NASCAR betting: Is Kansas where Tyler Reddick breaks through?

Posted on October 22, 2021 by Marcus DiNitto

When the NASCAR Cup Series circuit visits 1.5-mile tracks, Tyler Reddick is a factor. Reddick has steered the No. 8 Chevrolet to five-straight top-10 finishes on these ovals.

That run began in May at Kansas Speedway, site of Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the last race employing the 550-horsepower, high-downforce package on the 2021 NASCAR schedule. In other words, this is Reddick’s last best opportunity to break through to Victory Lane for the first time in his Cup career. He’s priced at 25-1 odds or better around the betting market to do that.

KANSAS: Betting odds | Weekend schedule | Paint schemes

Over those five races, Reddick’s 7.4 average finish ranks fourth in the series, and the 200 points he has collected are fifth best. He’s running up there with the big boys at these tracks, making his long odds look awfully enticing.

Here are odds to win this weekend at Kansas from NASCAR’s three official betting partners – Barstool Sportsbook, BetMGM, and WynnBET. As of Friday morning, Barstool has the nicest price on Reddick:

Driver	Barstool	BetMGM	WynnBET
Kyle Larson	+225	+225	+250
Denny Hamlin	+650	+600	+650
Kyle Busch	+800	+700	+750
Chase Elliott	+800	+750	+700
Martin Truex Jr	+850	+900	+900
William Byron	+1000	+1000	+1100
Ryan Blaney	+1100	+900	+900
Brad Keselowski	+1400	+1200	+1400
Kevin Harvick	+1600	+1400	+1600
Joey Logano	+1800	+1600	+1400
Tyler Reddick	+2800	+2500	+2500
Alex Bowman	+3000	+2500	+2800
Christopher Bell	+3300	+3300	+3300
Kurt Busch	+4000	+3300	+4000

OK, we know by this point in the season it’s rare for anyone not from the Hendrick, Gibbs or Penske teams to win a Cup race. It has happened only five times in the 33 races so far – two of those outliers have occurred on restrictor-plate tracks and one emerged from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Still, at 25-1 odds or better, a gambler can’t be blamed for taking a shot on Reddick.

There are, of course, more realistic ways to invest in the No. 8. Here’s a handful to consider from around the betting marketplace.

Top-three finish, +750 (Barstool)
Top-five finish, +325 (WynnBET)
Top-10 finish, -122 (Barstool)
Reddick -121 over Christopher Bell (Barstool)
Reddick -120 over Alex Bowman (WynnBET)
Reddick +110 over Kevin Harvick (SuperBook)
Reddick -110 over Joey Logano (SuperBook)

TIGHTENING LARSON

We wrote in this space last week that oddsmakers were tempting bettors by offering Kyle Larson at better than 3-1 odds at Texas Motor Speedway. Larson delivered for chalk players with his eighth win of the season.

The sportsbooks aren’t being as generous this week, tightening Larson to the +225 to +250 range.

While Larson has won on all kinds of layouts this year, his dominance has been more pronounced on 1.5s. In the eight races on these tracks this season, he has three wins and five top fives, and he has led an astounding 1,187 laps; Denny Hamlin’s 225 laps led are a distant second.

Larson’s price is pretty skinny this week, though, and with his spot in the Championship 4 secured, it’s fair to wonder how the Hendrick garage and No. 5 team will approach Sunday’s race – do they go all out for a Larson win, or do they put their resources behind Chase Elliott and save Larson’s best stuff for Phoenix Raceway?

AROUND THE GARAGE

Kyle Busch. At 8-1 odds, Kyle Busch deserves a look. He won the spring race at Kansas, and he has been stellar on 550-horsepower tracks, never finishing outside the top 10 in 11 starts (including the two races at Pocono Raceway and one at Michigan International Speedway). In addition to the Kansas win, Busch has a victory at Pocono, two second-place finishes and three thirds. In the eight races on 1.5-mile tracks, his 4.4 average finish leads the series (Larson is second at 7.0).

William Byron. After finishing second and leading 55 laps at Texas, Byron has gained respect with the betting market. Priced in the +1600 to +1900 range last week, the No. 24 Chevy is a consensus +1000 at Kansas. Byron won at Homestead-Miami Speedway and has six top-10s, including three in the top five, on 1.5s this season.

Kevin Harvick. Harvick is searching his first win of 2021, but priced around 15-1, the No. 4 still commands a measure of respect among oddsmakers and bettors. He does have an excellent history at Kansas; his 9.1 average career finish tops in the field. His 9.0 average finish at 1.5s this season keeps him in the mix, but ninth is a long way from first and cashing tickets at those long odds.

Marcus DiNitto is a writer and editor living in Charlotte, North Carolina. He has been covering sports for nearly two-and-a-half decades and sports betting for more than 10 years. His first NASCAR betting experience was in 1995 at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he went 0-for-3 on his matchup picks. Read his articles and follow him on Twitter; do not bet his picks.

