NASCAR has gone to football stadiums and road courses this season in an attempt to mix up its racing product. But for a standard-seeming oval short track, Richmond Raceway brings one of the most unique mixtures of challenges on the schedule.
A 3/4-mile, D-shaped track with coarse asphalt, Richmond presents all the factors of a short-track with serious tire fall-off thrown in. That’s less of an issue when stage racing limits the length of green-flag runs, but it’s still a risk if drivers push too hard early on.
Let’s dive into our NASCAR betting experts’ picks for the Toyota Owners 400.
All odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Ben Watanabe
Group B: William Byron +240; Joey Logano +240; Tyler Reddick +250; Ross Chastain +250
I’m done underestimating this kid. Since his rough start to the season, Reddick has finished seventh or better in three of the last four races, including his P5 at Circuit of The Americas. The 26-year-old can wheel it, and although he hasn’t been a world-beater at Richmond, finishing 11th, 20th and 15th in his three starts, he looks like he’s ready to ascend this season after last year’s first-round playoff exit.
Mike Cole
Christopher Bell, top Toyota +350
There’s a pretty good chance a Toyota takes the checkers given the recent Richmond dominance for Joe Gibbs Racing. Perhaps it’s a little bold to circle Bell against the likes of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., but there’s obviously more value with the least-proven of the bunch. Bell has benefited from the JGR thing here with a third- and a fourth-place finish, so I’ve basically talked myself into this being a coin flip — but with a chance to win bigger. It works in my head.
Dakota Randall
Todd Gilliland, top three +2,500
Hear me out. Yes, this is the first short-track start in a Cup Series race for the rookie Gilliland, who skipped the Xfinity Series entirely. However, he has top-20 finishes in two of his last three races, and has run well despite his lack of experience. But here’s why I’m comfortable taking a swing: Gilliland has six top-10 finishes, including two top-fives and one victory, in 13 combined Truck Series races at Richmond, Martinsville Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway. Those numbers would be even better if you included races at Eldora, Iowa and on the Bristol dirt track. Wanna get even weirder? Gilliland is +20,000 to win and +6,500 to finish as the top Ford. Live a little.
