NASCAR Picks: NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen Best Bets, Odds to Consider on DraftKings Sportsbook
NASCAR is road racing for the second week in a row. Watkins Glen is a traditional NASCAR road course. It’s been on the circuit for decades and favors the veterans with years of experience at The Glen. As always, trust the data but also trust your eyes. Here are the best bets for the NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at The Glen.
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Be careful what you wish for. The NASCAR road course product hit an all-time low last season. The quantity increased but the quality decreased. There were too many cautions and too many reckless restarts. NASCAR responded and removed artificial stage cautions. The reckless restarts disappeared, but the pendulum swung heavily in the other direction. Road races are lap turners in 2023. It’s pure racing and more predictable, but the long-shot picks do not offer much value if there isn’t chaos. The fastest car wins under this format.
Race Winner — Go Bowling at The Glen
Chase Elliott +350
It’s do or die. It always has been. Elliott was never going to point his way into the playoffs. A win was always going to be necessary. The good news is that the next two races — Watkins Glen and Daytona — are good tracks for Elliott. This weekend’s race at the road course in New York presents Elliott’s best chance at punching his ticket to the 2023 NASCAR Playoffs.
While this hasn’t been the best season for Elliott, his road course program has been on par. He was the runner-up last week at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit. In his other two road course events this season, Elliott finished fifth at COTA and third at Chicago. His car is hooked up, but in his words, he’s just missing a little bit more speed. If Hendrick Motorsports is going to find that speed, then it will be at Watkins Glen. HMS has won the last four races at Watkins Glen. Elliott won the 2018 and 2019 races. Kyle Larson won the 2021 and 2022 races (the 2020 Watkins Glen race was canceled due to COVID). Elliott is a seven-time road course winner. He hasn’t won a road race since 2021. He’s due.
Kyle Larson +550
As mentioned above, Larson has won the last two races at The Glen. His most recent win was not the cleanest, and it’s extra dirty when you run your teammate wide to take the win. That’s racing. Chase Elliott could have three wins in the last four at The Glen. He doesn’t. Larson has two wins because he wants wins. The NASCAR Best Bets Article wants win. There’s nothing worse than picking a driver that lays up. The drivers that are satisfied with a top-5 finish do not belong on the board. Larson is a winner. If he’s in position at the the end, he’s going to send it.
NASCAR matchup bets and prop bets as they become available on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Race Winner — Go Bowling at The Glen
Kyle Busch +1200
Flat spotted tires ruined his day last weekend at Indy. Before that race, Busch earned two runner-up finishes and a fifth-place finish in his first three road course races with RCR crew chief Randall Burnett. Last season, Burnett won twice with Tyler Reddick (+1000) in the No. 8 RCR Chevy. Clearly, this car is fast, and that matters at The Glen. This road course is often referred to as the super speedway of road courses. It’s not a technical track. This is a power track. Equipment matters. Burnett has proven he can build fast road course cars. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he started his Cup Series career as A.J. Allmendinger’s (+1200) crew chief.
The car will be fast, and Kyle Busch will be fast. Busch has two Cup Series wins at Watkins Glen (2008 and 2013) and two top-5 finishes in the last four races at this road course. He also won the 2017 Xfinity Series race at The Glen. Not that he needs the extra reps, but Busch will be running double-duty this weekend. He’ll be racing a highly decorated road course car for Kaulig Racing. There is no doubt that Busch has the weekend sweep on his mind.
Alex Bowman +3500
Watkins Glen favors machine over man. Hendrick Motorsports has won the last four races at The Glen. There is a very good chance that Bowman will have the machine. He had the machine at COTA (third) and last weekend at Indy (fifth). Elliott and Larson are the HMS favorites to win, but their odds are much shorter. Bowman has a knack for earning surprising wins with lucrative odds. Like any driver that has never won at a road course, he is undervalued. New winners at road courses are far from rare. Michael McDowell (+900) won his first Cup Series road race last weekend and Shane Van Gisbergen did the same in the road race before that in Chicago. In 2022, Ross Chastain (+5000), Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez (+1100) each earned their first Cup Series road course wins. This could be Bowman’s turn to be a newly minted road course winner.
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