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Thursday, September 14, 2023
Kyle Larson is 5/1 favorite to win at Bristol
Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Martin Truex Jr is 10/1 to win at Phoenix
 Martin Truex Jr. Phoenix Advance No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing
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Event Overview |
● Event: United Rentals Work United 500k (Round 4 of 36) ● Time/Date: 3:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday, March 12 ● Location: Phoenix Raceway ● Layout: 1-mile oval ● Laps/Miles: 312 laps/312 miles ● Stage Lengths: Stage 1: 60 laps / Stage 2: 125 laps / Final Stage: 187 laps ● TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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Notes of Interest |
● Team Toyota: Truex will make his 400th Cup start in a Toyota Camry in Sunday’s 312-lap race at Phoenix.
● Truex and the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry team for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) set the tone for the season right out of the gate by winning the 150-lap feature in the non-points Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5. Truex won his heat race, then went on to lead the final 25 laps of the feature en route to the victory.
● Truex has one win, six top-five finishes and 12 top-10s and has led a total of 259 laps in 34 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix. Truex’s average Phoenix finish is 15.6.
● Truex notched his lone Phoenix victory in March 2021, when he led 64 laps en route to the win.
● Ahead at this Stage: Truex leads the NASCAR Cup Series with 56 stage wins since the beginning of the stage era in 2017. He is the only driver with 10 or more stage sweeps, as well. While Truex came close to winning a stage at the season-opening Daytona 500, he does not have a stage win so far this year. Last weekend at Las Vegas, Truex finished sixth and fourth, respectively, in the opening two stages and collected valuable points that could prove important at the end of the regular season.
● With his seventh-place finish at Las Vegas last weekend, Truex heads to Phoenix fifth in the standings with 102 points, 27 out of the lead, as the Cup Series finishes off its three-race West Coast swing in the Arizona desert.
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Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD |
What is the biggest challenge for you when racing at Phoenix?
Phoenix is very straightforward looking, but the two ends are so different that it’s a big challenge to get your car working good, especially with the NextGen car having come around, and we are shifting a bit. It’s definitely a fun place and it’s been really racy there the last couple of years and I enjoy going there. I feel like we needed a little bit more in Vegas and hopefully we have that this weekend in Phoenix with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota.”
Let’s say you are in the lead on the final restart at Phoenix. What’s going through your mind?
“I think just getting a good jump and getting through turns one and two. That dogleg breeds opportunities to cut the corner. If you can get to turn one with a little bit of a cushion, you are in generally good shape, so it’s all about the restart there to be able to maintain the lead and be able to bring it home.”
Your team changed the over-the-wall pit crew, but the road crew guys are the virtually the same. How do you feel about your team after the first four events of the season?
“We really had no changes to our team guys that work on the car all weekend. That’s a group that is very good, and James (Small, crew chief) does a great job leading those guys. We think in the long term our over-the-wall guys are going to help us a ton. Just looking forward to taking advantage of opportunities. James took a gamble at Vegas and put us in position to steal one, we just didn’t get the two or three other guys that we needed to gamble with us and we finished seventh instead of maybe third or fourth, so that was worth a chance. We had a good season last year but we didn’t get a win, but we had a lot of opportunities to do that and it slipped away. That’s what we are focused on, trying to limit our mistakes and trying to be better more consistently. I think the changes NASCAR has made to the cars will help us on the short tracks and other places where we struggled last year. We’ll have a little extra practice this weekend on Friday to get dialed in and see where our Bass Pro Shops Camry stacks up with some of the package changes that were made.” |
Monday, February 13, 2023
Kevin Harvick is 25/1 to win in his final Daytona 500
KEVIN HARVICK Daytona Speedweek Pole Qualifying | Duel | Daytona 500 No. 4 Busch Light #Busch401K Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing
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Event Overview |
Wednesday, Feb. 15: Daytona 500 qualifying (single-lap qualifying to determine pole for the Daytona 500) ● Time/TV/Radio: 8 p.m. ET on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Thursday, Feb. 16: Bluegreen Vacations Duel (twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the field for the Daytona 500) ● Time/TV/Radio: 7 p.m. ET on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Sunday, Feb. 19: 65th annual Daytona 500 (first of 36 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races in 2023) ● Time/TV/Radio: 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
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Notes of Interest |
● Back on Jan. 12, Kevin Harvick announced that 2023 would be his final year in the NASCAR Cup Series. The driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing will retire after the checkered flag waves at the season finale Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway. When that day comes, Harvick will have had a 23-year run in the Cup Series – one of the longest tenures in recent memory. A championship in 2014 and 60 points-paying victories ensures Harvick is set for his golden years. Busch Light wants to help one lucky Harvick fan with his or her own swansong by contributing toward his or her retirement, along with other big prizes. Fans just need to follow @BuschBeer and turn on notifications to find out how to win leading into the Daytona 500. The 65th Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway gets underway at 2:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 19, with live coverage on FOX.
