Who is in The Chase and who is out will be decided at Richmond International Raceway this weekend as the NASCAR regular season concludes with the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. With only 400 laps to go before the Chase begins there are two final spots left open, with three drivers still having a legitimate shot at them. It will be up to the NASCAR betting crowd to make their choice between Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, and David Ragan.
Heading into the weekend Bowyer sits 12th in the standings, but his grip on the final Chase spot is far from a solid one. Bowyer has 2,989 points on the season, which gives him only a 17-point advantage on 13th-place David Ragan. However, Bowyer appears to be in a great position to lock up a Chase spot this weekend, having won the Dan Lowry 400 at Richmond earlier this year. Bowyer may have won at Richmond back in May, but he’s still a heavy underdog to pull off the season sweep on the NASCAR odds at +2000. Back in May Ragan wound up in 17th place, and he’ll want to better that finish and end up ahead of Bowyer this weekend to make it into the Chase.
If Bowyer does put together a solid finish this weekend Ragan’s chances at making the Chase aren’t completely done, though. Denny Hamlin, who sits in 11th place, is also on the hot seat with a 93-point lead on Ragan. Hamlin finished behind both Bowyer and Ragan in 24th place at Richmond back in May, but over the last two weeks he’s posted back-to-back third-place finishes to claw his way back above the cutoff line. Hamlin is a +600 underdog on the NASCAR odds this weekend, but another third-place finish would be enough to earn him a guaranteed spot in the Chase.
The overall favorite in Saturday night’s race is once again Kyle Busch at +500. The leader will finish the regular season in first place, as he enters the weekend with a 208-point advantage on Carl Edwards in the standings. Edwards is a +600 underdog to win this weekend, as is Jimmie Johnson, who recorded his third victory of the season last week in the Pepsi 500. Right now it looks like the eventual Sprint Cup champion will be one of those three drivers, but anything can still happen when The Chase begins next weekend at New Hampshire.
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