Tag: Brad Keselowski

Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway sports betting odds and lines, with NASCAR analysis, picks and tips.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. The green flag drops Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. Below, we analyze the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 odds and betting lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.

Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500: What you need to know

Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Friday, June 5 at 6:05 p.m. ET.

Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski (+800) is the defending winner of this race, and he picked up checkers last season after starting from the 19th position.

  • The past three winners of the NASCAR Cup Series race in Atlanta have been in a Ford, with the three previous winners in a Chevrolet. A Toyota hasn’t been to Victory Lane in Atlanta since the AdvoCare 500 in 2013 when Kyle Busch (+650) raced to the win.
  • Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott (+600) has drawn the pole position, as starting spots 1-12 were a random draw from charter teams in those positions in team owner points.
  • The pole sitter hasn’t won in Atlanta in 18 Cup races dating back to Kasey Kahne (now retired) when he won the Golden Corral 500 in his Dodge March 20, 2006.
  • Four of the past six winners in Atlanta have started in position No. 10 or lower in the starting grid.
  • Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick (+450) leads all active drivers with 1,197 laps led in Atlanta. The next closest competitor is Ganassi’s Kurt Busch (+1600) with 802.

Who is going to win the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500?

While a pole sitter hasn’t hoisted the trophy in Atlanta since 2006, ELLIOTT (+600) is always a good choice. He has been running very consistently since the restart of the season and has been in contention for every race since the return.

Elliott leads all active drivers with a 10.5 Average-Finish Position (AFP) in four starts in Atlanta, posting a top-5 run and three top-10 finishes. He has never ended up lower than 19th at the track.

KURT BUSCH (+1600) has three wins under his belt in Atlanta, while turning in seven top-5 showings and 14 top-10 runs in 28 career starts. Plus, he has a strong 14.9 AFP along with those 802 laps led. Father Time isn’t catching up with the veteran – he turns 42 in August – especially as far as Atlanta in concerned, as he leads all drivers with a 6.9 AFP across the past 10 starts at the track. That includes finishes of fourth, seventh, eighth and third over the past four runs.

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KESELOWSKI (+800) is running with a lot of confidence, and is the defending champ of this race. He also won last week at Bristol for his second victory in the past three races. And remember, Ford has been to Victory Lane in each of the past three Atlanta runs, so …

Atlanta Motor Speedway prop bets

KURT BUSCH (-125) is almost a near certainty to finish INSIDE THE TOP 10, so play that. In addition, take the elder BUSCH (-115) over Jimmie Johnson in a head-to-head, best finishing position prop.

Another strong head-to-head play is ARIC ALMIROLA (-115) over Matt DiBenedetto. Almirola hasn’t exactly lit the track afire, but DiBenedetto just has never been able to figure the place out. In four Cup starts, DiBenedetto is 29th, 28th, 31st and 26th.

Atlanta Motor Speedway long-shot bets

Ol’ wily veteran MATT KENSETH (+6000) of Ganassi Racing is worth a roll of the dice here. He has never won in 29 tries in Atlanta, but has turned in 11 top 5s, 17 top 10s and he has led 363 laps in his career. He has an 11.93 AFP, best among all active drivers with at least five starts at the venerable, bumpy track.

If you’re looking for a REAL long shot to bet on, try DANIEL SUAREZ (+50000). He has three Cup starts under his belt in Atlanta, finishing 21st in his debut in 2017, 15th in 2018 and 10th in 2019. Of course, he is now in a more inferior machine, racing for Gaunt Brothers Racing in the No. 96 Toyota rather than his previous years with JGR and one season with SHR, thus the extremely long odds. But hey, it’s worth a $1 bet.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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The Coca-Cola 600, a NASCAR ‘crown jewel’ race, is too long

NASCAR’s longest race of the year is *too long*.

The Coca-Cola 600 is just too long. The second of what NASCAR considers its four “crown jewels” throughout the 36-race season, it’s the Cup Series’ longest race by about 100 miles and is the only one broken into four stages, instead of three.

