Ford Ecoboost 300 Race Picks
NASCAR Nationwide Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Saturday November 15th, 2014. 4:45PM EST
Where: Homestead-Miami Speedway
TV: ESPN2
by NASCARWagers.com, NASCAR Handicapping Service
The last race of the season in Nationwide Series competition will take place tomorrow afternoon in the Ford Ecoboost 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Last week Chase Elliot clinched the Nationwide Series point’s championship to become the youngest champion in series history. Therefore there will not be any dramatic championship race at Homestead but rather drivers will be fighting for a season ending trip to victory lane. With a stacked field ready for 300 miles, we take a look at tomorrow’s race and provide our Ford Ecoboost 300 race picks:
Several big named drivers will suit up in tomorrow’s Nationwide Series finale including Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Blaney and the rest of the series regulars. Busch and Keselowski enter as the overwhelming favorites this week at less than 3-1 odds. Both drivers have two victories in 7 Nationwide Series starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway and mirror each other statistically. Keselowski is driving the #22 Discount Tire Ford this week as he normally does for Team Penske in Nationwide Series competition. Outside of trying to bring home a winning trophy, Keselowski can also wrap up the Owner’s Championship with a 28th finish or better. Joe Gibbs Racing’s #54 car driver by Kyle Busch is 2nd in the Owner’s Championship but they would need disaster to strike the #22 car to have a legitimate shot at the title.
Still both drivers are expected to battle each other for the win tomorrow just like they did last week when Brad Keselowski made a last lap pass to beat Busch at Phoenix. However, neither driver was particularly happy about their car in practices earlier today. Busch and the #54 had speed but struggled on long runs. Keselowski said his car was “good, but not race winning” and the team was making several big swings at the car to try to get in better shape. From Friday’s practices, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney appear to have cars that could challenge on Saturday. Blaney topped the charts in both practice sessions and was happy with the racecar and Larson was noticeably really fast on long runs. Larson really likes racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway as the track fits his driving style so expect the #42 to hang out at the front of the field.
Chase Elliot entered Homestead-Miami Speedway this week looking to cap of his dynamic rookie season with a victory. However Elliot struggled throughout most of practice with a loose racecar finishing 14th in final practice. Meanwhile drivers from the Richard Childress camp were fairly impressive which is nothing new in terms of practice speeds. Ty Dillon ended final practice 2nd on speed and Brian Scott was 6th. Even Brendan Gaughan was strong in race trim despite finishing 15th on the leaderboard. The RCR drivers have shown a ton of speed during the 2nd half of the season in practices but that has not always resulted in winning performances. Therefore we would not expect those drivers to perform any different once the green flag drops tomorrow. However, we will keep an eye on Gaughan and the #62 machine. The #62 team is experimenting with equipment this week that RCR may run in 2015 and Gaughan was noticeably strong on long runs giving him some potential value in H2H matchups.
Ford Ecoboost 300 Race Picks
Kyle Larson +600 (1.5 units): finished 2nd in only Homestead start last year, fast on long runs in final practice, 3rd best 10 lap average
Ryan Blaney +800(1 unit): early forum pick, finished 4th or better in 6 straight races, fastest in both practices on Friday
H2H Matchups
Brendan Gaughan -145 over Chris Buescher (3 units)