Posted on October 22, 2021 by PJ Walsh

The Action Network specializes in providing sports betting insights/analytics and is a content partner with NASCAR. Check out more NASCAR betting analysis here.

Following a win last weekend at Texas, Kyle Larson locked in his spot for the championship race at Phoenix, leaving three openings remaining for the NASCAR Cup Series’ title event.

Those spots are still very much up for grabs among the seven remaining eligible drivers, including Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch.

Busch currently ranks fourth in the playoff standings with an eight-point advantage over the elimination line. Elliott is right behind Busch, sitting eight points below the elimination line.

Because both are vying for the final playoff position heading into Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the Elliott vs. Busch head-to-head driver matchup at Barstool Sportsbook is also a very interesting one for bettors.

Let’s take a deeper look at Elliott vs. Busch, including which side is the smartest way to bet this NASCAR driver matchup.

NASCAR at Kansas Betting Pick

*Odds as of Friday morning

To be honest, I’m a bit surprised to see Busch available as an underdog in this matchup at WynnBet.

As NASCAR.com’s RJ Kraft points out, the younger Busch brother has the best average finish at 1.5-mile tracks, like Kansas, this season.

At Kansas earlier this year, Busch won the race and tied with Kyle Larson for the top driver rating, while Elliott ranked sixth in that metric.

If we expand this out further to garner a larger sample size and look at the five races using this right-side tire (Kansas, Michigan, Texas and two races at Las Vegas), we still see Busch with an advantage, albeit a small one — over Elliott.

Over that span of five races, Busch has the top average finish in the NASCAR Cup Series with the fourth-best driver rating. Elliott, on the other hand, ranks fifth and seventh, respectively.

Again, this matchup is very tight, but based on the data above you can make a strong case that the odds are flipped and Busch should be the short favorite over Elliott.

In fact, Kyle is actually a -118 favorite over Chase (-110) at Barstool Sportsbook, once again reinforcing the importance of shopping for the best odds before making any bet.

With this in mind, I’m taking Busch (-105) to finish ahead of Elliott, who is currently -115 in this matchup.

The Bet: Busch (-105) over Elliott

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Holly Cain

With only two more races remaining to set the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship 4 Round field, Saturday’s Kansas Lottery 300 (3 p.m. ET on NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Kansas Speedway will play a huge role in determining who advances. And it has been an unpredictable and tough place on the Playoff drivers.

From 2016-2020 at least five of the eight Playoff drivers had some sort of big trouble in a Kansas race. Last year, Austin Cindric and Noah Gragson collided on an early-race restart and the championship-favorites finished 28th and 36th, respectively.

Three of the previous four Playoff races this year have been won by non-Playoff drivers – including John Hunter Nemechek last week at Texas Motor Speedway. The result has been tight and unpredictable Playoff standings – still led by Regular Season Champion AJ Allmendinger; but by a mere four-points over reigning series champion Austin Cindric.

The third and fourth positions in the standings are also tightly contested. Third place Justin Allgaier holds only a two-point advantage on fourth place, his JR Motorsports teammate Gragson.

Fifth place Daniel Hemric is only two-points behind Gragson. Justin Haley is six points behind Gragson and Harrison Burton is 21 points back of Gragson. Brandon Jones is 32 points out of the fourth-place transfer position, but arrives at the Kansas 1.5-miler as the only full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series driver with a previous victory at the track – winning back-to-back races in 2019 and 2020.

Interestingly, the four drivers currently below the elimination line bring solid credentials to Kansas. Three of the four even boast single-digit average finishes through the four Playoff races.

Hemric, driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, has the best average Playoff finish (3.5) of ALL the Playoff drivers – the only driver with all top-five finishes in the previous four races. He was runner-up to Nemechek last week at Texas. And Kansas has been a resume highlight. He has three top-10 finishes in four starts there and that includes two runner-up finishes (2018 and 2020).

Jones, driver of the No. 19 JGR Toyota, has an average finish of 5.75 in Playoff races this season, with a runner-up showing at Talladega. He has four top-10 finishes in six Kansas starts – including those pair of trophies. And Jones is surely extra-motivated having just re-signed with Gibbs this week to drive another Xfinity Series season for the team in 2022.

JAYSKI: Brandon Jones returning to JGR for 2022

Haley, who drives the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, also has a perfect four top-10 finishes in four Playoff races this year for a 6.5 average finish. He also has never finished outside the top-10 at Kansas in three starts. His best work is fourth in last year’s Playoff stretch.