● The Daytona 500 will be Kevin Harvick’s 22nd career start in The Great American Race. His first Daytona 500 came 21 years ago on Feb. 17, 2002. He started second in that race and finished 36th after getting collected in a multicar accident on lap 150.
● Of the 43 drivers who competed in the 2002 Daytona 500, only one is entered in this year’s race – Harvick. The 65th Daytona 500 will be his 791st career NASCAR Cup Series start. In terms of career starts, the next closest driver to Harvick is Kyle Busch. He will make his 643rd career Cup Series start in the Daytona 500.
● In the 2002 Daytona 500, three of the drivers Harvick competed against were Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton and Dave Blaney. In the 2023 Daytona 500, Harvick will compete against their sons, as Chase Elliott, Harrison Burton and Ryan Blaney follow in the footsteps of their fathers.
● Trivia Time! How many NASCAR Hall of Famers competed in the 2002 Daytona 500? Answer: 10. They are Mark Martin (finished sixth), Jeff Gordon (finished ninth), Elliott (finished 11th), Dale Jarrett (finished 14th), Rusty Wallace (finished 18th), Terry Labonte (finished 20th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (finished 29th), Matt Kenseth (finished 33rd), Bobby Labonte (finished 34th) and Tony Stewart (finished 43rd). Who won the race? Answer: Ward Burton by .193 of a second over Elliott Sadler. It was the fourth of his five career NASCAR Cup Series victories. (FYI: Ward Burton is Jeff Burton’s brother and Harrison Burton’s uncle.)
● Five years and one day after Harvick’s Daytona 500 debut, he won the 2007 Daytona 500. He edged the aforementioned Martin for the victory by .02 of a second in a frantic green-white-checkered finish. It is the second-closest finish in Daytona 500 history, trailing only Denny Hamlin’s .01-of-a-second advantage over Martin Truex Jr., in 2016.
● To earn a spot in this year’s Daytona 500, drivers must first compete in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel – twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the 40-car field for the Daytona 500. Harvick has won his Duel race twice (2013 and 2019). The driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing is currently on a run of eight straight top-10 finishes in the Duel, and he has finished among the top-five in six of his last seven Duel races.
● Before drivers compete in the Duel, they race the clock in single-lap qualifying. The two fastest cars are locked into the field while the rest of the drivers are split into the Duel. Qualifiers in odd-numbered positions are in the first Duel and qualifiers in even-numbered positions are in the second Duel. Harvick has never started on the pole for the Daytona 500, but he did take the outside pole once – 2002 in his first Daytona 500. Harvick lapped the 2.5-mile oval in 48.447 seconds at 185.770 mph, just .016 of a second off the pole-winning time of Jimmie Johnson.
● The 2023 season marks Harvick’s 23rd year in the NASCAR Cup Series. Of his 790 career, points-paying starts, 43 of them have come on Daytona’s 2.5-mile oval. In addition to his 2017 Daytona 500 victory, Harvick won the 2010 Coke Zero 400. He has 11 top-fives and 16 top-10s on the Daytona oval. The 65th Daytona 500 will be his 44th points-paying start on the Daytona oval.
● Outside of the NASCAR Cup Series, Harvick has made 19 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Daytona and three IROC starts. Of Harvick’s 47 Xfinity Series wins, only one is at Daytona – the 2007 season opener. And Harvick’s best IROC finish at Daytona is seventh, earned twice (2003 and 2004). Harvick is a two-time Xfinity Series champion (2001 and 2006) and the 2002 IROC champion.
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Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light #Busch401K Ford Mustang |
What is your mindset as you begin your final season in the NASCAR Cup Series? “My mentality heading into our last Cup season is to do the exact same things we’ve done for the last 22 years. That’s be competitive and make sure that every week you show up at the racetrack and do all that you can do for your teammates. I know my guys on our Busch Light Ford Mustang show up every week at 100 percent, and you know if you’re not 100 percent, you’re letting the rest of that team down because they’re locked, loaded and ready with the details that it takes to be competitive. And if we’re not competitive, we have access to a group of people who can communicate and do the things needed to figure it out. I want to do whatever we have to do to get back to victory lane and be competitive. I love going to the racetrack with the guys that I have on our car, and everybody at Stewart-Haas has been so great. From the very beginning, they let us go out and hire Rodney (Childers, crew chief) and let him build a group of guys around our No. 4 car, and I think the success speaks for itself. It’s going to be a fun year with a lot of stories and things that we’ve done and remember when we came here for the first time nine years ago. We’re going to laugh and pat each other on the back and tell each other how much we’ve enjoyed the beginning days all the way through to the end. Everybody knows that we’re going to show up and do the same things that we’ve done and be prepared just like we would be, because that’s our job.”