And it lasted for more than five hours Sunday night, ending a few minutes after midnight at Charlotte Motor Speedway. So not only was this year’s Memorial Day Weekend event (won by Brad Keselowski) a five-and-a-half-hour extravaganza thanks, in part, to a 68-minute rain delay, but because of a handful of overtime laps tacked on at the end, it was also the longest race in NASCAR Cup Series history.

607.5 miles. That’s excessive, and with the length not presenting the same challenges it once did, the logic behind it doesn’t really hold up.

More on that in a second, but first: This race is way too long for anyone beyond the absolute most diehard and longtime NASCAR fans.

Synonymous with Memorial Day Weekend, the Coke 600 is an annual event since 1960, coronavirus pandemic or not, and one that typically caps off the biggest day in the world for motor sports. Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix and the IndyCar Series’ Indianapolis 500 are usually held earlier in the day, respectively. (Monaco was canceled, and the Indy 500 is now scheduled for August.)

The 2018 Coca-Cola 600. (AP Photo/Mike McCarn)

The Coke 600’s distance just desperately needs to be altered so the race is not as brutally long, especially with other sports organizations, like Major League Baseball, pushing to speed up their competitions.

But the 600-mile length is tradition too, you say?

“Tradition, shmadition.” That’s what Denny Hamlin said in May 2019 when asked about keeping the race’s length, adding:

“If the race was 300 miles, you’re going to have the same, I believe, core group watch the race and possibly even more that are interested because it’s not five hours long.”

Even during Sunday night’s race, Martin Truex Jr. and his No. 19 Toyota team echoed the thoughts of the many racing and general sports fans whose attention spans were surely dwindling when they had this exchange over the radio halfway into a 400-lap race:

Of course, not every driver feels that way.

Kevin Harvick has said it’s different once you win it. Keselowski told USA TODAY Sports last year that NASCAR “needs one 600-mile race that connects it back and showcases that stock car automobile racing has had to pushing the limits of a vehicle, specific to performance and endurance.”

A 600-mile race may be a great way to celebrate the sport’s and event’s history, but when NASCAR is trying to expand its shrinking fan base, who’s really interested in sticking around for a five-hour saga?

Gone are the days when only a handful of cars would finish on the lead lap, and it was a question of how many cars could be engineered to withstand such an exhaustive race. At the 1960 World 600, only the winner ended on the lead lap, and 36 of the 55 cars didn’t even finish.

Compared with today, stock cars largely survive 600 miles without blowing an engine, and the iconic event can be largely uneventful, as we saw Sunday with only four caution flags because of on-track incidents. Of the 40 cars that started the race, 19 finished on the lead lap, and only three didn’t finish at all.

When asked last year about the grueling race, Kyle Busch said the sport needs the 600-miler, adding:

“Is it [tough] on the cars? No. The cars are way too sophisticated now. I bet you we could probably go 800 maybe even 1,000 miles on a race car before you’d start to see problems.”

We can confidently speak for everyone when we say: Pass.

(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Plus, when racing on the traditional 1.5-mile oval, Charlotte Motor Speedway’s best asset is geography, not its penchant for delivering captivating races. And the 600 has long been painful to watch, particularly when preceded by hundreds of miles in Indy and Monaco.

Now, if you think NASCAR will never, ever, in a million years redesign one of its “crown jewel” races, you’re probably among the majority. Really, it does seem impossibly unlikely. But there is some precedent here in NASCAR and at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Forever, Daytona’s summer race was always over the weekend of July 4th, until this year when it will be the regular-season finale in August. After nearly two decades of Homestead-Miami Speedway hosting NASCAR’s championship weekend, Phoenix Raceway is taking over this season. For 40 years, The Clash, an exhibition race before the Daytona 500, was run on the 2.5-mile oval, but next season among the several updates to Daytona Speedweeks, it’ll be on the 3.56-mile road course. Breaking races into three stages — four if it’s the Coke 600, remember! — wasn’t even a thing until 2017, and NASCAR’s points and playoff systems feel like they’re regularly being overhauled.

