Motorsports
Kyle Larson not alone up there
Daytona Motor Mouths: Nashville brings sigh of relief for Ryan Blaney The guys talk about Ryan Blaney’s win for Team Penske at Nashville, Carson Hocevar’s current spot in NASCAR and Kyle Larson’s merchandise sales. Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are co-favorites to win the NASCAR race at Michigan. Odds for various drivers are provided, ranging […]


Daytona Motor Mouths: Nashville brings sigh of relief for Ryan Blaney
The guys talk about Ryan Blaney’s win for Team Penske at Nashville, Carson Hocevar’s current spot in NASCAR and Kyle Larson’s merchandise sales.
- Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin are co-favorites to win the NASCAR race at Michigan.
- Odds for various drivers are provided, ranging from favorites to longshots.
It’s rare for us to trot out some breaking news here at the Odds Store.
But lordy, talk about odd! Kyle Larson isn’t the odds-on favorite for this weekend’s NASCAR race at Michigan.
But hold off on the pity or concern, and certainly don’t bake Kyle a ham.
Turns out, he’s the co-favorite, with Denny Hamlin. Neither has won at Michigan during the three previous seasons of Next Gen racing, but both post consistently strong finishes there (when not wrecked, as Kyle was last year).
Horsepower, you’d think, would play a big role every week in an auto-racing series. And it does, but at Michigan, it’s a very big factor. Why? Because the 2-mile oval, with 18-degree banking, is NASCAR’s fastest track.
Unlike the “plate tracks” — Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta — NASCAR doesn’t restrict speeds at Michigan. The 200 mph barrier has long been a magical number in stock-car racing. You should see it on the straights Sunday when the TV folks give us the in-car camera shots with telemetry.
Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and other NASCAR betting faves
+525: Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson
+700: Ryan Blaney
+750: Tyler Reddick, William Byron
+1000: Christopher Bell
Of this group, Reddick is the only one to have won at Michigan in a Next Gen car. That win came last year. But in five other starts, he’s finished no better than 18th. Also, he’s had just one top-10 in two months, and that was a ninth last week.
Remember Chase Elliott? How about Kyle Busch?
+1400: Joey Logano, Chase Elliott
+1500: Ross Chastain
+1600: Carson Hocevar
+1750: Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe
+2000: Kyle Busch
+2250: Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace
If Ricky Stenhouse decides to exact his revenge on Hocevar this week, it could get nasty, considering the aforementioned speeds at Michigan. Ricky might trend toward something more subtle and make Carson keep his head on a swivel for a few weeks before giving him the chrome horn.
A whiff of lost potential in this group of drivers
+3000: Josh Berry, Alex Bowman
+4000: Ty Gibbs
+5000: Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric
+6000: Erik Jones
+7500: Daniel Suarez
+10000: Michael McDowell, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger
Every week or two, you’re tempted to take a flier on Bowman because, you tell yourself, he just has to eventually win again, right? Then you look at his Michigan record (bad) and recent run of 2025 results (worse).
What to do with longshots? Maybe some top-10 action
+15000: Noah Gragson
+20000: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., John Hunter Nemechek
+25000: Shane van Gisbergen, Todd Gilliland, Justin Haley
+50000: Riley Herbst, Ty Dillon, Cole Custer
+100000: Cody Ware
Gragson is +525 for a top-10 at Hard Rock. Not the worst idea out there. As for van Gisbergen, don’t expect to see him here much in the coming weeks. Beginning next week in Mexico, three of the next five races are on road courses.
Odds from Hard Rock Bets.
Motorsports
A bird’s eye view of Chicago’s NASCAR track – NBC Chicago
NASCAR has taken over the streets of Chicago’s Grant Park for the circuit’s only road race of the season. Both the Xfinity Series and the Cup Series will hold races around the 12-turn circuit over the weekend, and now you can catch a bird’s eye view of the on-track action thanks to NBC Chicago. The […]

