Shutterstock.com / Roman Kosolapov
NASCAR has successfully leveraged fans’ love forracing and brought it to the iRacing simulator platform, pulling steadyviewership and interest. The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series continueswith Richmond Raceway, and here is what you need to know.
Odds and predictions at NASCAR Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 12th (7:30 pm ET). Odds favor Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. NASCAR Cup Series: Federated Auto Parts 400 Saturday, September 12, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSN) at Richmond Raceway The Playoffs Continue Last race — at Darlington — was the first race in the. Harvick is a 7-2 co-favorite with Martin Truex Jr. In the NASCAR at Richmond odds from William Hill. Meanwhile, rookie Cole Custer is three points back from 12th position with two races until the. Get all the latest predictions, picks & odds for this week right here Read our predictions, odds, betting lines and spreads for the 2021 NASCAR races.
eNASCAR Pro Invitational: Richmond Raceway Overview
The eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series atthe virtual Bristol Motor Speedway was quite the success, pulling agreat deal of viewership and generally placing esports racing in a very goodposition ahead of traditional sports by any stretch. Next on the menu, playershave to look forward Round 5: Richmond held at the virtual RichmondRaceway.
To tune in and watch players can visit ENASCAR.com at9 p.m. ET on April 19, 2020. This is the 11th season on the iRacingsimulation platform, pointing to an important detail – NASCAR has long beenpreparing for the day where video games would be an essential part of its brandidentity.
With $300,000 on the line, there is definitely areason why these events manage to pull over 1.3 million viewers, with thenumbers likely to grow as the sports drought stretches and eNASCAR’s profilebuilds up.
Odds for Winning Manufacture: eNASCAR iRacing Richmond Raceway 2020
Odds takenApril 11.
eNASCAR Richmond: Date and Time
- Date: April 19,2020
- Time: 9 p.m. ET
Where to Watch eNASCAR Richmond
You can tune in to watch eNASCAR Richmond at NASCAR Live with a few additional options brought to you by Fox on cable.
Power Ranking and Drivers
The world of virtual hot wheels is dominated by different top dogs, and one of them is Timmy Hill who has been doing quite well taking on the Bristol virtual raceway and almost clinching a victory there, but falling behind William Byron in the end.
However, in the overall standing, Byron is a close second who has definitely been putting in the time in the iRacing simulator to keep himself abreast with the best gamers. Ryan Preece comes third owing to his outstanding placement in the Bristol virtual race, finishing in the first ten drivers.
John Hunter Namecheck comes forth in this week’s power ranking, making an +8 headway. The full power ranking can be looked up on the official site of the organization. The rank list is based on the driver’s skill and performance behind the wheel in the esports race only.
Winners So Far
So far,there have been three winners in the esports race. It’s interesting to see andcompare the real-life NASCAR results and the esports competition.
- 3/22– Denny Hamlin
- 3/29– Timmy Hill
- 4/5– William Byron
So, for example, Hamlin is 11th in the 2020Standings, which is in line with his current performance, more or less.
Yet, Timmy Hill is 30th on a real raceway, and he definitely performs far better in a simulator. Byron himself is 19th in real-world races, but he does pretty well in the simulator.
Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Cup Championship last season to win his second Cup title, but after 27 races during 2020, Busch has no wins.
He’s never gone an entire season without a win and has nine more cracks at a win beginning with Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond Raceway’s flat 0.75-mile layout, a track he’s won at six times, the last coming to complete a 2018 sweep.
But the past is the past and has done nothing to assist a win this season and it’s killing him. I think he’s embarrassed by it as well since he’s raised the bar so high for himself.
NASCAR Cup Betting Resources
Federated Auto Parts 400 Picks
Date: Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020
Venue: Richmond Raceway
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Television-Time: NBCSN, 7:30 p.m. ET
“This year has definitely been one of the biggest tests I feel like I’ve been through,” Busch said. “In 2015, I was injured and I was on the sideline and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to come back, and I was able to come back and then struggled for five weeks just getting a footing, and then finally being able to win again at Sonoma.
Right there, that just lit a fire under us and that was all it took for the rest of the year to be a championship contender and a guy to go out there to compete with his team and be the best of all of them.
Martin Truex Jr. and the No. 19 team swept both of the NASCAR Cup Series races at Richmond Raceway in 2019. (AP)
“This year, it’s been nothing but something else that’s in the back of your mind, and what’s the next thing that’s going to test your patience. Just seems like we can’t shake this monkey off our back. Wherever he is, whatever he looks like, somebody tell me and we’re going to go for a few roll-arounds here and get him off my back in order go out there and have a solid, successful, productive final 10 weeks.”
