By Gary Walstrom
The Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip at Road America is set for Sunday, July 4 at 2:30
PM. Tune in on NBCSN, MRN radio, or SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 to catch all the racing action.
What a treat, we have racing on Sunday for Independence Day! NASCAR heads to Road America for the first time since 1956. That day, the race was 63 laps. Sunday, drivers will compete one less lap completing 62 laps on this road course that is located midway between the cities of Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin. Road America is a four-mile, fourteen turn road course that has kept its layout since it was built in 1955. Of course, the track has been tweaked for safety measures over the years. This track features many elevation changes, along with a front stretch that is a little under 4,440 feet long. It will be a great
accomplishment whoever can drive into victory lane in America’s National Park of Speed on Sunday.
Best Bets Recap
*Nashville* Joey Logano (-115 BetMGM) vs. Brad Keselowski: The race played out like practice did,
neither driver really impressive but Logano had the better car. Logano finished 10th, while Keselowski
finished 23rd, a lap down. Wasn’t much of a sweat here, as Keselowski didn’t have the car to compete.
*Nashville* Twitter H2H Matchup - Ryan Blaney (+150 BetOnline) vs. Christopher Bell: This matchup
was pretty much over before the race even began. Blaney damaged his car when he transitioned from
pit road to the racetrack during the pre-race pace laps. By lap 40, Blaney radioed in saying he didn’t have
any brakes. Lap 55 Blaney slammed into the wall, totaling his car and finishing 37th. Bell finished 9th.
*Pocono Race 1* Twitter H2H Matchup - Christopher Bell (+115 BetOnline) vs. Joey Logano: Bell had an
extra long early pit stop that threw him off the pit sequence and we never found him even sniffing top 10, while Logano had an unsurprisingly good run Saturday, as he has struggled in the past at Pocono. The final result was Joey Logano 7th and Christopher Bell 17th. Poor performance by Bell at plus money for us.
*Pocono Race 2* Twitter H2H Matchup - Kyle Busch +105 (BetOnline) vs. Kyle Larson: If you watched
Saturday’s race, you witnessed Kyle Larson blowing a tire on the last lap, the last turn going for his 4th
straight points race win. He blew a tire and slammed into the wall coasting to a 9th place finish. Busch
finished 2nd . Larson would have to go to a backup car for Sunday’s race and start near the tail end of the
field per NASCAR rules for a doubleheader. Logical thinking is, it’s a backup car for a reason. I could still
get Kyle Busch in plus money against Larson, who has dominated, but in a backup car. It didn’t look good
when Busch’s transmission wasn’t performing properly to the point Busch had to keep the car in 4th gear,
no matter what his speed was. In one of Busch’s pit stops, a crew member climbed in the passenger side
to mess with the gear stick. The race turned into a fuel mileage race where drivers has to pit with 1-2
laps left to make it on fuel. Busch came home with the win and Larson came in 2nd. Close win here.
Drivers to Look Out For
Chase Elliott (+240 FanDuel): Big surprise, right? Shouldn’t be though, really, given the fact that Chase Elliott is a Hendrick driver, which seems to give him a huge advantage over the other teams, as well as the fact that his 2021 road course stats aren’t too shabby either. Elliott won the rained shortened Circuit of the Americas race and finished 2nd to his Hendrick teammate at Sonoma. His one hiccup was at the Daytona Road Course, when he spun out after making contact with both Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. He finished 21st that race and currently ranks #1 in average fastest laps at road courses. It’s hard to look away from previous years’ road course races here too. Elliott won back-to-back races at Watkins Glen International from 2018-2019. He also won at Charlette Roval in 2020 and 2019, as well as the Daytona Road Course in 2020. Plus, in the last 10 road course races, he’s led a total of 293 laps.
Kyle Larson (+270 FanDuel): Elliott’s Hendrick teammate is the hottest driver in the Cup Series right
now. He was one mile away from capturing his 4th straight points race win last Saturday too, as he came in 2nd place overall last Sunday. He is finding speed on every track this team visits and wasn’t even well known as a road course specialist, although that has changed a few weeks ago at Sonoma when he dominated and came away with the win. How dominant? He led 57 laps at Sonoma and was second at COTA to his Hendrick teammate Elliott. With 8 laps to go at the Daytona Road Course, Larson was running 3rd before he wheel hopped and spun out. He finished 30th at the race. I wouldn’t let one mistake stray us away from Larson though. He has proven this year that he can be a force to be reckoned with at any track.
Martin Truex Jr (+600 FanDuel): Martin Truex Jr. completes the big three for road courses. Before Elliott and Larson, Truex Jr. was the man when it came to road courses. In the last 8 road courses (not counting COTA), he has 3 finishes outside the top 5 (7th Charlette Roval 2019, 7th Charlette Roval 2020 and 12th Daytona Road Course 2021). While Roval and the Daytona Road Courses are not true road courses built into the terrain, they are adaptations to current oval tracks that are able to be configured into a road course. His true road course history makes him a great contender this weekend, as well as the fact that his last three Sonoma race finishes are 3rd, 1st and 1st . His last three Watkins Glenn finishes are also 2nd, 2nd and 1st. Truex Jr hasn’t had much success the past couple of races. He just hasn’t had the speed his teammates Kyle Busch or Denny Hamlin have had. This wouldn’t be the time to sleep on MTJ though.
Best Value Bets
Ryan Blaney (-112 FanDuel) vs. Kevin Harvick: After watching practice on Saturday afternoon, this might
be a race of attrition. A couple cars wrecked or had problems navigating the track. And if practice showed
me anything, it’s that Ryan Blaney was fast around the track and Harvick was not. Final practice results
had Blaney the 4th fastest car, running a total of 10 laps. On the other hand, Harvick was not running as
fast. Harvick ended the session the 17th fastest car, running a total of 14 laps. In the last 8 road course
events (not Counting COTA), Blaney has won this matchup 5 times. At the 2020 Daytona Road Course,
Blaney and Harvick were running close together when Blaney had multiple mistakes and went from 19th
to 31st in the final 2 laps. This is not the Harvick we are used to seeing in years prior where he has speed
at seemingly every location, while Blaney on the other hand might have extra motivation to finish out this year as well, as it was announced earlier in the week that Todd Gordon, Blaney's crew chief, is retiring after the season. Blaney told reporters after practice on Saturday that he wants to finish out the year and playoffs strong for Gordon. This will be a very tight matchup, but I like Blaney’s Penske Ford in this spot.