And for nearly 60 years, the Cup Series only raced on the 1.5-mile oval before changing things up in 2018 and making the second Charlotte race of the year on a half-road course, half-oval “roval.” Inventive, revolutionary and a necessary jolt to a nine-month schedule still in need of more updates, like shortening the length of the Coke 600.

So here’s what you do: Keep the weekend of the race, obviously. Keep the spectacle of it all, and keep the “600” in the name — just make it 600 kilometers, dropping the length almost in half to about 373 miles.

“All sports adapt and change,” Hamlin said last year. “I hate it when people say, ‘Well, that’s the way it always was.’ Things are different. I’d be just as happy with a Coke 300 trophy as a Coke 600 to be honest with you.”

It doesn’t have to be the Coke 300, but it really shouldn’t be a true 600-miler anymore either.

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Brad Keselowski on winning NASCAR’s iconic Coca-Cola 600: ‘I’m tickled to death’

Brad Keselowski held off Jimmie Johnson to win one of the biggest races on NASCAR’s schedule — and the longest.

Brad Keselowski is slowly collecting checkered flags for NASCAR’s biggest races, and just after midnight on Memorial Day at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the 36-year-old Team Penske driver added another.

Keselowski in the No. 2 Ford held off seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson to win the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race on NASCAR’s schedule which actually turned out to be the longest race in Cup Series history, per FOX’s broadcast, because of overtime late Sunday night/early Monday morning.

It’s Keselowski’s first Coke 600 win, his first checkered flag of the 2020 season and his 31st career victory.

“I’ve wanted to win the 600 my whole life,” Keselowski said on a Zoom call with reporters after the race. “I wish it was in front of everybody. I recognize that’s not always how it works.”

NASCAR considers its “crown jewel” races to be the season-opening Daytona 500 (Daytona International Speedway), the Coca-Cola 600, the Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and the Southern 500 (Darlington Raceway), but Keselowski said he’d throw Bristol Motor Speedway’s night race into that category too.

So by NASCAR’s count, he’s won three of four “crown jewels,” and by his own, it’s four of five. He’s only missing the Daytona 500.

In his on-track interview after the race, Keselowski told FOX Sports’ Jamie Little:

“It’s a major! It’s the Coke 600, and this leaves only one major left for me, the Daytona 500, so we’re checking them off. … We might not have been the fastest car today, but, wow, did we grind this one out, Jamie. The pit crew at the end, the yellow right before the last had a blazing stop to get us up front and put us in position. All these things just came together, and I’m tickled to death. It’s a little overwhelming to be honest.”

More than five hours after the initial checkered flag — there was an (entertaining) early rain delay for 68 minutes — Chase Elliott had the lead on Lap 398 of what was originally scheduled to be a 400-lap, 600-mile race. But a caution came out thanks to his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, and when he turned to pit road, Keselowski took over.

Keselowski held onto the lead off the restart ahead of Johnson with just two overtime laps for a total of 405 trips around the Charlotte track. Elliott, however, still managed to finish third.

While being interviewed on the 1.5-mile track, Keselowski explained how he’s been in similar situations in the past but wasn’t able to come away with the win. He even thought that was going to be the case again.

He told FOX Sports:

“I feel like I’ve thrown this race away a handful of times, and I felt we were gonna lose it today. I know we’ve lost it the way Chase lost it, and that really stinks. And today, we finally won it that way, and I’m so happy for my team. I wish my wife was here. I wish my daughters were here.

NASCAR’s not done with Charlotte Motor Speedway yet. The Cup Series returns to the track Wednesday for its fourth race back following a 10-week hiatus this spring because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

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Brad Keselowski believes NASCAR (and it’s rivalries) are just heating up

SportsPulse: Mackenzie Salmon connected with NASCAR star Brad Keselowski to discuss NASCAR’s return and get his thoughts on the latest Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch feud.

SportsPulse: Mackenzie Salmon connected with NASCAR star Brad Keselowski to discuss NASCAR’s return and get his thoughts on the latest Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch feud.

NASCAR Toyota 500 at Darlington odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Wednesday’s Toyota 500 at Darlington Raceway sports betting odds and lines, with NASCAR analysis, picks and tips.

