Before we get into this week’s selections and insight it wouldn’t be fair not to mention the two day roller coaster race that was the Daytona 500. First, it was great hearing that Ryan Newman was going to be alright after his vicious wreck on the last lap of the race. If you wagered on Daytona last week, so many times your bets looked great and then in an instant you found yourself ripping up your tickets, like me. I had Logano at +280 to finish in the top 3. With three laps left he was challenging for first and like I just said in a blink of an eye he was involved in, yet another wreck and my hopes were dashed. Denny Hamlin ran a fantastic race in route to his third Daytona win in the last five years and has now gone back to back. Don’t expect as much drama this week in Las Vegas but it still should be a solid race by drivers who know this course well.
Odds on the Favorites for Sin City
5/1 Kyle Busch
5/1 Kevin Harvick
5/1 Martin Truex Jr
6/1 Brad Keselowski
7/1 Denny Hamlin
7/1 Joey Logano
Harry’s Picks to Win
Kevin Harvick
5/1 To Win
+125 Top 3 Finish
The 44 year old, Harvick ran well last week in Florida and races well in Nevada. Harvick won this race in 2015 (led 142 laps) and in 2018 (led 214 laps). In last season’s race there were 9 different lap leaders and Harvick led the most (88) out of anyone and finished fourth behind the winner Joey Logano. Harvick also finished in second place last season in September in Las Vegas in the South Point 400. Needless to say Kevin Harvick feels comfortable racing here.
Brad Keselowski
6/1 To Win
+150 Top 3 Finish
Keselowski did not have a very good start to the season, so I fully expect him to run a bigtime race in Las Vegas. He won this race in 2016 and finished in second last year for Team Penske.
Joey Logano
7/1 To Win
+175 Top 3 Finish
You just have the feeling that Joey Logano can’t wait until this race starts since he was so close to winning Daytona for the second time in his career, but instead he was in a wreck just before the race ended. Much like Keselowski, I expect Logano to battle to the very end in this race. Logano finished in second in 2016 and led for 74 laps and led for 86 laps last year when he won his first Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas.
Top 10 Finish
Jimmy Johnson +125
In his last race in Las Vegas, Johnson has great memories here and finishing in the top 10 is a solid possibility. Johnson has the most wins ever at this event with four and has six top 5 finishes.
Longshot Prices for Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas
Kyle Larson
13/1 To Win
+325 Top 3 Finish
-180 Top 10 Finish
Larson was in the top 10 for most of the race last week and looked fast doing it. In 2017, Larson finished second here behind Martin Truex and just ahead of Chase Elliott. Larson also scored a third place finish in 2018. Larson is capable of big things so why not roll the dice while he’s in Las Vegas.