Denny Hamlin is 11/1 to win YellaWood 500 at Talladega

Denny Hamlin

11 FedEx Express Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Sunday Race Info:
Race: YellaWood 500
Date/Time: Sunday, Oct. 3/2:00 p.m. ET
Distance: 188 laps/500.08 miles
Track Shape: Tri-Oval
Track Length: 2.66 Miles
Banking: 33 degrees

Express Notes:

Press Kit: Download the 2021 FedEx Racing press materials at www.fedexracing.com/presskit, including bios for Denny Hamlin, Chris Gabehart and Joe Gibbs Racing leadership, program highlights and statistics.

Las Vegas Recap: Denny Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team scored their second win of the Playoffs and claimed their spot in the Round of 8 with a dominant win Sunday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hamlin led more than half of the race and claimed the Stage 2 win before pulling away in Stage 3 to lead the race’s final 39 laps. Crew chief Chris Gabehart and the #11 team got the FedEx Office Toyota handling better and better as the race wore on, and the pit crew gained Hamlin positions on pit road with fast stops as well. The win is Hamlin’s first at the 1.5-mile Nevada oval and his second of the 2021 season.

Talladega Preview: Denny Hamlin and the FedEx Racing team now head into the more precarious Round of 12 races at Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval knowing they’ve already advanced to the next round. First up is the 2.66-mile superspeedway at Talladega on Sunday. In 31 career starts at the tri-oval track, Hamlin has recorded two wins and nine top-5 finishes, including a win at the fall race one year ago.

Hamlin Statistics:

Track: Talladega Superspeedway

Races: 31
Wins: 2
Poles: 0
Top-5: 9
Top-10: 13
Laps Led: 389
Avg. Start: 16.4
Avg. Finish: 17.2

Hamlin Conversation – Talladega:

Do you feel a sense of relief to know you’re already moving into the Round of 8?

“Definitely. Especially with the rest of this crazy round coming up. Talladega and the Roval are places where you don’t always have control over your own result, so it’s good to know we don’t have to worry about what might happen these next two weeks.”

Do you consider Kyle Larson your biggest competition in winning a title?

“We are our own competition. As long as we don’t make mistakes, we’re going to be OK. When we have clean races and don’t make any mistakes, we’re contending for race wins. We can’t really focus on one guy. I have to focus on the process that gives me a chance to race for a win. I just want an opportunity to go to Phoenix and have a chance.”

FedEx Express Along for the Ride at Talladega: Two Category 4 hurricanes just five weeks apart in September/October 2020 decimated Lake Charles, La., including the LCHA station. Despite catastrophic losses, station employees rallied as a team to provide humanitarian relief to the community while operating out of a makeshift trailer with limited connectivity. Fast forward to 2021, Lake Charles and surrounding communities once again were hit with two hurricanes just weeks apart, including another Category 4. Once again, the LCHA team responded by providing support and relief to the communities of Lafayette and Baton Rouge. Supporting the communities where they live and work epitomizes the FedEx culture value of CARING and is why FedEx Express is proud to honor its Lake Charles employees by featuring the letters LCHA on the B-post of the FedEx #11 at Talladega Superspeedway’s YellaWood 500.

Odds to win 2020 Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol

Brad Keselowski won the May race at Bristol.

NASCAR CUP SERIES

WESTGATE LAS VEGAS SUPERBOOK

ODDS TO WIN 2020 BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE

BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY 

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 - 7:50 PM ET

Denny HAMLIN 9/2
Chase ELLIOTT 9/2
Kyle BUSCH 6/1
Brad KESELOWSKI 6/1
Joey LOGANO 7/1
Kevin HARVICK 8/1
Ryan BLANEY 8/1
Martin TRUEX JR 18/1
Kurt BUSCH 25/1
Erik JONES 25/1
Alex BOWMAN 40/1
Clint BOWYER 40/1
Aric ALMIROLA 40/1
William BYRON 60/1
Jimmie JOHNSON 60/1
Matt DIBENEDETTO 60/1
Austin DILLON 60/1
Ricky STENHOUSE JR 60/1
Tyler REDDICK 60/1
Christopher BELL 60/1
Cole CUSTER 100/1
Matt KENSETH 200/1
Ryan NEWMAN 200/1
Chris BUESCHER 300/1
Darrell WALLACE JR 300/1
John HUNTER NEMCHECK 1000/1
Ryan PREECE 2000/1
Michael McDOWELL 2000/1
Ty DILLON 2000/1
Daniel SUAREZ 5000/1
Corey LAJOIE 10000/1
Brennan POOLE 10000/1
Timmy HILL 10000/1
Joey GASE 10000/1
JJ YELEY 10000/1
Quin HOUFF 10000/1
Josh BILICKI 10000/1
Reed SORENSON 10000/1
BJ McLEOD 10000/1
James DAVISON 10000/1

