NASCAR Xfinity Series Best Bets: Pennzoil 250
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My read on this week's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis is very different than that of the sportsbooks.
The Xfinity Series is running their superspeedway engine package at Indianapolis. As a result, most sportsbooks are modeling this race as if it'll be a superspeedway race, a la Daytona or Talladega.
However, it's just the engines getting tweaked. The aero package will still be the same one the series uses elsewhere, meaning this will be the same set of rules used for races in Atlanta.
Back in the late 2010s, the Xfinity Series ran a full superspeedway package at Indianapolis. And even then -- with massive spoilers to punch a bigger hole in the air -- we still didn't see huge packs of cars.
Thus, although I do care a bit how drivers navigate the draft, I'm handicapping this puppy much more like a race at a high-speed intermediate track than one at a superspeedway. And it's leading to massive discrepancies between my model and FanDuel Sportsbook's NASCAR Xfinity Series betting odds.
Thus, take these with a grain of salt. It's possible I'm the dummy here, and it's important to acknowledge that.
With the proper caveats in place, here's how my win sims see things prior to practice and qualifying for the Pennzoil 250.
Driver | Win | Podium | Top 5 |
---|---|---|---|
Cole Custer | 13.9% | 33.7% | 47.5% |
Riley Herbst | 13.7% | 33.4% | 46.0% |
Austin Hill | 10.2% | 27.7% | 41.6% |
Justin Allgaier | 10.0% | 27.6% | 41.5% |
Chandler Smith | 7.9% | 22.9% | 36.0% |
Aric Almirola | 6.5% | 20.2% | 32.3% |
Sam Mayer | 6.4% | 19.7% | 33.1% |
NASCAR Xfinity Series at Indianapolis Best Bets
- Cole Custer (+700): Custer won last week in Pocono, giving him three top-fives at higher-speed tracks this year. His results on drafting tracks are more mixed, but again, I don't think we'll see things race quite that way this weekend.
- Chandler Smith (+1500): If we think this races like a more traditional track, a high-quality driver in Joe Gibbs Racing equipment shouldn't be +1500. Smith also has two top-fives in three Atlanta races since becoming a full-time Xfinity Series driver.
- Riley Herbst (+1600): Herbst tends to run best at high-speed tracks, and Indy will fit that bill. He has two top-fives and three top-10s at the reconfigured Atlanta and had a third-place average running position before running out of gas late there in the spring. Herbst is the best value on the board by my numbers.
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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.