Saturday, July 4 is Independence Day in the United States, and what is more American than a NASCAR race at the Brickyard? The Xfinity Series will continue this coming Saturday with the Pennzoil 150, which is set to go at 3 PM EST. The battle for top spot in the driver’s standings could not be any tighter than it is at the moment, with the top 2 drivers separated by a mere 3 points. Are we going to see the standings change this weekend or will Chase Briscoe and Noah Gragson continue to dominate at the top? That remains to be seen, so let’s take a closer look at some of the favorites for this race, while making a prediction for the winner so you can make your bets against their NASCAR odds.
NASCAR Pennzoil 150
Austin Cindric (+165)
Cindric is not that far off the pace at the top of the Xfinity Series driver standings, sitting in 4th place, but he is also still looking for his first win of the season. That’s not to say that he hasn’t been close, though, as he has finished in the top 5 in 6 of his 12 races this season. With that in mind, you might wonder why he is in as the favorite on Saturday, with the answer being that the Brickyard is without a doubt perfectly suited to Cindric. His 2 wins in the series, which came last year, were on road tracks, so he has to be considered among the favorites.
AJ Allmendinger (+275)
While all the drivers at the top of the standings have raced in all 12 events this season, there are a few who are basically part-timers. One of those is AJ Allmendinger, who has raced just 4 times this season, winning once and landing in the top 10 in every single race. He, like Cindric, is another driver who excels in road races, which is probably why he is suiting up for this one. I love the odds here, so I am going to go all in on Allmendinger to get the win on Saturday afternoon.
Chase Briscoe (+600)
It has been a fantastic season for Briscoe to this point, and he is fully deserving of his spot atop the driver standings. Briscoe has already picked up 4 wins on the season, including at victory at Pocono last week where he had to overcome a lot of obstacles to take the checkered flag. He has been the model of consistency through the first 12 races of the season, landing in the top 10 no less than 9 different times, which includes 6 finishes in the top 5. He is always a threat to win, but I think he might be looking at top 5 again as opposed to a win.
Justin Allgaier (+600)
Over the past few years, Allgaier has seen some success at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is why he is in among the favorites this weekend. The problem that he has this season is that he has not made much of an impact just yet, failing to get a win in the opening 12 races. That said, he has 5 top 10 finishes and has been in the top 5 on 2 occasions. I see him as a bit of a longshot pick here when you take all that into account.
