The NASCAR Xfinity Series moves to Kentucky Speedway this week, and Thursday we will see the Shady Rays 200. Kentucky Speedway is a 1 ½-mile track, in tri-oval formation with 17-degree banks in the first two turns, followed by 14-degree banks in the last two. The track was repaved in 2016, which led to some interesting outcomes for the drivers, but things have improved since then, so you don’t see the shenanigans that foil the plans of the top drivers here like you do at some other tracks. A lot of the NASCAR Cup Series drivers like to drop down to race with the Xfinity Series regulars; Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski all have three Xfinity Series wins apiece at Kentucky Speedway. The race will start at 8:00 pm Eastern time, and you can catch the action on FS1. Take a look at the NASCAR betting odds for the race, along with some of our suggestions for your wager cards.
NASCAR Xfinity Series: 2020 Shady Rays 200 Preview (July 9)
Driver Odds
- Chase Briscoe 5/2
- Noah Gragson , Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain 5/1
- Justin Allgaier 6/1
- Harrison Burton 8/1
- Brandon Jones 12/1
- Justin Haley 25/1
- Jeb Burton 40/1
- Anthony Alfredo, Riley Herbst, Michael Annett 80/1
- Ryan Sieg, Myatt Snider 100/1
- Brandon Brown 300/1
- Brett Moffitt, Jeremy Clements 500/1
- Josh Williams 1000/1
- Joe Graf Jr 2000/1
- FIELD (all other drivers) 50/1
Chase Briscoe is dominating the Xfinity Series right now, winning five times overall this season — and three of the last four races. At Talladega, he won Stage 2 and finished 18th. He has done well at other 1 ½-mile tracks, winning at Las Vegas and Homestead-Miami. His last two wins have come at Pocono Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, both 2 ½-mile courses.
Noah Gragson led the majority of the laps in both of the Xfinity Series races at Homestead-Miami and won Stage 2 in both of those races. He came in fourth at Las Vegas, second at Atlanta, and third at Indy, which went against his usual profile for success as it came away from the ovals, where he usually excels.
Ross Chastain is a bit of an enigma. He has cracked the top five four times, including three times in his last four starts. He led the most laps at both Talladega and Pocono. He has 171 career races in his career, one of the older Xfinity Series drivers at 27. However, he only has two career wins and 31 top-ten finishes. Before this year, he had not had much sustained success at this level. However, you probably need to wait until he offers more value before you bet heavy on him to win.
Austin Cindric has cracked the top five in seven races this year and is the Xfinity Series stage points leader, even though he has yet to win a race. His best results have come in 1 ½-mile tracks, where he has two second-place finishes. He also did well in Atlanta, where he won the first two stages and led the most laps…but finished 16th.
Harrison Burton won one of the two races at Homestead-Miami, but since then he has finished 32nd twice and 25th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The value is there, but it seems to be there for a reason, as he is trending the wrong way.
