NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Odds, Predictions & Start Time

• Eckes stands out in the second tier: Strong recent form with upside at current odds.
• 200 laps at Rockingham…what could go wrong: High banking, fast surface, and a field that doesn’t lift.
• Read below for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series odds, predictions and start time.

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There are racing series where patience is rewarded. Where drivers manage their equipment, think three steps ahead, and treat 200 laps like a chess match played at 180 miles per hour.

This is not one of those series.

This is the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and on Friday afternoon they’re heading to Rockingham Speedway, a freshly revived 0.94-mile oval set to host 200 laps of high-banked chaos driven by a field of well-funded lunatics.

“The Rock” is actually kind of beautiful. It features 22 degrees of banking in Turns 1 and 2 and 25 in Turns 3 and 4, with just enough wear starting to show after the repave. In theory, that should create multiple grooves, tire management, and long green-flag runs.

In reality, it’s going to produce maniacs trying to clear gaps that don’t exist.

Because instead of a measured, tire-conscious duel, what we get here is simple. Give this group banking and grip, and eventually someone decides the fastest way forward is directly through another truck.

Now before we get into the matchups, understand one thing.

The Truck Series is the Wild West.

At any moment, a perfectly good run can be wiped out by someone choosing violence with 3,400 pounds of sheet metal. Strategies disappear, and your betting card goes from “this feels sharp” to “I should’ve just lit this money on fire and enjoyed the ambiance.”

As Mad Men’s Joan Harris once said:

“That’s life. One minute you’re on top of the world, the next minute some secretary’s running you over with a lawn mower.”

That’s not a metaphor here.

That’s Friday.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Start Time

Green flag is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

One Truck Series regular will be $50,000 richer on Friday!

The second race of #TheTrip is at @Rockingham1965. pic.twitter.com/aBvAu2aOI8

— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 31, 2026

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Odds

Odds available at theScore Bet as of 3:07 p.m. ET on April 2. Layne Riggs sits as the favorite at +350, which implies a 22.22% chance to win. Shop the best sportsbook promos for the top NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series odds.

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Predictions

Outright Winner

Christian Eckes (+1600, theScore Bet)

Top-5

Christian Eckes (+275, theScore Bet)

Eckes is our fourth-rated driver before practice and qualifying, sitting behind the usual suspects in Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, and Layne Riggs. Which is exactly what we want, because the number isn’t pricing him like someone who belongs in that tier.

We think he does.

Two weeks ago at Darlington, a track with similar banking and two completely different ends, Eckes finished third while showing legitimate race-winning speed. He logged 13 fastest laps and led 7, which tells you this wasn’t a fluky track position run.

Rockingham isn’t quite as abrasive as Darlington, but the surface is already starting to wear after the repave. That puts a premium on drivers who can manage tires without giving up speed, which is exactly where Eckes tends to live.

If you want a track-specific angle, he finished sixth here in the Xfinity Series last season while spending 89.8% of his laps inside the top 15.

At +1600, we’re getting a driver with top-tier pace at a number that still thinks he’s a step behind.

Matchups

Christian Eckes over Jake Garcia (-145, theScore Bet)

We’re buying more Eckes and fading Jake Garcia, who our model projects to finish 4.8 positions worse on average.

Garcia is fine. Sometimes even solid.

But this number is asking him to hang with a driver who consistently runs closer to the front on comparable tracks. That’s not a bet we need to overthink.

Christian Eckes finished 3rd in the The Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington pic.twitter.com/32wfOrDccc

— Where did Christian Eckes finish? (@EckesResults91) March 21, 2026

Ty Majeski over Chandler Smith (-115, theScore Bet)

Majeski is projected at 7.3, while Chandler Smith comes in at 11.1.

That’s a meaningful gap at a track where long-run pace and track position matter. Majeski’s profile fits this race style, while Smith’s number feels a little inflated based on name value.

We’ll take the better projection at a near coin flip.

Tyler Ankrum over Ben Rhodes (-135, theScore Bet)

This one looks close in projected finish, 9.7 vs. 10.8.

It’s not.

On comparable tracks, Ankrum has been operating on a completely different level:

• Fastest laps per race: 3.0 vs. 0.8
• Laps led per race: 13.6 vs. 1.2
• Average running position: 9.5 vs. 24.0
• Top-15 rate: Ankrum clears Rhodes by 45%

That’s not a small edge. It’s an entirely different zip code.

Ankrum has speed while Rhodes has been hanging on in 2026. We’re backing the guy actually driving forward.

Final Thoughts

There’s a moment in every Truck Series race where everything is going exactly how you drew it up…

…and then someone decides it would be fun to test the structural integrity of three other trucks at once.

That moment is coming. It always does.

The goal isn’t to avoid it. The goal is to already be holding the right tickets when it happens.