The NASCAR Cup Series races at Darlington Raceway Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET for the Toyota 500. Below, we analyze the Toyota 500 odds and betting lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.

Toyota 500: What you need to know

Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Tuesday, May 19 at 7:25 a.m. ET.

The NASCAR Cup Series guys returned to action last Sunday, with Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick (+400) coming away with the checkered flag, his 50th win at the Cup level. He enters this one as the chalk, but is he the driver to beat?

  • There’s no qualifying for Wednesday’s 500 as the starting lineup is set using the finishing order from Sunday’s run. However, positions 1-20 are inverted, so Harvick starts 20th and Ryan Preece (+20000) will be on the pole after he finished 20th Sunday.
  • Harvick started sixth Sunday, making it six Darlington races in a row where the winner started sixth or better. The last pole winner was Harvick in the 2014 Bojangles Southern 500.
  • Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones (+1800) finished eighth Sunday. He has finished eighth or better in all four of his starts at the South Carolina track.
  • Penske Racing driver Brad Keselowski (+900) was second to Harvick’s 159 laps led Sunday with 80. Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman (+800), who finished second, was third in laps lead with 41.

Who is going to win the Toyota 500?

JGR’s Kyle Busch (+700) stumbled to a 26th-place finish in Sunday’s race, a shocking result considering he had posted finishes of seventh or better in seven of his previous eight starts at the “Track Too Tough to Tame.” Despite Sunday’s poor showing, BUSCH IS A SOLID PLAY.

Busch is second among active drivers with 716 laps led across 16 career starts at Darlington, with Harvick leading the way with 740 laps led across 24 starts. However, Busch’s average laps led per start is much better at 44.75 to Harvick’s 30.83.

Busch’s teammate DENNY HAMLIN (+800) posted a fifth-place finish Sunday. He now has two wins, eight top-5 finishes and 12 top-10 showings with 562 laps led across 15 career Darlington starts with a 7.6 Average-Finish Position (AFP). He’ll start 16th Wednesday, and is ALWAYS A WISE PICK at this track.

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Joey Logano (+1100) is an intriguing pick for Wednesday. He starts third behind long shots Preece and Ty Dillon (+25000), but is clearly the most proven driver in the front two rows – Clint Bowyer (+3000) starts in the 4 spot. While Logano has never won at Darlington, he has a 16.6 AFP with three top-5 showings and five top-10 finishes and 103 laps led.

Darlington Raceway long-shot bets

Looking to long shots, Preece and Dillon are obvious picks because of their advantageous starting spots, but will it matter? In four career starts at Darlington, the younger Dillon brother has an AFP of just 18.3, while Preece finished 20th Sunday and 22nd in his only previous start at Darlington last season. Go very, very lightly on these two, if at all.

The better bet might be TYLER REDDICK (+5000). He surprised with a seventh-place run Sunday in his Cup debut at Darlington. As such, his odds are much shorter than they might normally be, but he is still a pretty strong value. JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK (+15000) also might be worth a roll of the dice after a stupendous ninth-place run Sunday.

Want action on this race? Sign up and bet at BetMGM. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Brad Keselowski warns against NASCAR drivers having ‘false sense of confidence’ in return

Keselowski explained why he has little to no trust in his fellow drivers afters NASCAR’s 10-week hiatus.

NASCAR drivers haven’t competed on a real track in a real race since early March, and, as the sport returns Sunday after missing eight races because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time drivers climb into their seats behind the wheel will be at the beginning of the race at Darlington Raceway.

But the sport’s return comes with complications and several adjustments that will make the event quite different from a traditional race day. In the first four races NASCAR announced for its return, there will be no practice or qualifying — with an exception for the latter at the Coca-Cola 600.

And since the stateside COVID-19 outbreak began months ago, drivers haven’t been behind the wheel of their stock cars or had the chance to run some test laps.

Understandably, that makes Brad Keselowski a little nervous. While the 2012 Cup Series champ spoke with NBC Sports on Wednesday, Mike Tirico asked how much trust he has in his fellow, rusty drivers.

