And Denny Hamlin promised payback: “When I get a chance, they’re going to get it.”
Welcome to FTW’s NASCAR Feud of the Week, where we provide a detailed breakdown of the latest absurd, funny and sometimes legitimate controversies and issues within the racing world.
Sunday’s AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway opened the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs Round of 12 after four drivers were eliminated from the postseason field the previous week. And although Tyler Reddick — once a playoff driver but one of the first four dropped from championship contention — won the race, the ignited feud between Denny Hamlin and William Byron took centerstage.
Basically, Byron showed his displeasure with Hamlin during the race by hitting the back of the No. 11 Toyota. It’s certainly not the first time this has happened in NASCAR, but it happened under caution, which is still dangerous and considered far more unacceptable.
Let’s dive into what happened and how on earth NASCAR missed this moment, despite cameras literally everywhere.
William Byron was not happy after NASCAR’s spring Darlington race.
Welcome to FTW’s NASCAR Feud of the Week, where we provide a detailed breakdown of the latest absurd, funny and sometimes legitimate controversies and issues within the racing world.
If you’re leading a NASCAR race by the end, Joey Logano is not the kind of driver you want right behind you. And after Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, William Byron became the latest driver to learn that — the hard way.
Logano is known for his aggressive racing style, including moving another driver out of the way when the checkered flag is on the line. But for Byron, his fans and Logano haters, the No. 22 Team Penske Ford driver’s late move for the win was too far.
Rick Hendrick — whose NASCAR team, Hendrick Motorsports, became the winningest organization in Cup Series history this season — is looking ahead to the future. And keeping his current four drivers with the team is an “ongoing” focus “to keep the band together.”
And so far, it looks like things are working out the way the 72-year-old team owner wants with defending Cup Series champion Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and William Byron.
In June, Hendrick Motorsports announced Bowman signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him behind the wheel of the No. 48 Chevrolet through the 2023 season. Bowman is in his fourth full-time season with Hendrick.
And now, the focus is on the remaining two Hendrick drivers: Elliott and Byron.
“Absolutely, my plan is for Chase and William to retire with us, so that’s an ongoing situation with me,” Hendrick said, via NASCAR.com. “I love the lineup right now, and I want to keep the band together.”
[lawrence-related id=1046772,1044096]
Elliott and Byron have deals through the end of the 2022 NASCAR season, and it makes sense that Hendrick would want to keep them around, especially considering Hendrick Motorsports has been the team to beat for much of the 2021 Cup Series season so far.
Through the first 21 races, the four drivers combine for 10 wins: Larson has four, Bowman has three, Elliott has two and Bryon has one. All four drivers are currently in the top 11 in the driver standings and are projected to be ranked among the top-7 drivers when the 16-driver, 10-race playoffs begin in September.
Also for the long-term future of the team, Jeff Gordon will officially take over next year as the organization’s vice chairman, parting with FOX Sports after six seasons in the broadcast booth. He’ll be the team’s No. 2 leader behind Hendrick.
Gordon is one of several drivers to spend a huge chuck of their careers – or, in his case, his entire career — competing for Hendrick Motorsports, racing full-time for the team from 1993 until he retired in 2015. Other recent drivers in that category include Dale Earnhardt Jr., who retired in 2017 after his last 10 seasons with the team, and Jimmie Johnson, who retired (from NASCAR, not racing) at the end of the 2020 season after spending his whole 19-year career with Hendrick.
Halfway through the NASCAR season, Dale Jr. explained: “I don’t think Hendrick can sustain the the gap in performance.”
Barely halfway through the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season and with just seven races remaining in the regular season, Hendrick Motorsports has been the obvious team to beat.
But that kind of dominance will be difficult to maintain through the second half of the season and into the championship race at Phoenix Raceway in November, according to Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“I believe that there will be another organization that starts running as well as Hendrick,” Earnhardt told For The Win about his former team. “I don’t think Hendrick can sustain the the gap in performance that they have to the rest of the field all the way to the Phoenix.
“Every year we see it: There’s an organization that shines in the regular season, and then somebody else comes up and at least competes with them one-on-one in the playoffs. And I think that’ll happen again this year.”
The four Hendrick drivers are currently projected to be among the top-8 drivers in the playoff standings with the postseason beginning with the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on September 5. And other championship contenders include Kyle Busch – who won at Pocono on Sunday — Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, who’s at the top of the regular-season standings without having won a race this season.
