NASCAR has hit its All-Star break as the sports top drivers visit Charlotte Motor Speedway for a shot at a million dollars, at NASCAR’s home track in Charlotte, North Carolina. The winner takes all 20-car field will bring plenty of excitement on Saturday night. The field has been set with Clint Bowyer starting on the pole, but five spots remain open and four drivers will make the field out of the Monster Energy Open and the fifth will be a fan vote driver, and for the first time in four years, Chase Elliott won’t have to make the All-star field by the fan vote. Elliott among 19 other drivers will look to get the ultimate bragging rights from this 80-lap event. Kevin Harvick is the defending winner of the event and could use a win in this type of event to give himself some good momentum for next weekend’s Coca-Cola 600. Let’s dive into the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series All-Star Free Racing Picks for this Saturday.
Here are five drivers to back in the All-Star Race
Kyle Busch +450
Arguably NASCAR’s top current driver stands atop the odds list once again, and for good reason, as he has a great shot of winning wherever the series makes a stop. Busch is a former winner of the All-Star event back in 2017 and holds the second most laps led in the history of the event. In his 13 career starts in the All-Star race, Kyle has posted eight top 10 finishes including in each of the last four events. In those starts, Busch failed to lead laps only once, and that was in 2015’s race, a season he went on to win the series championship. Kyle Busch has had a history of success at Charlotte Motor Speedway across all three series. Busch is gonna be a driver to watch Saturday night.
Brad Keselowski +650
Keselowski has some great momentum heading into the All-Star race, after winning last weekends race in Kansas, and he could use some momentum as he has come up short when it comes to this event in his career. Brad stands as the only driver in the history of the All-Star race to lead at least 100 laps and not own a win in the event. Keselowski has 10 All-Star starts with six top 10s in those races. His three runner-up finishes in the race is a nice consolation, but in this winner take all event the real only success is to win it all. His four straight top 10 finishes in the race, was ended during lasts season’s All-Star race as he got caught up in a wreck. Keselowski will be gunning for his first All-Star win and what is to stop him from reaching it.
Kevin Harvick +650
Like Keselowski, Kevin Harvick shares the second-best odds for Saturday’s All-Star race. However, Harvick has been able to get the job done in the past in this event, winning it twice. Harvick hs 18 starts in the event and has posted a top 10 in 11 of those races. Kevin’s two wins in the race came in 2007 and in last season’s event. Three runner-up finishes are among his 11 top 10s in NASCAR’s All-Star event. Saturday marks Harvick’s 19th start in the event, which is the most starts for active drivers. Which also means he has made a start in every all-star race since 2001.
Chase Elliott +730
Chase Elliott will be in the All-Star race for the fourth time in his career and will look to extend his top 10 streak in the event, as he hasn’t finished outside the top 10 thus far in his career in the event. That has been more impressive because in those three starts he has come from the NASCAR Open event via the fan vote, and has had the success he has had in the race. Elliott notched a fifth-place finish in last season’s all-star event. This is the first season where Elliott won’t have to race his way in or get voted in which should make the Monster Energy Open very interesting as to who will make the field. Elliott has some history on his side, as Hendrick Motorsports has historically dominated this event with eight wins all-time in the race.
Kurt Busch +1400
A bit of a long shot for Saturday’s All-Star race, but Kurt Busch is no stranger to this event. Kurt notched an All-Star win back in 2010, in a season he was able to win the All-Star race and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same season, which is one of only two active drivers who have accomplished that feat, the other was Jimmie Johnson. In Busch’s 17 starts in the All-Star race, he has posted 10 top 10 finishes. That also includes eight top-five finishes in the race. Kurt may be a long shot, but historically he is a good pick to post at least a top 10 finish in the event.