You ran your first Daytona 500 21 years ago. What was that experience like? “For me and my career, a lot of things happened backward, probably the opposite of the way they should have. My first season in Cup (2001), I ran every race but the Daytona 500 because of Dale Earnhardt’s death and replacing him in the car. Coming back to the Daytona 500 in 2002 was probably one of the bigger moments in my career just because of all the hype and anticipation from 2001 that led into the Daytona 500. I think I wound up at the front of a 23-car pileup, so it was definitely one of those moments where you wish you could’ve done it a little bit differently and had the outcome be a little bit better. But the Daytona 500 can get your emotions and twist them upside down and make you just crazy and want to do things that you know you shouldn’t do and take risks that you know you shouldn’t take and aren’t going to work, but you’ll do them anyway just because of it being the Daytona 500. Controlling those emotions and controlling those expectations – controlling the week, really – is important. It used to be 12, 14 days of the buildup to the event – we still have the buildup, it’s a much shorter amount of time – but the plot goes everywhere. You have a good qualifying race, bad qualifying race. You used to have the Clash at Daytona – good Clash, bad Clash. PR day, PR stories, whatever, there’s just a lot of hype and buildup that goes into the race and you can’t get caught up in it.”
What is it like to compete in the Daytona 500? “There’s nothing like coming to the green flag at the Daytona 500. The reason is hard to explain unless you’ve done it. There’s no other race like the Daytona 500, and I realized that when I won the Daytona 500 in 2007. You look at the names on that trophy and you go back and look at the history of our sport, and a lot of it has been made at Daytona. Whether it’s from the beach or the big track, it’s the who’s who of NASCAR. The Daytona 500 is the biggest race you’ll ever be a part of, and it’s the biggest win you’ll ever have. It’s definitely the heart of NASCAR and what we do.”
You’re often asked about your strategy in a superspeedway race. But what strategy is there for the entire week of Daytona, where you want to show speed, but also keep a clean car through qualifying, the Duel and then, finally, the Daytona 500? “As you go through the week, it’s that evolution of the enthusiasm ramping up as you get closer to the Daytona 500. You have to maintain a pretty even-keeled approach to things just because of the fact that you don’t want to be so jacked up and make a stupid move and tear up your car before you even get to the Daytona 500. But you also want to get everything that you can because you want to get the best starting position you can and the best pit selection that you can for the 500. It’s a different mentality than any other week because you practice and race and practice and race again. But it’s not just a race. It’s the Daytona 500. So, it’s a different type of enthusiasm headed for the green flag.”
What does it take to win the Daytona 500? “The superspeedways, in general, are difficult to have everything line up to get a win out of the weekend. For the Daytona 500, it’s our biggest race of the year, but it’s also the one race a year that you have months to prepare for. Every team in the garage has their most prepared car that shows up at the Daytona 500. On top of that, you have the most aggression and enthusiasm to try to take risks and do things that you normally wouldn’t do to win races because the Daytona 500 only comes once a year, and it can make a year and it can also make a career out of winning that race. I think as you look at the Daytona 500, it’s just different than any other race and it becomes difficult to win because of all the risk-taking that you don’t see on a weekly basis.”
How does a Daytona 500 win impact your career? “I’d always heard that when you win the Daytona 500, it’ll be like no other race, and it really is. You win more money, and you’re always introduced as the Daytona 500 champion from that particular year. When you start the year off by winning the Daytona 500, your season’s pretty much made. Racing against Mark Martin and beating one of the sport’s greats back to the finish line, that’s a moment in time that will always be special, not only in my career, but the sport, in general.”
