Erik Jones made short work of the field at Texas last week, leading 142 laps from the pole. The Xfinity series will head next to Phoenix for the Ticket Galaxy 200 where Kyle Busch is the defending race-winner, but he won’t be in the field. This is the second race of the year at Phoenix, and the first was won by Justin Allgaier, who led 85 laps.
Details
Event: Ticket Galaxy 200
Category: Xfinity Series
Date: Saturday, November 11th – 3:30 PM ET
Location: Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Arizona
Jones was first across the line at Texas, followed by Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Elliott Sadler and Cole Custer. Sadler leads the playoff standings by five points over William Byron, Allgaier and Brennan Poole. Matt Tifft, Custer, Daniel Hemric and Ryan Reed are all chasing Poole for the final spot.
Past Five Winners
2016: Kyle Busch
2015: Kyle Busch
2014: Brad Keselowski
2013: Kyle Busch
2012: Joey Logano
The Field
Taking a look at the field for this week’s event, we’re looking at Ryan Blaney as the favorite to win. There are four other drivers who are inside of 10/1 and that’s Erik Jones, Alex Bowman and William Byron.
It’s hard to argue with Blaney being the favorite as he’s been a strong driver this season. He has a pair of wins to go with five second-place results and two thirds. His track history here isn’t great, though, as his last finish here was a 10th.
Jones was 10th last year and third in 2015 but he has raced fairly well this year. He has collected three wins and finished in the Top 5 five other times.
Bowman is an oddity among the contenders because this is only his second Xfinity race of 2017. His other was Charlotte. He raced at this event last year and placed 38th. Still, he’s priced at 6/1, which is a bit surprising.
As for Byron, this is his first year on the Xfinity series but he’s picked up three wins and seven Top 5’s.
What To Know About The Track
Phoenix opened for business in 1964 and it is just over a mile long (1.022 miles) with 10-11 degrees of banking through Turns 1 and 2, as well as the dogleg. Then it is eight degrees in Turn 3, 8-9 degrees in Turn 4, 8-10 degrees down the backstretch and three degrees down the frontstretch, which makes for a difficult day in terms of setting up your car. You’re not going to get your car set up to run perfectly all the way around the track, so drivers have to adjust their driving style and some are successful; those who aren’t, it makes for a very long day.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Elliott Sadler over Justin Allgaier
Allgaier was great here in the spring, but he has been up and down lately as he has finished 33rd, fifth and 11th in his last three starts. Sadler has been as steady as it gets, which is par for the course for him as he has finished sixth, ninth, 10th, seventh and fourth in the playoffs. He finished fifth at Phoenix in the spring, and he also won a spring race here in 2012. Sadler isn’t a driver that is going to beat himself and given that he has a cushion going into the championship round, he is going to make sure that he doesn’t do anything to hurt his chances. Allgaier will be fine to make it to Homestead-Miami, but not better than Sadler.
Top-Five Pick: Brennan Poole
Poole has been great in the playoffs with three top-five finishes to start, and then he finished 12th at Kansas and seventh at Texas. He has a five-point lead over Tifft, who has been insanely consistent with six straight top-10s, bu he doesn’t seem to have that extra gear that Poole has just yet. Poole finished eighth at Phoenix in the spring, and he should finish better than that here in the fall as he’ll do just enough to stay ahead of the field and book his place into the championship round.
Odds To Win 2017 Ticket Galaxy 200
Ryan Blaney +250
Erik Jones +300
William Byron +600
Alex Bowman +600
Christopher Bell +800
Austin Dillon +1200
Elliott Sadler +1200
Justin Allgaier +1200
Matt Tifft +2500
Cole Custer +3000
Daniel Hemric +3000
Ty Dillon +3500
Brennan Poole +3500
Field +2000
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