NASCAR has taken over the streets of Chicago’s Grant Park for the circuit’s only road race of the season.
Both the Xfinity Series and the Cup Series will hold races around the 12-turn circuit over the weekend, and now you can catch a bird’s eye view of the on-track action thanks to NBC Chicago.
The camera, perched high atop Grant Park, features incredible views of the straightaway on Columbus Drive, including the finish line. Drivers will also speed down DuSable Lake Shore Drive and around the curve at Congress Plaza before getting back on South Michigan Avenue.
The camera will be active during Saturday and Sunday’s races, which organizers hope will be unmarred by rain after being impacted by weather each of the last two years.
For those hoping to catch the regular telecast of the action, The CW will air the Xfinity Series’ Loop 110 race beginning at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Cup Series’ Grant Park 165 will get underway on Sunday at 1 p.m. That race will air on TNT, and will also stream on HBO Max.
Motorsports
Chicago starting lineup: Shane van Gisbergen wins NASCAR Cup pole
Shane van Gisbergen won the pole for Sunday’s Cup race on the streets of Chicago. The pole is the third of van Gisbergen’s Cup career. He earned the No. 1 starting spot with a lap of 88.338 mph Saturday. His most recent pole came in Mexico. He went on to win that race. He won […]

Shane van Gisbergen won the pole for Sunday’s Cup race on the streets of Chicago.
The pole is the third of van Gisbergen’s Cup career. He earned the No. 1 starting spot with a lap of 88.338 mph Saturday. His most recent pole came in Mexico. He went on to win that race. He won the inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023 in his Cup debut.
“That was epic,” van Gisbergen said. “Our team did a great job. … I’m a lucky boy.”
Michael McDowell (87.979 mph) will join van Gisbergen on the front row after qualifying second.
Carson Hocevar (87.824 mph) qualified third, his best starting spot on a road course. Tyler Reddick qualified fourth with a lap of 87.779 mph. Chase Briscoe will start fifth after a lap of 87.734 mph.
Richard Childress Racing put both of its drivers in the top 10. Kyle Busch (87.639 mph) will start sixth and Austin Dillon (87.303) qualified 10th.
Reigning Supercars champion Will Brown will make his second career Cup start after qualifying 19th with a lap of 86.990 mph.
Chase Elliott goes against John Hunter Nemechek in Sunday’s second round in Chicago.
Points leader William Byron, Chase Elliott, who is second in the points, and Denny Hamlin, who is fourth in points, each did not make a qualifying attempt and will start at the rear of the field.
Byron and Elliott hit the wall in separate incidents in practice and their teams skipped qualifying to repair their cars. Hamlin’s car blew an engine on his first lap of practice.
Bubba Wallace, who holds the final playoff spot with eight races left in the regular season, will start 37th after an incident during his qualifying run.
This was the first race since the Daytona 500 where more than 40 cars were entered. There were 41 cars entered, meaning one car would fail to qualify.
Katherine Legge bumped Corey Heim for the final spot. Heim’s qualifying session was shortened when his 23XI Racing car hit the wall.
“It’s a lot of pressure to come in with only 20 minutes of practice on a street course where there’s no room for error to put it in the show,” Legge said. “I actually feel pretty good about it now. We would have been a lot faster, I think, had I not kept nicking the wall. I’ve given my crew a lot of work to do from that, but we had to keep pushing to put it in the show. I’m really proud of this team, and I’m very much looking forward to tomorrow.”
Made a mistake on my first lap and bent the toe link. Tried to get everything I could out of it after that but clearly wasn’t enough. That’s completely my fault and still trying to process all of it. Thank you @23XIRacing for a car plenty capable enough to make the race.
— Corey Heim (@CoreyHeim_) July 5, 2025
Motorsports
Bowman looking for 2nd straight Cup Series win in Chicago
CHICAGO (AP) — Alex Bowman thinks he is moving in the right direction. With the NASCAR Cup Series back in Chicago on Sunday, it’s good timing for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. Bowman raced to a sorely needed victory in downtown Chicago a year ago, stopping an 80-race drought and securing a spot in the playoffs. […]

