We’re back to a more normal NASCAR weekend, with each of the three series offering one race. After a series of weekends featuring doubleheaders to allow for enough races to create a normal set of points standings, with all three series using the same track, this week sees the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinois, while the Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Cup Series will race at Daytona International Speedway.
We have an overview of each race for your NASCAR betting consideration.
NASCAR Weekend Preview (August 28-30)
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola
7:30 pm ET, NBC Sports
Friday, August 28
| Justin Allgaier | +700 |
| Ross Chastain | +700 |
| Austin Cindric | +700 |
| Chase Briscoe | +700 |
| Noah Gragson | +750 |
| Justin Haley | +800 |
| Harrison Burton | +1200 |
| Daniel Hemric | +1200 |
| A.J. Allmendinger | +1200 |
| Brandon Jones | +1400 |
| Michael Annett | +1800 |
| Anthony Alfredo | +2200 |
| Riley Herbst | +2500 |
| Ryan Sieg | +2500 |
| Myatt Snider | +5000 |
| Brett Moffitt | +5000 |
| Josh Williams | +5000 |
| Jeremy Clements | +6600 |
| Joey Gase | +8000 |
| Brandon Brown | +8000 |
This is the third Xfinity Series race at a superspeedway, and at this sort of track, the racing is a bit different. You’ll see cars gathered in big packs, frequently just a few inches apart, as they’re all looking for the draft. The race will take 100 laps over the 2 ½-mile course, with stage breaks after 30 and 60 laps. Ross Chastain won this event in 2019, and Noah Gragson won the first race of the year at Daytona. The fact that there are four co-favorites suggest that this is a wide-open race. The combination of tapered spacers and the aerodynamic draft means that quicker cars have a hard time pulling away, and the big packs of cars make wrecks more likely. This is why you’ll often see surprise winners here. Of the co-favorites, though, Briscoe and Cindric are winless in their careers at superspeedways.
NASCAR Xfinity Series | Check the Odds
NASCAR Cup Series: Coke Zero Sugar 400
7:30 pm ET, NBC
Saturday, August 29
Denny Hamlin |
+650 |
| Kevin Harvick | +1000 |
| Brad Keselowski | +1400 |
| Joey Logano | +1200 |
| Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch | +1400 |
| Chase Elliott | +1400 |
| Martin Truex Jr | +1600 |
| Jimmie Johnson | +1800 |
| Kurt Busch | +2000 |
| Erik Jones | +2000 |
| Aric Almirola | +2200 |
| Alex Bowman | +2200 |
| Clint Bowyer | +2200 |
| William Byron | +2500 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr | +2500 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | +2800 |
| Ryan Newman | +3000 |
| Austin Dillon | +3300 |
| Christopher Bell | +3500 |
| Cole Custer | +3500 |
| Chris Buescher | +4000 |
| Matt Kenseth | +4000 |
| Tyler Reddick | +4000 |
| Michael McDowell | +4500 |
| Ty Dillon | +5000 |
| John Hunter Nemechek | +6000 |
| Bubba Wallace | +6000 |
| Brendan Gaughan | +8000 |
| Ryan Preece | +8000 |
| Daniel Suarez | +10000 |
Denny Hamlin has won the last two editions of the Daytona 500, and three of the last five. However, he has never won the summer race at Daytona International Speedway. He is an elite superspeedway racer, and he is having a terrific 2020, so it’s hard to overlook him here.
Kevin Harvick does not have a stellar record at superspeedways, but he came in fifth at the Daytona 500 this year, and a conservative game plan is likely his idea this time around as well. He has seven wins in 2020, all coming after the COVID-19 shutdown came to an end. He offers a little more value than usual as well.
Kurt Busch is an interesting sleeper here. He was in the lead when he went into the pit stop for a break. Then a lightning delay happened, and the race was never continued — and he ended up losing. He will have plenty of motivation to get some redemption, and he also has cracked the top ten five times in his last 11 races at a superspeedway.
NASCAR Cup Series | Check the Odds
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series: WWT Raceway 200
12:00 pm ET, FS1
Sunday, August 30
There are just three races left in the 2020 Truck Series, with three drivers fighting for the last two playoff slots in the point standings. It’s also the last week of the Triple Truck Challenge, a mid-season set of races that reward full-time truck series racers. Sheldon Creed got the bonus for winning at Daytona on August 16, and Zane Smith got the bonus for his win at Dover. Smith has won two of the last three races overall, but in his only start at Gateway, he finished fifth.
The drivers angling for the last two playoff slots are Tyler Ankrum, Derek Kraus, and Todd Gilliland. Gilliland has two runner-up finishes in three races at Gateway. Kraus makes his debut in the truck series, but he won at Gateway in 2018 at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race here, and he finished second in the same race a year ago. Keep an eye on veterans Stewart Friesen and Johnny Sauter, who are out of the points battle but would qualify for the playoffs with an outright win.
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series | Check the Odds
