Cup Series driver Elliott leads Xfinity Pocono 225 odds

There are just eight weeks left in the Xfinity Series regular season, and it’s quickly becoming the year of John Hunter Nemechek. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won the last two races to take a solid lead in the championship standings. Austin Hill, who led early in the season, is now 33 points behind. This week the series heads to Pennsylvania for the Tricky Triangle of Pocono. Nemechek, Hill, Justin Allgaier, and Cole Custer are nearly 100 points clear of the next driver in the standings. But none of those drivers are the favorites in the Xfinity Pocono 225 odds for victory this week.

Defending Cup Series winner tops the odds

Chase Elliott won the Cup Series race in Pocono last year after the top two drivers were disqualified from the results. He’s near the top of the odds for the Cup Series race this time and is also racing in the Xfinity Series this weekend.

At +220, he has some of the shortest Xfinity Series odds for victory this season. But that win came after poor results in four of the prior five races. He’s raced well there once and, as a Cup Series champion, he’s no slouch. But Pocono is far from his best track on the NASCAR Xfinity Schedule this year.

Championship leader Nemechek is next at +350. He’d be the first driver to win three NASCAR Xfinity race events in a row since Noah Gragson’s three straight wins to close the 2022 regular season. He has a solid track record in Pocono, with a win during the 2021 Craftsman Truck Series season.

His last Xfinity Series race there in 2019 saw him take 12th. It’s been a month since he finished outside the top two places. Look for him to be challenging for a win again.

Allgaier’s next-best at +450. The JR Motorsports driver won stage 1 of the race last week in Loudon but only managed sixth at the chequered flag. His only career win in Pocono at any level came in the 2008 ARCA Menards Series.

He has had solid results in his Xfinity career, including seventh last year and third in 2021. JR Motorsports won last year’s race with Gragson. Can they make it two years in a row?

There’s a drop-off from Allgaier to Custer at +800. He saw his streak of top-10 finishes end in Loudon last week with a 22nd-place result, one of his worst of the season. Luckily, Pocono is one of his better tracks on the schedule. He won this race in 2019 as a highlight of solid NASCAR Xfinity results.

Tenth last year, the win in 2019, fifth in 2018, and seventh in 2017. Stewart-Haas Racing has two wins in Pocono in the previous four years. His poor result in Loudon drops him to 74 points behind Nemechek at the top. He’ll be looking for a much better outcome to close that gap.

Allgaier’s teammate Josh Berry (+1000) rounds out the shortest odds for victory. He’s in a bit of a slump lately, with just one top-five result in the last five races. That’s the worst stretch of the 2023 season so far. Last season, he finished third for JR Motorsports in Pocono. In 2021, he took ninth. He’s another bounce-back candidate in Pocono this weekend.

Long Xfinity Pocono 225 odds worth considering

Elliott’s not the only Cup Series regular in the Pocono 225 this weekend. Daniel Suarez (+1400) races in both events this weekend at one of his better tracks on the calendar. One of his two career Cup Series poles came in Pocono in 2018 and he took third there last season.

This week, Suarez announced Kinsley Wilkerson, a seven-year-old battling cancer who Suarez called his “lucky charm,” passed away. She first visited him in the Trackhouse Racing garage at Sonoma last season. That ended up as Suarez’s first career Cup Series win. He’ll want to put on a good performance in her memory.

Rookie Chandler Smith’s (+1400) earned consecutive pole positions in the last two races. That yielded a second-place result last week in Loudon. He’d likely trade one of those poles for a trip to victory lane. He won in Pocono last year during the Camping World Truck Series season. This weekend provides the chance to make it a group of five instead of four at the top of the Xfinity standings.

Sheldon Creed(+2500) has always been solid in Pocono. Fifth in the Xfinity Series last year and third in both 2021 and 2020 in the Camping World Truck Series. He’s struggled lately (21st in Loudon, 35th in Atlanta) but could be a surprise first-time winner in the Xfinity Series this NASCAR season.

Predictions for the Pocono 225

The Tricky Triangle is a unique challenge every season, and this year will be no different. The top four Xfinity drivers in the standings have won a combined 10 of 18 races. On top of that, there’s the Cup Series champion who leads the Xfinity Pocono 225 odds.

Of the favorites, it’s hard to go against Nemechek making it three in a row. But Custer’s track record here and consistency this season make him a great choice for a better payout. For an even better return on your bet, look for Smith to get his second win of the season.

For NASCAR betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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