Toyota 500 Picks, Odds, & Predictions 5/20/2020

by Guy Bruhn - 5/18/2020

Race: Toyota 500

Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Location: Darlington Raceway

TV: FOX

NASCAR resumes at Darlington Raceway again this Wednesday after a successful post-pandemic event on Sunday. This will be the 117th race in the track's history. With 25 degrees of banking in turns 1 and 2, this track is unique compared to most tracks these drivers are used to. A lot of time is spent racing against the wall, which obviously increases the chance of wrecks. The track has been around since 1950 and is 1.36 miles. That means this race will be 229 laps. Hendrick Motorsports has 11 wins at Darlington, which is the most among NASCAR teams. Jeff Gordon (6 wins) has the most victories at the famed track.

In terms of the Cup Standings, Kevin Harvick leads the drivers in points with 218. He's led for 318 of the 1,285 laps he's driven, which has allowed him to distance himself from Alex Bowman (190 points), who's in 2nd place right now. Harvick has 5 top 10 finishes in 5 races, including 1 win and 3 races where he finished in the top 5. His average starting position is 5.2, so he's putting himself in a great position by qualifying really high. Bowman has also raced extremely well this season, finishing in the top 5 twice and winning one race. He's led 154 laps this season and has earned himself an average starting position of 5.4 to this point. Another driver to look out for is Joey Logano, who is ranked 3rd in the Cup standings with 185 points. Logano has won 2 races this season, and he's the only driver that can make that claim right now. He failed to finish in the top 10 in his other 3 races, though, so that is why he's 33 points behind the leader Harvick.

Real Heroes 400 Results

In NASCAR's return to racing following the pandemic, Kevin Harvick took home the win after leading 159 laps. He earned 54 points toward the Cup standings, which allowed him to widen his lead over Alex Bowman. The Busch Light Ford dominated most of the race on Sunday, as Bowman and Brad Keselowski were the only 2 other drivers to lead meaningful laps. Bowman led 41 laps and was able to get 52 points toward the Cup standings, so he did about as good as he could to keep pace with Harvick. Harvick started in the 6th position while Bowman started 2nd. Keselowski ended up finishing 13th after starting the race 1st. Kurt Busch finished 3rd on Sunday, collecting 39 points toward the Cup standings. The Monster Energy Chevrolet started 22nd and didn't lead any laps, but he steadily kept climbing throughout the day. The top 5 was rounded out by Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin. The biggest riser of the day was Tyler Reddick, who started 29th but was able to finish 7th.

Odds for the Toyota 500 are as follows:

Kevin Harvick +350
Kyle Busch +700
Brad Keselowski +750
Denny Hamlin +800
Martin Truex Jr.+850
Alex Bowman +900
Joey Logano +900
Chase Elliott +900
Kurt Busch +1,400
Erik Jones +2,000
Ryan Blaney +2,500
Jimmie Johnson +2,500
Matt Kenseth +2,800
William Byron +3,000
Clint Bowyer +3,500
Matt Di Benedetto +4,000
Aric Amirola +5,000

Who will win the event at Darlington?

Guy's Pick: Take Brad Keselowski +750

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Toyota 500 Picks, Odds, & Predictions 5/20/2020

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