The NASCAR Cup Series is at the Circuit of the Americas Motor Racing Track – also known as COTA – for the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix Sunday for a green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET. Below we analyze the 2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix odds and lines, with NASCAR picks and predictions based on the odds from BetMGM Sportsbook.
2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix: What you need to know
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 8:01 a.m. ET.
It’s time for the inaugural EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), a 3.41-mile, 20-turn road course located near Austin, Texas.
- The race will by 231 miles with 68 laps, and Stage 1 will be 15 laps, Stage 2 will be completed after 32 laps, and then the final stage is 36 laps.
- Sunday’s weather forecast calls for showers and potential thunderstorms, with rain chances of 80 percent. Temperatures will be in the upper 70’s with a slight breeze.
- While rain would normally be a kiss of death for the race, potentially postponing the event, the teams have Goodyear rain tires. They were used during practice on Saturday morning, too, and drivers have the experience of using them at Charlotte’s ROVAL last season, too.
- Speaking of the ROVAL, we can look to the results of that race to determine potential favorites here, since the courses are somewhat similar. Chase Elliott is the defending champ from Charlotte’s ROVAL, and he has dominated with five road-course wins in the past eight stops.
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Who is going to win the 2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix?
CHASE ELLIOTT (+225) is the chalk at COTA, mainly due to his amazing work on the road courses in the past couple of seasons. He has been dominant, grabbing the checkered flag in five of his past eight non-oval tracks.
In fact, in 13 Cup starts on road courses, Elliott has the five wins, six top-5 runs and eight top-10 showings with 284 laps led and a 9.85 Average-Finish Position (AFP), best among all active drivers.
A TOP 2 FINISH FOR ELLIOTT (-105) is near even-money, too, and that’s not a terrible play. Even a TOP 3 FINISH (-165) is not a bad wager.
KEVIN HARVICK (+1800) is second-best in AFP among active drivers with a 12.4 AFP in 43 career Cup road-course starts, and he has two wins, 10 top-5 finishes and 23 top-10 showings. He has finished 21st or lower on just seven occasions, so he and his team make great adjustments on non-oval runs.
I absolutely love a TOP 5 FINISH FOR HARVICK (+230) with a chance to more than double up still. That seems like a slam-dunk play.
MARTIN TRUEX JR. (+450) has slightly longer odds than Elliott on the road courses, but he has been just as dominant. He has racked up four checkered flags with 11 top-5 showings and 17 top-10 runs in 33 career Cup starts while leading 264 laps, so he is always one to watch.
A TOP 5 FINISH FOR TRUEX (-165) is more expensive than Harvick, but also a great value.
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2021 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix long-shot and matchup bets
A.J. ALLMENDINGER (+2800) is worth a very small-unit bet at this tempting price, as he has always been good on road courses.
However, take the ringer Allmendinger for a TOP-10 FINISH (-135) for a much better price and a chance to cash.
ROSS CHASTAIN TOP-10 FINISH (+600) finished seventh in practice Saturday with the rain tires, and he could pay off handsomely.
As far as the head-to-head play, or matchup wager, look to HARVICK (+110) as a nice plus-money value over Kyle Busch.
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