2017 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 Race Predictions
NASCAR Xfinity Series Betting Preview
Saturday September 2nd, 3:45PM (EST) at Darlington Raceway
by Jay Horne of NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service
NASCAR’s throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway kicks off tomorrow with the running of the Sports Clips Haircuts VFW 200. The throwback theme was mainly adopted by the Cup Series a few years ago but has since permeated into the Xfinity Series in a full weekend salute to drivers and old school paint schemes to honor NASCAR’s historic past. As we get ready for this unique weekend, we take this time to preview tomorrow’s Xfinity Series action at Darlington and provide our 2017 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 race predictions!
Since both of NASCAR’s top series are together at Darlington this week, several Cup Series stars will be participating for a chance to earn a victory at this historic speedway in the heart of the southland. Among the competitors, Denny Hamlin, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and the Dillon brothers will join the Xfinity Series regulars for 200 miles of racing. For the drivers, they will be chasing an opportunity to score a win at the track that has been labeled “Too Tough To Tame”, and ultimately the “Lady in Black.” Those names are illustrations of the prestige and difficulty in which Darlington stands for. With narrow turns and fickle banking, Darlington is the ultimate drivers test and for that reason conquering the “Lady in Black” is that much sweeter.
So what drivers have the ability to conquer Darlington on Saturday? Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and most recently Elliott Sadler have scored victories among the drivers racing on Saturday. Hamlin actually owns 4 victories at Darlington in the Xfinity Series and has had a lot of success in the Cup Series as well. In fact, Darlington is statistically Hamlin’s best track in the Cup Series and he has been nothing short of incredible in the Xfinity Series finishing 1st (4 times) or 2nd in his last 7 starts. If stats are not enough for you, also consider Hamlin’s #18 was the fastest in both practices on Friday which proves that he should be the guy to beat. I will also say that sometimes practice speeds can be misleading but that is not the case in this situation. I watched consecutive speeds pretty closely and Hamlin was easily the best car on the track. So rest assured, Hamlin is the guy to beat barring any misfortune.
If Hamlin slips or runs into trouble, I feel like Erik Jones and Joey Logano are the most probable drivers that could score a victory. As stated before, Logano is a former Darlington winner and the #22 has been pretty solid all season. I believe you have to put the #22 in consideration based on those facts alone. However, I am staying away from Logano personally because he has struggled this year to a degree and also I was not impressed with the Ford Discount Tire’s speed in practice. Instead, I was fairly impressed with Erik Jones from a secondary option standpoint. Jones was not far off Hamlin’s times and finished 2nd in final practice. Jones posted a 6th place finish in his only Darlington start last year and he appeared to be the next best car behind the #18 from an observational standpoint.
For the rest of the field, I know Kevin Harvick and Austin Dillon’s names stand out on paper. However, neither driver are in cars that have shown much speed this year nor in practices on Friday. Also, it is worth noting that Harvick does not have the best record at Darlington. Despite 1 win in the Cup Series, he has just 2 top 5 finishes in 14 starts in the Xfinity Series. To make matters worse, the #41 car just has not shown the speed to win races this year. They have been good but not great in terms of speed. Instead if you are looking for potential spoilers or drivers that may simply run upfront, consider both Elliott Sadler and William Byron. Sadler scored one of his most impressive victories of his career in this race last year and has shown speed throughout practices. Sadler struggles in practices have been well documented this year but the team always rallies to perform well in races. Considering they have practiced much better this weekend, they may have a car worthy of contending. If you look at Sadler’s finishes this year, they are impressive despite failing to score a victory. However, Darlington is a track where Sadler has a lot of confidence. He scored a win last year and has two additional runner-up finishes in his last 4 starts.
Additionally, teammate William Byron continues to fly under the radar heading into tomorrow’s race. Byron has struggled in recent races that have been dominated by road courses. However, let’s not forget that Byron leads the Xfinity Series regulars with 3 wins and all of those wins have come at the last 7 races on ovals. I thought Byron was solid in practices and I also do not believe he is getting the respect he deserves this week. I know it is unlikely that he wins in his first start at Darlington but I also believe he will not disappoint either. So keep an eye on the #9 for long shot possibilities and in H2H situations.
Lastly, I would throw out one additional name that I noticed had somewhat surprising speed in practices via the #00 of Cole Custer. I was disappointed to some degree last week with Custer’s performance at Road America despite an 8th place finish. I simply felt like he should have been better. However on the final run in final practice, Custer put on new tires and laid down several quality laps. The #00 has been towards the top of the charts in every practice and has some sneaky speed. I would keep that in mind in case an opportunistic situation arises in matchups with Custer. Now Custer has a history of running worse than he practices so proceed with caution. However, he is often paired against lower-tier drivers which still may be valuable.
2017 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 Race Predictions
Erik Jones +450 (1.5 units)
Elliott Sadler +1800 (1 unit)
Two Team Parlay
Denny Hamlin +120 wins Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200
Team 2 – Open
Risking 1.5 units to win: TBD
H2H Matchups
Elliott Sadler -130 over Justin Allgaier (2 units)
Joey Logano -140 over Kevin Harvick (2 units)
Ty Dillon +110 over Matt Tift (2 units)