NASCAR Michigan Betting Preview: Doubleheader with two 312 mile races

Date: Saturday Aug. 8 and Sunday Aug. 9
Venue: Michigan International Speedway
Location: Brooklyn, Michigan
Television-Time: NBCSN, 4:00 p.m., 4:30 p.m. ET

Handicapping NASCAR at Michigan

There are so many important happenings this weekend at Michigan International Speedway that it’s hard where to start. Since this is a NASCAR betting piece I’ll start with the fact we have two races to bet on this weekend.

Yes, It’s a Saturday-Sunday doubleheader with each race reduced to 312 miles with the top-20 start position in Sunday’s race set by the inverted results from Saturday.

The Saturday winner starts 20th on Sunday and when NASCAR unveiled the two races in one weekend in June at Pocono, I thought the Sunday race was wild with the best cars starting 16th through 20th marching through the field to the front.

Saturday’s race saw Kevin Harvick dominate in clean air and hold off runner-up Denny Hamlin. On Sunday it was Hamlin winning with Harvick as runner-up. Aric Almirola also had top-fives in both races.

So it’s easy to understand why the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook posted Harvick as the 4/1 favorite with Hamlin next at 5/1 odds. Almirola, who had been 25/1 or 20/1 the last eight weeks, is now listed at 14/1 to win Saturday’s race.

Almirola currently is on a run of nine straight top-10 finishes and despite the odds drop I still bet him to win.

Perfect 10 for Almirola?

“Michigan is a weird place for me because, in my mind, I feel like I run well there,” Almirola said. “I won a Truck race there years ago and, from that point forward, I just always loved going to Michigan. My wife’s family is from Michigan, so I go to Michigan with such a great attitude. I felt like in our first race there last year we had a lot of speed.

I felt we had a top-five car there at Michigan and didn’t execute and things didn’t go our way with the restarts and I didn’t get the result. I’m excited about going back. Going to Michigan, there’s always a lot of pride for the manufacturers. I’d love to go there and keep the trophy in Ford’s backyard.”

Almirola brings up another fun fact I love about Michigan races regarding the manufacturer's battle. Ford leads the way with 39 Michigan wins, including the last four, and its Mercury division also won 12 times in the manufacturers battle near Motor City. Chevrolet has 26 wins and Toyota has five.

Kick the Tires

A couple of other fun facts regarding Michigan is that this will be the 15th and 16th race using the race package with engines producing 550 horsepower.

And the teams will also be using the Goodyear tire compound used at Las Vegas, Kentucky, and Texas, or better known as the tire that doesn’t wear and produced the biggest back/back long shot winners in NASCAR betting history in Las Vegas. Cole Custer’s win at Kentucky paid 300/1 and Austin Dillon’s win paid out 100/1 odds.

"With limited track time under the current schedules, teams enter this weekend’s races at Michigan already being familiar with this tire set-up," said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing.

READ MORE HERE....TOP-5 FINISH PREDICTION ON VEGASINSIDER.COM

Nevada sportsbooks win $18.8 million on Super Bowl 54

Nevada’s sportsbooks didn’t set a state record for Super Bowl win or handle in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 31-20 win against the San Francisco 49ers Sunday, but they came close.

And when looking at New Jersey losing the biggest game for the second straight year, it’s an amazing accomplishment for the industry in Nevada to write $154.7 million and win $18.8 million for a chunky 12.1 percent hold.

“We got the result we wanted,“ said MGM Resorts sportsbook director Jeff Stoneback shortly after the game. “It was our best day since 2008.”

Stoneback quickly corrected the notion of booking the game the same way as always and the breaks just went their way this time.

“Obviously, if the game goes over and the 49ers win it’s a different story,” Stoneback said.

