RADIO
Well, Saturday's 325-mile race at Pocono Raceway was fun.... Ready to do it again?
Sunday's Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 marks the second race in as many days at Pocono, and man, did we get a thriller on Saturday. Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman (more on these two later) had a classic 20-lap battle, only for the No. 5 car to get by with four laps remaining and on the final lap blow a left front tire. That's right, Larson came within one mile of winning his fourth consecutive points-paying race. Instead, he limped around to finish ninth.
The victor was Bowman, who picked up his third checkered flag of the season. Though he wasn't on my list of drivers to look out for during Saturday's race, many of those drivers did well. So for Sunday's 350-miler, there will be some of the same, as most drivers will run the same car they competed in with on Saturday.
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Kyle Larson
(DraftKings $12,800 | FanDuel $14,500 | DK SportsBook +225)
As noted above, Kyle Larson was counting down the feet before he picked up his fifth straight win on the Cup Series tour. Unfortunately for him, he could only make it to Turn 3 of the final lap.
Good news is, the No. 5 team won't have to repair that damaged car for Sunday's race, as Larson will drive a backup car. Bad news is, he will lose his 12th starting position and have to come from the rear. That affects you, too.
Choosing to have Larson on your team, you'll get credited with a 12th-place start. So take the gamble of him not making up 20+ spots just to get to 12th, on top of finishing above the position to gain bonus points. But this is the No. 5 team we're talking about, so it's no wonder why he's the heavy favorite, despite beginning the race in the rear. Have you seen the last two months of competition? Your team should be centered around Larson.
Kyle Busch
(DraftKings $11,000 | FanDuel $13,000 | DK SportsBook +600)
But if you want to be a tad different, you could go with Kyle Busch. Up until the final run of the race, I thought the No. 18 car was the second best racecar in the field. And though he was running behind two Hendrick cars for the majority of the run, he still finished second.
That means Busch starts midpack on Sunday, rolling off 19th. That's a good position for him to start from and still add value to your team. Chances are, the No. 18 team will pick up another solid finish, as Busch has nine top-10 finishes in the last 10 Pocono races; five of which have been top fives.
Busch enters the race ranked second as far as favorites. It wouldn't surprise me one iota to see him battling for a victory come Sunday afternoon.
Denny Hamlin
(DraftKings $10,500 | FanDuel $13,500 | DK SportsBook +750)
As noted for Saturday's column, I'll never bet against Denny Hamlin at Pocono. He scored his first two wins of his Cup career at the track -- in his rookie season -- and is tied for the track record with six triumphs.
Before Hamlin's career comes to a close, it's likely he'll pick up at least one more win at the Tricky Triangle and become the winningest driver at the track. There's just something about he and Pocono that mesh well together.
Another positive for Sunday is the No. 11 car will lineup from 17th position on the grid, after finishing Saturday's event in fourth. Following the race, Hamlin said his car was the best it had been all day during the final run, which bodes well for the beginning of tomorrow's race. Like Larson and Busch, expect Hamlin to finish much better than where he starts.
William Byron
(DraftKings $9,000 | FanDuel $11,500| DK SportsBook +800)
William Byron continues to go under the radar in the 2021 season, and before long, it's going to come back to bite the competition. Yes, the No. 24 team has won just once during the first half of the season, but no driver has been as consistent as the fourth year driver.
Byron has already recorded 14 top-10 finishes, tied for his career high for a single season. The No. 24 has led 208 laps, including 13 on Saturday at Pocono. And Byron has been stout at the Cup level at the Tricky Triangle, with a career average finish of 8.7 in seven starts, including a third-place result on Saturday.
Byron will roll off from 18th. And early in the race on Saturday, the No. 24 team had the best car in the field, at one point passing Larson for the lead. That's a rare occurrence these days, so mission accomplished for the No. 24 car.
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Alex Bowman
(DraftKings $8,700 | FanDuel $9,500 | DK SportsBook +1300)
Uh, did you watch Saturday's race? In typical 2021 Alex Bowman form, the No. 48 team had good fortune on their side and wound up in victory lane. Since winning at Richmond Raceway two months ago, Bowman has three victories in 10 races. In his prior 196 Cup starts, he had two total.
Historically, Bowman has been mediocre at Pocono. Prior to this weekend, he had just two top-10 finishes in six starts at the Tricky Triangle while compete for HMS. Three of those races were finishes of 20th or worse. That makes his win that much more surprising and rewarding.
Surprisingly, Bowman is fairly cheap across the board. He had 13-1 odds to win the race after just winning on Saturday. On FanDuel, his price of $9,500 is average, but probably undervalued on DraftKings at $7,500. Via the top-20 invert, the No. 48 starts 20th, and he's already come from dirty air to win (started 13th on Saturday).
Kurt Busch
(DraftKings $8,500 | FanDuel $8,500 | DK SportsBook +3500)
Over the last three races, Chip Ganassi Racing has turned the corner in its program. That includes Kurt Busch's sixth-place run and Stage 2 win in Saturday's race at Pocono.
As noted earlier this week, Busch runs really well at the Tricky Triangle, having three career wins at the track. Whenever he's in the field at Pocono, he has a realistic shot to win the race. And he looked better than he has in any other race this season on Saturday.
However, Busch had to take four tires late in the race while other drivers took fuel only. Still, Busch was able to rebound to sixth. At points in the race, the No. 1 Chevrolet looked to be the best car in field, and I look for him to have another standout run on Sunday.
Ross Chastain
(DraftKings $7,700 | FanDuel $6,000 | DK SportsBook +6600)
You know how I was just saying CGR has turned the corner? So too has Ross Chastain, competing in his first season for a high level team in the Cup Series.
No, the 2021 season didn't start off well for Chastain. But over the past three months or so, the No. 42 team has continuously gotten better, having three top-10 finishes in the last five races. He finished runner-up to Larson last weekend at Nashville Superspeedway.
But just look back to early in Saturday's race at Pocono: Chastain was running inside the top five for a good chunk of the race, leading 10 laps during a cycle of green flag pit stops. Over the last few years, CGR has been mightily aggressive during green flag pit stops.
But even better for you, Chastain will start Sunday's race in 33rd because he got loose in the Tunnel Turn and cut a tire during Saturday's race. Should the No. 42 car stay out of trouble, he'll easily finish above his starting position and potentially contend for the victory. The better bet is top 10.
Erik Jones
(DraftKings $5,700 | FanDuel $6,500 | DK SportsBook +12500)
Throughout his four-year Cup tenure with Toyota, Erik Jones performed exceptionally well at Pocono. He had five top-five finishes in eight starts.
On Saturday, in his first start at the track with Richard Petty Motorsports, Jones was a non factor and finished 22nd. That doesn't look good, even though he netted out equally in positions gained and lost.
Jones will line up in 22nd yet again on Sunday. Surely, the No. 43 Chevrolet is one you could use to fill out your lineup, as he knows how to get around the Tricky Triangle. Jones is valued well on both DraftKings (probably undervalued) and FanDuel.
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