Daytona Speedweek continues on Friday night as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series kicks off its season with the 2021 NextEra Energy 250. The green flag drops at Daytona International Speedway at 7:30 p.m. ET and a field with an exciting mix of established veterans and future NASCAR stars should provide plenty of compelling action. Grant Enfinger won last year at Daytona, and despite scaling back to a part-time schedule in 2021, he's still one of the favorites in the 2021 NextEra Energy 250 odds from William Hill Sportsbook.
Enfinger is listed at 17-2 along with Brett Moffitt in the NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona odds, while Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed are co-favorites at 8-1. Creed won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship last season and the 23-year-old would love to add a win at Daytona to an already impressive resume. Before making any 2021 NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona predictions, be sure to see the latest 2021 Next Era Energy 250 picks from SportsLine's proven projection model.
Developed by daily Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, this proprietary NASCAR prediction computer model simulates every race 10,000 times, taking into account factors such as track history and recent results.
The model began the 2020 season paying out big by picking Denny Hamlin to win his second consecutive Daytona 500 at 10-1. The model also called Kevin Harvick's win at Atlanta and nailed a whopping nine top-10 finishers in that race. McClure then used the model to lock in a 10-1 bet on Hamlin for his win at Miami.
At The Brickyard, the model called Harvick's fourth victory of the season. Then during the 2020 NASCAR Playoffs, the model nailed its picks in back-to-back races, calling Denny Hamlin to win at 17-2 at Talladega and Chase Elliott to win at 7-2 at the Charlotte Roval. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.
Now, his model simulated the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Daytona race 10,000 times. Head to SportsLine to see the complete projected leaderboard for the 2021 NextEra Energy 250.
Top 2021 NextEra Energy 250 predictions
The model is high on Matt Crafton, even though he's a 15-1 long shot in the latest NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona odds. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The 44-year-old racing veteran has only ever run two races in the NASCAR Cup Series and four races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, instead enjoying a dominant career in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where he has won 15 times and captured three championships.
A win at Daytona is one of the few truck accolades that has eluded Crafton, but he's certainly had plenty of success on the iconic 2.5-mile tri-oval. Crafton has eight career top-10 finishes at Daytona in the Truck Series and finished fifth at this race in 2010 and 2019. He also famously took over for Kyle Busch in the 2015 Daytona 500 after he broke his leg and drove his way from 43rd all the way to 18th. Look for the No. 88 car to make its presence known on Friday night.
And a massive shocker: Zane Smith, one of the Vegas favorites at 10-1, stumbles big time and doesn't even crack the top five. There are far better values in this loaded field. The 21-year-old won twice and finished second in the 2020 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings. However, superspeedway racing proved to be a challenge in his rookie year.
Smith finished 11th in the 2020 NextEra Energy Resources 250 after starting sixth and then wound up finishing 33rd despite starting in third at Talladega in the Chevrolet Silverado 250. Smith is an exciting young talent with NASCAR Cup Series potential, but he's overvalued here at 10-1 considering his general lack of experience racing through traffic on NASCAR's fastest tracks.
How to make 2021 NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona picks
The model is also targeting three other drivers with NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona odds of 15-1 or longer to make a serious run at winning it all. Anyone who backs these drivers could hit it big. You can see all the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series picks over at SportsLine.
So who wins the 2021 NextEra Energy 250? And which long shots stun the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series? Check out the latest 2021 NASCAR Truck Series at Daytona odds below and then visit SportsLine now to see the full projected 2021 NextEra Energy 250 leaderboard, all from the model that nailed Hamlin's win last season.
2021 NextEra Energy 250 odds
Sheldon Creed 8-1
Austin Hill 8-1
Field 8-1
Brett Moffitt 17-2
Grant Enfinger 17-2
John Hunter Nemechek 10-1
Zane Smith 10-1
Johnny Sauter 15-1
Matt Crafton 15-1
Todd Gilliland 18-1
Chandler Smith 20-1
Ben Rhodes 20-1
Stewart Friesen 20-1
Tyler Ankrum 20-1
Raphael Lessard 20-1
David Gilliland 20-1
Derek Kraus 22-1
Chase Purdy 30-1
Tanner Gray 35-1
Parker Kligerman 35-1
Ryan Truex 40-1
Drew Dollar 40-1
Timothy Peters 50-1