Keselowski said: “Very little to none.”

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But he also explained how the NASCAR world’s pivot to iRacing during the coronavirus-related hiatus may hinder drivers on the track when they initially return for the first of four races in two weeks.

The No. 2 Team Penske Ford driver told Tirico:

“There’s been a lot of talk about how NASCAR pivoted into e-racing, and if you followed the iRacing series that NASCAR had, they had some good success with that, ratings and so forth. But the reality is it’s not the same.

“The tactics are not the same. It looks pretty good, the graphics are pretty cool, but the way the cars drive is not the same. The way the race slows is not the same. Everything about it is much, much different.

“So the problem with that is if you’ve had success with some of the simulators or the internet events, you build almost a false sense of confidence. And that false sense of confidence, when you get on the real race track, can be a big problem. So there’s a lot of drivers that have been putting a lot of time behind the simulator, and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”

And the famously formidable nature of Darlington’s 1.366-mile track certainly doesn’t help anything. Keselowski said if drivers had to pick the most challenging track to resume competition on — and do it without practice or qualifying — Darlington would be among the most difficult.

Several drivers, such as Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer and William Byron, previously explained to For The Win how realistic iRacing is compared with real life, from the traction on the track to how quickly their tires wear out. But no matter how much time they spend with a simulator, they often say nothing replaces being in an actual car.

NASCAR’s first race back following its season suspension because of the coronavirus pandemic is Sunday, May 17 at Darlington Raceway (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX). The race’s official name is The Real Heroes 400.

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NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway, with NASCAR betting odds, picks and best bets.

Say goodbye to those virtual races, as the NASCAR Cup Series returns for real at Darlington Raceway Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the betting odds and lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.

NASCAR changes: What you need to know

Sunday’s return to action after the pause due to COVID-19 will not have any practice sessions or qualifying. In fact, there will be no practice sessions for any May race, and qualifying will only be held for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte May 24. Here is what we know:

  • Positions 1 through 12 to be determined by a random draw from charter teams in those positions in team owner points
  • Positions 13-24 to be determined by a random draw among charter teams in those positions in owner points
  • Positions 25-36 to be determined by a random draw among charter teams in those positions in owner points
  • Positions 37-40 to be filled out by open, non-chartered teams in order of owner points

NASCAR standings & Darlington odds

Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Wednesday, May 13 at 1:25 a.m. ET.

A quick perusal of the current standings after four starts shows Stewart-Haas Racing’s (SHR’s) Kevin Harvick (+600 for Sunday’s Darlington race) sitting in first, one point ahead of Penske Racing’s Joey Logano (+750). Hendrick Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott (+850), Alex Bowman (+1300) and Jimmie Johnson (+2000) are in third through fifth, respectively, while Penske’s Ryan Blaney (+2200) sits sixth. SHR’s Aric Almirola (+5000) is tied for seventh with Kyle Larson (more on him below). Matt DiBenedetto (+5000) of Wood Brothers is ninth, while Penske’s Brad Keselowski (+850) rounds out the top 10.

As for Larson, he was released by Chip Ganassi Racing and indefinitely suspended by NASCAR for uttering a racial slur during a live virtual racing broadcast during the COVID-19 pause. While he has completed a mandated sensitivity training course, Matt Kenseth (+2000) is coming out of retirement to join CGR in the No. 42 car.

Who is going to win Sunday at Darlington Raceway?

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch (+500) is noticeably absent from the top 10 in the standings, but he is actually listed as the race favorite due to his recent run of success at the track. While he hasn’t won in the past 10 stops, he has been 11th or better in each of those starts.

Busch has finished seventh or better in eight of his past 10 starts at Darlington, posting a stellar 11.1 Average-Finish Position (AFP) in his 15 overall runs at the South Carolina track.

Johnson actually leads all active drivers with three wins at “The Lady In Black,” and he has a 12.1 AFP in 21 starts with nine finishes inside the top 5. He has also led 554 laps, fourth-most of any driver. Busch actually leads with 716 laps led, followed by Harvick (581) and Denny Hamlin (+700), another driver currently outside of the top 10 in standings. That could change in a hurry, however.

