2019 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway: Predictions and Odds

Following a hectic race at Daytona, the NASCAR Cup Series is back to a more predictable track.

Kentucky hosts round 19, which also marks the start of the season’s second half.

Two separate crashes at Daytona cleared out the front-runners, with Justin Haley winning as rain ended the race earlier.

The result also shakes up the points standings, bringing significant changes to the postseason cutoff line.

Haley himself isn’t eligible to qualify, but plenty of drivers in contention for the postseason faced trouble at Daytona.

Daniel Suarez has dropped out of the top 16, with Ryan Newman moving above the cutoff from 18th.

This weekend’s round will likely have more in line.

How to Watch

What: Quaker State 400

Where: Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, KY

When: Saturday, July 13th at 7:30 PM EST

How: NBC Sports (TV) | Performance Racing Network (Web radio) | NBC Sports App

Favorites to Win the 2019 Quaker State 400

Martin Truex Jr.

Martin Truex Jr. scored back-to-back wins at Kentucky in 2017 and 2018.

The Joe Gibbs driver is tied for the series lead in wins this season with four.

Truex’s four victories came in the last ten races, which means that the 2017 champion is carrying momentum.

But his recent form isn’t what makes him the early favorite for Kentucky.

Truex’s won all stages in the 2017 and 2018 races for a complete sweep of both rounds.

He will be looking to add a third straight victory in 2019 in similar fashion.

Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski is the all-time leader at Kentucky in the Cup Series with three wins in eight races.

The Team Penske driver also scored three victories at the oval in the Xfinity Series.

Keselowski has six top 10 finishes at Kentucky in the Cup Series.

The 2012 champion has already made three trips to victory lane this season.

He is third in the points standings, having also scored seven top 5 and nine top 10 finishes in 18 starts.

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch is the other driver with multiple wins at Kentucky in the Cup Series.

The Joe Gibbs driver won the inaugural race in 2011 and added a second victory on his way to the 2015 championship.

Busch has raced at the track plenty of times in the Xfinity Series as well as the Truck Series.

He also has three wins in Xfinity and two in the trucks to go along with his Cup Series victories.

Additionally, #18 is the all-time leader at Kentucky with six top 5s and an impressive average finish of 5.0.

Busch missed out on the top 10 for the second weekend in a row last time out at Daytona.

The 2015 champion was involved in an early crash, finishing down in 14th.

He is currently second in the standings, having scored four wins, ten top 5 and 15 top 10 finishes.

Outside Picks for the 2019 Quaker State 400

Ryan Blaney

Ryan Blaney finished all stages inside the top 5 last year, scoring a runner-up at the end.

The Team Penske driver is a two-time winner at the track in the Xfinity Series.

After a solid debut season for Penske in 2018 and a solid start in 2019, #12 has seen a drop.

Blaney went six consecutive races without a top 10 from Richmond to Pocono.

He ended the negative streak and scored three straight top 10 results before crashing out at Daytona.

Still looking for his first win of the season, Kentucky could be the right place for it to happen.

Blaney has five top 5 finishes and seven top 10s in 18 races this season, sitting tenth in points.

Joey Logano

Joey Logano only missed out on the top 10 at Kentucky once since joining Team Penske.

The reigning champion has two top 5 and five top 10 finishes in six starts during that span.

Logano’s first win at the national level in NASCAR came at the track, an Xfinity Series race in 2007.

He won another consecutive races at the track, scoring a 100% win rate at Kentucky.

The Team Penske driver leads the points again this season, having scored two wins.

Logano leads all drivers in 2019 with six stage wins.

Erik Jones

Erik Jones will likely need to score a win in order to qualify for the playoffs.

The third year driver has struggled in 2019 and is in real danger of not advancing to the postseason.

A 23rd place finish in Daytona made things even worse, as the closest contenders outscored him.

Jones has two top 10 finishes in two Cup Series starts at Kentucky.

He had the worst finish of seventh in eight starts between the three national series

Last year, #20 came home in sixth place after starting from the front row.

2019 Quaker State 400 Odds

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