O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Picks, Odds, & Predictions 7/19/2020

by Tony Sink - 7/17/2020

Race: O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

Date: Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 2:30 PM EST

Location: Texas Motor Speedway

TV: NBCSN

Texas Motor Speedway is set to host thousands of fans in the middle of a pandemic this weekend in Fort Worth, TX. Even though "safety protocols" will be in place, it will be interesting to see how the first major sporting event with fans goes. The track in terms of racing features 20 degree banks in turns 1 & 2 and 24 degree banks in turns 3 & 4. It's a quad-oval track and pretty similar to the layouts of Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways. Jimmie Johnson holds 7 wins at the track, and leads in most Top 5's (15) and Top 10's (21). Kevin Harvick most recently won at the track in November.

Quaker State 400 Results

Cole Custer, a rookie on the circuit this season, passed Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, and Martin Truex on the last lap to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series win. He also became the first rookie to win at Kentucky. Custer led only 5 laps, but he gained 48 points toward the series standings and jumped from 25th to 20th with his victory. He started the day in the 29th position, but he steadily climbed his way throughout the day and made his move right at the end when it counted. Custer was 1 of 3 Ford's to finish in the Top 4. Truex Jr. finished 2nd after leading for 57 laps on the day, but he was able to garner an additional 42 points toward the Series Championship. Matt DiBenedetto finished 3rd ahead of Harvick, leading only 1 lap on the day. Aric Almirola led the most laps with 128, but fell back late to finish 8th. Kurt Busch rounded out the Top 5 at Kentucky behind Harvick. Busch didn't lead any laps but he did collect 35 points toward the series standings.

2020 Cup Series Standings Update

With 675 points, Kevin Harvick now leads 2nd place Brad Keselowski by 88 points in the hunt for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship. Harvick has been by far the most consistent driver on the circuit this season, finishing in the Top 10 in 14 of 17 races. He's won 4 times and finished in the Top five 10 times. Harvick has led for 651 laps this year, far outpacing 2nd place Joey Logano, who has led for 538 laps. His average finish of 6.7 is also tops on the circuit. Keselowski is having a great year as well, with 12 finishes in the Top 10 and 6 in the Top 5. He's only led for 399 laps this season, but his average finish of 9.4 in the only other driver besides Harvick to have an average finish in the Top 10. Ryan Blaney now sits in 3rd place in the standings with 580 points, only 7 pts behind Keselowski. Blaney has seven Top 5's and 8 Top 10's this season. Chase Elliot is only 5 points behind Blaney in 4th place, boasting 9 finishes in the Top 10 and 7 in the Top 5. Logano comes in behind Blaney to round out the Top 5 in the standings. Logano hasn't been as consistent lately, finishing in the Top 5 only 3 times. He's 11 points behind Blaney but 111 points behind Harvick.

O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Odds

Kevin Harvick 3/1
Kyle Busch 6/1
Denny Hamlin 6/1
Martin Truex Jr 8/1
Ryan Blaney 10/1
Joey Logano 10/1
Chase Elliott 10/1
Brad Keselowski 10/1
Kurt Busch 25/1
Aric Almirola 25/1
Alex Bowman 30/1
Erik Jones 30/1
Matt Dibenedetto 30/1
William Byron 40/1
Jimmie Johnson 30/1
Clint Bowyer 50/1
Tyler Reddick 80/1
Christopher Bell 80/1
Austin Dillon 80/1
Cole Custer 100/1
Matt Kenseth 100/1
Ryan Newman 100/1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr 100/1

Who will win this event at Texas? Brad Keselowski is the best value here at 10/1 and just finished 2nd last week, so I'm going to roll with him this week. He's been incredibly consistent this season and don't expect that to change on Sunday.

Tony's Pick: Take Brad Keselowski (10/1)

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Pick:	CHICAGO BEARS +3
Start:	November 24, 2024 @ 1:00 PM
Expert:	Doc's Sports

Analysis:

Free Play from Doc’s Sports. Take #256 Chicago Bears +3 over Minnesota Vikings (1p.m., Sunday, November 24 FOX) We used the Bears as a free play winner last Sunday and easily covered the spread and should have been an underdog outright winner. Now we will ride them for a second straight week against another NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are 8-2 on the season, yet are only around a field goal favorite. I still do not trust Sam Donald to win consistently over the course of a 17 game regular season. Minnesota is not as good as their 8-2 record would indicate and playing outdoors in Chicago on Sunday will cause issues for them on both sides of the ball. Chicago has been hit or miss this season, but they will be up to play another divisional rival and we expect them to take this down to the wire as well. Do not miss out on Doc’s Sports Weekend Card featuring top plays in college and NFL football. Read More Read Less

O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Picks, Odds, & Predictions 7/19/2020

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