead over Zane Smith, Corey Heim needs just 19 points to lock up the title and an extra 15 bonus points for the playoffs.

Heim and Smith are two of five drivers with two wins this season, while the other win by a driver eligible for the playoffs is Ben Rhodes.

Heim, Smith, and Rhodes are locked in to the playoffs, as are Grant Enfinger, Christian Eckes, and Carson Hocevar, each of whom have two wins. So is Ty Majeski, who doesn’t have a win this season, but with 10 top-ten finishes has already secured his spot by virtue of his points total.

Current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Standings

1. Corey Heim – 569 points
2. Zane Smith – 527
3. Grant Enfinger – 510
4. Ben Rhodes – 510
5. Ty Majeski – 510
6. Christian Eckes – 480
7. Carson Hocevar – 444
8. Matt DiBenedetto – 431
9. Nick Sanchez – 421
10. Matt Crafton – 409
11. Stewart Friesen – 400
12. Tanner Gray – 362
13. Chase Purdy – 355

Drivers in bold have won at least one race this season and will be in the series playoffs.

Majeski is on the pole for the Worldwide Express 250, and he would be doing the likes of DiBenedetto a big favor by winning tonight, as well as helping himself for the initial playoff standings.

Heim, who qualified second, has been the most consistent driver in the Truck Series this season, which has put him in position for the regular season championship despite missing the Toyota 200 at Gateway last month due to illness.

Along with his two wins, Heim has five other top-five finishes, and his dozen total top-ten finishes lead the series.

This season, there have been only two races in which drivers who qualified lower than 15th finished in the top three, and those races were the second and third of the season.

So, if you are looking to back anyone for a top-three finish tonight, focusing on the top 15 of the starting lineup is your best bet.

Worldwide Express 250 Starting Lineup (Positions 1-15)

1. Ty Majeski
2. Corey Heim
3. William Sawalich
4. Ben Rhodes
5. Matt Mills
6. Christian Eckes
7. Tanner Gray
8. Matt Crafton
9. Chase Purdy
10. Matt DiBenedetto
11. Bayley Currey
12. Jake Garcia
13. Grant Enfinger
14. Nick Sanchez
15. Zane Smith

There’s minimal value in Heim (-150 at Bovada) and Majeski (-140), but Tanner Gray (+1500) and Chase Purdy (+1400) are both worth consideration for a top-three finish pick.

Both Gray and Purdy need to win tonight to get into the playoffs, and they have both qualified in the top ten. Gray will start seventh, while Purdy will start ninth.

Each of the past two seasons, this race has been won by a Kyle Busch Motorsports driver. In 2021, John Hunter Nemechek won it when it was the ToyotaCare 250, while Chandler Smith took the checkered flag last year in its first year as the Worldwide Express 250.

Is that a good omen for Purdy? It might spoil things for DiBenedetto, Crafton, Sanchez, or Friesen, but it couldn’t be a better time for the 23-year-old to claim his first Truck Series win.

Purdy has finished in the top ten seven times this season, with a second-place finish at the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway his best finish.

At +5000, there is no risk but high reward potential with Purdy. But if you are looking to back one of the Worldwide Express 250 favorites, Majeski is a strong pick.

He has yet to win this season, but he has three top-three finishes among his six top-five and 10 top-ten finishes. It’s only a matter of time before he wins in 2023, and starting from pole for the second straight year in this race gives him a great opportunity to do so to close out the regular season.

Where to Bet on NASCAR in 2023

Many of the top sports betting sites offer a variety of NASCAR betting odds.

Along with being able to bet on the winner of each Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and/or Truck Series race, many online sportsbooks offer finishing position odds (top 3, top 5, and/or top 10). Also, you can bet on who will finish at the top of the championship standings at many sportsbooks.

In addition to Bovada, here are some of the sites that we recommend if you are interested in NASCAR betting:

• BetOnline
• BetUS
• Bookmaker
• Sportsbetting.ag