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Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came home with the long shot victory at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend! Will we see the non-playoff drivers sweep the Round of 12 after the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL this week?
With road course aces in the field this week, such as Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger, the chances of a non-playoff driver winning to sweep the Round of 12 is definitely in play.
This is important to note as we analyze who is going to be fast in this one. But it’s not just the drivers we have to be aware of.
The ROVAL has some new looks this season; a lot of talk has been about the reconfiguration of turn 7 especially.
I believe Kaulig Racing drivers van Gisbergen and Allmendinger will excel on the high intensity braking zones, putting them in front of the field.
William Byron is 11-1 to win this race and is the only driver currently locked in to the next round of the playoffs on points.
Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson are the other two drivers who are both more than 50 points to the good of the cut line heading into the ROVAL. I expect them to be more aggressive than the playoff field, going all out for the win, with little to lose.
Playoff drivers who are great on road courses but may be racing for points in this one are Chase Elliott 15-1 and Tyler Reddick 10-1. Normally I would be betting on these drivers to win this race outright, but I just can’t trust them with both of those drivers being very close to the cut line.
Joey Logano, who is 45-1 to win, is in need of a big points day as well. He is the first driver below the cut line in ninth with a 13-point deficit.
Keep an eye on drivers with high value to win this one like Chris Buescher at 18-1 and Alex Bowman at 25-1. Bowman, who is also +100 for a top-10 finish, excites me as he has a 6.4 average finish on this track, the best of all active drivers.
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Bowman is going to be very careful with points. Pay attention.