The Cup regulars dominated the Xfinity race last week at Darlington as Denny Hamlin Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick finished in that order and combined to lead all but three laps. However, Hamlin’s win is encumbered because his car failed post-race inspection (as it did in his Cup-winning car) as well, and Logano’s car also failed the inspection. Next, the series heads to Richmond Raceway for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250, and this is not the regular-season finale as the Richmond summer race is for the Cup drivers. Kyle Busch led 197 laps en route to the win in this race last year, while Kyle Larson won the spring race here.
Details
Event: Virginia 529 College Savings 250
Category: Xfinity Series
Date: Friday, September 8th, 7:30 PM ET
Location: Richmond Raceway, Richmond, Virginia
Erik Jones and William Byron rounded out the top five at Darlington, and Byron is now 91 points behind Elliott Sadler, who finished 33rd at Darlington, but managed to lead a lap.
Past Five Winners
2016: Kyle Busch
2015: Chase Elliott
2014: Kyle Busch
2013: Brad Keselowski
2012: Kevin Harvick
The Field
There are a number of NASCAR Cup Series regulars who will again be participating in the Xfinity race this week. We saw them dominate last week so it’s worth keeping them in mind when betting this week.
The main two regulars to keep an eye out for is Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. Busch is having a fantastic year on the Monster Energy Cup Series as he is currently in second place in the standings. He has compiled 893 points on the year on the strength of 15 Top 10’s and a pair of wins. As for Keselowski, he is sixth in the standings. He also has a couple of wins under his belt along with 14 Top 10’s and 11 Top 5’s.
Elliott Sadler is the current leader on the Xfinity Series with 858 points. He has yet to earn a win but has 17 Top 10’s on this series. He’s closely trailed by William Byron (91 points back), who has three wins on the Xfinity Series – the most of any driver this year – along with 16 Top 10’s.
What To Know About The Track
Richmond Raceway is 0.75 miles long, but it has 14 degrees of banking in the turns with eight degrees down the frontstretch and two degrees down the backstretch. It is just a bit longer than Bristol and Martinsville, but not as long as Dover, yet it feels like drivers can go a little harder at Richmond, which is wide for a short track. It is also one of the few tracks in NASCAR to have both of their races at night.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Matt Tifft over Christopher Bell
Bell is favored at -150 in this match and many people are high on him as he has won three times in the Trucks Series this year, and he finished fourth in his Xfinity debut, then 16th at Iowa and 19th at Road America. Tifft comes in at +115 and sits seventh in the standings in his rookie year, and he finished 14th at Richmond in the spring. Tifft is still a year younger than Bell at 21, but he has more experience in an Xfinity car at his age and while Bell has run into some bad luck on the track, Tifft has that little bit more experience that helps you avoid that bad luck as much as possible, so he should be the pick in this matchup.
Top-Five Pick: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Why not? It will be the final Xfinity race at Richmond for Earnhardt Jr., and it might be the final Xfinity race of his career overall. He won this race three times in 1998, 1999 and 2002, and he doesn’t have that much going for him in the Cup series, so why not try and send his rabid fanbase out with a win? You could do much worse than betting on Junior to post a top-five on Friday.
Odds To Win Virginia 529 College Savings 250
Kyle Busch +150
Brad Keselowski +400
William Byron +800
Elliott Sadler +1000
Justin Allgaier +1200
Dale Earnhardt Jr +1200
Paul Menard +1200
Christopher Bell +1500
Matt Tifft +2000
Ty Dillon +2500
Cole Custer +2500
Tyler Reddick +3000
Daniel Hemric +3000
Brennan Poole +4000
Brendan Gaughan +5000
Field +1200
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