Allgaier (4.5) and Cindric (4.75) are the only other drivers with Playoff averages below 10. Allgaier – a two-race winner this season – has eight top-10 finishes in 11 Kansas starts. His best work is fifth place – three different times. He has three top-five finishes in the four Playoff races, including a runner-up showing at Las Vegas, but he hasn’t led a lap in the last two races.

Cindric, who joins Allmendinger with a series-best five race win total, has struggled at Kansas. The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, has only one finish better than 25th in four Kansas starts. On the upside, he was runner-up in the 2020 spring race, leading 131 of the 175 laps. He has three top-five finishes in the 2021 Playoffs, including a runner-up at the Charlotte Roval. However his last win was Aug. 14 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

This will be the first Xfinity Series start for Allmendinger at Kansas since a one-off entry back in 2007 (he finished 25th). He had four top-10 finishes in 18 NASCAR Cup Series races there as well. Although a DNF at Talladega lowered his average finish in this year’s Xfinity Series Playoffs to 13.25, he has three top-10 finishes, including a victory at the Charlotte Roval.

Gragson, another two-race winner in 2021, has three top-10 finishes in four Xfinity Playoff races including a best of third place at Las Vegas and last week at Texas. That’s indicative of his season at 1.5-mile tracks, where he has six top-10 finishes in eight previous races at the 1.5-milers. He is still looking for his first top-10, however, at Kansas where his best previous showing is 13th in 2019; his first Xfinity Series race at Kansas. He won there in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2018.

The No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, which has 10 victories with four different drivers (including Nemechek last week at Texas), will be back in the lineup with Ty Gibbs at Kansas. Interestingly, the 19-year old Gibbs, a three-race winner in 2021 is the highest ranked non-Playoff driver despite having only 16 starts in the 30-races to date.

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The NASCAR Foundation announced Thursday the addition of two new members to its board of directors, bringing wide ranging marketing experience to help expand the Foundation’s reach into race communities across the country. NASCAR’s chief marketing officer, Pete Jung, and veteran advertising executive, Larry Woodard, accepted nominations to join the board led by chairman Mike Helton.

“Pete Jung and Larry Woodard are valuable additions to our board of directors. Both are terrific leaders with vast knowledge and experience in the sports marketing and advertising industry,” Helton said. “We are confident their guidance will help increase the reach of The NASCAR Foundation.”

RELATED: The NASCAR Foundation website

As head of marketing at NASCAR, Jung oversees the company’s award-winning marketing department and is responsible for growing the NASCAR brand, driving fan engagement and attracting new fans to the sport. Under Jung’s leadership, NASCAR has revamped its focus on key growth segments and strengthened its multicultural and youth marketing platforms to cultivate a younger and more diverse fan base. Prior to joining NASCAR in 2014, Jung was vice president of global marketing at Mastercard, where he was responsible for consumer strategies and marketing plans in several international markets. Jung has also worked for Time Inc. and held multiple agency positions where he supported a variety of consumer brands in media and account planning roles.

“I’m honored to be appointed to the board of directors for The NASCAR Foundation. I believe their mission of helping youth across our racing communities is incredibly impactful,” Jung said. “I’m excited to have the chance to make meaningful contributions to improve the lives of children.”

Woodard is a highly regarded advertising professional with more than 25 years of agency experience. He has consistently led agencies and helmed the path of innovation on behalf of their clients. Woodard has created advertising for a long list of brands, including General Motors, Motorola, Heineken, Sprint, Western Union, Comcast, GlaxoSmithKline, Kodak, Mars, Earthlink, the Snapple Beverage Group and many others. Woodard is a two-time recipient of the O’Toole Award for Advertising Agency of the Year; he has also been awarded a Gold Effie and The Cannes Gold Lion for the Oprah Car Giveaway. Woodard is a guest instructor, lecturer, co-author of “Inside the Minds: Advertising as a Branding Tool,” has served as Chair of the 4A’s NY Council, Director of Advertising Week and is a weekly columnist for ABC News.

“I’m thrilled to be appointed to the Board of Directors for The NASCAR Foundation,” said Woodard, president and CEO of Graham Stanley Digital. “I’ve long been an admirer of the work of the Foundation and look forward to helping in the important work of supporting children’s health initiatives.”

To learn more about The NASCAR Foundation or to make a donation, please visit NASCARfoundation.org.

Posted on October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 by Jerry Bonkowski

It’s rare for a NASCAR driver to walk away from the sport just as he or she was coming into the prime of their racing career.

But that’s exactly what Brian Scott did at the age of 28 in 2016. Faith, family and home-life stability ultimately won out over checkered flags and chasing wins and championships.

And while he misses his former NASCAR life, Scott couldn’t be happier these days back home in Boise, Idaho. He’s running a thriving family real estate investment business, watching his kids grow up and heavily involved in their lives and activities.

RELATED: Brian Scott career stats

In short, Scott is the epitome of a very content father and husband.

