Motorsports
Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney lead Gateway race
NASCAR podcast: Chase Briscoe starts playoffs with Darlington win
The guys review Chase Briscoe’s Darlington win that kicked off the NASCAR playoffs. Then, they look ahead to the second race in the Round of 16.
- Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell are the betting favorites for the upcoming NASCAR race.
- The second race of the 2025 Cup Series playoffs is at World Wide Technology Raceway, also known as Gateway.
- Last year’s winner at this track, Austin Cindric, is listed with +1600 odds to win again.
The betting public has largely shrugged off Ryan Blaney’s hiccup at Darlington last week. His 18th-place finish came after several weeks of frontpack racing, and this week, the odds thermostat — set by ongoing wagers — says he’ll be back up to speed Sunday.
NASCAR’s second race of the 2025 Cup Series playoffs will look somewhat similar to the first. Darlington checks in at about a mile and a third around an egg-shaped oval. This week’s venue is a tad shorter — 1.25 miles — but around a similarly shaped oval, albeit with lower banking than Darlington.
Why the generic “venue” to describe this week’s host track? Because it’s a place with several labels.
Due to sponsorship agreements, it’s officially known as World Wide Technology Raceway. Many, or maybe most, still call it Gateway — it was originally Gateway Motorsports Park. And the “gateway” label comes from its proximity to St. Louis, America’s Gateway to the West.
That’s why others simply call it St. Louis.
Even though it’s across the bridge on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, in Madison.
Whatever side of Big Muddy you plant yourself, you’ll be able to see the oddsboard, so let’s get a gander and see if there are any potential bargains up there.
Money talks? Christopher Bell hopes so
+500: Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell
+650: Denny Hamlin
+850: Kyle Larson
+1000: Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe
Christopher Bell? I’m not telling folks how to spend their wagering budget, but my goodness. Bell hasn’t finished better than eighth at an oval since early May at Kansas. Good to see Kyle Larson’s sluggishness finally represented on the oddsboard — a +850 for Kyle Larson is longshot stuff by his standards.
Kyle Busch races into second tier of NASCAR favorites
+1200: William Byron
+1300: Tyler Reddick
+1600: Austin Cindric
+1750: Chase Elliott
+2000: Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace
+2500: Brad Keselowski, Josh Berry
+3000: Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain, Chris Buescher
Speaking of sinking stock. Chase Elliott needs to find the groove and find it sooner than later. You either blame or credit Cindric’s presence this high up the board on his win at St. Louis last year.
Alex Bowman will eventually win … maybe
+4000: Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman
+5000: Ryan Preece
+6000: Erik Jones
+10000: John Hunter Nemechek
+15000: Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez, AJ Allmendinger
Bowman was on a lengthy roll of good finishes, then he went 36th at Daytona and 31st last week at Darlington. You can write off Daytona because he was caught up in a predictable crash, and kinda write off Darlington because of a fluke issue in the pits.
Shane van Gisbergen, four-time winner, among Gateway longshots
+20000: Shane van Gisbergen
+25000: Zane Smith, Ricky Stenhouse, Cole Custer, Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland, Justin Haley
+50000: Riley Herbst, Ty Dillon
+100000: Cody Ware
SVG has finished 31st and 32nd in two of his last three oval-track races, not counting the Daytona “plate-race.” This is another oval, of sorts, this week.
— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com