But what about the championship long shots and dark horses?
“Wow, that’s a tough question,” Dale Jr. said. “I don’t know who is even a dark horse anymore. If you’re not Larson, or maybe Chase Elliott, everybody’s kind of a dark horse.
“I might call William Byron a dark horse. I might call Kevin Harvick a dark horse. It’s crazy to think that after last year, but I mean, Kevin’s not won race this year, not really been super competitive. Ran fifth [at Nashville Superspeedway]. But they would tell you themselves that they’re not where they need to be.”
(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
After winning a series-high nine races in 2020, Harvick and the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing team not winning a race yet remains one of the biggest surprises of the 2021 season. Harvick’s posted 14 top-10 finishes and six top-5s, including finishing fourth at Pocono on Sunday. He’s ninth in the regular-season standings and projected to be 13th in the playoff picture.
Byron, Earnhardt’s other dark-horse contender, earned his second career victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February. Since then, he’s had eight top-5 finishes and 14 top-10s, but, despite Hendrick Motorsports’ ample success this season, he might still be overlooked when it comes to the championship, Earnhardt noted.
“William Byron, though, is having sort of a career year,” Dale Jr. said. “I don’t know that anybody looks at him as a threat to win a championship, so in my mind, maybe that makes him a dark horse. We’ll just have to see.”
The remaining regular-season races are at Road America (on Sunday, ), Atlanta Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, Michigan International Speedway and Daytona International Speedway — the regular-season finale.
After that, the top-16 drivers will compete in the 10-race playoffs for a shot at the championship.
“I could have stayed out there making laps all day,” Joey Logano said after the lone Circuit of The Americas practice of the weekend.
It rained Saturday throughout the NASCAR Cup Series’ first and only practice of the weekend ahead of its first race ever at Circuit of The Americas on Sunday.
But drivers embraced the track conditions and said they still had so much fun on the 3.41-mile, 20-turn course, which includes a wild, 133-foot climb going into the hairpin-style Turn 1.
An entertaining rarity in NASCAR, drivers turned laps with their rain tires around the Austin track, which is known more for hosting a Formula 1 race. And that led William Byron — who finished practice at the top of the leaderboard — to hope Mother Nature makes an appearance Sunday for the Cup Series’ EchoPark Texas Grand Prix (2:30 p.m. ET, FS1).
“I hope it rains tomorrow,” Byron said Saturday after practice. “It was really weird at first, just getting used to just where the best line was and getting used to the way you get around there. …
“It was fun. It was a blast. I don’t know how it was to watch, but it’s so much fun driving.”
Despite not yet knowing from what position he’ll start, Joey Logano echoed Byron’s enthusiasm. The Team Penske driver said he’s embracing the challenging road course with a “fun attitude” because “we don’t know what the heck we’re doing” — similar to how he approached the novel Bristol Motor Speedway dirt race in March, which he won.
When asked how he felt after the rainy, 55-minute practice where he was second behind Bryon and the fastest Ford, Logano:
“It was a lot of fun out there. I had a blast. I was having a great time trying to find lap time, trying to push yourself. The whole thing is a head game. It’s a mental strain out there of how hard you can push, how hard can you drive in the corner and being able to see behind cars.
“That’s probably the hardest part, is visually down that long straightaway between [Turns] 11 and 12. The spray off the back of a car you can’t see. You just straight-up can’t see, and you’re going really, really fast, and the car is hydroplaning through that section. …
“The first time, it scares you, and then really the third and fourth time, it still scares you, but you kind of catch yourself really quickly. It’s entertaining, believe me. I could have stayed out there making laps all day. I was having a good time.”
Kyle Busch — the fourth-fastest driver in practice and the fastest Toyota driver — said the wet practice was “interesting,” but he welcomed the laps under those rare track conditions, adding that he “felt pretty good out there.”
When asked Saturday if COTA is fun, challenging or ridiculous, Busch said:
“It’s all of the above, really. Is it optimum conditions? No, certainly not, but it’s the same for everyone. Obviously if you are the guy out front, you have the cleanest track, but you’ve earned that. I … wish there was a better way to see through the spray.
