It’s time to go road racing, as NASCAR eschews its usual circular habits for the twists and turns of Circuit of the Americas.
Before the teams unload their haulers in Texas, here are the wagers we’re eyeing for Sunday’s Echopark Automotive Grand Prix.
All odds via Draftkings Sportsbook.
Ben Watanabe
Group D: Tyler Reddick +210; Kurt Busch +210; Kevin Harvick +300; Chris Buescher +310
Unlike a very vocal segment of NASCAR fandom, I don’t care for stock car road racing. But it’s only becoming more prevalent as the sport looks for ways to put its most-popular driver and road course master Chase Elliott in a position to dominate. Quietly, however, Buescher has built up a résumé as a solid road racer, showing that his 13th-place finish at COTA last year (after starting 28th) wasn’t a fluke. He also boasts a third-place finish at the Charlotte ROVAL and a fifth-place finish on the Daytona road course. The main threat here might be Reddick, who took ninth in this race last year.
Mike Cole
A.J. Allmendinger, top 3 +300
Some of the numbers this week are comical; Chase Elliott or Kyle Larson both 3-1 or better to win the race? No, thank you. I’ll roll with Allmendinger, who obviously doesn’t have the ceiling of those two, but I’m paying the same price for three spots. Allmendinger has thrived when he has to turn right, especially recently, winning at Indy with a top-five finish last year at COTA. He also got himself a top-10 finish at the Daytona road course. He also has a win at Watkins Glen in his career. Good enough for me this week.
Dakota Randall
Martin Truex Jr., winner +1000
Chase Elliott gets all the love as NASCAR’s best road racer, and deservedly so. But you easily could make a case that Truex and not Kyle Larson — who has the second-best odds to win this race — is as good, if not better, than Elliott. Truex didn’t do so hot in this race last year, but he’s been stellar at the other road courses. The veteran finished third in one of his two starts at the Daytona road course, and he has 16 top 10 finishes, including four victories, in 30 combined Cup Series starts at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen International. Truex has been a bit hit-or-miss this season, but a road race might be just what the Joe Gibbs Racing driver needs to catch fire.