“I’m pretty lucky in my job to have some flexibility,” Scott told NASCAR.com. “I don’t have to put in 60 hours a week in the office. I really enjoy the ranching and farming aspect of our real estate. And I love going out and spending time on our ranches and figuring out how to be good stewards of the land, how to use cattle and farming to improve the ranch and the soil. I like that challenge and working on those aspects of it.

“I like the flexibility I have to go and spend time at those different places and to go out and hunt and fish. I love working with my family (his father and sister work side by side with him in the family business) and I love being with my family, my wife and kids. It’s been great.”

Scott could easily have kept on racing in NASCAR for at least another decade. After years of climbing the ladder through the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series, he finally made it in the Cup Series, first part-time for Richard Childress and then racing full time in the 2016 season for Richard Petty Motorsports.

But the more time he spent on the road, particularly when his family wasn’t able to accompany him, the more Scott felt he needed to make a change – and he finally did.

Scott admittedly struggled performance-wise in the 2016 season, making his decision to leave racing somewhat easier to reach. Ironically, though, just about the time he was ready to call it quits, he also had his best-ever Cup finish: second place in the fall playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.

But Scott was determined to see his decision through to walk away and did just that after a 15th-place finish in the 2016 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. By then, all the plans to move back to Boise were well underway, and he was looking forward to the lifestyle and workday change.

Even though he and his family settled in Boise in summer 2017, Scott still had a bit of racing left in him, competing in two Xfinity Series races in 2017 for Richard Childress Racing, finishing third (Iowa) and eighth (Kentucky), respectively. But even that success wasn’t enough to make him change his mind.

Fast forward to the present time and Scott is still a NASCAR fan, but he has no regrets at not being behind the wheel any longer. Instead, he has managed to do a number of things he never had time for when he was racing, including earning his airplane and helicopter pilot licenses.

He also coaches 7-year-old son Joseph’s football team, cheers for 11-year-old daughter Brielle’s horse-riding efforts and spends more quality time with wife Whitney.

“It was definitely challenging,” Scott said of the move back to Boise. “It was a hard decision to make, something I prayed about and thought about for a long time. But I got to the point where I didn’t like the lifestyle that my kids were having to live because of me pursuing my dream and my career. …

“And the older the kids got, and the more we kind of went through the grind of the season, I had really fond memories growing up here in Idaho. And spending all this time with my dad in the mountains, hunting and fishing and riding motorcycles and snowmobiling. I thought that that was a better way to raise my kids, my family than doing the NASCAR thing, as much as I love NASCAR. That was my passion, but I wanted to do something that I thought was better for the family.”

*****************************

Scott is currently a vice president of the family business, Alscott Inc., which employs more than 200 workers. Among the firms’ businesses are the Shore Lodge and Whitetail Club, both in McCall, Idaho, as well as a private golf club, a hops processing plant, a machine shop and a firearms manufacturer.

“My dad’s vision for me in a role here was to come in on the real estate side of things and manage the portfolio of real estate assets,” Scott said. “So typically I tell people I’m doing real estate now because that’s the short answer, but it’s not like buying and selling homes. It’s more managing like a portfolio of different real estate assets.”

While he’s very happy with where life has taken him, Scott admits one thing about his old life.

“I really miss racing, I mean the time from the green flag to the checkered flag,” he said. “It was a void in my life, but I think I filled that void and supplemented it with a lot with flying and working through all of my fixed-wing pilot training stuff, and then getting into helicopter flying and doing a lot of that, flying in the backcountry and around Idaho.

“Part of our real-estate portfolios, a couple of hunting ranches and cattle ranches and farms and stuff like that, are spread around Idaho and Oregon. So the aviation aspect, being able to fly really helps me to go to our different properties and help manage them. Flying has filled a large part of that void of the competition and the racing and the need for sure.”

Even though he considers himself retired from racing, Scott might consider a potential comeback one day if the right opportunity came along. But it would have to be totally on his terms and be as minimally disruptive on his family life as possible.

“Yeah, I continue to think about (racing again),” he said. “It’d be fun to go back and do some Truck races. And there’s some other forms of racing that I have an interest in doing, like the Baja 1000, something that’s always really intrigued me. I would love to do that.

“There’s also some rally car and some sports-car road-course racing stuff, both in the United States and internationally, that I think could be a lot of fun to go do as well. So I’m definitely open to those type of possibilities.

“I’ve been working really hard at my job here and getting myself in a good position there that I haven’t really pursued those very aggressively. But it’s something that’s always in the back of my mind, trying to maybe do some different opportunities like those.”

Scott still maintains numerous friendships with folks from his racing days, particularly Kyle Busch. Their respective families visit with each other both in Idaho and North Carolina, and Scott and Busch also like to get together on occasion to take part in sand-dune racing both in Idaho and Southern California.

