Top Prop Bets for Foxwood Resorts Casino 301
The NASCAR season is in full swing and this week brings the turning and burning, clanging and banging on the asphalt to you from the Granite State. It’s the Foxwoods Resorts Casino 301 coming to you Sunday, July 18 from the track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. This marks the last race before the Tokyo Olympics take place as drivers will have the next couple of weekends off, giving them a rare mid-summer break from boiling over in their vehicles in search of a checkered flag.
We’ve taken a detailed look at the track itself and how the drivers have fared in their respective careers here to give you some background information. Today, we take a look at some of the top prop bets out there for this race to help you finish in the money should you head to the betting window. As always, all the odds for the prop bets are brought to you by DraftKings. Without further ado, let’s look over some other options for Sunday’s race.
Denny Hamlin to Finish in Top 3 (+110): Sure, the thought process might be that Hamlin could be a frontrunner to earn a win here, seeing that he has three victories on the track in his career. Of course, the thing holding me back about taking him for the checkered flag is simple: he has yet to win this season. He’s recorded 11 top-five finishes in the 21 races this season but has yet to be the first to cross the stripe for a victory. His average finish on the season is 8.6, which makes a top-five situation pretty favorable. I’ll go a notch up and say he finishes in the top three but due to the lack of wins so far, you have to think twice about him winning. It wouldn’t be a shocker if he took the checkered flag but I’m leaning toward a runner-up or third-place showing.
Kevin Harvick to Finish in Top 5 (+220): There are plenty of things that were said about Hamlin that apply to Harvick here. He’s won at the Magic Mile four times in his career, the most among active drivers, and also has the most top-five (13) and top-10 (21) finishes among active drivers at the track. Harvick has led the second-most laps (765) of any active driver, trailing only Kyle Busch, but he’s had problems this season. Entering this race, he, like Hamlin, has yet to earn a checkered flag and that puts him on the proverbial bubble for the playoff. He’s recorded only six top-five finishes on the year though he has 14 top-10 showings. With races running short before the playoffs, it’s time for Harvick to step up. He should run near the front most of the day and should be in the top five when all is said and done.
Kyle Larson to Win (+550): Larson missed the majority of last year after his firing for using a racial slur during an iRacing event that was televised live. He’s come back motivated this season and enters this race second in the points standings, 10 points behind Hamlin for the top spot. We know he’ll be a factor in the playoffs when they roll around later this year. Larson has four victories and 11 top-five finishes on the books this season in 21 races, while finishing in the top-10 14 times. He’s run 10 times at the Magic Mile in his career and has yet to earn a checkered flag, though he has four top-five finishes and five top-10s to his credit. This seems a prime opportunity for him to break through and earn his first victory at the track.
Kevin Harvick to Post Best Finish in Group B (+250): We already expressed our thought process on how Harvick will finish in the top five Sunday, so the logic for his performance here has already been covered. That should express why we think he’ll have the best finish in Group B but we’ll look at the other drivers in the group. William Byron (+250) is the co-favorite for the group with Harvick but he’s run here only three times in his career. While he’s improved in each run, he still has yet to record even a top-10 on the track, having finished 14th, 12th and 11th in those runs. Alex Bowman (+275) has three wins this season but he’s sputtered majorly in his nine runs at the Magic Mile. He’s yet to run better than 11th and has finished 26th or worse five times in those nine races. Ryan Blaney (+275) has one win this season but only has four top-five showings in 21 races this year. In eight races at the Magic Mile, he has one top-five and three top-10 finishes to his credit but was 20th last year here. Lean toward Harvick earning the best finish in the group.
Chevrolet to Manufacture Winning Car (+170): This is dovetailing with the pick of Larson to win as he drives a Chevrolet. He won three straight races earlier this season, prevailing at Charlotte, Sonoma and Nashville, which was part of a stretch where he finished in the top two in seven of eight races. Larson was 16th at Elkhart Lake for the Road America course and 18th in Atlanta over the last two weeks but should bounce back here. Throw in Kurt Busch, Chase Elliott, Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Austin Dillon, among others, and the potential for Chevy to take the checkered flag is there for certain.
That covers the rest of our top prop options for this week’s race. We wish you good luck in your efforts and hope you walk away from the window with a fistful of dollars. Remember that after this race, the next race will be another road course with the Go Bowling at the Glen race, which will take place at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York on August 8. The next two weeks will be off weeks for the circuit, likely due to the Tokyo Olympics, so you’ll have to find an alternative option to satisfy your betting needs.