Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 Betting Preview/Prop Play
24 June 2021
The next NASCAR Cup Series race is being held in Pennsylvania for a few events at the Pocono raceway. This next betting opportunity is for Sunday on the second event of the Pocono series.
Race Details
Date: Sun, Jun 27, 2:30 PM
Watch on: NBCS
Track: Pocono Raceway
Betting Overview
The first race of the series is the Pocono Organics CBD 325 on Saturday. Then on Sunday, the second race of this event begins, Explore the Pocono Mountains 350.
Both days will feature the same drivers and cars. Saturday’s race will be a good test for who might win on Sunday, especially if a few particular drivers perform well.
Starting position matters a lot here since there is not much passing that occurs. Less than 10 drivers led in each race last season.
Head to Head Matchup to Watch
Kyle Larson (116.542) and Chase Elliot (123.234) are undeniably a combination of drivers that fans want to see go at it. Larson has been on a tear lately and Elliot is the defending Cup Series winner.
Dunkel Index For This Event
The Dunkel Index is showing these top 10 drivers that could win this event. The following 10 are:
- Kyle Larson 116.542
- Chase Elliott 123.234
- Alex Bowman 123.291
- Kyle Busch 124.124
- William Byron 124.268
- Joey Logano 124.925
- Kevin Harvick 124.981
- Martin Truex Jr 126.872
- Ross Chastain 127.482
- Denny Hamlin 127.915
*index is subject to changes
Drivers That Could Win
Denny Hamlin (127.915) has not won yet in 17 races, which is quite odd for arguably a top five driver. In addition, he has almost 10 top five finishes that have been ridiculously close to him winning.
Chase Elliot (123.234) is also another driver that has a handful of close calls to win races. He won this event back in 2013 and has plenty of runner ups this year. No other driver has looked as compelling as Elliot when trailing Larson these last four races.
William Byron (124.268) has great odds and value to steal a win here. As part of the Hendricks team, Byron and Larson do not have wins here but this could all change if one of these two were to succeed here.
Martin Truex Jr (126.872) has been somewhat hit or miss this season. However, he has two victories here and has looked better in his last 10 races.
Potential Winning Pick
Kyle Larson (116.542) is the man to beat here. He has won the last four races and finished second at COTA before winning the next four.
Depending on how well he drives Saturday could very well lead off into Sunday with a victory. His win streak has been complete dominance and other drivers are itching for a win to knock him off.
As mentioned above, starting position matters a lot here versus other tracks. Larson also happens to be the leader on Saturday’s race and potentially Sunday’s.
Prop Play
Best Finishing Position: Chase Elliott (-118) Over Kevin Harvick
Nashville’s return to racing was a bust for Elliott last weekend. His 13th place finish was bad enough following five consecutive weeks of Top 3 finishes. But on top of that, Elliott was disqualified following the race for having five loose lug nuts. As a result of the penalty, the No. 9 car was scored in last place in the race and was also stripped of a Stage 1 victory.
But it doesn’t overshadow what has been a strong run by Elliott as he tries to repeat his Cup Series championship from 2020. Even with the DQ, his recent run has moved him all the way up to No. 4 in the standings.
It’s been just the opposite for Harvick so far. After tearing up the circuit for much of 2020 and leading the Cup Series with 9 victories, the No. 4 car has not won a race since last September at Bristol. That’s a stretch of 24 consecutive races without a victory.
There have been some signs of life as Harvick finished 2nd at Kansas and 5th last week at Nashville. But with Elliott having the stronger season and coming off a disappointing performance last week, we’ll take the No. 9 car (-118) to finish ahead of Harvick at Pocono.
Don't forget to check out our other sports betting picks!