CHICAGO (AP) — Alex Bowman thinks he is moving in the right direction. With the NASCAR Cup Series back in Chicago on Sunday, it’s good timing for the Hendrick Motorsports driver.
Bowman raced to a sorely needed victory in downtown Chicago a year ago, stopping an 80-race drought and securing a spot in the playoffs. He is still looking for his first win this season, but he finished third last weekend at Atlanta.
The 32-year-old Bowman is the only driver to win at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, a 45-mile drive from downtown, and the Chicago Street Course. He got his first Cup victory at Chicagoland in 2019.
“As far as confidence coming into this race, I feel like we’re plenty capable,” he said Saturday. “We’re typically pretty good at road courses. A lot of confidence coming into these places.”
Bowman struggled at the beginning of June, finishing 36th at Nashville and Michigan. But the driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet turned it around in Mexico City, finishing fourth at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez — a 2.42-mile road course with 15 turns.
Three of the last eight races before the playoffs are on road courses — Chicago, Sonoma next weekend and Watkins Glen on Aug. 10.
Bowman said he likes Chicago because it’s so different from the rest of the NASCAR schedule.
“We do a lot of the same thing for most of the year,” he said. “So, you know, walking through the city to get to the racetrack … makes it different and a little more enjoyable. The challenge of a street course in general is super fun. Very technical, very little room for error.”
Bowman held off Tyler Reddick for last year’s win on the 12-turn, 2.2-mile course — a tricky drive with manhole covers and transitions from concrete to asphalt and back. The race was shortened in each of the last two years because of rain, and there could be more showers on Sunday.
Bowman also is competing in the second round of NASCAR’s inaugural in-season tournament this weekend. He faces Bubba Wallace after the two tangled in Chicago last year.
During the cool-down lap after his victory, Bowman was bumped into the wall by Wallace. Bowman spun out Wallace early in the race.
“I think he and I are totally good,” Bowman said. “But yeah, I mean, he’s been really fast here in the past. Like, you don’t tend to think of him as a road course guy, but here last year, he was really fast. So definitely going to be a tough one.”
The head-to-head matchup with Bowman certainly got Wallace’s attention.
“I’m sure he knows that a door slam does not count us even,” Wallace said. “So we’ll see what happens.”
Motorsports
2025 Chicago Street Race NASCAR odds, picks, props: Expert who nailed 17 winners backs 100-1 longshot
Chase Elliott will look to make it two wins in a row when he takes part in the second leg of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge at the 2025 Grant Park 165 in Chicago on Sunday. Elliott held on to win last week’s race in Atlanta, his first victory of the season. He has 10 top-10 […]

