Unhinged 300 at Talladega (Xfinity Series) Predictions & Odds

• Nineteen-year-old rookie Harrison Burton takes remarkable record streak into Saturday’s race at Talladega.
• AJ Allmendinger looks for a second payoff after earning $100,000 bonus with late entry at Homestead-Miami.
• Advice from Dale Earnhardt Jr. buoys Chase Briscoe as the Xfinity Series visits NASCAR’s biggest superspeedway.

Saturday’s Unhinged 300 marks the first trip to a superspeedway for the NASCAR Xfinity Series since the season opener at Daytona in February. Noah Gragson took the checkered flag in that race, notching the first of two victories so far this season for the driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

Given that JRM has four cars in the field, there’s an excellent opportunity for the Chevrolets to team up in the draft, perhaps with the three-car Kaulig racing entry. The three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas also might try to work together, trying to give the Japanese car maker its first victory at the 2.66-mile track since Elliott Sadler won for Gibbs in 2014. The Fords, on the other hand, will have difficulty forming an alliance with only two drivers in the field—each with a different team.

The Unhinged 300 will be contested at 300.58 miles (113 laps), starting with two short stages of 25 laps each and a final stage of 63 laps. There are no former Talladega Xfinity Series winners in the field of 39 drivers.

NASCAR Xfinity Series at Talladega Odds

The odds for the Unhinged 300 are provided by BetMGM.

Harrison Burton Is Fresh from Record-Setting Run at Homestead

In a remarkable start to his first full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, 19-year-old Harrison Burton (+1200) has run off a string of 10 straight top-10 finishes, breaking a series record set by Carl Edwards. Burton has claimed victories at Fontana and Homestead and runner-up results at Daytona and Phoenix for an average finishing position of 4.6.

Interestingly, the son of NASCAR Hall of Fame nominee Jeff Burton has achieved his stellar start without winning either the first or second stage in any of the first 10 races.

“We’ve got to get a little bit more dominant, a little bit more aggressive early in the race, and somehow be a little faster,” Burton says. “That’s my main goal now—to fire off faster and try to be aggressive from the start and hopefully, get more dominant. I’m looking forward to Talladega this weekend to hopefully continue our momentum and come away with another good finish.”

AJ Allmendinger Looks to Keep the Cash Flowing at Talladega

After picking up his first NASCAR victory on an oval track June 6 at Atlanta and earning eligibility for the Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus, AJ Allmendinger (+950) added last Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami Speedway to his schedule. Allmendinger didn’t win, but his fourth-place run was good enough to beat the other three Dash 4 Cash drivers.

Now $100,000 richer, Allmendinger looks to double up at Talladega, where he’ll have to finish ahead of Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones and Ross Chastain to earn another bonus. Allmendinger has never made a start at Talladega in the Xfinity Series, and his record in the NASCAR Cup Series isn’t that impressive: one top five and three top 10s in 18 races.

Nevertheless, Allmendinger is confident in himself and Kaulig Racing teammates Ross Chastain and Justin Haley.

“We’re going to do this again!” Allmendinger says. “Talladega, (sponsor) Ellsworth Advisors on the race car. We’ve had fast Chevys from Kaulig Racing. More important, the check for $100,000—we won the Dash 4 Cash at Homestead. We’ve got two more opportunities with myself and Ross Chastain. We’re going to go to Talladega with three fast Kaulig Racing Chevys up front.”

Chase Briscoe Got Superspeedway Advice from the Master

Generally speaking, superspeedway racing hasn’t been a favorite of Chase Briscoe (+750), who grew up sliding cars on dirt tracks, not drafting on NASCAR’s most massive ovals. But Briscoe has acquired a taste for the sport’s most harrowing form of racing, thanks in part to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won six times in the Cup Series at Talladega.

“At the start of my career, I dreaded superspeedway racing,” Briscoe says. “I talked to Dale Jr. last year before Daytona, and the things he told me about the mentality of how to race these tracks and how he’s found speed really made me change my entire style of superspeedway racing. I truly enjoy going to those tracks now. I look forward to it because that perspective has made it more fun.”

Briscoe has found no small degree of satisfaction in winning, too. At Talladega, he’ll be racing not only for the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus but also for his fourth Xfinity victory in 11 races this season.

Our Pick

Justin Haley (+1000)—Haley has yet to win in 46 Xfinity Series starts, but he’s 1-for-4 in the Cup Series—and that unexpected victory came last July on the superspeedway at Daytona. Haley is adept in the draft and a good pick to find Victory Lane on Saturday.