A non-playoff driver opened up the Xfinity Series postseason with a win as Tyler Reddick won his first-ever Xfinity race at Kentucky. The series heads to Dover International Speedway for the Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200 on Saturday, and Daniel Suarez is the defending race-winner here. He’ll be in the field, but Kyle Larson, who won the spring race at Dover, will not as he is in the Monster Energy Cup Series playoffs.
Details
Event: Use Your Melon Drive Sober 200
Category: Xfinity Series
Date: Saturday, September 30th, 3:00 PM ET
Location: Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware
Reddick had a great day at Kentucky as he started fifth and led a race-high 66 laps en route to a massive win, and he was followed by Brennan Poole and Justin Allgaier, who leads the standings in points. Ryan Preece led 22 laps and finished fourth, while Cole Custer led 49 laps and finished fifth. Kyle Benjamin started from the pole and led 52 laps, but he finished in 12th place. Going into Dover, Allgaier is tied with Custer in points, but he has the lead due to two wins this season.
Past Five Winners
2016: Daniel Suarez
2015: Regan Smith
2014: Kyle Busch
2013: Joey Logano
2012: Joey Logano
The Field
The NASCAR Xfinity series got their playoffs underway last weekend in Kentucky and now they head to Dover for the Drive Sober 200. It’s expected to be a full field as 40 drivers were on the preliminary entry list. That’s a significant group.
In total, seven Monster Energy Cup Series drivers are expected to participate in Saturday’s race, so this makes things a little more interesting. Many of them will be among the favorites. That includes guys like Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Reed Sorenson, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney and Corey LaJoie.
Keep in mind that we’ll see some changes in some of the cars as Ben Kennedy will get behind the wheel of the No. 96 GMS Racing. That’s one of our favorite cars. Also, Casey Mears will be in the Biagi DenBeste Ford and David Starr will drive the No. 99 Chevrolet.
Blaney is the favorite for this week’s race with Jones and Suarez right behind him according to the odds.
What To Know About The Track
Dover International Speedway first opened in 1969 and it can be one of the most entertaining tracks in NASCAR as it is only a mile long, but with the banking, drivers can get a lot of speed into the short straights. It is banked at 24 degrees in the corners and nine degrees down the straights and things can get backed up coming out of the corners, and the drivers that use their brakes the best have a great chance of winning this race.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Matt Tifft over Ty Dillon
Tifft is the underdog in this matchup at +100 over Dillon at -130, and Tifft is seventh in the points standings after finishing ninth at Kentucky. Dillon has been racing full-time in the Cup series and he has driven in most of the Xfinity races, but he has yet to win and only has a pair of top-fives. His focus might be on the Cup side as he has plenty of experience with Xfinity cars, while Tifft, an Xfinity rookie, is actually driving for something: a championship. Tifft also finished ninth at Dover in the spring, one spot ahead of Dillon.
Top-Five Pick: William Byron
Byron, another rookie, can run hot and cold and he has been cold the last two weeks, finishing 33th at Chicagoland and then 18th at Kentucky. However, he will turn it around at Dover this weekend as he finished sixth here in the spring and he is still only fifth in the standings. A hot run can get him right back in the race and out of all the rookies, he is most likely to win at any time.
Odds To Win 2017 Melon Drive Sober 200
Ryan Blaney +300
Erik Jones +350
Daniel Suarez +600
Austin Dillon +800
William Byron +800
Justin Allgaier +800
Elliott Sadler +800
Tyler Reddick +1500
Cole Custer +1500
Ty Dillon +2500
Matt Tifft +2500
Daniel Hemric +3000
Brennan Poole +3000
Brendan Gaughan +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 tournament!
