Drive To Stop Diabetes 300 Race Picks
NASCAR Xfinity Series Betting Preview
Saturday April 18th, 1:46PM (EST) at Bristol Motor Speedway
by NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service
Thunder Valley will roar to life later today when the Xfinity Series waves the green flag in the Drive To Stop Diabetes 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. A full field of young talent along with some of the top Sprint Cup veterans will battle for 250 laps at the world’s fastest half mile speedway. Experience has proved to be the key to success at Bristol in the Xfinity Series throughout the last several years. However, Ryan Blaney proved last fall that young drivers can also get the job done. Blaney beat a few of the best drivers in the business, including Kyle Busch the undisputed king of Bristol, to score his first Xfinity Series last August. Today we take a look at the youth vs. the experience in the field and provide our Drive To Stop Diabetes 300 race picks!
Going into today’s race, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano are the two major favorites. Logano won his last Bristol start back in the fall race in 2012 and the #22 car has been a force nearly every week despite whomever is behind the wheel. Harvick has also been great in the #88 car this year winning 2 of his 3 starts for JR Motorsports. To make matters worse, Harvick has been great at Bristol Motor Speedway and has 5 victories to his resume in the Xfinity Series with the last coming back in 2009. Harvick’s 5 victories are the 2nd most all-time behind Kyle Busch who has already compiled 7 victories. Neither Harvick nor Logano were overly impressive in final practice in terms of single lap speed. Logano finished 10th on the boards while Harvick finished 13th. However, Harvick did finish with the best 10 lap average and I would expect both drivers to be a big threat for today’s victory.
Another guy that should challenge this afternoon is Denny Hamlin who will be piloting the #54 car typically driven by Kyle Busch in the Xfinity Series. Hamlin has been fade material in these Xfinity Series races of late and has yet to battle for a victory in his first 3 starts. However, Bristol provides an opportunity for the #54 team to get back to victory lane. In fact, the #54 machine was easily the best car through both of Friday’s practice sessions. Hamlin finished on top of the speed charts in practice 1, was 2nd fastest in final practice, and posted the fastest 10 lap average on the day as well. Therefore it is pretty obvious that the #54 car has some serious speed. However if you were ready to jump on Hamlin, then you may want to proceed with caution. In 6 career Bristol starts in the Xfinity Series, Hamlin has a best finish of 4th and only 1 other top 10 finish. Therefore his resume has not been too impressive for a guy that has really low odds.
Outside of the Sprint Cup favorites mentioned above, the field is really wide open throughout the remainder of the field. Austin Dillon is another veteran that looks poised to contend. Dillon posted the fastest speed in final practice. Dillon has been winning a lot of the practices in the Xfinity Series in recent weeks. However the only race where the practice speed truly rolled over to race conditions was back at Las Vegas. Instead of the veterans with perhaps the exception of Harvick and Logano, I believe the young guns could be the guys to watch this afternoon. In fact, the youth in today’s field has several different drivers that could threaten some of the veterans.
Let’s start with Erik Jones who continues to impress each and every week. Jones was originally thought of as a short track specialist when he first arrived in the Camping World Truck Series at the ripe age of 17. Recently in the Xfinity Series, Jones has proved he can be a threat anywhere and his win last week at Texas just solidified his undeniable talent. With so much momentum, it would be hard to ignore the kid again this week. Jones was solid in final practice and it is starting to look like he is going to be the big story of 2015 much like Chase Elliot was one year ago.
A few other young guys to keep an eye on today is both Chris Buescher and Darrell Wallace Jr. Wallace Jr has a tremendous short track resume going back to his Truck Series races and the #6 car has appeared to be improving each week. Buescher on the other hand is a guy that just always flies under the radar but is quietly sitting in the #2 position in the points. Buescher finished the 2014 season with a lot of momentum and he has rolled that over to a strong 2015 start as well. Considering the way these Bristol races can come down to track position and late race strategy, it may not be a bad thing to have a long shot on your card. Keep both of these drivers on your radars especially in potential H2H situations.
Drive To Stop Diabetes 300 Race Picks
Kevin Harvick +365 (2 units): 5 Bristol wins, two wins already in 2015, fastest 10 lap average in final practice, starting 6th
Darrell Wallace Jr +3500 (1 unit): early forums pick at great odds, not really impressive in practice but has great short track resume that makes him worth the gamble
Parlay
Denny Hamlin +380 (.5 unit) wins Drive To Stop Diabetes 300
Slot 2 – Open
H2H Match-ups
Chris Buescher -115 over Brendan Gaughan (1 unit)
