It’s time for another race in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series. The next one would be at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, where we’ll see if the trend of first-time career winners will continue after Michael McDowell and Christopher Bell topped the Daytona 500 and the O’Reilly Auto Parts 253, respectively. Check out our preview for the 2021 Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Cup Series below.
Harvick, who topped the regular season last year, is still a strong contender for the NASCAR Cup Series. He’s off to a solid start, finishing fourth at the Daytona 500 and sixth at the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona Road Course last week. Since 2001, Harvick has collected a total of 11 top 5s in 20 starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway, including a win at the Ford EcoBoost 400 in 2014. Harvick placed inside the top four in all six races prior to last year’s disappointing 26th-place finish at the 2020 Dixie Vodka 400.
Martin Truex Jr. (+800)
Truex had a disappointing start to the season, as he finished just 25th at the Daytona 500. Among the favorites in last week’s NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona RC, Truex betrayed expectations by finishing outside the top 10 (12th). Still, it’s not advisable to just give up on a talented driver like Truex. For one, he owns a 10.31 average finish in his career at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 16 races there since 1999.
Denny Hamlin (+500)
Like Harvick, Hamlin is off to a solid start to the current season, having finished fifth at the Daytona 500 and third at the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona Road Course. Hamlin led the Daytona 500 a total of 98 laps but could not hold on, allowing Michael McDowell to steal the show — and the win. Nevertheless, Hamlin is definitely among the top contenders for this weekend’s race, considering he’s won three times before at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hamlin won last year’s Dixie 400 race.
SLEEPERS
Aric Almirola (+2800)
Almirola has made 11 starts in his career at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and while he hasn’t won there yet, he has finished inside the top 5 twice and top 10 four times. And here’s this: he has two top 10s in his last three starts there.
Austin Dillon (+5000)
Dillon is coming off a 34th-place finish at the NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona RC, so there aren’t lots of bettors out there looking for him. However, it should be noted that Dillon has placed inside the top 10 in each of his last two starts there. Dillon finished seventh in last year’s Dixie Vodka 400, his best performance at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, so far.
LONG SHOT
Ross Chastain (+10000)
Chastain has finished no better than 33rd in his two career starts at Homestead-Miami Speedway. That’s not good, but at least he turned lots of heads when he finished seventh at the 2021 Daytona 500.