Even though it has now been nearly five years since his last Cup race, Scott remains a fan favorite.

“It’s very humbling,” Scott said. “I still receive autograph requests. I’ve actually got a stack of them sitting on my desk right now, from California, Michigan, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Georgia, Florida, Maine. I mean, that’s crazy that people still write me and request autographs and a lot of times they include very nice notes that say, ‘Hey, just wondering how you’re doing, I’m working on my autograph collection, and I really enjoyed watching you race.’

“That kind of thing makes me feel good. I’ve even had fans send me some homemade memorabilia stuff they make. A guy made a very nice little piece of artwork with my name and some pictures of the car and stuff from Idaho license plates and sent it to me. So it’s been very humbling and it’s nice to know that I’m not completely forgotten about.”

*****************************

To paraphrase a popular saying, you can take the boy out of NASCAR, but you can’t entirely take NASCAR out of the boy. Scott’s office in Boise has a number of items that remind him of his racing days, including the trophy he earned for winning a Truck race at Dover International Speedway in 2009, as well as the checkered flag from that race he had framed.

He also has a couple of Richard Petty-signed cowboy hats that “The King” personally gave to him, as well as a number of photos that mean a great deal to him.

Scott couldn’t have had a better upbringing in the sport, having driven for some of the greatest owners in the sport, including Petty, Richard Childress, Joe Gibbs and a brief stint driving for Busch’s Truck team.

“Every situation that I was in, every team that I raced for, I learned a tremendous amount from each team owner that I raced for, and I also learned a tremendous amount from each crew chief and each team member that was on all of my different teams,” Scott said. “It wasn’t just one person that I learned from, it was the entire group from each different race team and from each year.”

He even picked up a few business pointers along the way, such as how to attract sponsors.

And then there was the most valuable lesson he learned, he said with a chuckle: “I would say the only business mentorship any of them ever gave me is don’t start your own race team.”

*****************************

Although he never reached Victory Lane in either the Cup or Xfinity Series, Scott did earn two wins in the Truck Series, with the win at Dover perhaps the sweetest and most special because it was the first win of all for him.

“I’ll always remember that one,” Scott said. “But also one of my most proud accomplishments was when I tied for third in the points in the Xfinity Series (in 2014 with Elliott Sadler, and behind champion Chase Elliott and runner-up Regan Smith).”

Will either of his children follow in Scott’s racing footsteps?

“Joseph just enjoys practicing and riding around, but not so much the actual racing thing,” Scott said. “But he loves riding motorcycles, driving snowmobiles, side-by-side four-wheelers, bandoleros, pretty much anything. So he might have a little racing in his future.

“My daughter, Brielle, has pretty much decided she loves horses and she’s competing on them right now.”

Ever the proud papa, Scott then said with a laugh: “So one of my kids is interested in one horsepower, while my son is more interested in multiple horses, you might say.”

************************************

The Brian Scott file:

* Age: 33

* Hometown: Boise, Idaho

Career highlights:

* NASCAR Cup career: 53 starts, 0 wins, 1 top-five and 1 top-10 finishes. Also 1 pole. Best season finish: 31st (2016).

* NASCAR Xfinity Series career: 210 starts, 0 wins, 21 top-five and 79 top-10 finishes. Also 5 poles. Best season finish: tied for third (2014).

* NASCAR Truck Series career: 62 starts, 2 wins, 11 top-5, 23 top-10 finishes. Best season finish: seventh (2009)

Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is writing a number of Where Are They Now? stories this year for NASCAR.com. Check out stories he’s already done on Robby Gordon, Ricky Craven, Terry Labonte, Kenny Wallace, Trevor Bayne, Ken Schrader, Shawna Robinson, Sam Hornish Jr., Bobby Labonte, Greg Biffle, Ricky Rudd, Darrell Waltrip, Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo Montoya. Follow Jerry on Twitter @JerryBonkowski.

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Kyle Souza

RICHMOND, Va. (Oct. 21, 2021) – Richmond Raceway expands the 2022 Toyota Spring Race Weekend to host a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race on Friday, April 1, 2022. This will be the second consecutive season Richmond has hosted a Whelen Modified Tour race at America’s Premier Short Track.

“We welcome back the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to Richmond Raceway after a successful, action-packed return this year,” said Richmond Raceway President Dennis Bickmeier. “We look forward to the talented drivers of the tour once again showcasing their skills next season at America’s Premier Short Track.”

Richmond first hosted a modified race in NASCAR’s inaugural season on May 16, 1948. The race was the first NASCAR sanctioned race in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Richmond hosted the modern-day NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour from 1990-1993, 1997, 1999-2002, 2021. NASCAR Hall of Famer Mike Stefanik, one of the Modified Tour’s 10 greatest drivers of all-time, holds the modern-day record with three wins at Richmond.

