History 300 Race Picks
NASCAR Nationwide Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Saturday May 24th, 2014. 3:01PM Eastern
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway
TV: ABC
By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service
The biggest racing weekend in motorsports will get started today as the Nationwide Series unleashes 42 cars onto Charlotte Motor Speedway for the running of the History 300. As most are aware, Sunday marks the biggest racing day in motorsports with the running of both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca Cola 600. While racing enthusiasts are gearing up for Sunday’s races, we warn fans not to look past this Saturday’s star studded Nationwide Series field that promises to deliver an exciting race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Saturday’s Nationwide Series field includes several of the Sprint Cup Series’ biggest stars such as Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Larson. While those Sprint Cup guys are overwhelming favorites in terms of race odds, it was the young drivers that paced Thursday’s practices for the History 300. Chase Elliot, Brian Scott, and Regan Smith occupied the top 3 spots in Happy Hour for Saturday’s race. Both Elliot and Smith are amongst a fierce Nationwide Series points battle that includes Elliot Sadler. All 3 drivers are separated by just 2 points and are the only Nationwide Series regulars to have scored a win thus far in 2014.
Still the Sprint Cup drivers are overwhelming favorites for Saturday’s History 300 despite an extremely talented group of Nationwide Series regulars. The leading favorite for Saturday’s race is none other than Kyle Busch at 2 to 1 odds. Busch posted the 2nd fastest lap in the first Nationwide Series practice on Thursday before wrecking late in the session. Busch’s car broke loose of turn 2 and slid down the backstretch before coming to a stop by the inside retaining well. Busch’s car sustained light damage to both the nose and rear spoiler. The #54 team originally decided to pull out the backup car but that decision was over-ruled by NASCAR which determined the car was not damaged enough to warrant moving to the backup car.
Ultimately that decision hurt Busch’s attempt to get the car dialed in as the #54 team sat out the entire final practice to make repairs to the car. Busch’s Monster Energy Toyota was actually taken back to the shop at Joe Gibbs Racing to complete repairs which is only about a 25 minutes away from Charlotte Motor Speedway. As a result, the #54 car should be completely repaired and not have any lingering effects from Thursday’s incident. Busch has been extremely strong at Charlotte in the Nationwide Series with a series best 8 wins in his career. Rest assured the #54 car will be fast on Saturday mainly because of the driver behind the wheel. Still, bettors have to wonder if Thursday’s missed final practice session will hinder the #54 team from dialing in the Monster Toyota against a very stacked Nationwide Series field. At 2 to 1 odds for Busch, that bet seems very risky.
As far as the rest of the legitimate contenders for Saturday, one driver that we cannot leave off our betting slip is Brad Keselowski. The #22 car has been terrific in the Nationwide Series on the 1.5 mile tracks between Keselowski and Joey Logano. Keselowski has two wins in his last 5 Nationwide Series starts at Charlotte. Here is one healthy statistic to keep in mind for Keselowski’s case in the History 300: If you throw out a late race incident with Logano in the fall of 2012, the #22 car has an average finish of 3.71 over its last 7 starts at Charlotte. If Busch does not get the job done, chances are Keselowski will be the next in line. However Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson will try to play the spoiler role as well. Oddly, Harvick has never captured a win at Charlotte in the Nationwide Series despite top 5 finishes in each of his last 5 starts. Larson finished 4th in the 2013 History 300 and showed plenty of speed in both of Thursday’s practice sessions. Many folks around the garage think the #42 car may be a legitimate dark horse and we will keep our eyes on him for tomorrow’s race.
History 300 Race Picks
Brad Keselowski +425 (1.5 units): For reasons listed above. Surprisingly we shopped around and found Keselowski at much better odds at BookMaker. Another reason why it is important to have multiple books at your disposal.
Kyle Larson +750 (1 unit): Larson has been excellent on the 1.5 tracks this season with top 3 finishes at both Las Vegas and Texas. Don’t forget the win on the 2 mile Auto Club Speedway as well. #42 car fast in both practices including 2nd best 10 lap average.
Chase Elliot +975 (1 unit): Elliot fastest in final practice, won at Texas earlier this year which is very similar to Charlotte, JR Motorsports extremely strong thus far on 1.5 mile tracks.
H2H Bets
Regan Smith -140 over Trevor Bayne (1 unit)
Kyle Larson +110 over Matt Kenseth (1 unit)