“Our cars put up such a spray, and the windshield — I haven’t even run a windshield wiper because I know it doesn’t do anything. So you are just trying to keep your windshield as clean as you can and find your way without being able to see around everything.
“The slower sections – the 30-, 40-, 50-mile per hour sections – those aren’t bad. The spray really doesn’t kick up too terrible. It stays pretty low that you have a good sense of being able to see where you are at.”
“Tell the [expletive] 24 that I’m going to get him back.”
Welcome to FTW’s NASCAR Feud of the Week, where we provide a detailed breakdown of the latest absurd, funny and sometimes legitimate controversies and issues within the racing world.
This weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway was fairly entertaining — even if the first few laps happened Saturday night while the race finished up Sunday afternoon because of weather.
The latest feud of the week between Daniel Suárez and William Byron seems like a pretty simple and kind of a hilarious one. So let’s get right to it.
Daniel Suárez’s struggles began before the race did
All things considered, Suárez was having a decent race. Behind the wheel of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, Suárez had to start at the back of the field after his team was penalized during pre-race inspections (his crew chief was ejected for the race too). But he worked his way up from the back, and by the third and final stage of the 500-lap race, Suárez was up flirting with the top-10.
The No. 99 car was running on the outside just ahead of Byron in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet when Bryon appeared to make contact with Suárez’s bumper. That sent the No. 99 car up the track and into the wall, and Suárez lost several positions because of it.
Not long after that contact, a massive wreck unfolded out of Turn 2 on the backstretch, collecting several cars, including Suárez’s. This video shows both the contact between Byron and Suárez, as well as the huge, 12-car crash that quickly followed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oCLZwj3bjM
William Byron apologizes, but Daniel Suárez promises revenge
After the contact between the No. 24 and No. 99, Byron said on his team’s radio (just before the three-minute mark in the video below):
“You can tell that 99, ‘Sorry.'”
But Byron’s spotter, Tad Boyd, responded saying he shouldn’t be sorry for that move.
"Tell the (expletive) No. 24 that I'm going to get him back." Radioactive: Martinsville Speedway. pic.twitter.com/RNGjxYYFeD
Whether or not Suárez received Byron’s apology, he wasn’t happy in that moment and had a message of his own.
Suárez: “Tell the [expletive] 24 that I’m going to get him back.”
Steve Barkdoll, spotter: “10-4. We owe him one big.”
And these two teams weren’t the only ones to comment on the incident. Via RACER magazine’s Kelly Crandall:
Daniel Suarez upset with William Byron. Observation from another team: “He was in the way and then the next lap the 24 shipped him into (Turn) 1 and he lost like 15 spots and then when they all wrecked, he was in it.” | #NASCAR
Daniel Suárez’s car caught fire, and his day was done
Arguably triggered by Bryon bumping Suárez out of the way, Suárez was in the wrong place at the wrong time when this short-track “big one” happened, and he was unable to continue racing. Which makes sense because flames were flying out of his car.
Thankfully, Suárez was able to get out of his fiery car and was OK. But before he left the car and the track, he chucked his water bottle at Byron in the No. 24 as he passed by.
What Daniel Suárez had to say after his race-ending wreck
After being cleared by the infield care center following the crash, Suárez blamed Byron for forcing him into being in the wrong place at the wrong time. In an interview with FOX Sports, he explained what happened from his perspective in the wreck before shifting to the No. 24 team.
“In that wreck, it’s nothing really I could do. I was trying to slam on the brakes to try to slow down, but it was a parking lot in there. I couldn’t do anything about it. The No. 24 car put us in that position. He pushed me out of the way. I had a few laps older tires than everyone else. …
“This weekend, overall, wasn’t great. We came from the back several times. We had a fast car, but we made bad adjustments, bad calls from the spotter a few times. It just wasn’t a clean weekend.”
Unable to continue racing, Suárez was handed a 32nd-place finish. Byron came in fourth.
And the NASCAR world will just have to wait and see if Suárez has since moved on from this incident or if he’ll follow through with some on-track revenge.
The next NASCAR Cup Series race is the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, FOX).
After Kevin Harvick dominated the first round of NASCAR’s playoffs, here’s a look at who advanced and who was eliminated.
Kevin Harvick won his ninth race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, taking the checkered flag in two of the first three playoff races. All season, Harvick has had the car to beat, and his nine wins are the most he’s had in a single season in his 20-year career.