“The 2021 race was very exciting from start to finish. Our teams loved racing at Richmond and we look forward to the 2022 return to the Richmond and put on another great event for the fans,” said Jimmy Wilson, Series Director, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

In the spring, Richmond will host the Toyota Spring Race Weekend featuring the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Friday, April 1, 2022, ToyotaCare 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday, April 2, 2022 and the Toyota Owners 400 NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday, April 3, 2022.

Racing Virginia will be active in the month of April as the Commonwealth will host two Cup Series races in the same month for the second consecutive season as Martinsville Speedway will host a race on April 9, 2022. For the first time since 1997, NASCAR will make its first stop in the Commonwealth of Virginia at Richmond. Martinsville and Richmond have hosted back-to-back race weekends five times with the first time being in the spring of 1955.

Richmond will host its first-ever summer race weekend featuring the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs on Saturday, Aug. 13 and the Federated Auto Parts 400 Cup Series race on Sunday, Aug. 14. This will be the third consecutive season Richmond has hosted a Camping World Truck Series race and first-ever series playoff race. The Camping World Truck Series Playoff race will be the second race in the first round of the playoffs.

Start times and television networks for the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series and Whelen Modified Tour will be announced at a later date.

2022 NASCAR tickets are available for purchase today via phone at 866-455-7223 or online at richmondraceway.com.

Stay connected to Richmond Raceway on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Posted on October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 by Staff Report

NASCAR officials indefinitely suspended driver Carson Ware on Wednesday for a behavioral violation after his arrest earlier that day.

RELATED: Carson Ware career stats

NASCAR officials formalized the suspension in a Thursday morning penalty report, which said Ware was suspended for violation of Section 12.8.1.e in the Member Conduct Guidelines of the NASCAR Rule Book. Those guidelines include, in part: “Being charged with or convicted of significant criminal violations (e.g. Domestic Violence, Trafficking, Assault), or having had determinations rendered by criminal or civil authorities that in NASCAR’s judgement necessitate action. NASCAR will not pre-judge guilt or innocence in the criminal or civil legal system, or the guilt or innocence of the Member, but rather review each matter in its own context and circumstances and with regards to its potential effects upon the sport.”

The Rowan County (N.C.) Sheriff’s Office said Ware, 21, was given a $1,000 bond Wednesday on charges of assault on a woman, simple assault and damage to personal property.

Ware was scheduled to compete in this Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway for SS Green Light Racing, which also suspended Ware late Wednesday. Garrett Smithley was named as a replacement driver for the team’s No. 17 Chevrolet. Ware has competed in six Xfinity Series races this season.

Rick Ware, Carson Ware’s father, issued a statement through his racing team’s social media Wednesday evening.

pic.twitter.com/pX1VZIy56Z

— Rick Ware Racing (@RickWareRacing) October 21, 2021

Posted on October 21, 2021 by Marcus DiNitto

If you like Kyle Larson to close the deal and claim the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship, now is not the time to make that bet.

Listed with skinny 3-2 odds (+150) at sportsbooks throughout the betting market, Larson’s price will fatten up once the group that will battle for the title at Phoenix Raceway is set.

RELATED: 2021 Cup Series title odds

Larson punched his ticket to the Championship 4 with a win last Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, prompting oddsmakers to tighten his futures number from the +250 range he was in last week. The books are likely to ease him back out as the field takes shape.

“His odds will obviously rise once we know the other three, unless we get some crazy three we don’t anticipate,” Ed Salmons, vice president of risk at SuperBook USA, told NASCAR.com.

Here’s how odds to win the Cup championship look at four different sportsbooks (as of Thursday morning) – NASCAR’s three official betting partners, plus the SuperBook – heading into Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway.

RELATED: Weekend schedule for Kansas

	SuperBook	BetMGM	Barstool	WynnBET
Kyle Larson	+150	+150	+150	+150
Ryan Blaney	+450	+500	+550	+500
Denny Hamlin	+550	+500	+500	+475
Kyle Busch	+700	+700	+700	+650
Chase Elliott	+1000	+900	+800	+750
Martin Truex Jr.	+1400	+1200	+1100	+1100
Brad Keselowski	+2500	+2000	+1400	+1600
Joey Logano	+4000	+3300	+2800	+2500

When the odds are reset for Phoenix, the numbers will be akin to what we’re used to seeing in group matchup props, where bettors are asked to select which driver will finish first among a group of four. Unless it’s Chase Elliott on a road course, it’s rare to see a driver priced under +200 in one these groups. As seven other drivers scramble for the remaining three spots to join Larson in the Championship 4, it’s hard to predict what the No. 5’s odds will be before Phoenix, but with the best talent in the sport likely to be there, we’re almost certain to see him better than +150.

