Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are the top choices to win the Xfinity Boyd Gaming 300 on Saturday in Las Vegas that can be seen on Fox Sports 1. I had a good win last week when Kevin Harvick won in Atlanta so I will look to make it two in a row on Saturday. Let’s take a look at Saturday’s race, and NASCAR picks.
Top Five Contenders
The drivers who are listed with single-digit odds to win Saturday’s race are Denny Hamlin at 2-1, Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 3-1, Chase Elliott at 6-1, Ryan Blaney at 6-1 and Austin Dillon at 8-1. The two obvious choices to win are Hamlin and Earnhardt Jr. They are the big name Sprint Cup regulars who are doing double duty in Las Vegas. Hamlin is filling in for the injured Kyle Busch so it is somewhat surprising he is favored over Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin has made six previous starts in the second-tier NASCAR series with his best finish being a second place in 2010.
Everyone Else
The rest of the drivers in the field are listed at double-digit odds. Erik Jones is listed at 12-1, Elliott Sadler, Regan Smith and Ty Dillon are each 15-1, Aric Almirola and Brian Scott are each listed at 20-1; Chris Buescher is listed at 30-1 while Brendan Gaughan and Darrell Wallace Jr. are each listed at 35-1. The field is 12-1.
Race Notes
Brad Keselowski won this race last year but he is not back to defend his title. In fact, none of the recent winners are in the race this year as in 2013 it was Sam Hornish Jr. winning while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won in 2012, Mark Martin in 2011 and Kevin Harvick in 2010. Starting up front has not meant much in recent years as the pole sitter has not won this race since 2002.
NASCAR Picks
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has yet to win in Las Vegas in the second-tier series but he has three top-five finishes in five starts. “This weekend’s Xfinity Series race should be a lot of fun. I always enjoy getting to run my own cars on these intermediate tracks, like Vegas, so I can get a firsthand idea of where our program stacks up against everyone else.” Earnhardt Jr. said, “Last week, Dave (Elenz) and the guys picked up where we left off last season and showcased how strong we are as a company on mile-and-a-half tracks by getting that win with Kevin in Atlanta.”
I will take Earnhardt Jr. to win on Saturday at odds of 3-1 and for my longshot I will go with Chris Buescher at odds of 30-1.
