The NASCAR Cup Series will have another inaugural event on the schedule this weekend in Sunday’s Verizon 200. For the first time ever, the Cup Series will also race back-to-back weeks on road courses too.
While this isn’t just another race on the schedule with playoffs looming, it’s one that’s definitely going to be vastly different than we’ve ever had here before.
Get the inside track on your NASCAR bets with Auto Racing Advisor preview and picks for the 2021 Verizon 200, which gets underway at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 15.
Verizon 200 favorites
Chase Elliott (+200)
Chase Elliott has to enter as the one to beat as he’s won the last three inaugural races on road courses. He won the inaugural race on the Daytona road course, the inaugural race at COTA as well as the inaugural race in Road America. Can he make it four straight? Elliott has won six of the last nine road course races in general, and was runner-up in two of the three he didn’t win.
Martin Truex Jr. (+600)
While Truex Jr. has just two Top-5 finishes in five road course races this season, he’s typically been the only other driver outside of Elliott to excel on them.
Kyle Larson (+350)
He was runner-up to Elliott in COTA, won in both Sonoma and last Sunday at Watkins Glen, and if not for late-race contact with Alex Bowman in Road America, he was going to finish in the Top 3 or 4 that day, as well.
Covers NASCAR Betting Content
Verizon 200 long-shot picks
Christopher Bell (+1,800)
Bell won Daytona’s road course and was runner-up in Road America this year. He was a Top-3 car before being spun by Larson last week too.
Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain (+4,000)
Kurt Busch has three Top-6 finishes in five road course races, while his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Ross Chastain has three Top 7s in those same five races.
Verizon 200 matchup pick
Joey Logano (-110) vs. Kevin Harvick (-110)
Logano has three Top-4 finishes in five road course starts this season, where Harvick has finished 22nd or worse in three of the five races himself.
PREDICTION: Logano (-110)
Verizon 200 fades
Stewart-Haas Racing
Kevin Harvick is the defending Brickyard winner, but three of his five road course finishes in 2021 have been 22nd or worse. I’d fade SHR in general, minus Chase Briscoe in fact. Aric Almirola isn’t a great road racer and his finishes on these tracks this season have been 17th, 26th, 23rd, 14th and 16th respectively. Finally, Cole Custer hasn’t had a finish better than 13th on five road course starts this season either.
Verizon 200 preview
The playoff bubble and the regular-season championship will shine with Larson and Denny Hamlin tied atop the points and Tyler Reddick leading his RCR teammate of Austin Dillon by just 15 points for the 16th and final playoff spot. With Harvick 80 points ahead of Reddick at the moment and Chris Buescher 135 points behind Reddick for the cut spot, it really now just comes down to Hamlin vs. Larson and Reddick vs. Dillon in terms of points. Everyone else is just racing for the win.
Larson has stormed back from a 144-point deficit leaving Darlington this past May, to now being tied with Hamlin in points accumulated through 23 races.
Leaving the Lady in Black back on Mothers Day weekend, Hamlin had accumulated 529 points on the season already. That day was his ninth Top-5 result in the first 12 races of the season. Meanwhile, Larson finished runner-up to Martin Truex Jr. in that race and now had 385 points of his own. As we come into Sunday’s Verizon 200 (1 p.m. ET, NBCSN, IMS Radio Network) this weekend, that advantage is gone. It’s mano e mano.
How?
In the last 11 races, Hamlin has just three Top-5 results with a best finish of fourth in the first Pocono race. Larson meanwhile, has seven Top-5 finishes in that span, including all seven being in the top two. That’s allowed him to make up 144 points on Hamlin in 11 races. Can he hold him off in the final three events of the regular season and take home the crown of being the regular-season champion?
It’s going to be close.
First up is Indianapolis this weekend, where neither has any past experience at on the road course. On the season though, Larson has two wins and a runner-up in five road course starts this season. In the other two races, he spun at Daytona while running in sixth back in February and was third towards the end of the July 4 race at Road America before being spun accidentally by his teammate Alex Bowman.
Hamlin, meanwhile, has four Top-8 finishes in five road races this season, too.
That’s why this weekend could really be a wash among the two.
Where can I bet on NASCAR?
You can bet on NASCAR odds at most online and casino sportsbooks, including NASCAR race winner, Top 3, and Top-10 finish odds. Head over to our top sportsbooks to bet on NASCAR odds in your area.