We probably won’t see him at the +300 at which he was offered before the playoffs – or the +1000 he caught before the season – so if you got down at one of those prices, congratulations on a fine bet. If you missed the boat so far but still want action on Larson to win it all, be patient and wait for a better price.

LIABILITY FOR THE BOOK

The SuperBook won’t be sweating the No. 5 at Phoenix, no matter who he is matched up against, as a Larson championship is a winner for the house.

Only two drivers, in fact, are losers for the book, and while both are still alive in the Round of 8, one is the now longest shot on the board: Joey Logano.

And based on the 40-1 odds the SuperBook is dangling on Logano, the shop is happy to take a few more bets on the No. 22. Mile-and-a-half tracks like Kansas are not Logano’s favorite, so his most realistic shot at advancing to the Championship 4 appears to be winning at Martinsville Speedway in two weeks.

Liability looms on Denny Hamlin, however, but not to the point where the No. 11 is priced above Ryan Blaney as the second favorite behind Blaney. Salmons characterizes the potential loss on either Logano or Hamlin as modest.

Posted on October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 by Zach Sturniolo

Kyle Larson became the first driver to lock himself into the Championship 4 by winning last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

The Round of 8 continues at Kansas Speedway with the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) as Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin and the rest of the playoff field fight for the victory that could send them to a championship battle in Phoenix.

TO THE STARTING LINE

Kyle Larson will lead the field to the green flag for the 10th time this season when the NASCAR Cup Series hits Kansas Speedway. Paired with him on the front row will be Ryan Blaney as they pace Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano. For the full starting lineup, click here.

THE PURSE

NASCAR released purse information for the upcoming national series races.

NASCAR Cup Series: $7,972,577

NASCAR Xfinity Series: $1,638,185

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (next race: Martinsville): $674,952

KANSAS HISTORY

— The process of exploring options of Midwest locations to build a new NASCAR speedway began in 1996, and Kansas City, Kansas, was selected as International Speedway Corporation’s choice in 1997.

— What started as a facility with a seating capacity of 75,000 quickly grew to 82,000 after initial ticket sales in 1999 quickly sold out.

— The $250 million project opened its doors to the NASCAR Cup Series on Sept. 30, 2001, for the Protection One 400. Rusty Wallace led a race-high 117 laps that day, but Jeff Gordon took home the track’s inaugural trophy for his sixth and final win of his fourth championship season.

— Kansas was repaved and reconfigured following the 2012 STP 400 as variable banking in the corners up to 20 degrees were introduced.

— The Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway overlooking Turn 2 opened in February 2012 with 2,000 slot machines, 52 gaming tables and 12 poker tables on a 100,000 square-foot gaming floor. The casino has served as the title sponsor of the track’s playoff date since 2012.

— Kansas has hosted NASCAR every year since 2001 and began contesting two races per season in 2001.

— Sunday’s race will be the 32nd held at Kansas and 19th Cup event on this pavement.

Source: Racing Insights

GOODYEAR TIRES

Kansas Speedway’s 2012 repave means the track has garnered some age and character. While that typically results in more tire wear, especially nine years later, the surface around the 1.5-mile track still remains non-abrasive. In response, Goodyear will return with the same tires utilized in last year’s playoff race as well as the spring race in May. Additionally, the left-side tire compound was used at the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval and Nashville Superspeedway while the right side has been used at Las Vegas, Michigan and Texas.

“Kansas poses an interesting challenge for teams in that it is still considered a relatively smooth track surface, yet it has begun to wear tires over the last several races at the track,” said Greg Stucker, Goodyear’s director of racing. “We work hard to design our tread compounds to match up with a track surface and we definitely have a compound, specifically on the right-side, that will also introduce wear at Kansas. We just ran this right-side tire at Texas last week, and Cup teams ran this same set-up at Kansas earlier in the season, so they are very familiar with what to expect.”

Goodyear said teams can expect to see approximately a second-and-a-half of fall-off in lap times over the course of a fuel run, so tire management may be a factor.

RULES PACKAGE

NASCAR Cup Series cars will be outfitted with the 550-horsepower, high-downforce package this weekend, which features taller spoilers and longer front splitters in an effort to create closer side-by-side racing at ovals larger than 1.4 miles in length.

SUNFLOWER STATE STORY LINES

— Eight of the last nine Kansas races were won by drivers still in playoff contention in 2021.

— With two straight wins, Kyle Larson is looking to become just the third driver to win three consecutive playoff races (Joey Logano, 2015; Jimmie Johnson 4 straight, 2007).

— Ford remains winless in each of the last 10 playoff races.

— Kevin Harvick won at least one playoff race in each of the last nine seasons (2012-2020), the longest active streak, but has yet to do so this year. The longest streak all-time is 13 seasons by Jimmie Johnson.

— Texas marked Denny Hamlin’s first finish outside the top 10 in any of the seven playoff races this season, but the No. 11 team still rallied to earn an 11th-place result after late contact.