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Martin Truex Jr. (+800) is also flying a bit under the radar – he won this race in 2016, followed by his JGR teammate Hamlin in 2017. So, definitely do not base your wagering decisions on starting position alone. The past two winners have come from a starting position of 15th and 13th, and the last five winners have been from eighth or lower in the starting grid, so the pole hasn’t amounted to much lately.

Darlington Raceway long-shot bets

If you’re looking to back a long shot, why not Kenseth? He is a rather moderate underdog in his return to the track. Kenseth won at Darlington as recently as the 2013 season, and raced a Cup car in 2018, albeit a 25th-place fun. He has five top-10 starts in his past seven Darlington runs, including the 2013 win, so how amazing of a story would it be if he won Sunday?

SHR’s Clint Bowyer (+5000) has been a disaster at Darlington in recent years, posting a 40th-place run in 2017, a 36th-place finish in 2018 before running sixth last season. He is a great driver, but a long shot for a reason, as he has found the title “Track Too Tough To Tame” apropos. In 14 career Darlington starts, he has a dismal 21.6 AFP with just two top-10 showings and only 17 laps led. Still, a driver of his caliber at this price is worth a small-unit bet, especially with all of the chaos and uncertainty heading into the season restart.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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NASCAR Betting: Auto Club 400 odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Sunday’s Auto Club 400 sports betting odds and lines, with NASCAR analysis, picks and tips.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Auto Club Speedway Sunday afternoon for the Auto Club 400 at 3:30 p.m. ET in Fontana, Calif. Below, we analyze the Auto Club 400 betting odds and lines, with NASCAR picks and tips.

Who is going to win the 2020 Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway?

Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Saturday at 12:05 p.m. ET.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch (+500) won last season’s Auto Club 400, and he has also picked up three checkered flags across his past six starts at the California track. The defending series champ is off to a rather uneven start through two starts this season, so perhaps a start at ACS is just what is needed to jump-start his season. In 21 career starts at the track he has four wins, 10 top-five finishes, 15 top-10 runs and 807 laps led with a 10.0 Average-Finish Position (AFP), too.

Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott (+800) has had some strong showings at this track in the past, but victory has eluded him thus far. In four starts he has a 10.8 AFP with a pair of top-10 finishes, five laps led and he has never finished lower than 16th. He’ll be one to watch. Elliott’s teammate Jimmie Johnson (+1600) is showing some signs of life early on, and he leads all active drivers with six California wins, 13 top-five finishes in 25 starts, 980 laps led and a 7.6 AFP.

New to sports betting? A successful $10 wager on Johnson to win would return a profit of $160.

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Penske Racing driver Joey Logano (+600) will be looking for checkers for the second consecutive weekend. He is seventh or better in each of his past five outings, including a runner-up finish last season. Logano has never won this race in 13 career starts, but he has 57 laps led and a 13.1 AFP, sixth-best among all active drivers.

Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski (+800) won this race in 2015, and he has rattled off three straight top-five showings, and five top-10 finishes in a row. Kes has a 14.5 AFP in his 11 career starts with 81 laps led.

2020 Auto Club 400 longshot bets

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kurt Busch (+2500) is worth a small-unit wager, as he enters Sunday’s race with the fourth-best AFP among active drivers. In 26 career starts he has a win, seven top-five finishes, 13 top-10 finishes and no DNFs with a 12.6 AFP and 298 laps led.

If you’re looking for a little bit more of a longshot, Erik Jones (+3300) fits the bill. He has finished 12th, seventh and 19th in three career starts at ACS with a solid 12.7 AFP, fifth among active drivers.

Want some action in this one? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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NASCAR Betting: Pennzoil 400 odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with NASCAR betting odds, picks and best bets

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon for the Pennzoil 400 at 3:30 p.m. ET. Below, we analyze the Pennzoil 400 betting odds and lines, with NASCAR picks and tips.