Chase Elliott will look to make it two wins in a row when he takes part in the second leg of the NASCAR In-Season Challenge at the 2025 Grant Park 165 in Chicago on Sunday. Elliott held on to win last week’s race in Atlanta, his first victory of the season. He has 10 top-10 finishes on the year. The bracket-style tournament will continue for five weeks, culminating at the Brickyard 400 on July 27 in Indianapolis.
Shane Van Gisbergen is the +165 outright favorite (risk $100 to win $165) for the Chicago Street Race, with Kyle Larson at +650 and Christopher Bell at +750 in the latest 2025 Grant Park 165 odds, from DraftKings Sportsbook. Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. ET. Before making any 2025 Grant Park 165 in Chicago picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see what NASCAR insider Steven Taranto has to say.
Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com. He has an annual NASCAR media credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez’s breakthrough wins in 2022.
Taranto was red-hot for SportsLine in 2024 as he nailed 17 winners, including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas. He correctly picked the Straight Talk Wireless 400 winner in Larson on March 23. Anyone following his NASCAR picks at their favorite sportsbooks could have seen huge returns.
Now, Taranto has analyzed the starting lineup and odds for Sunday’s 2025 NASCAR Grant Park 165 in Chicago. He’s only sharing his best bets at SportsLine. You can also use them to take advantage of the latest FanDuel promo code, DraftKings promo code or BetMGM promo code.
2025 NASCAR Grant Park 165 expert picks
For the 2025 Grant Park 165 in Chicago, Taranto is high on Christopher Bell at +750. Bell started the year on fire, winning three of the first four NASCAR races. He sped to victories at Atlanta, Circuit of the Americas in Texas and at Phoenix. He has fared well in road course races, taking first in Texas and second at Mexico City.
He has 11 top-10 finishes in 2025. Bell, 30, is a 12-time Cup Series winner. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has run 195 races over a six-year span. He has 14 poles and 95 top-10 finishes in his career. At the 2023 Chicago race, Bell led a race-high 37 laps before finishing 18th. See which other drivers he’s backing at SportsLine.
Top NASCAR props for Chicago
Head-to-head: Taranto sees Erik Jones (-115) finishing ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-115). Taranto notes that this matchup is fairly even, but he gives the edge to Jones based on his recent success. Stenhouse has also been up-and-down at road courses. He was sixth last year at Chicago, but was 34th in 2023.
Jones, who placed fifth last week in Atlanta, has three top-10 finishes in 2025, as well as 92 over his 10-year NASCAR Cup Series career. He has three wins on his resume. Stenhouse, meanwhile, finished sixth in Atlanta after having struggled through the four races prior. He has four wins over his 14-year Cup Series career with 63 top-10 finishes. See all of Taranto’s picks at SportsLine.
How to make 2025 Grant Park 165 predictions
Taranto has also identified four other drivers in his 2025 NASCAR Grant Park 165 best bets. He’s also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who’s going off around 100-1, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who they are here.
So who wins the 2025 Grant Park 165 in Chicago and which massive longshot could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2025 NASCAR Grant Park 165 in Chicago picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider who nailed a colossal 17 winners last year, and find out.
2025 NASCAR Grant Park 165 odds, lineup
See full 2025 Grant Park 165 in Chicago picks at SportsLine
(odds subject to change)
Shane Van Gisbergen +165
Kyle Larson +650
Christopher Bell +750
William Byron +1200
Tyler Reddick +1200
Ty Gibbs +1200
Chase Elliott +1400
Will Brown +1800
Michael McDowell +2200
Chris Buescher +2200
Alex Bowman +2200
A.J. Allmendinger +2200
Ross Chastain +2200
Chase Briscoe +2500
Kyle Busch +2800
Daniel Suarez +2800
Ryan Blaney +3500
Denny Hamlin +4000
Carson Hocevar +4000
Austin Cindric +5000
Joey Logano +9000
Justin Haley +10000
Corey Heim +10000
Brad Keselowski +10000
Ryan Preece +10000
John Hunter Nemechek +13000
Cole Custer +13000
Bubba Wallace +13000
Austin Dillon +13000
Zane Smith +13000
Todd Gilliland +13000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +17000
Erik Jones +17000
Noah Gragson +20000
Josh Berry +20000
Austin Hill +25000
Riley Herbst +30000
Josh Bilicki +40000
Ty Dillon +40000
Katherine Legge +50000
Cody Ware +50000
Motorsports
SVG sweeps NASCAR poles in Chicago qualifying
CHICAGO — Shane van Gisbergen pulled off a clean sweep of the poles in NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series qualifying at the Chicago Street Course. Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE Photo: Ryan Kemna/TRE SVG started Saturday with a pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ The Loop 110 race with a lap of 90.085 seconds, averaging 87.917 MPH […]

CHICAGO — Shane van Gisbergen pulled off a clean sweep of the poles in NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series qualifying at the Chicago Street Course.


SVG started Saturday with a pole for the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ The Loop 110 race with a lap of 90.085 seconds, averaging 87.917 MPH around the 2.2-mile Chicago Street Course. He followed that up with a pole for the NASCAR Cup Series’ Grant Park 165 with a lap of 89.656 seconds, averaging 88.338 MPH.
How may the speed in qualifying translate to the race?
SVG ran fastest in Xfinity Series practice with a lap of 91.328 seconds, averaging 86.720 MPH. In Cup Series practice, he ran the seventh-fastest lap — 91.375 seconds.
Last year, SVG won the Xfinity race after fending off Kyle Larson, whom he ran second to in Cup practice before qualifying fifth. In the Cup race, SVG led nine laps and won stage one before getting clipped and crashing out on lap 25.