READ MORE HERE....GAMING TODAY

Atlanta Betting Preview: Expect Elliott and Johnson to run well

How will Hendrick Motorsports fare in new Camaro on downforce track?

Jimmie Johnson is the active leader with five Atlanta wins over 26 starts where he's averaged an 11th-place finish. However, Johnson's performances on 1.5s fell off following his Texas win in April -- no top-5 finishes in his last eight starts on 1.5s. However, the worn surface is something he handles well and has an edge with over all the youngsters.

"The track is such a challenge for both the drivers and the teams," said Johnson. "I’m stoked they decided not to repave it just yet – that was a popular decision among the drivers. The surface is so abrasive that the tire falloff is so great, you will see us pitting halfway through a fuel run just to gain four or five seconds. I can’t wait to get there and slide around on the track.”

His 12/1 odds are very attractive.

Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports' teammate Chase Elliott hails from Georgia and he's been outstanding in his first two Cup starts on his home track.

"Atlanta will always be a special place for me," said Elliott who is 8/1 to win. "I remember watching the races from the playground as a kid in the driver/owner lot. Haven’t raced a ton here, but I was able to get the pole in 2014 in the Xfinity Series. I would love to make some more memories to go down in the book at Atlanta."

Elliott was fifth last season and eighth during his rookie year. He had top-five finishes in five of his last six starts on 1.5s. No wins yet, but it's going to happen soon. It's just a matter of time, and being at home would make it so appropriate to happen this week.

READ COMPLETE STORY HERE......TOP-5 FINISH PREDICTION ON VEGASINSIDER.COM

IndyCar Odds from Westgate: 2015 Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana

INDY GRAND PRIX OF LOUISIANA
NOLA MOTORSPORTS PARK
SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2015

WILL POWER 5-2
SIMON PAGENAUD 4
SCOTT DIXON 6
HELIO CASTRONEVES 7
JUAN MONTOYA 5
RYAN HUNTER-REAY 12
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS 12
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE 25
SAGE KARAM 50
CHARLIE KIMBALL 40
TONY KANAAN 30
JACK HAWKSWORTH 30
CARLOS MUNOZ 60
JOSEF NEWGARDEN 30
LUCA FILIPPI 40
MARCO ANDRETTI 50
TAKUMA SATO 40
GRAHAM RAHAL 50
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO 50
FIELD 40

Vettel opens as 5-to-2 favorite at LVH Super Book to win Canadian GP

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX
CIRCUIT GILLES VILLENEUVE
SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 2013

SEBASTIAN VETTEL 5-2
FERNANDO ALONSO 3
KIMI RAIKKONEN 6
LEWIS HAMILTON 7-2
MARK WEBBER 15
NICO ROSBERG 6
JENSON BUTTON 50
FELIPE MASSA 35
ROMAIN GROSJEAN 100
SERGIO PEREZ 75
ADRIAN SUTIL 100
NICO HULKENBERG 500
PAUL DI RESTA 100
DANIEL RICCIARDO 500
JEAN-ERIC VERGNE 500
PASTOR MALDONADO 1000
VALTTERI BOTTAS 1000
ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ 1000
CHARLES PIC 5000
FIELD 500

Las Vegas Hilton Super Book Odds To Win Atlanta Emory Healthcare 500

EMORY HEALTHCARE 500
ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010

JIMMIE JOHNSON 6
KYLE BUSCH10
JEFF GORDON 12
DENNY HAMLIN 12
JEFF BURTON 18
KEVIN HARVICK 8
MATT KENSETH 18
CARL EDWARDS 12
GREG BIFFLE 12
KURT BUSCH 8
MARK MARTIN 30
TONY STEWART 12
CLINT BOWYER 20
JUAN MONTOYA 12
KASEY KAHNE 10
JOEY LOGANO 35
RYAN NEWMAN 40
MARTIN TRUEX JR 30
JAMIE McMURRAY 20
DALE EARNHARDT JR 50
BRAD KESELOWSKI 100
DAVID REUTIMANN 30
REED SORENSON 200
DAVID RAGAN 100
AJ ALLMENDINGER 75
MARCOS AMBROSE 200
SAM HORNISH JR 200
ELLIOTT SADLER 300
REGAN SMITH 500
PAUL MENARD 200
SCOTT SPEED 500
BOBBY LABONTE 3000
TRAVIS KVAPIL 3000
FIELD 100