O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge Race Picks
NASCAR Nationwide Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Saturday November 1st, 2014. 3:46PM EST
Where: Texas Motor Speedway
TV: ESPN
by NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping
NASCAR Nationwide Series competition resumes today in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. It has been a long 3 weeks since we last seen Nationwide Series teams in competition back at Charlotte Motor Speedway. However the action resumes today with a stacked field filled with Sprint Cup Series veterans that are scheduled to mix it up for 200 laps once the green flag drops at 3:46pm (EST). Among the big names scheduled to partake in today’s 300 mile event include Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Busch. As a result, we expect an exciting race today in the Nationwide Series. Take a look at our thoughts on today’s race and our O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge race picks:
Nationwide Series teams took part in two practices on Friday. Austin Dillon led all drivers in final practice in the #33 car. Dillon will be making his first Nationwide Series start of the season but he has been pretty solid at Texas in his young career finishing in the top 5 in 3 of his 4 starts. In fact all of the Richard Childress cars showed speed as Brian Scott and Brendan Gaughan were both shown towards the top of the leaderboards following each practice. While none of those drivers are big favorites for tonight’s race, the speed the RCR cars have shown this weekend make them valuable picks for either a long shot to win the race or more favorably in H2H type matchups.
Outside of the RCR brigade, the field was pretty mixed in terms of speed through both practice sessions. Joey Logano was the most consistent car in terms of speed. Logano will be driving the #22 Discount Tire Ford that went to victory lane with Brad Keselowski most recently at Charlotte. The #22 car is also leading the Owners Championship standings over the #54 typically driven by Kyle Busch with just 3 races to go. However, Logano has never won at Texas in 9 career starts and has not raced at Texas in Nationwide Series competition since the end of 2012. Still, Logano is the 2nd leading favorite to win today’s event behind Kyle Busch who leads all drivers with 6 wins at Texas Motor Speedway.
If you are looking for a couple of longshots, Chase Elliot, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney are all receiving fair odds. Elliot and Kenseth are listed at near 10-1 odds, Larson at near 12-1 odds, and Blaney is surprisingly receiving near 17-1 odds. Elliot the Nationwide Series points leader has 3 wins on the season but the #9 NAPA team has not contended for wins in quite some time. In fact, the #9 team may be complacent with conservative strong runs that will wrap up the championship instead of trying anything significant to score a victory. Kenseth has 8 top 5’s on the season but has yet to score a win. More importantly Kenseth’s 3rd place finish at Charlotte most recently was the his and the #20 car’s only top 5 all season at the 1.5 mile tracks in the Nationwide Series competition.
When you get back to Larson and Blaney, it may be worth a stab taking one of those drivers as a longshot. Larson has been strong all year on the 1.5 mile speedways including a 3rd place finish earlier this year at Texas and a win at Charlotte. The #42 car went through a rather tough stretch during the latter half of the summer months but they appear to have found some of their speed that they displayed most of the early part of the season. Blaney on the other hand has not finished any worse than 4th in his last 5 starts since his victory at Bristol. In fact, Blaney has arguably been more impressive in his part time role in the Nationwide Series than he has in his full time role in the Camping World Truck Series. At crazy 17-1 odds, Blaney may be the best value play of any of the longshots.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge Race Picks
Kevin Harvick +450 (1.5 units): happy with his car after practice despite being down the speed charts, best on the 1.5 mile speedways, won 3 of last 4 starts on 1.5 mile speedways.
Ryan Blaney +1650 (1 unit): 5 straight finishes of 4th or better, Penske Racing cars have been solid on 1.5 mile tracks this season, Blaney fastest 10 lap average in final practice
Starting 2 team open parlay
Joey Logano +245 wins O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (1 unit)
Slot 2 Open (for Cup race)