The weather won’t be a problem like it was in Daytona last weekend, when a surprise rain storm ended up pushing the race to Monday. The haulers had one less day to travel across the country, subsequently canceling the mid-week hauler parade down The Strip, but the cars and drivers will be ready to go Sunday with no interruptions.

Who is going to win the 2020 Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?

Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access them at USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Friday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The winner of the most recent Cup race at Vegas, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. (+550), is among the favorites at this race. Only Vegas-born driver and teammate Kyle Busch (+500) and Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick (+500) have shorter odds.

MTJ has posted two wins in 16 career starts in Vegas, with five top-5 showings and eight top-10 finishes with a 10.9 Average-Finish Position (AFP). He’ll be a very popular selection this weekend. Truex also tops the charts with a 123.8 Driver Rating across the past five starts in Vegas, according to NASCAR’s Loop Data. Busch has a win in 17 career starts, posting nine top-10 showings and a 12.7 AFP.

New to sports betting? A successful $10 wager on Truex to win would return a profit of $55.

Looking to place a bet on this race or other motorsports? Get some action in the NASCAR race through BetMGM. Sign up and bet at BetMGM now!

Penske Racing driver Joey Logano (+700) will also be a pick many gravitate toward, as he has a 5.0 AFP and 116.8 Driver Rating across his past five starts at LVMS while running a circuit-best 95.4 percent of his laps inside the Top 15 during the impressive span. He also has eight consecutive top-10 showings at the track.

Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski (+600) is also a solid play, as he has three straight finishes of third or best at Vegas, including a win. He is a nice selection to finish in the Top 3 (+150).

2020 Pennzoil 400 longshot bets

Keselowski and Logano’s teammate, Ryan Blaney (+2000), kicked off his 2020 campaign with a second-place run at Daytona. He heads into this one with a 95.6 Driver Rating over the past five Vegas starts while posting an 8.8 AFP. He has finished seventh or better in five of his past six starts at the track, too, including three top-5 showings in the previous four.

Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron (+2500) and Alex Bowman (+3000) finished in the Top 10 in the second Vegas race last season, with Byron seventh and Bowman sixth. Those two are worth a small-unit bet with rather moderate odds. Tossing a little change on their veteran teammate, seven-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson (+3000) is also worth a shot. He has four career wins at Vegas to lead all active drivers, and he is 12th or better in seven of his past 10 starts at the track.

Want some action in this one? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

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What NASCAR drivers eat before 500-mile races — and how they avoid uncomfortable ‘gut bombs’

From a bucket of chicken to skyline chili, NASCAR drivers told us what the best and worst pre-race meals are.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Deciding what to eat before climbing into a race car for 500 miles is a delicate balance between guaranteeing you have enough energy to aggressively compete for several hours but ensuring you don’t have to relieve yourself in the middle of the race (without getting out of the car).

Sunday’s Daytona 500 — along with the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series’ schedule and so many other motor sports series — is as much about endurance as it is speed, especially when temperatures in the car can hit 130 degrees.

So what do NASCAR drivers say is the best pre-race meal to eat? And more importantly, what’s the worst thing, the dish you absolutely want to steer clear of?

For The Win spoke to several drivers at Daytona International Speedway this week about their food preferences before racing. Here’s what they had to say about how they keep their stomachs cool and avoid disasters.

Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet

“I would think a big Mexican meal would probably be one of the worst things to eat. Best would be a nice Italian, carb-loading pasta session.”

Joey Logano, No. 22 Ford

(Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

“The best thing you can have is something bland, normal. Chicken, unless I have some salmon or something like that. And I usually throw a lot of barbecue sauce on it because that’s my jam.”

Barbecue sauce on salmon?

“Yeah, barbecue sauce on everything. … I was having eggs this morning and I had barbecue sauce on my eggs because it’s good!

“Worst? Worst would be something that upsets your stomach, obviously, because you’re stuck in there. Spicy foods may not be a good one. … Raisins and grapes don’t really mesh well for me. But it’s different for everybody. Everybody’s got their thing.”

Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Ford

“I would not eat a bowl of chili before the race. I would say the answer to that is: Just imagine yourself in those gut bombs you have after whatever meal it is. Thats’s not the one I would eat before a four-hour [event] where you’re strapped in a race car and can’t move. You gotta have a little wiggle room when you eat something like that.

“Forever, I’ve always said khaki colors only, you know, meat, cheese and the bun. Don’t venture out anything. Just eat something clean. Winner, winner, chicken dinner’s never wrong. I always grew up around racers [who were] like, ‘Absolutely no chicken.’ I’m like, ‘Haven’t you ever heard winner, winner, chicken dinner?’

“We used to win all the time after eating a bucket of chicken on the way to the races.”

Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Ford

“Best: chicken. Worst: ice cream. Ice cream in a race car is going to make some things happen to your body that you don’t want to happen.”

(Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports)

Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Toyota

“There’s a lot of things you probably shouldn’t [eat]. Anything spicy is probably a bad idea. I keep it simple: Chicken and rice, maybe steak and rice, a little salad. Nothing too heavy that’s going to upset your stomach, obviously.”

Kurt Busch, No. 1 Chevrolet

“The worst pre-race meal is something spicy. You don’t want that happening the wrong way during the race. I did some pasta back in the day trying to load up on some carbs, and, no pun intended, that just felt noodley.

“So I switched to a turkey sandwich, and I’ve been doing a turkey sandwich for the last 20 years.

Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Ford

“The best, for what I like, I’m a big chicken guy, rice, and corn. Corn’s pretty good, but mainly chicken and rice.

“Worst would be like Thai food or something. You don’t want something spicy that’s going to upset your stomach. The last thing you want in there when you’re on mile 250 out of 500 is your stomach starts rumbling because you ate some spicy food, and it’s not going to end well.”

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., No. 43 Chevrolet

(Mike Dinovo-USA TODAY Sports)

“Probably nothing spicy for pre-race. The best stuff? Probably some pasta. We’ll do that or some grilled chicken. Bob Evans’ mashed potatoes, phenomenal if you haven’t had those.

Seems kind of heavy.

“Maybe that’s my problem. I need to change up my diet. But I like what I like, and I’m gonna keep doing it!”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 47 Chevrolet

“I keep it safe a lot of times and go with grilled fish or chicken and rice and some vegetables. Worst thing: Probably some tacos. Any and all.”

Austin Dillon, No. 3 Chevrolet

“Man, the worst thing I ate was peanut butter and jelly one time. I had like, acid reflux or something and I was burping the whole race. I never use peanut butter before the race. I don’t know why. I like peanut butter. That was not fun.

“Best thing? Some type of bar. Something really stale and easy on your stomach. I do some wraps, but I’ve got to be careful with that too. I just keep it super light.

“I eat a big breakfast, and then hopefully that moves through my system. If you want to know my bowel movements, I can record them for you and give them to you.”

No thanks.

Erik Jones, No. 20 Toyota

“The best thing? Chicken and vegetables, salad maybe.

“The worst thing? I know a guy who ate skyline chili — I don’t know if everybody knows what that is, it’s a midwestern thing — ate some skyline chili before a race. Didn’t work very good for him. I stay away from that. I eat the light stuff.”

Ross Chastain, No. 77 Chevrolet

(Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

Well, the best is a watermelon. There’s just no way around that, OK? Goodness gracious. Everybody should know that.

Obviously, from a watermelon farmer.

“The worst for me is anything spicy. I’m a pretty bland guy, like ketchup is a spice to me. You put ketchup on something, that’s doing something. I’m very bland. I’m like baked chicken with barbecue sauce on it is an ideal spice palette for me.”

Tyler Reddick, No. 8 Chevrolet

“I love eating seafood. On top of that, I like eating sashimi. That could either be the best thing or worst thing before you get in the race car.”

Is that what you usually eat?

“I wish I had the ability to do that. I just keep it simple and light. A little bit of grilled chicken, a wrap or something like that. Maybe a salad. I like to eat — really eat good during the week, so I can get to the race weekend and then try and clean up what I eat so my body isn’t pissed off I ate too much of one thing.”

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