Top Prop Bets for the Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 400, Part II
It’s the holiday weekend here in the United States with the Fourth of July taking place Saturday. While the IndyCar circuit and the Xfinity Series will be running that day, the NASCAR Cup Series prepares for racing on Sunday. The Big Machine Hand Sanitizer Brickyard 400 will take place Sunday at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 4 pm ET with television coverage on NBC. We gave you a rundown on the track and gave you ideas for who we think could be near the front of the pack Sunday. Today, we take a look at some of the other top prop bets for you to wager on and cash in at the window. As always, the odds for the race and the props are brought to you by DraftKings.
Ford as Manufacturer of the Winning Car (+115): While Chevrolet was dominant at Indianapolis, things have gone sideways for them in recent years. Chevrolet won 12 straight races at the Brickyard between 2003 and 2014 but they have taken the checkered flag just once in the last five years. Toyota has won twice and so has Ford, including victories in each of the last two years. That includes Kevin Harvick’s win here last year. Seeing that we’ve taken Harvick to claim his second straight checkered flag here, it stands to reason that we’d be backing the oval of Ford as the manufacturer here.
Denny Hamlin to Drive Top Toyota Car (+140): Hamlin is on a roll right now, as we talked about in Part I of our prop bets for this race. It’s hard to argue with two wins, a second-place showing and a fourth-place finish in the last four races. His recent success at Indianapolis with five top-six finishes in the last six years bodes well for him as well. Given that we have Hamlin finishing in the top three, he has an excellent shot at being the top Toyota car in the race. Martin Truex Jr. is too inconsistent to bank on and I look for Hamlin to hold off Kyle Busch for bragging rights among Toyota vehicles in this one.
Ryan Blaney to Record Best Finish in Group B (+285): This one is going to be tough as Group B is a pretty solid group of drivers when you get down to it. Brad Keselowski (+215) won here in 2018 and has finished in the top 10 in five of his 10 runs at Indianapolis. Last year, however, he crashed and finished 38th while running only 48 laps in the race so you know that he could end up near the back of the field just as easily as the front. Joey Logano (+215) ran second last year and finished in the top eight in six of the last seven years here. However, he hasn’t finished better than 17th in the last four races coming in here, including 36th and 24th-place showings at Pocono last weekend. Chase Elliott (+275) has finished 15th or worse in four of his five races at the Brickyard and finished 38th at Talladega before a 25th-place showing last Saturday in the first Pocono race. Blaney has a fast car and he has led in each of the last three races here. He steals one from the back of this group for a nice win.
Aric Almirola to Record Best Finish in Group C (+265): Almirola is in a similar spot as Blaney given that there are some good drivers in his group. Erik Jones (+225) ran second to Keselowski in 2018 but his other two runs at the Brickyard have been utterly forgettable. He was 31st in 2017 and ran a dismal 39th in last year’s race so he needs to be more consistent. Bowyer (+240) is a guy we have pegged to finish in the top-10 but it’s hard to get excited about a guy that has two wins since 2012 and hasn’t won in 72 races. He does run well here but top 10 is his likely ceiling. Kurt Busch (+250) has struggled this season to put it all together and it’s hard to have faith in a guy that is all over the map. Meanwhile, Almirola is on a roll with his first four top-five finishes coming in the last four races. He should be the top option here.
Stewart Haas Racing as Team of Winning Car (+300): This one is on instinct based on the fact that we’re backing Harvick to win the race. With that said, Stewart Haas also has Bowyer, who has back to back fifth-place showings here, under their umbrella. Almirola could sneak out a win here as well while Cole Custer likely won’t be a factor. Still, backing Stewart Haas seems the right way to go.
Tune in Sunday at 4 pm ET on NBC for all the racing for the event.