The 2019 Toyota Owners 400 will take place under the lights at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET. It's the third short-track race in the last four weeks and it should be some of the most competitive racing of the year with everybody using the last month to dial in their short-track setup. Richmond is a 0.75-mile track with minimal banking and Kyle Busch has six career victories at this track. He also won last week at Bristol, so he's the 9-4 favorite in the latest 2019 Toyota Owners 400 odds. However, Kevin Harvick (9-2), who claimed the pole position for 2019 NASCAR at Richmond, Martin Truex Jr. (6-1) and Joey Logano (8-1) are some of the other top drivers in the NASCAR at Richmond odds. Before making your 2019 Toyota Owners 500 picks, be sure to check out the NASCAR predictions from renowned Vegas handicapper Micah Roberts.
Roberts went with Jimmie Johnson as a hefty 25-1 long shot at the season-opening Advance Auto Parts Clash. The result: Johnson survived a huge crash and went on to win the rain-shortened race as Roberts' followers raked it in. At the TicketGuardian 500 in Phoenix, Roberts nailed Busch at 4-1 odds over the heavily favored Harvick, and got an eye-popping eight of the top 10 right. At the Auto Club 400, he had nine of the top 10 correct.
Roberts entered the 2019 NASCAR season after finishing big-time in the black in 2018. Those who wagered $100 on each of his picks last year have $1,750 in profit to show for it. His biggest wins came when he went against the grain, taking Keselowski at 12-1 to win the South Point 400 at Las Vegas in the opening race of the NASCAR playoffs and going with Logano, also 12-1, to take the First Data 500 at Martinsville. He also nailed four of Harvick's nine series victories and three of Busch's nine wins. Anyone who's following his picks is up huge year after year.
Now, he has analyzed Saturday night's 2019 Toyota Owners 400 lineup from every possible angle and locked in his top NASCAR at Richmond picks. His projected leaderboard for the race is available at SportsLine.
We can tell you Roberts is fading Harvick, one of the top race favorites at 7-1 NASCAR at Richmond odds. Harvick has won three times at this track in the Cup Series and seven more in the Xfinity Series, but his ride hasn't been where it needs to be with this car package. In fact, Roberts says Harvick barely cracks the top 10. He's not worth the 7-1 premium you'll need to pay for him even though he'll start in front.
One driver that Roberts is high on for the Toyota Owners 400 2019: Kurt Busch, who opened as a major long shot at 25-1 in the NASCAR at Richmond odds. He's now going off at 12-1 as race time approaches.
The 40-year-old with a series title under his belt has had a sensational season with six top 10s and three top fives in his first eight races this year. That includes a second-place finish last week at Bristol with this same car setup. Busch also has a pair of wins at Richmond Raceway and led 98 laps in this event last season before eventually finishing 11th. He's got the speed in his Stewart Haas Racing Ford to get to the top of the 2019 Toyota Owners 400 leaderboard.
For the win, Roberts is eyeing an underdog with double-digit odds to shock the field and take down the 2019 Toyota Owners 400. His pick and his leaderboard will surprise many, but anyone who backs this long shot could hit a massive payday.
So which drivers are must-backs in the 2019 Toyota Owners 400? And which underdog shocks NASCAR with the checkered flag at Richmond? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard for the 2019 Toyota Owners 400 from the nation's premier NASCAR handicapper, and find out.