But the night race at the .533-mile Tennessee short track was also the first elimination event in the 10-race playoffs.
The playoff field started with 16 drivers, but only 12 advanced to the next round and remain eligible for the championship still: Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch.
After the next three races in the Round of 12, the playoff field will shrink down to eight drivers and then eventually to the final Championship 4, who will compete for a title at Phoenix Raceway in November.
Here’s a breakdown of the current NASCAR Cup Series playoff picture after the first elimination race.
Which drivers enter the Round of 12 playing catch up?
Yes, the Round of 16 just ended, but it’s impossible to not look ahead at the next elimination event in a few weeks. And four drivers start the next round below the upcoming cutoff mark: Almirola, Kyle Busch, Bowyer and Kurt Busch.
Disappointed in his inability to catch and pass Harvick for the late lead at Bristol, Kyle Busch offered a series of short and curt answers during his post-race Zoom press conference. He said he doesn’t feel like his team has the speed to keep up with Harvick and Hamlin.
And when asked how he feels about starting the Round of 12 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his “home” track, Busch responded without much optimism at this point:
“We’ll be eliminated next round, so don’t care.”
William Byron eliminated before Bristol’s halfway point
"What an idiot."
William Byron has been eliminated from #NASCARPlayoffs Round of 12 contention. He's out of the race. Listen in to the No. 24 team's radio. pic.twitter.com/P0vKtIPBey
William Byron entered the playoffs with a bit of momentum on his side after earning his first Cup Series victory in the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. But after coming in 21st at Richmond Raceway last weekend, he was just below the top-12 cutoff line.
Bryon started Saturday night’s Bristol race 15th, and he was eliminated from the playoffs during the second stage because of damage to his No. 24 Chevrolet. Running 10th at the time, he rear-ended Christopher Bell in the No. 95 Toyota, and Byron and his spotter, Tab Boyd, put the blame on Joey Gase in the No. 51 Ford.
Calling the playoff-eliminating incident “ridiculous,” Byron explained his perspective on the situation after being cleared by the in-field care center:
“The No. 51 just checked up in the middle of the straightaway and had nowhere to go. And the No. 95 slammed on the brakes to try to not hit him, and I slammed into him because I was on his bumper. So just a terrible situation, but not really sure why that happened or what really transpired for him to stop like that.”
I can assure you that the stack up was the 51 cars fault….18 Laps down by the way….
In addition to Byron, Ryan Blaney, Matt DiBenedetto and Cole Custer were eliminated from the playoffs.
Round of 12 opens at Las Vegas and closes at the Roval
This round is not going to be easy with the three upcoming tracks. With only 12 playoff drivers remaining, the next round starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the South Point 400 on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. ET.
But then the playoffs will head to the Talladega Superspeedway before taking on Charlotte Motor Speedway’s half-oval, half-road course track — or Roval — in the second elimination race. Though very different tracks, both are unpredictable and could create chaos, as well as some real problems for playoff drivers.
(Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
And with the Roval serving as a cutoff race, there’s even more pressure on drivers to have strong performances in the first two races this round.
“It’s not a fun place to be,” Logano said Thursday about the possibility of being on the cutoff bubble at the Roval. The No. 22 Team Penske Ford driver clinched his spot in the Round of 12 in the middle of the Bristol race.
“It’s a stressful place. … You’re gonna have to win at some point, and the pressure is gonna be on one way or another. So you want to try to make the next two races be able to score as many points as possible to position yourself in a good spot, but at some point the pressure is gonna be there. Yeah, I don’t want to have my back against the wall at the Roval. But if it does, it does, and we’ll handle it then.”
Previewing Thursday’s Super Start Batteries 400 Presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts at Kansas Speedway sports betting odds and lines, with NASCAR analysis, picks and tips.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the Kansas Speedway for the Super Start Batteries 400 Presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts. The green flag drops Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET with the race televised on NBCSN. Below, we analyze the Super Start Batteries 400 odds and betting lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.
Thursday’s race at Kansas Speedway will be the 29th installment since its NASCAR Cup Series debut race back in 2001 – won by Jeff Gordon.
Denny Hamlin took checkers in the last Kansas Cup race (Oct. 20, 2019), while Brad Keselowski raced to a win in the spring run (May 11, 2019).