When you won the 2007 Daytona 500, you beat Mark Martin by .02 of a second in a frantic green-white-checkered finish. Take us through that final lap. “A lot of things that people overlook about that race is that it really wasn’t about the final lap. With 12 or 15 laps to go, we were 30-something – a long way from the front. Those last several laps, when you go back and watch the in-car video, you see all the passes and us scraping the fence and yellows and restarts, and then the push down the back straightaway from Matt Kenseth, which really is what helped us win that race. When I go back and look at that last lap, I think pulling out of line and seeing Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton back there and not really knowing if Matt would pull out. The thought process at that particular time was, if I pulled out, Matt would know that Jeff was going to pull out, and it all kind of played out and Matt just gave us a huge push down the back straightaway. Then it was just a side-drafting game off turn four back to the start-finish line, and we were in good position to be on the right side of that. It was an exciting last 12 or 15 laps when you look back at it. I think the pit box was closed and covered and everybody was probably taking things back to the hauler. I don’t even think all the guys were still in the pit box. Best I can remember it was crew chief, engineer, car chief and DeLana sitting on the pit wall waiting for the race to end just because they thought it was over. It wasn’t over, and that’s been the case a lot of times. That Daytona 500 sticks out because of the fact that it’s our sport’s biggest race and it puts you in a position to be on that Harley J. Earl trophy next to some of the biggest names in our sport.”
Did going back to Daytona feel different after you had become a Daytona 500 champion? “Well, I think you put a lot less pressure on yourself just because when you’re around this sport for a long time, you understand the importance of having that Harley J. Earl trophy and having your name on it. When you look at the names that are on it, you understand its significance – how it’s migrated from the beach to the biggest single race in our sport.” |
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Bristol NASCAR Betting Preview: 2022 Food City Dirt Race
NASCAR put 23,000 cubic yards of dirt over Bristol Motor Speedway’s half-mile high-banked concrete layout to give us a Sunday night special called the Food City Dirt Race. It’s the ninth race of the season and the second year in a row NASCAR has tried the dirt gimmick.
FOOD CITY DIRT RACE PICKS & PREDICTIONS
I’d much rather see two races a season on Bristol’s concrete with the new car, but just because they put dirt tires on and slip and slide around the track in what sometimes looks like a constant drift doesn’t mean I’m not going to watch it. Odds are posted on the 250 lap event so I’m going to do my darndest to make some money on it.
It’s still NASCAR on Sunday night with all the drivers, crew chiefs, and teams I like. They’re still making left turns, the track just has dirt on it. I have an idea of what drivers have dirt experience and which don’t, but that’s about it. I’m making six to seven wagers using 10 units staggered with my top bets getting more units.
I could get it over quickly and go bet a horse race or play one spin of roulette, but I got lucky last season with Joey Logano winning, a pick I made because he had one of the best cars using the 750 horsepower package, so I’m going to try it again.
But I do have to draw the line somewhere. If the NASCAR suits come up with another brilliant gimmick for next year with figure-8 racing, monster truck pulls, or a demolition derby, I’m out. And if we have to dirt race again, do it at an old track like North Wilkesboro or Rockingham – revive an old track with dirt.
So let’s get this thing started. We’ve got two practices on Friday and qualifying Heat races on Saturday which should help find a few gems for Sunday's race.
Below are a few drivers I like to do well and I let them tell their own dirt story with odds courtesy of Caesars sportsbooks.
FOOD CITY DIRT RACE BETTING RESOURCES
- Date: Saturday, April 16, 2022
- TV-Time: FOX, 7:00 p.m. ET
- Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway
- Location: Bristol, Tennessee
- Distance: 133.25 miles
- Laps: 250
FOOD CITY DIRT RACE BETTING ANALYSIS
#13 CHASE BRISCOE (12/1)
He was 20th last season but he’s better than that. He’s got real dirt skills that should be amplified with the confidence of having a Cup win. “I don’t really know what to expect, just because I’ve never driven a car that has this type of suspension on dirt,” Briscoe said. “So how it drives on dirt and what you feel is probably totally different than what I’ve experienced. The other big component is the tires. The sidewall is so much shorter and stiffer than what we had before, from a side-bite and lateral grip standpoint. It’ll be totally different how the car reacts and the grip level that you have compared to anything I’ve raced. But we’ve got a couple of practices and heat races to figure it out.”
#18 KYLE BUSCH (14/1)
He was 17th in last season's dirt race and led seven laps early. “The dirt guys, I would say, definitely have an advantage,” Busch said. “The more experience you have on dirt, the more trust you have in what the vehicle can do on dirt and what your driving style is, or what your driving technique can be, and how you can trust the grip level that the dirt has versus what your car has. I think there are a lot of things the dirt guys can really pick up on. You always see in those truck races the guys who are good at it, that put some time into it, are better than the ones that do not. I can’t name them all, but (Kyle) Larson, Christopher (Bell), (Tyler) Reddick, even Bubba (Wallace). Bubba never really had any dirt experience, but he did a good job in the Eldora race for us. Those guys will shine, and I think they will be faster during points of the weekend, but I think it’s all going to be circumstantial on how it comes down to the end and what exactly happens toward the finish.”
