Alsco Uniforms 302 Predictions, Odds & Picks (Xfinity Series)

• One week later, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric renew rivalry in the Playoff.
• Can Noah Gragson take on the hometown hero role at Las Vegas Motor Speedway?
• Harrison Burton is the most likely candidate to escape the Playoff doldrums.

Alsco Uniforms 302 Odds

Odds for Alsco Uniforms 302 are taken from PointsBet Sportsbook.

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The Sept. 17 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway set the field for the 2021 Playoff—not that there was a lot of suspense concerning the final three qualifiers—Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, and Jeremy Clements.

Now the series heads for Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 302 will open the Xfinity Playoff—after both the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series already have completed their first Playoff rounds.

Saturday’s event will be contested over 201 laps (302 miles), with stage breaks scheduled after 45 and 90 laps. Last year’s winner, Chase Briscoe, has graduated to the Cup Series and is not in the Alsco Uniforms 302 field.

Rivalry Between Allmendinger and Cindric Continues as Playoff Begins

The final lap of the Sept. 24 event at Bristol Motor Speedway was emblematic of the intense battle for the Xfinity regular-season championship between AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric.

The drivers traded contact on the final circuit, which ended with Allmendinger’s Chevrolet and Cindric’s Ford sliding sideways across the finish line—with Allmendinger the winner by .082 seconds.

The victory gave Allmendinger the regular-season title, not to mention 15 extra Playoff points to Cindric’s 10. The drivers start the Playoff with 2,044 points each, but Cindric gets top seeding on the basis of five race wins to Allmendinger’s four.

We think Allmendinger will even the victory score on Saturday and earn automatic advancement to the Round of 8 in the Playoff.

After all, Allmendinger is the most recent winner at Las Vegas, having taken the checkered flag on March 6, and he’s the only former Vegas winner in the field.

At +700 via PointsBet Sportsbook, he’s the third choice behind Cindric (+350) and rookie Ty Gibbs (+400), but we like him to complete the season sweep in Sin City.

Noah Gragson Can Be a Hometown Hero if He Wins Saturday’s Race

Noah Gragson has strong ties to Las Vegas. His great grandfather, Oran K. Gragson, was the longest-serving mayor in the history of the city.

Gragson would like nothing better than to win in his hometown. The driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet has been hot lately, winning two of the last three regular-season races in the Xfinity Series.

In his five starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Gragson has never finished worse than sixth. He was second in last fall’s Playoff race and fourth in the 2021 spring race at the track.

Accordingly, we think Gragson is worth a bet at +800 via PointsBet Sportsbook. As well as he has run at Las Vegas, he’s due for a win sooner or later.

Harrison Burton Is the Best Bet to Escape the Playoff Doldrums at Vegas

There’s a wide chasm between the “haves” and “have-nots” on the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff grid. As we noted earlier, both Cindric and Allmendinger enter the Round of 12 with 2,044 points.

At the other end of the spectrum, Burton is on the bubble, sitting eighth in the standings with 2,008 points. Yes, there are four drivers below him, but Burton has little room for error if he hopes to advance to the Round of 8.

The good news is that Burton is arguably at his best on intermediate speedways. Two of his four career victories have come on 1.5-milers (Homestead and Texas) and a third was fashioned at a two-mile downforce track (Fontana, California).

At +850 (DraftKings Sportsbook), Burton may be a stretch to win Saturday’s race, but we think he’s a good bet to finish in the top 3 at a nice price (+300).

After all, he’s in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, one of the best pieces in the garage.

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