All three manufacturers have had success at Kansas Speedway in recent seasons, with Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota each posting a win across the past three races. In the past six races, though, Toyota has three checkered flags, while Chevrolet has raced to wins in 12 of the 28 Cup races at the track.
Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon was an upset winner last Sunday at Texas. He has an impressive 13.8 Average-Finish Position (AFP) across his past eight Kansas starts. Fellow RCR driver Tyler Reddick ended up second in Texas, and was ninth in his Kansas Cup debut last season.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott was the last driver to steer a Chevy to Victory Lane at this track and has a sparkling 2.33 AFP across his past three Kansas starts.
Who is going to win the Super Start Batteries 400?
ELLIOTT (+650 for Thursday’s race) has one win in his past three Kansas Cup starts along with three consecutive top-5 showings. While there has been a couple of upset winners the past two weekends with Cole Custer at Kentucky and Dillon winning in Texas, look for one of the favorites to come through in this one.
Elliott started 13th in his winning run at Kansas in the Fall of 2018, and the average starting position of the past three winners is 13.3.
KEVIN HARVICK (+450), of course, is among the favorites Thursday night. He leads all drivers with a 9.79 AFP (min. two Cup starts) in 28 Cup races in Kansas, picking up three victories with eight top-5 showings and 15 top-10 runs. He also leads the way among all drivers with 855 laps led.
MARTIN TRUEX JR. (+650) went off the rails at Texas, clipping teammate Kyle Busch in the middle of the run and was never able to recover, ending up 29th. Look for MTJ to return with a vengeance at Kansas, a track where he has won twice, posting eight top-5 finishes and led 759 laps in 23 Cup starts, good for a 13.87 AFP.
Kansas Speedway long-shot bets
JIMMIE JOHNSON (+3500) has three wins in 27 career Cup starts while posting a 10.33 AFP. Of course, all of that success came with crew chief Chad Knaus at the top of JJ’s pit box. Meanwhile, the seven-time Cup champion Johnson hasn’t won since June 2017. Will he never win a Cup race again? Don’t bet on it. He’s a GREAT SMALL-UNIT PLAY at this price.
Knaus, by the way, will be away from William Byron’s team for the birth of his second child. Keith Rodden will take over crew chief duties for the No. 24.
TYLER REDDICK (+3500) had his best career Cup finish last Sunday, rolling to a second-place finish. Is it Reddick’s turn this week? This will be only his second Kansas Cup race – as mentioned above, he finished ninth last year.
Lastly, don’t forget Kansas native CLINT BOWYER (+4000) at his home track. While he has never won in 23 career starts here, he has three top-5 showings, eight top-10 runs, 63 laps led and a 15.7 AFP. One of these days he is going to win in his native Sunflower State.
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Previewing Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway sports betting odds and lines, with NASCAR analysis, picks and tips.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. The green flag drops Sunday at 3 p.m. ET with the race televised on NBCSN. Below, we analyze the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 odds and betting lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.
Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway will be the 39th installment since its NASCAR Cup Series debut race back in 1997 – won by Jeff Burton.
Kevin Harvick won last season’s race from the pole, and has taken checkers in three of the past five Cup races in Fort Worth. Last year’s win from the pole was the first time that had been done in 13 Texas races when Kyle Busch turned the trick in the spring 2013 race.
Harvick has registered 10 straight finishes inside the top 10 at Texas, and has been 10th or better in 22 of his 34 Cup starts at the track.
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Erik Jones leads all drivers with a 9.43 Average-Finish Position (AFP) in seven Cup starts, while Ganassi Racing’s Matt Kenseth is second among active drivers with a 9.47 AFP in 30 Texas starts.
Chevrolet has been to Victory Lane just once in the past eight Texas starts, while Ford has three wins and Toyota has four checkered flags during the span.
Seven-time champ Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers with seven Cup victories at Texas. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Harvick each have three victories at the track.
Who is going to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500?
HARVICK (+350 for Sunday’s race) has not only been the gold standard at Texas Motor Speedway lately, but he and HAMLIN (+600) have been the two most consistent drivers since NASCAR resumed the regular season.
Harvick has two wins in the past four Cup races, and has been 10th or better in 14 of his 17 starts overall this season.
