NASCAR DFS and Betting Preview for Dover – Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400

July 19, 2025

Jordan's NASCAR DFS and NASCAR betting preview for Dover. Betting odds, favorites, long shots, DFS picks, and more for the 2025 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400.

We get a break from the road courses and Shane van Gisbergen's domination for a little bit, as the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Dover Motor Speedway this weekend for the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400.

Nicknamed "The Monster Mile," Dover is a 1-mile concrete oval that is high-banked (24 degrees in the turns) and high-speed.

In the Next Gen era, we have seen several of the same drivers constantly run up front at Dover, but Goodyear is trying to shake things up a bit by bringing a brand new tire combination to the track this weekend. This new tire setup has been designed specifically for Dover's track surface and won't be used anywhere else this year.

Weekend Schedule at Dover

There are 400 laps scheduled for this weekend's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, with the first two Stages split into 120 and 130 laps. That will leave us 150 laps for the final Stage and run to the checkered flag.

The weekend schedule for this weekend's race at Dover Motor Speedway is pretty standard. Assuming no weather delays, we're looking at:

• Practice/Qualifying: 1:35-3:30 pm ET on Saturday
• Start Time Green Flag for Race: 2:17 pm on Sunday
• Broadcast TV: TNT

Pre-Race Loop Data Box Score for Dover

Click here to download the PDF of the pre-race loop data box score.

The Favorites Heading Into the Race Weekend

Denny Hamlin (+500 to win) - It should be no surprise that Denny Hamlin is the favorite heading into the race weekend. He's the defending winner here at Dover and has two wins under his belt at "The Monster Mile." He also had one of the best cars at Nashville this year and finished second at Bristol--both of which are also concrete tracks like Dover. Nobody has a better average driver rating (112.8) at Dover than Denny Hamlin in the Next Gen era.

Kyle Larson (+500 to win) - Hendrick Motorsports as a whole runs really well at Dover, and Kyle Larson has the best average finish (8.2) at this track among all active drivers. He has also led 938 laps here, which is the second-most among active drivers (behind Kyle Busch's 1,375 laps led, with 20 more starts). Larson dominated at Bristol this year and has been a menace on intermediates overall. He should be a strong contender this weekend.

Chase Elliott (+1000 to win) - NASCAR's Most Popular Driver is a two-time winner at Dover Motor Speedway and has a ridiculous 10 top-5 finishes in 14 career starts (71.4%). In two of the four times Chase hasn't finished in the top five here, he either wrecked or had an engine issue. Last year, he rallied from a 29th-place starting spot to still come home fifth when it was all said and done.

Underdogs to Keep an Eye On

Alex Bowman (+2200 to win) - Again, Hendrick Motorsports is really good here. Right now, this is arguably Alex Bowman's best race track. He won the first Next Gen race at Dover and has finished inside the top five in five of the last seven races at this track. The two exceptions during that span? An eighth-place finish last year and a 21st-place result in 2021. This season, Bowman has brought elite speed to several intermediate race tracks. Don't be surprised if he's a contender at Dover this weekend.

Kyle Busch (+2200 to win) - As mentioned before, Kyle Busch leads all active drivers at Dover with 1,375 laps led. He has also collected three wins here and four second-place finishes. In the Next Gen era specifically, Rowdy has been stout, starting from the pole the last two years at Dover and posting finishes of fourth and seventh over that span. He has also led laps in all three races, averaging 54 laps led per race at Dover in this car.

AJ Allmendinger (+6000 to win) - The Dinger is an interesting one to keep an eye on this weekend. Probably not for the win, but there's potential for him to run really well on Sunday. Looking back at similar tracks this season, Allmendinger has finished ninth at Bristol, eighth at Las Vegas, and fourth at Charlotte. Here at Dover, he qualified 10th last season and ended up finishing 13th. There's some top 10 upside for AJ on Sunday.

Betting Odds to Win Dover

As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the following odds listed to win this weekend's race at Dover Motor Speedway.

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