O’Reilly Auto Parts 500
7/19/2020 3:00 pm EST
Click Here for the Latest Odds
Where to Watch: NBCSN Stream live sports and exclusive originals on ESPN+. Sign up now!
The Nascar Cup Series continues the regular schedule by making at visit to the Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. Sunday’s race will be 334 total laps, making up the 500 miles in distance. Texas is replica of Charlotte Motor Speedway, and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Texas is a 1.5 mile quad-oval, and comps to Charlotte more than Atlanta due to the tire wear. We didn’t find victory lane at Kentucky last week, so hopefully we have better luck at Texas on Sunday.
Here are a 5 drivers to consider for O’Reilly 500.
Kevin Harvick +300- Harvick will start the O’Reilly 500 at Texas from the 5th position. Over the last 44 races on 1.5 mile intermediate tracks, Harvick has the average driver rating of 115.4. Over the last 6 races at Texas, Harvick has been able to notch 3 victories and 5 top 5 finishes. Kevin dominated the 2019 playoff race at Texas, leading 119 of the 334 laps on the way to a victory. Harvick has continued his success in 2020 on the intermediate tracks, and I will place a decent amount of action on him.
Chase Elliott+750- Chase has been phenomenal at most tracks the Nascar Cup Series have visited in 2020. Over the last 6 races at Texas, Chase hasn’t made it to victory lane, but he does have 3 top 10 finishes. Chase has been top 3 in green flag speed in 2020, and it is hard to believe only 1 victory has come about this season. Chase won the 2nd Charlotte race back in May, and he has a 2nd place finish at Homestead. Chase will start 8th on Sunday afternoon, and should be in contention throughout the O’Reilly 500.
Martin Truex +900- Truex will start Sunday’s race at Texas from the 10th position. After failing prerace tech inspection at Kentucky last Sunday, Truex quickly marched to the front and finished 2nd. Over the last 6 races at Texas, Truex has 4 top 10 finishes, including 1 top 5. Truex has an average driver rating of 97.2 over the last 6 races at Texas, which is 6th best. Truex again should be competitive Sunday for the O’Reilly 500, and deserves a look.
Ryan Blaney +1100- Blaney continues a successful 2020 Cup season, and will start Sunday’s O’Reilly 500 from the 2nd spot. Texas Motor Speedway has been great to Ryan Blaney, and he has an average driver rating of 106.1 which is 2nd best to Kevin Harvick. Although Ryan has yet to reach victory lane at Texas, he has accomplished 4 top 10 finishes over the last 6 races including 2 top 5s. Starting on the front row, good chance Blaney can take the top spot early in O’Reilly 500. Blaney is an excellent dark horse pick to win on Sunday at Texas.
Erik Jones +2700- Jones is my long shot to win at Texas on Sunday. Erik will begin the O’Reilly 500 from the 23rd position, so there will be some work to do. Jones finished 4th in the spring race in 2019, and finished 10th in the 2019 fall event at Texas. Jones has an average finish of 9th over the last 6 races at Texas, including 5 top 10 finishes. Erik should be able to navigate through traffic, and be in position to win in the final stage. I will sprinkle a little action in on Erik Jones on Sunday.