SVG is the defending Cup road/street course winner. He scored a commanding win three weeks ago at Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City over Christopher Bell. The No. 9 Xfinity car SVG is racing in Chicago is also the defending road/street course winner as Suarez won with it in Mexico City.
NASCAR Cup Series Chicago Qualifying Results and Lineup
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Michael McDowell
- Carson Hocevar
- Tyler Reddick
- Chase Briscoe
- Kyle Busch
- Ryan Prece
- Chris Buescher
- Ty Gibbs
- Austin DIllon
- Alex Bowman
- Joey Logano
- Christopher Bell
- Kyle Larson
- Brad Keselowski
- A.J. Allmendinger
- Ryan Blaney
- Daniel Suarez
- Will Brown
- Todd Gilliland
- Riley Herbst
- Ross Chastain
- Cole Custer
- Noah Gragson
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Zane Smith
- Austin Cindric
- Justin Haley
- Josh Berry
- Austin Hill
- Josh Bilicki
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Katherine Legge
- Erik Jones
- Cody Ware
- Ty Dillon
- Bubba Wallace
- William Byron
- Hit the wall and broke a toe link in practice
- Chase Elliott
- Hit the wall and broke a toe link in practice
- Denny Hamln
- Blew an engine in practice
DNQ: Corey Heim
NASCAR Xfinity Series Chicago Qualifying Results and Lineup
- Shane van Gisbergen
- Austin Hill
- Sam Mayer
- Sheldon Creed
- Jack Perkins
- Justin Allgaier
- William Sawalich
- Nick Sanchez
- Jesse Love
- Sammy Smith
- Brandon Jones
- Preston Pardus
- Carson Kvapil
- Alex Labbe
- Harrison Burton
- Connor Mosack
- Austin Green
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Jeremy Clements
- Thomas Annunziata
- Daniel Dye
- Brennan Poole
- Blaine Perkins
- Parker Retzlaff
- Josh Bilicki
- Brad Perez
- Josh Williams
- Anthony Alfredo
- Andre Castro
- Kaz Grala
- Jeb Burton
- Ryan Ellis
- Dean Thompson
- Kyle Sieg
- Connor Zilisch
- Taylor Gray
- Ryan Sieg
- Christian Eckes
DNQ: Kris Wright, Sage Karam.

Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick’s final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen’s stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers’ stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com
Motorsports
Dale Earnhardt Jr. sends warning to NASCAR community over Daytona, Talladega complaint
Did the racing at Atlanta show that Daytona and Talladega need work? Maybe, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a warning. NASCAR fans need to be careful before they start talking about taking a date away from either of the sport’s historic drafting tracks. Atlanta is one of the best tracks from an entertainment standpoint on […]

Did the racing at Atlanta show that Daytona and Talladega need work? Maybe, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a warning. NASCAR fans need to be careful before they start talking about taking a date away from either of the sport’s historic drafting tracks.
Atlanta is one of the best tracks from an entertainment standpoint on the schedule. Fan support for the track has changed more or less overnight after the reconfiguration was finished. Each year, as the repave ages, the racing only gets more impressive.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. talked about the Atlanta race this week. On the Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt warned NASCAR fans about wishing away a date from any race track, let alone Daytona and Talladega.
“Somebody was arguing on social media that we should not race at Daytona, Talladega twice a year, because of the product on the race track,” Earnhardt explained. “And my opinion to that would be, we make a lot of mistakes by leaving race tracks because the racing isn’t good, and that is the wrong approach. You should make the racing better, not leave the track.
“Them two tracks right there are quite unique and very historic. So, I would propose actually making the racing so good that you’re glad you go there twice a year, not stop going to the race track because the product’s not good. It’s not the race track’s fault. And I would say the same thing about Richmond.”
Richmond lost a date, partly due to attendance and partly due to the on-track product. But Daytona and Talladega are different. The racing is not what it once was, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is right about Daytona, Talladega
The importance that Daytona and Talladega have for NASCAR is on another level. Tracks like Richmond and Bristol used to be packed, and the short-track product was what fueled the sport. But superspeedways have lasted the test of time. They bring in the casual fans like short tracks just aren’t able to.
For NASCAR fans who have watched for years, the superspeedway product isn’t great. At least, on the traditional drafting tracks. Atlanta has changed things in the Next Gen era. But for fans who only tune in for a few races a year, mainly being Daytona and/or Talladega, do the flaws actually stick out as much as they do for the weekly watcher?
When Richmond lost a date to Mexico City this season, it was a tough pill to swallow for people like Dale Earnhardt Jr. Those older short tracks are what built the sport. But if fans aren’t showing up in the stands or on the TV, and the racing is generating more negative headlines than positive, is it worth keeping on the schedule twice a year?
It is interesting, even with 40 race weeks on the schedule, there are tracks fans don’t feel get the love they deserve. Perhaps moving to a single-date will help Richmond like it has with Michigan, Pocono, and others. But taking a date from Daytona or Talladega because the racing isn’t as good as it used to be, that’s a short-sighted decision that NASCAR hopefully doesn’t make.
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