NASCAR Cup Odds - Richmond
- Denny Hamlin +450
- Kevin Harvick +450
- Martin Truex Jr. +450
- Joey Logano +700
- Brad Keselowski +800
- Kyle Busch +800
- Chase Elliott +900
- Kurt Busch +2200
- Ryan Blaney +2500
- Jimmie Johnson +2500
- (Odds Subject to Change)
Handicapping NASCAR at Richmond
Favorite Foursome
For the first time in nearly a decade, Busch isn’t the favorite to win at Richmond. William Hill books have been having Busch around 12/1 or 14/1 the last few races as he continues not to win, but for Richmond and his stellar record they dropped him down to 5/1 out of respect.
In addition to his six wins, he’s also the active track leader with a 6.7 average finish and 18 top-fives in 29 starts. He also four finishes of fourth or better in the eight races using this week’s race package (750 hp) which should help his team’s confidence to go along with all his other Richmond trophies which includes seven Xfinity Series wins.
William Hill posted Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. as the 7/2 co-favorites to win for different reasons. For Harvick, it’s because he’s won eight races this season and not his three Richmond wins, the last of which came in 2013 when he was still driving a Richard Childress Chevrolet.
For Truex, it’s because he swept the Richmond 2020 season and also the fact that he had eight straight finishes of fourth or better until finding some late trouble at Darlington last week in what looked to be the best car of the track.
Harvick’s Dover win two weeks ago was his only win using the 750 hp race package this season. Truex’s only win thus far has come with this same package at Martinsville. He’s been third or better in his last four races using it.
Denny Hamlin’s sixth win of the season two weeks ago at the Saturday Dover race was his first win using the 750 hp package, but this is his home track. He grew up 30-minutes away from Richmond Raceway and his been outstanding on it in his 27 Cup starts and his 1,659 laps led are the most among active drivers. He has three wins and 13 top-fives. William hill books set him at 4/1 odds to win.
Three of the top-four favorites drive a Joe Gibbs Toyota which has shown to have an edge. They’ve won the four races and seven of the last nine. JGR at Richmond isn’t just some kind of random trend, they don’t mess around there. But then there is Erik Jones who hasn’t had much success there in four races driving for JGR. Jones is 40/1 to win this week as he’s trying to impress another team for a 2021 job.
Worth a Look?
Outside of those four, there’s a next level of drivers that should be seriously considered for a wager starting with the Team Penske drivers and also Chase Elliott. It all has to do with this week’s race package that has been used in eight races which includes the non-points All-Star Race at Bristol. Brad Keselowski (10/1) and Elliott (15/1) each have two wins with it and Joey Logano (14/1) has a win at Phoenix just before the shutdown.
Logano also fits my criteria of being a must bet because he did well on the flat tracks of Phoenix and New Hampshire (fourth-place) with top-fives in each. The correlation between those two tracks and Richmond has been strong even though the configurations are completely different but the balance set-up has been money for all three. If a driver has done well at one, he’ll do well on the other. Harvick is the only other driver with top-fives on both tracks.
The New Hampshire results from Aug. 2 look similar to my top-five prediction this week. Keselowski won that race after leading a race-high 182 laps, Hamlin was second after leading 92 laps, Truex was third, Logano fourth, and Harvick was fifth.
In my betting equation this week I had to throw Harvick out and also minimize my returns with the other three favorites to serve as an insurance policy of sorts while hoping drivers like Logano, Keselowski, and Elliott come through. Yes, I’ve thrown out Harvick who has eight wins this season. Probably not very smart, but I have to take a stand somewhere.
Longshots don’t cash often at Richmond, but I had to throw a few small wagers on a couple this week beginning with two-time Richmond winner Clint Bowyer who is being offered at 50/1 odds to win. Christopher Bell has JGR equipment in his No. 95 and won three of the past four Xfinity Series races showing he can wheel his way around the track well.
Federated Auto Parts 400
Top-5 Finish Prediction
- 1) #18 Kyle Busch (5/1) Bet Now at DraftKings
- 2) #11 Denny Hamlin (4/1) Bet Now at DraftKings
- 3) #19 Martin Truex Jr. (7/2)
- 4) #22 Joey Logano (14/1)
- 5) #2 Brad Keselowski (10/1)
Nascar Betting Odds At Richmond
NASCAR Cup Series
Weekly Predictions