JOHNSON (+2200) hasn’t won since the June 4, 2017, Dover race. Eventually the No. 48 machine is going to return to Victory Lane. Why not in Texas? Johnson, who will start out of the 20th spot in Sunday’s grid, won from the 24 spot in the 2017 spring race. J.J. is certainly worth a small-unit bet at this price point.
JOEY LOGANO (+1100) is a pretty strong value at this price given the fact he has finished seventh or better in seven of the past eight Texas starts. He hasn’t won since the Duck Commander 500 back in spring 2014, but his 10 top-5 finishes in 23 Cup starts at TMS is certainly impressive.
Texas Motor Speedway long-shot bets
WILLIAM BYRON (+3500) has rather long odds, but he is worth a look this weekend. He was 17th in the fall race at Texas, but he has finished 10th and sixth in the previous two spring runs in Fort Worth.
MATT KENSETH (+3500) has a pair of Texas wins on his resume, while posting 14 top-5 runs, 19 top-10 finishes and 883 laps led in 30 career Cup starts with a 9.47 AFP. As such he certainly warrants plenty of consideration.
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Previewing Sunday’s Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records at Indianapolis Motor Speedway sports betting odds and lines, with NASCAR analysis, picks and tips.
The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400 Powered by Big Machine Records. The green flag drops Sunday at 4 p.m. ET with the race televised on NBC. Below, we analyze the Big Machine 400 odds and betting lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.
Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the largest sporting venue in the world with a capacity of 235,000, will take place in front of no fans due to the COVID-19 global pandemic and social distancing practices.
Seven-time series champ Jimmie Johnson tested positive for the coronavirus Friday and will miss the race – and likely a few more. His streak of 663 consecutive Cup starts will end – a streak that ranks fifth all time behind Jeff Gordon (797), Ricky Rudd (788), Bobby Labonte (704) and Rusty Wallace (697).
Stewart-Haas Racing driver Kevin Harvick (+400 for Sunday’s race) is the chalk in Indy. He won last season’s race from the pole position. In 19 career starts at the Brickyard, he has two wins, seven top-5 finishes and 13 top-10 showings, while leading all active drivers with an 8.95 Average-Finish Position (AFP).
Ford had not won in 18 consecutive Cup races at IMS from 2000-2017 before Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski (+800) broke through for checkers in 2018. With Harvick’s win last season, Ford has consecutive wins at the Indiana 2.5-mile oval for the first time since 1996-97.
Three of the past seven winners at Indianapolis have come from the No. 1 spot on the starting grid, while six of the previous seven have started ninth or better.
Who is going to win the Big Machine 400?
HARVICK (+400) won last summer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and leads all active drivers with an 8.95 AFP. He has finished eighth or better in each of his past six starts, including top-5 showings in three of the previous five.
Harvick was 13th in the 2013 version of this race. In the previous six starts at the track, Happy has posted a 4.7 AFP.
While Keselowski gets a lot of the attention due to his 2018 win at this track, the more consistent Penske driver at IMS is JOEY LOGANO (+800). He was a runner-up to Harvick last season, and has been the bridesmaid in two of his past five Indianapolis runs. In his previous seven IMS starts he is averaging a 5.9 AFP, making him WORTH A BET.
DENNY HAMLIN (+500) has been delivering consistency in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota lately, including a win at Pocono last Sunday. He has actually never won at Indianapolis in 14 tries, but has a strong 12.4 AFP with five top-5 finishes, eight top-10 showings and 112 laps led with zero DNFs.
KYLE BUSCH (+500) is among the favorites despite the fact he has zero victories so far during the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, and there just seems to be something off with the No. 18 team. If Busch and his team can finally figure out the right combination, HE IS A STRONG BET to win at this track. He posted back-to-back wins at IMS in 2015-16.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway long-shot bets
WILLIAM BYRON (+2500) appeared in the long-shot bets section last weekend at Pocono, but was unable to come through. He has been a quick study during the early years of his Cup career, posting a 19th-place finish at Indy in 2018 before improving to fourth in last season’s installment.
RYAN NEWMAN (+8000) is WORTH A SMALL-UNIT BET at this price. He won this race in 2013, and has racked up finishes of 12th or better in eight of his past nine starts at the track. “Rocket Man” is also a Hoosier State native, so he brings more intensity than usual when running on his home turf.
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