NASCAR Drydene 311 preview and value picks

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Dover International Speedway this weekend for a doubleheader that begins on Saturday, August 22 with the Drydene 311 (4 p.m., NBCSN).

Kevin Harvick, who swept the doubleheader held at Michigan two weeks ago, was installed by oddsmakers as the +300 betting favorite for Saturday’s race. But we’ll go hunting for some better value as we make our top three selections for the Drydene 311.

Chase Elliott (+700)

Chase Elliott, awarded the pole thanks in part to his victory at the Daytona International Speedway road course on Sunday, looks capable of posting back-to-back wins in the Drydene 311 this Saturday.

Elliott’s average finishing position of 8.63 (eight races) is tops among active drivers at Dover. The figure includes his victory here in October of 2018. Elliott’s average finishing position jumps to 4.42 when factoring out his 38th-place finish at "The Monster Mile" last fall due to a blown engine.

"We’ve had some really good cars there and had some had some good runs," he told MRN.com when asked about his experiences at Dover. "I feel like we need to be just a tick better. I feel like we’ve consistently been really strong, but not consistently just dominant. So I would like to see us kind of get over the hump and be just a tick better to really assert ourselves there more often, you know, in that first place instead of that third, fourth consistently."

Elliott’s win at Daytona was no fluke – his average finishing position over his last six races is 8.33.

Clint Bowyer (+3000)

Clint Bowyer could break a long losing streak at Dover as he comes into Saturday’s race with some momentum on his side. He’s placed Top 20 in his last six races, including his sixth-place finish at the Daytona road course on Sunday.

Bowyer is 0-for-28 in the Cup Series at Dover but was second as recently as May of 2018. He has two Top 10 finishes at "The Monster Mile" in his last three races there as well. Bowyer begins his day in fourth, his best starting position since NASCAR returned in mid-May.

Alex Bowman (+3500)

Longshot players could do far worse than hitching their wagon to Alex Bowman this Saturday.

The No. 88 Chevrolet driver has threatened for the victory in each of his last two visits to Dover, finishing second and third, respectively. Bowman already owns a victory in 2020 (Auto Club) and is eighth in laps led this season (387). He will roll off the grid in 11th place in the Drydene 311.