The smell of burning rubber on asphalt will be back this weekend, with the staging of the 2021 Toyota Owners 400 race at the Richmond Raceway. Have you made your picks yet? If you’re still on the fence, you can let the experts break down which drivers you should be keeping a close eye on.
Kyle Busch is only priced at +1000 to win this weekend in Richmond. That’s not even inside the top five shortest odds in the upcoming 2021 Toyota Owners 400 race , but CBS Sports (SportsLine) is confident in Busch to make noise at the Richmond Raceway, where he has six career wins in 30 appearances. In 2018, Busch won two races on that track on his way to winning that year’s NASCAR Cup Series. Busch has a career average finish of 6.77 in Richmond.
Covers
Expert
Long shot picks
Covers
Aric Almirola, Austin Dillon, William Byron
Covers considers Almirola (+6600) as a possible “steal” for this week’s race. Almirola finished eighth in his last appearance at Richmond Raceway during the 2020 Federated Auto Parts 400. He also finished fifth in the 2018 version of that event. Dillon (+4000) is also another driver who could surprise according to Covers based on the fact that he has finished inside the top 10 in three of his last starts at Richmond Raceway. As for Byron (+1600), Covers thinks that it’s not a stretch to think that he is due for a win in Richmond even though he hasn’t had a top-five finish there before, considering that he also had not won at Homestead before he took the checkered flag in Miami last February.
ATS
Expert
High on
Brian Blessing
Denny Hamlin
Brian Blessing of ATS definitely thinks that Denny Hamlin (+600) should be part of the conversation for top picks to win at the 2021 Toyota Owners 400. After all, Hamlin has three wins with 13 top 5s and 17top 10s in 28 career appearances at Richmond Raceway.
“Logano is still hot. After winning in Bristol (Dirt), Logano collected a sixth-place campaign in Martinsville, where he led for six laps. He’s got three top 5s in seven starts this season. As for his track record at Richmond Raceway, Logano has two wins, 10 top 5s, and 13 top 10s in 23 appearances on that track. He finished third the last time he raced there, which was during the 2020 Federated Auto Parts 400.”
