NASCAR Alsco Uniforms 500 preview

After they raced for a grueling 600 miles Sunday, in the Coca-Cola 600, the NASCAR drivers will be back in action for Wednesday’s Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway (8 p.m., FS1).

The 500-kilometer affair will send the drivers around 208 laps, not even half the 405 laps (including overtime) they covered Sunday. This will almost surely guarantee a different result from the Coca-Cola 600, which was won by a late-rising (and opportunistic) Brad Keselowski. 

Martin Truex Jr. has been set as the +550 favorite for the Alsco Uniforms 500, but we’ll go looking for some underdogs for this mid-week heat.

Alex Bowman (+800)

Bowman’s 19th-place finish was not indicative of how well he ran in the Coca-Cola 600. He won the first two stages and led a race-high 164 laps. Even when he wasn’t on the lead, Bowman was in the top five most of the night.

If there’s a silver lining to Bowman’s fall through the pack in the final laps, it’s that he’ll start in the front row in the Alsco Uniforms 500. NASCAR is once again inverting the top 20 finishers to “handicap” the race, in lieu of qualifying, as they did at Darlington on Wednesday. With clean air at a premium throughout Sunday’s race, track position will be crucial once more.

The Arizona native already has a victory at Auto Club Speedway in 2020.

Chase Elliott (+600)

Elliott suffered another heartbreaking loss Sunday, just days after a mistake by Kyle Busch caused him to wreck at Darlington.

Elliott, who had a top 10 car for most of the Coca-Cola 600, was all but guaranteed the win until teammate William Byron spun out on Lap 398, which drew a caution.

Crew chief Alan Gustafson made the decision to bring his driver to pit road, one of the few who did. Elliott lost vital track position and could only manage third in the two-lap overtime (he was elevated to second following Jimmie Johnson’s disqualification).  

The No. 9 Chevrolet driver had a 117.6 rating for the Coca-Cola 600, second only to Truex (127).

Joey Logano (+1000)

Even though he had the worst finish of any Penske driver Sunday (Keselowski first, Ryan Blaney third), Logano (13th) is the best bet of the bunch to find victory lane Wednesday.

Logano had a top 10 car most of the evening and finished first in Stage 3. His 12.52 average finishing position over 21 starts at Charlotte is the highest mark among active drivers (minimum 10 starts). 

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