USA Today 301 Picks, Odds & Predictions 6/23/2024
Enjoy Illinois 300
Sunday, June 23, 2024
2:30 PM EST
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, New Hampshire
This week, NASCAR will be staying on the short track as we head to the flat oval in New Hampshire from the corn fields of Nebraska for the USA Today 301. This is a true oval with 1 degree of banking on both straight aways and 2 to 7 degrees of banking in every turn. You could say this track is truly a flat track. How the care exits corners and holds turn will are really important in this race, so you could say that the fine tuning of the handling will be one of the most important factors for the drivers looking to get the win. The patience of the crew chiefs and drivers will be tested on Sunday as this track is short and challenging. If the team stays persistent, a car that isn't handling like it should be adjusted to reap big rewards. A lack of patience could result in pushing the speed and handling of the vehicle and lead to a crash. We saw a lot of wild, three wide racing last weekend so the trend isn't heading towards "patience". However, the team that is able to fight the urge to push the limits might very well cross the finish line as the winner.
In 2018, NASCAR elected to start coming to Loudon only once a year instead of the usual two times. Because of this, there isn't data on the season to see who did well here. On the other hand, Phoenix and Martinsville are great races to look at to try to get some clarity into what might happen this weekend. They're both flat tracks where handling is very important. When looking at almost 20 years of racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, we'll see there are some drivers who have been very successful here. Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski both have an average finish inside the top-10 here. Other drivers that have done particularly well here include Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Kyle Busch. You'll notice that teams that "figure this track out" generally make a run for a year or two here.
Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol Recap
With the first of a Cup race in Iowa, Ryan Blaney also got his first win of the season, putting him contention for a playoff spot. The decision to take only two tires on a pit stop during the final caution of the night paid off big time as the Ford team driver led the final 88 laps of the race and won by under a second. William Byron finished right behind Blaney with Chase Elliot rounding out the top-3 after finishing 2.147 seconds behind the winner.
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NASCAR Playoff Standings
AS we speak, Kyle Larson is leading the charge heading towards a playoff birth with three wins and 583 points. Denny Hamlin also has three wins and is sitting with 553 points. William Byron has 537 points in addition to his three wins. Christopher Bell is holding down the fourth spot with 2 wins and 498 points while six other drivers have one win this season. Of those six drivers, Chase Elliott is sitting with 591 points.
USA Today 301 Odds
Christopher Bell - +400
Martin Truex Jr. - +500
Denny Hamlin - +600
Kyle Larson - +600
Ryan Blaney - +750
Joey Logano - +850
William Byron - +1200
Chase Elliott - +1100
Brad Keselowski - +1200
Tyler Reddick - +1800
Ty Gibbs - +2000
Ross Chastain - +2500
Kyle Busch - +3000
Josh Berry - +3000
Chris Buescher - +3000
Bubba Wallace - +4000
Alex Bowman - +5500
Noah Gragson - +10000
Chase Briscoe - +10000
Daniel Suarez - +10000
The Joe Gibbs Racing star announced that he'll be retiring after this season, so he's got some incentive to finish on a high note for his last time racing here. Truex is having a great season and has fared well on the two short tracks that he's raced this season. With a 3rd place finish in Dover and a top-5 finish at Richmond and Bristol, Truex is looking like one of the top drivers heading into this weekend.
Guy's Pick: Take Martin Truex Jr. (+500)
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