Top Drivers
Austin Cindric ($9,100), Starting 2nd
Cindric had the second-best qualifying spot and one of the best practice sessions among the Cup Series drivers here. As an XFINITY Series driver, he was one of if not the best road course racer and that talent hasn’t suddenly disappeared. He won’t be overly popular due to some heavy hitters qualifying deep in the field but he’ll be a low-owned contender to challenger for the most dominator points and top-five finish if things break well.
Kyle Larson ($10,200), Starting 22nd
Larson is one of the best road course racers in the series and despite qualifying 22nd, he’ll be a contender in this race with his odds to win still coming in sixth-best at +1000 (Tyler Reddick, starting on the pole has the best odds at +550). Larson has three wins and 10 top-fives in his career on road courses and I’m expecting a good run from him on Sunday. He’ll be a trendy cash game play.
Ross Chastain ($10,400), Starting 21st
Chastain had extra seat time on this track as he ran the XFINITY race here on Saturday taking the number 92 machine home fourth after starting 18th. On Sunday he’ll have an opportunity to climb through the field once again in a better machine starting 22nd. In three road course races in the Cup Series, this season Chastain has a win, a fourth-place finish, and a seventh-place finish under his belt.
Chase Elliott ($10,600), Starting 8th
When it comes to road course racing, Elliott is the class of the field as he has seven wins and 13 top-five in 22 career road course races. In his only career race on the road course at The Brickyard Elliott has a fourth-place finish with 14 laps led. Getting some extra place differential with him starting eighth is awfully enticing for NASCAR’s most popular driver.
Also Consider:
Martin Truex, Jr. ($9,600), Starting 25th
- Plenty of place differential available for a driver with plenty of motivation as he’s still looking for his first win of the season. Truex does have four career road course wins.
William Byron ($8,700), Starting 23rd
- Byron is in a position to get right as his most recent stretch of 14th, 11th, 30th, 16th, and 35th-place finishes have been less than stellar. The Hendrick Motorsports road course program is typically solid giving Byron fans hope that he can climb through the field starting back at 23rd.
Chase Briscoe ($8,800), Starting 3rd
- Like Cindric, Briscoe is a tournament play as far as looking for a low-owned dominator goes. He raced the XFINITY race here on Saturday and won that race here last year. He’ll be starting third and have an opportunity to jump out front early at virtually no ownership at all.
Erik Jones ($7,100), Starting 35th
- Cash game place differential play.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ($6,100), Starting 38th
- Cash game place differential play.
Alex Bowman ($7,800), Starting 28th
- Cash game place differential play.