Shriners Children’s 200: Should Interloper Kyle Larson Be Favored in a Kaulig Racing Car?

• Should interloper Kyle Larson be favored in a Kaulig Racing car?
• Defending winner Justin Allgaier has a knack for the Lady in Black.
• Toyota fans should flock to the support of John Hunter Nemechek.

Shriners Children’s 200 Betting Odds

Odds taken from DraftKings Sportsbook.

Our Picks for the Shriners Children’s 200

• Justin Allgaier to win the race at +550 (DraftKings)
• Austin Hill to finish in the top three at +800 (DraftKings)

Shriners Children’s 200 Predictions

Should Interloper Kyle Larson Be the Favorite in a Kaulig Car?

When Kyle Larson signed up for Saturday’s Shriners Children’s 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Darlington Raceway, he was installed as an instant favorite at +225 via DraftKings Sportsbook.

True, Larson has never finished out of the top 10 in five Xfinity starts at the Lady in Black, but his best finish is fourth in NASCAR’s Triple-A series.

Nor has the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion posted a victory in 10 premier divisions starts at the venerable 1.366-mile intermediate speedway, though his record does include three runner-up results and two-thirds.

We have two reservations about Larson as the favorite on Saturday. Even with their full-time drivers behind the wheel, the Kaulig cars haven’t shown the speed necessary to be weekly contenders this season.

Second, the stingy price of +225 doesn’t justify the risk in picking a driver who is moonlighting in the Xfinity Series. Hence, we’re steering clear of Larson on Saturday.

Veteran Justin Allgaier Has a Special Knack for the Lady in Black

Since joining JR Motorsports in 2016, Justin Allgaier has only two finishes outside the top 10 in 10 starts at Darlington Raceway.

Allgaier is the two-time defending winner of the spring race at the Lady in Black, and four of his last six finishes there have been top fives.

Overall, in 15 career starts at Darlington, Allgaier has posted 11 top 10s and six top fives, including the two wins. His career-average result at the track is 8.7.

Our only reservation is that the JR Motorsports cars haven’t shown the power they exhibited last season when the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-co-owned team was the dominant force in the Xfinity Series garage.

But Allgaier’s familiarity with Darlington and his ability to perform consistently on the difficult track has convinced us to pick him as our winner on Saturday at +550 via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Toyota Fans Should Flock to Support John Hunter Nemechek

John Hunter Nemechek has started three NASCAR Xfinity Series races at Darlington, none with his current No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team.

But in those three starts, Nemechek has two top 10s and a best finish of fourth in last year’s spring race with Sam Hunt Racing.

Driving full-time for Gibbs this season, Nemechek already has two victories to his credit and ranks second in the series standings.

If you’re a Toyota fan, we can understand why you might gravitate to Nemechek, who is offered at +550 at DraftKings, but we’ll stick with Allgaier.

What we can’t understand is why DraftKings has series leader Austin Hill, who has three wins this year, at +2800.

Hill has finished in the top 10 in all three of his Xfinity Starts at Darlington, and we like him to run top-three at +800.

How to Watch the Shriners Children’s 200

• Race: Shriners Children’s 200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race
• Location: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway
• Time: Saturday, May 14, 1:30 p.m. ET
• How to Watch: FOX