— Denny Hamlin holds the best average finish through the playoffs this year with a mark of 5.1. Kyle Larson is runner-up with an average finish of 8.3 ahead of Brad Keselowski’s 8.4.

— Kyle Larson has led the most laps of anyone throughout the playoffs with 701 circuits out front. Denny Hamlin’s 578 are the next best total, well ahead of Chase Elliott’s 190 laps led.

— Each of the past five Kansas races have been won by drivers from Team Penske or Joe Gibbs Racing.

— Chevrolet has only one win in the last nine Kansas races (Chase Elliott, October 2018).

— The final green-flag stretch was two laps or less in three of the last five Kansas races.

Source: Racing Insights

GAMBLING ON THE HOLLYWOOD CASINO 400

Off the heels of another dominant win in the 550-HP package one week ago at Texas, Kyle Larson is the odds-on favorite to claim the victory at Kansas Speedway with 9-4 (+225) odds, according to BetMGM.

Larson has never won at Kansas and finished 19th in this year’s spring race, but the wheelman of the No. 5 Chevrolet does have two top fives in his last five starts.

At 6-1 odds, Denny Hamlin has the next highest odds to win Sunday while Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch each carry 15-2 (+750) odds into the weekend.

Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are both listed at 9-1 odds this weekend, but stats show they sit on opposite sides in a few different ways. Blaney sits second in points with a 17-point buffer above the elimination line, while Truex is seventh and 22 points beneath the elimination threshold. But at Kansas specifically, Truex has the edge with two wins at the 1.5-mile track and eight top 10s in his last nine starts. Blaney, meanwhile, has finished 20th or worse in four the past five Kansas races with just two top 10s in eight starts for Team Penske.

A potential sleeper who has already been eliminated from playoff contention is William Byron at 12-1 odds. The 2017 Xfinity Series champion has four straight top 10s at Kansas and six top 10s in the last eight mile-and-a-half races.

FANTASY LIVE

Want to manage a team and race your way to the top of the leaderboards? Check out the playoff version of NASCAR Fantasy Live, which is open now and offers a fresh start for those of you who played the regular-season contest. The free-to-play game lets you choose your drivers each week and show off your crew-chief instincts, and there is a $10,000 prize for the winner.

The 2021 Fantasy Live points leaders are Denny Hamlin (1,322) Kyle Larson (1,312), and Chase Elliott (1,098).

This year, NASCAR.com also has the Playoffs Grid Challenge game, presented by Ruoff Mortgage, where you can pick the winners for each round of the playoffs right up through the Championship 4. First prize is $10,000.

How to play: Playoffs Grid Challenge | Playoff Fantasy Live

ALSO ON NASCAR.COM

Get additional camera views by logging on to NASCAR Drive, where each week a select number of in-car cameras will be available — as well as a battle cam and an overhead look.

New for this season, NASCAR has partnered with LiveLike to add fan engagement in the NASCAR Mobile App. Log in to the mobile app during the race for polls, quizzes, the cheer meter and more — and see instant results from NASCAR fans like you.

And finally, head over to the NASCAR Mobile App for AR Racing presented by Mobil 1, where you can design your own car and race the playoff drivers at the playoff tracks in augmented reality.

Posted on October 20, 2021 by Kyle Souza

LOUDON, N.H. – The New England fan-favorite NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) has been added to the lineup for New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s (NHMS) 2022 NASCAR race weekend, July 16-17. The modifieds will kick off the race weekend on Doubleheader Saturday, July 16 with a 100-lap race followed by a 200-lap NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race. The NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) will cap off the weekend with a 301-lap race on Sunday, July 17.

“Our NASCAR race weekend just isn’t complete without the Whelen Modified Tour,” said David McGrath, executive vice president and general manager of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “The modified tour always produces a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat show for fans at ‘The Magic Mile,’ and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for us on July 16, 2022.”

This past summer, Berlin, Connecticut’s Ryan Preece outdueled the competition with a turn four pass in overtime to capture his first-ever points win at “The Magic Mile.”

“I feel like I won Daytona,” Preece said in victory lane. “If you’re from this area, this place means a lot to you. Coming here since I was a little kid, my grandfather and I used to camp right back there. Since I started racing the modifieds back in 2007, this has been that one track that has really alluded me… Really, really friggin’ happy to win this race.”

Details regarding the full weekend schedule and broadcast information for NASCAR’s 2022 weekend at NHMS will be released at a later date.

Tickets:

Tickets and camping are on sale now at NHMS.com. Adult tickets start at just $35 for Doubleheader Saturday and $49 for Sunday. Tickets for kids 12 and under are free on Saturday and just $10 on Sunday. Further details can be found on the New Hampshire Motor Speedway website or by calling 833-4LOUDON.