The Xfinity Series will have their regular-season finale this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway at TheHouse.com 300, with Brad Keselowski winning at Richmond last weekend. This will also be the final race in which any Cup drivers will be seen in the Xfinity races as the current rule states that drivers with five years or more of Cup experience are out. Going forward after this weekend, the races will be a little more competitive as we’ve seen these Cup drivers take the center stage over the last couple of weeks.
Details
Event: TheHouse.com 300
Category: Xfinity Series
Date: Saturday, September 16th, 3:30 PM ET
Location: Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois
Keselowski led 34 laps to win his second Xfinity race of the season, while Kyle Busch led 182 laps from the pole, but he finished second. Ty Dillon, Daniel Hemric and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top five, and Sadler clinched the regular-season title. Sadler leads the field into the playoffs, along with rookies William Byron, Hemric, Cole Custer and Matt Tifft. Jeremy Clements, Ryan Reed, Blake Koch, Brennan Poole and Justin Allgaier are also in.
Past Five Winners
2016: Erik Jones
2015: Kyle Busch
2014: Kevin Harvick
2013: Kyle Busch
2012: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The Field
After a couple of weeks where the Xfinity circuit featured a number of the drivers from the Monster Energy Cup series, things will quiet down a little bit after Chicagoland. For now, Kyle Larson enters the weekend as the favorite and that’s not a big surprise. He’s in second place in the Monster Energy Cup standings with four wins on that series.
What To Know About The Track
Chicagoland Speedway opened for business in 2001 and it is a 1.5-mile track that is banked 18 degrees in the corners. It is banked 11 degrees on the frontstretch and five degrees on the backstretch, and this is the last time that Chicagoland will host the Xfinity regular-season finale as it moves to Las Vegas next year. The race at Chicagoland will be moved up to June. Erik Jones is second in line according to the betting odds but he’s just 18th in the Monster Energy Cup standings. Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez and William Byron are the only other drivers inside of 10/1 on the betting odds for this event. Byron is currently in second place in the Xfinity standings with 799 points. He has three Xfinity wins on the year.
A Good Matchup To Bet: Brendan Gaughan over Brennan Poole
Gaughan is 11th in the standings without a win, and he is in the playoffs right now, but he isn’t locked in. He is rated at +125 to -160 for Poole in this matchup, and Poole is already in, so he and his team can afford to try some things out for the playoffs. Poole struggled to a 21st-place finish last year at Chicagoland, while Gaughan finished eighth and he needs a good finish badly to cement his spot in the postseason. Poole has been driving well lately, but he doesn’t need this as badly as Gaughan does.
Top-Five Pick: Daniel Suarez
This is all about the odds you can get for what drivers, because there are some good options out there. There is William Byron, who has finished in the top seven in each of his last three starts. Sadler and Allgaier have been consistent all season, but they’re in, so they might be already trying new things for the playoffs. Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez are all Cup drivers who are taking advantage of the ability to drive in this race before next season as all are under the five-years of Cup driving rule. Take Suarez, who was the Xfinity Series champion last year and finished fourth at Chicagoland. He hasn’t won in 11 Xfinity starts so far this season, but he might take this opportunity to show that he deserved to move to the Cup Series.
Odds To Win TheHouse.com 300
Kyle Larson +200
Erik Jones +400
Ryan Blaney +400
Daniel Suarez +700
William Byron +750
Austin Dillon +1000
Elliott Sadler +1500
Justin Allgaier +1500
Field (any other driver) +1500
Ty Dillon +2500
Cole Custer +2500
Matt Tifft +2500
Darrell Wallace Jr +3000
Brennan Poole +3000
Brendan Gaughan +4000
Click here to get all of the latest NASCAR betting lines at BetDSI including head-to-head matchups, props and odds to win each NASCAR and NASCAR Xfinity tournament!
