Corn Belt 150 (Camping World Truck Series) Predictions, Picks & Odds

• Ringers will add a new dimension to the second race of the year on dirt.
• Based on the disaster at Bristol, John Hunter Nemechek won’t be favored at Knoxville.
• At favorable odds, Hailie Deegan looks like the best long-shot pick on Friday.

Corn Belt 150 Predictions & Odds

Odds for Corn Belt 150 taken from PointsBet Sportsbook. Click on the odds below to head to PointsBet and place a bet.

In a year of new and different venues for NASCAR, the Camping World Truck Series heads for the temple of sprint car racing, namely Knoxville Raceway at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Knoxville, Iowa.

For the second time this year, the NASCAR Trucks will race on dirt, an unfamiliar surface (to most of the Truck drivers) that tends to throw traditional handicapping out the window.

Friday night’s Corn Belt 150 will be contested over 150 laps (75 miles) at the half-mile dirt track, with stage breaks scheduled after 40 and 90 laps. Starting order for the inaugural Truck race at Knoxville will be determined by four 15-lap heat races.

How to Watch Corn Belt 150

Dirt-Track Ringers Add Spice to Truck Series Field at Knoxville Raceway

Donny Schatz may not know NASCAR, but he knows dirt and he knows Knoxville Raceway. A 10-time World of Outlaws Sprint Car champion, Schatz also has won 10 Knoxville Nationals titles.

That accounts for Schatz’s entry into Friday night’s Corn Belt 150. Though he has never driven a NASCAR stock vehicle before, Schatz (the favorite at +700 via PointsBet Sportsbook) should be competitive in Friday’s race.

Can he win? That’s another story. Though Schatz was fourth fastest in a Thursday practice session in which he ran 82 laps, he’ll have a hard time beating the series regulars driving familiar equipment—even on dirt.

The same can be said of NASCAR Cup regular Chase Briscoe (+900) and open-wheel driver Parker Price-Miller (+2500), who is making his NCWTS debut. Briscoe was 13th fastest in practice, and Price-Miller was 26th.

Knoxville track record holder and World of Outlaws regular Brian Brown (+900) is driving top-notch equipment (the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota), but he has no experience in a full-bodied vehicle.

Accordingly, we prefer dirt modified ace Stewart Friesen (+2000), a Truck Series regular. Friesen ran just 35 laps in practice and was 22nd fastest. Can you say “sand-bagging?”

We also like Matt Crafton, second fastest in practice and a former winner on dirt at Eldora Speedway, at the attractive price of +1100. He’s a great buy at that number.

John Hunter Nemechek Is Proving Once Again That Dirt Is Not His Milieu

Truck Series leader John Hunter Nemechek is favored at just about every venue that hosts a race—but not on dirt.

At Bristol earlier this season, he wrecked after completing 48 laps and finished 39th, far and away his worst result of the season. Nemechek crashed again in Thursday’s practice after posting the 20th-fastest lap.

Nemechek gets respect for his five wins this season and for the quality of his No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports equipment. But he’s not a good bet at +1200 on a dirt surface he has yet to master.

Even at Shorter Odds, Hailie Deegan is our Favorite Sleeper Pick This Week

Hailie Deegan hasn’t finished better than 13th in any of the 13 Truck Series races this season. So why do we think this might be the week for a breakthrough win for the 19-year-old from Temecula, California?

First, Deegan has more experience on dirt than many of her fellow full-time NCWTS competitors. She scored one of her three NASCAR K&N Pro West Series victories at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Dirt Track.

Second, Deegan has more experience at Knoxville than most of her competitors—even if it’s just one race. The “Dirt Princess” finished second to Tony Stewart when the all-star SRX Series raced at Knoxville in mid-June.

Finally, Deegan was fifth fastest in Thursday’s practice, after which her odds dropped from +8000 to +2500 on PointsBet Sportsbook. Even at the latter number, however, she’s worth a long-shot bet.