2016 Drive for Safety 300 Race Predictions

2016 Drive for Safety 300 Race Predictions
NASCAR Xfinity Series Betting Preview
Saturday September 17th, 3:46PM (EST) at Chicagoland Speedway
by Jay Horne of NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service

An extremely talented field will be on full display today in the Xfinity Series when the green flag waves for the Drive for Safety 300 at Chicagoland Speedway. With the Sprint Cup Series in waiting for Sunday’s Chase opening race at Chicagoland, several drivers have elected to run today’s event in hopes to get some extra seat time. Since NASCAR only makes one stop in Chicago each year, the extra laps may help a few of the Chase drivers for their effort on Sunday. As a result, we have one of the most stacked Xfinity Series fields for the entire season going for the victory this afternoon. Take a look as we preview today’s event and provide our 2016 Drive for Safety 300 race predictions.

If you have not had a chance to scroll down the entry list, the following names will all be in action this afternoon: Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Paul Menard, and Clint Bowyer. Today’s race will mark the first start for Bowyer in the Xfinity Series this year. As most are aware, Bowyer will transition to Stewart-Haas Racing next year in hopes to revamp his Sprint Cup career. Today he will get the opportunity to make his first start for JR Motorsports in attempt to score an Xfinity Series win. Bowyer is an 8 time winner in the Xfinity Series and has posted 4 finishes inside the top 7 in his 5 career starts at Chicagoland. Therefore, he has been competitive when he has raced in this series even if those starts were several years ago.

The good news for anyone hoping to see Bowyer run well this afternoon is the fact that all JR Motorsports cars have been running extremely well in recent weeks. Elliott Sadler had a win at Darlington a few weeks ago, Justin Allgaier has posted finishes of 6th or better in 4 of the last 5 races, and all of those cars have shown great speed. Bowyer was 8th on the speed charts in Friday’s session. Therefore, I do think Bowyer can be competitive in his first start of the season. Out of all the JR Motorsports cars, I thought that Justin Allgaier looked very fast as well. As state above, Allgaier has been on a string of quality finishes and many people may forget the fact that he has a Chicagoland win under his belt stemming from 2011. Therefore, I think Allgaier is in-line for another promising day and may even be considered a dark horse for the victory.

If there were not so many Sprint Cup drivers in today’s field, I would feel much more confident in Allgaier’s chances. However, there is some very talented drivers in today’s field that can overcome a gap in speed. The #22 team is a prime example of that scenario. The Penske Racing team has not scored a win all year but Joey Logano is one of the best drivers in the sport so you can still expect them to run towards the front. Kyle Larson is not in the best equipment per say but his driving style has proven time and time again to be very successful at places like Chicagoland. The surface at Chicagoland is one of the most abrasive on the entire circuit and is starting to get comparisons to Atlanta’s notoriously rough surface. As a result, lap times will drop off significantly as tires wear and the drivers will have to search for grip throughout the race. Both of those factors plays into the driving style of a Kyle Larson.

While the driver can make up some time, we still cannot undermine the power of raw speed and that is something the JGR cars have in an abundance. Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, and Daniel Suarez have shown tremendous speed thus far at Chicagoland. If you look back over this season, JGR are a perfect 5 for 5 on the 1.5 mile tracks. Busch has 4 of those wins while Denny Hamlin score the other victory at Charlotte. Busch is obviously the guy to beat today but I also think Jones can give him a run for his money. Jones won this race last year in rather dominating fashion and I believe he has a good chance to repeat today if he can beat the #18. The JGR cars are easily the cars to beat and that puts those two guys at the top of the list.

2016 Drive for Safety Race Predictions

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*More race picks to be added closer to race time

Erik Jones +550 (1.75 units)
Justin Allgaier (.5 unit)

Two Team Parlay

Kyle Busch +100 wins American Ethanol E15 225
Kyle Larson +160 over Daniel Suarez
Risking 1.5 units to win: +660

Kyle Busch +100 wins Drive for Safety 300
Slot 2 – Open for TMNT 400
Risking 1 units to win: +TBD

H2H Matchups

Justin Allgaier -105 over Ty Dillon (3 units)
Kyle Larson -140 over Joey Logano (2 units)