After taking their final break of the season following the race at Kansas, the Xfinity Series returns for its three-race run to the end at Texas, which hosts a race for the second time this season. The first was won by Erik Jones, while the 2016 fall race was won by Kyle Larson. Let’s take a closer look at the O’Reilly Parts 300.
Details
Event: O’Reilly Parts 300
Category: Xfinity Series
Date: Saturday, November 4th – 8:30 PM ET
Location: Texas Motor Speedway
Bell won his first-ever Xfinity race at Kansas, followed by Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Justin Allgaier, who leads Byron in the standings by two points. None of the remaining playoff drivers have won a race in the postseason.
Past Five Winners
2016: Kyle Larson
2015: Brad Keselowski
2014: Kyle Busch
2013: Brad Keselowski
2012: Kevin Harvick
The Field
After a week off, the NASCAR Xfinity Series is back in action this weekend. Not surprisingly, Kyle Larson is our favorite for Saturday’s race. Some of the other drivers expected to be in contention – at least, according to the odds makers – are Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones.
Larson is favored not only because of the year he’s had but he’s also the defending champ at the Texas Motor Speedway. He has just three wins on the year, though, so he is often a better bet for the Top 10 props or the head-to-head matchups.
Blaney placed third in this race in 2014 but hasn’t participated in the last two years. He has a pair of wins this year and 10 Top 5’s out 11 starts, which is a very strong track record.
As for Jones, he placed four in the race last year and in 2015 too. He has collected a pair of wins and seven Top 5’s on the season. Jones may be someone you avoid this weekend, though, as he’s struggled of late. He has finished out of the Top 10 in four straight races.
What To Know About The Track
Texas Motor Speedway opened for business in 1996 and it is one of the most exciting tracks in NASCAR, regardless of what series it is. The track is 1.5 miles long and it is banked at 20 degrees in Turns 1 and 2, and 24 degrees in Turns 3 and 4. It does usually pay to have a good starting spot in the Xfinity Series, much more than in the Cup series. The last 18 winners here, counting the spring and fall races, have started 10th or higher on the grid.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Ryan Blaney over Kyle Larson
Blaney is the underdog in this matchup at +110 to -130 for Larson, who won this race last year, but something seems to be off with Larson overall. He is out of the Cup playoffs and has finished 39th and 37th in his last two Cup races, and that could carry over to the Xfinity Series. Meanwhile, Blaney has started the last three Xfinity races, winning Dover and he has a pair of third-place finishes as well, and he has four top-10 finishes in the Cup playoffs so far. This is simply a matter of momentum and while Larson might get it back coming into this race, Blaney has it now.
Top-Five Pick: Justin Allgaier
You could pick from any of the trio of Allgaier, Byron or Elliott Sadler, but Allgaier gets the pick. In his last three starts at Texas, Allgaier has finished sixth, 10th and 13th. For Sadler, it is seventh, sixth and 10th. For Byron, he has just a seventh-place finish here as his Texas debut came in the spring, but he did lead 17 laps and he has generally looked impressive all season. Still, Allgaier has been just a little better than the other two in the playoffs so far and it feels like he still has one more gear to go, while Byron might have peaked and we know what Sadler is as a driver; solid, but unspectacular. It feels like Allgaier can go up to another gear and he should look to do so at Texas to get himself into the next round.
Odds To Win O’Reilly Auto Parts 300
Kyle Larson +200
Ryan Blaney +300
Erik Jones +500
William Byron +1000
Justin Allgaier +1000
Elliott Sadler +1200
Austin Dillon +1200
Christopher Bell +1200
Matt Tifft +2500
Cole Custer +2500
Ty Dillon +3000
Daniel Hemric +3000
Brennan Poole +4000
Field +1500
Click here to get all of the latest NASCAR betting lines at BetDSI including head-to-head matchups, props and odds to win each NASCAR and NASCAR Xfinity playoffs!