#48 ALEX BOWMAN (17/1)
He was 22nd in last season’s dirt race, but he’s a wild card for me this week because he’s racing in the Truck Series this weekend as well and the experience should help him. He’s got Hendrick equipment so the car should be fast. “There are a lot of new challenges with the Gen-seven car,” Bowman said. “The car is designed to look like a streetcar and has parts that are similar to the production car, so it makes it tough to take it on dirt. The guys at Hendrick Motorsports do a great job of putting together really fast cars and giving me what I need to be competitive every week. We don’t have any notes for the event, but I think some of the changes to even, like making it a night race, will help us put on a better show for the fans. Hopefully, we can get another win this year and take home another cool trophy.”
#4 KEVIN HARVICK (25/1)
He was 15th in last season’s dirt race and talks about his dirt experience. “I ran Tony Stewart’s Prelude to the Dream at Eldora four times, and the last one was in 2009,” said Harvick about his dirt experience. “I actually ran a lot of races on dirt around that time. The only one I ever won was at Dave Blaney’s track (Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio) and that was in an IMCA car. But I ran the IMCA car several times that year, probably four or five times. I’m fairly certain I ran in my hometown of Bakersfield (California), I ran at Blaney’s track in Ohio, I ran at Macon in Illinois, I ran in Minnesota – all that stuff was around the time when I raced in the Prelude.”
Read More Here.......Top-5 Finish prediction on VegasInsider.com
Tuesday, February 22, 2022
Saturday, February 12, 2022
Thursday, February 10, 2022
2022 Daytona 500 Schedule of Events
Monday, February 14
4:30 PM NCS ROOKIE MEETING (VIRTUAL)
5:00 PM NCS DRIVER / CREW CHIEF MEETING (VIRTUAL)
6:00 PM-9:00 PM NCS HAULERS ENTER (EQUIPMENT UNLOADING)
Tuesday, February 15
12:00 PM-10:00 PM NCS GARAGE OPEN
12:00 PM-5:00 PM NCS INSPECTION IN PROGRESS
4:00 PM NCS RANDOM DRAWING (QUALIFYING LINEUP) (VIRTUAL)
5:05 PM-5:55 PM NCS 1ST PRACTICE TV: FS1
6:35 PM-7:25 PM NCS 2ND PRACTICE TV: FS1
Wednesday, February 16
8:00 AM-4:00 PM NCS MEDIA DAY (DAYTONA 500 CLUB)
2:00 PM-10:00 PM NCS GARAGE OPEN
3:30 PM-8:00 PM NCS INSPECTION IN PROGRESS
8:05 PM-9:30 PM NCS QUALIFYING (IMPOUND) (SINGLE VEHICLE / 1 LAP / 2 ROUNDS) TV: FS1
Thursday, February 17
4:00 PM-11:00 PM NCS GARAGE OPEN
5:00 PM-11:00 PM NCS VIP GARAGE ACCESS PERMITTED
6:25 PM NCS GRID ACCESS OPEN TO PROPERLY CREDENTIALED GUESTS (PIT ROAD)
6:30 PM NCS DRIVERS REPORT TO VEHICLES (RACE #1)
6:35 PM NCS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS (DRIVERS STANDING BY CARS)
7:00 PM NCS 1ST QUALIFYING RACE (60 LAPS, 150 MILES) TV: FS1
8:25 PM NCS GRID ACCESS OPEN TO PROPERLY CREDENTIALED GUESTS (PIT ROAD)
8:30 PM NCS DRIVERS REPORT TO VEHICLES (RACE #2)
8:45 PM Approx NCS 2ND QUALIFYING RACE (60 LAPS, 150 MILES) TV: FS1
Friday, February 18
12:00 PM-9:30 PM NCS GARAGE OPEN
1:00 PM-9:30 PM NCS VIP GARAGE ACCESS PERMITTED
5:35 PM-6:25 PM NCS 3RD PRACTICE TV: FS1
Saturday, February 19
8:00 AM-2:30 PM NCS GARAGE OPEN
9:00 AM-2:30 PM NCS VIP GARAGE ACCESS PERMITTED
10:30-11:20 AM NCS FINAL PRACTICE TV: FS2/ TV: FS1
8:30 PM DAYTONA 500 PARTY
Sunday, February 20
8:00 AM NCS GARAGE OPEN
9:30 AM-1:00 PM NCS INSPECTION IN PROGRESS
1:55 PM NCS DRIVERS REPORT FOR PRE-RACE (STAGE)
2:00 PM NCS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS
2:30 PM NCS RACE (STAGES 65/130/200 LAPS = 500 MILES) TV: FOX
7:00 PM NCS HAULERS EXIT