NOCO 400 Betting Preview
14 April 2023
Last weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series made its Spring stop at the short track at Bristol. Hendrick Motorsports-Chevorlet’s Kyle Larson (252.521) looked primed to win the Food City Dirt Race after stage 1. However, with drivers drifting and sliding around throughout the caution-filled race, Larson had issues throughout the final two stages and finished 35th.
In the end, Joe Gibbs Racing-Toyota’s Christopher Bell (252.674) continued his impressive season by winning at Bristol, his fifth career Cup Series win. The NASCAR show heads back to Virginia and to the short track at Martinsville for the NOCO 400.
Joe Gibbs Going Back-to-Back with a Former Winner?
Joe Gibbs Racing-Toyota will be looking for its second win of the season after dirt racing expert Bell won last week at Bristol. However, it’s Martin Truex Jr. (252.247) who takes the spotlight as a short-track specialist with a winning history at Martinsville.
Truex Jr. won the 2023 Clash at the Coliseum and scored back-to-back wins at Martinsville in 2020 and 2021. The short-track success doesn’t end there, as Truex Jr. has nine top-ten finishes in the last 16 short-track races. In the last six races at Martinsville, Truex Jr. has four top-ten finishes, three being in the top five.
All Eyes on Hendrick Motorsports
While Truex Jr. and Joe Gibbs Racing will get plenty of betting focus for finishing in the top ten, all eyes at Martinsville will be on Hendrick Motorsports.
Hendrick Motorsports William Byron (254.224) has been successful at Martinsville but will get the least spotlight of his teammates. Byron won the 2022 edition of this race and has three top-five finishes and an average finishing position of 10.0. Byron is
While Kyle Larson (252.521) is always a threat to win, he has two top-five finishes and an average finishing position of 10.0 in his last four races at Martinsville.
The spotlight will firmly be on Chase Elliot (252.274), who is scheduled to return from a broken leg after missing six races. Elliot looked like the preseason NASCAR Cup Series Championship favorite in his last race, finishing second at Fontana.
However, we’re not favoring these three Hendrick Motorsports drivers to win the NOCO 400 at Martinsville.
All Eyes on Bowman
Hendrick Motorsports-Chevrolet’s Alex Bowman (251.758) is the Dunkel Index’s pick to win the NASCAR Cup Series NOCO 400. Bowman has six top-ten finishes, three being top-five finishes, this season. In his last five races at Martinsville, Bowman won the Fall trip to Martinsville in 2021 and has three top-ten finishes, with an average finishing position of 11.8.
In his last 16 short track races, Bowman has two wins and eight top-ten finishes. The Dunkel Index favors Bowman to get his first win since Las Vegas 2022 this weekend at Martinsville.
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