Sunday’s Wise Power 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX) will be the first time the new NASCAR Cup Series Next Gen car has seen a high-speed oval, so once again, we don’t have all that much historical data to lean on.
Additionally, due to the COVID-19 pandemic this will be the first time that the Cup Series has raced at Auto Club in two years, adding even more uncertainty.
And if practice and qualifying were any indicator, Sunday’s race could be wild.
Due to a combination of pre-race inspection issues and spins/wrecks in both practice and qualifying, a wad of good drivers will start at the rear of the field, so the only thing to expect at Auto Club Speedway is the unexpected.
With this in mind, I polled the Action Network’s verified NASCAR experts to detail each of our top bets for Sunday’s Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway, which are all detailed below.
Please note that because practice and qualifying ran into Saturday afternoon, the full complement of NASCAR at Auto Club odds won’t be up until Saturday evening, so the best bets below will be continually updated throughout the day Sunday as more picks are submitted.
Be sure to download the FREE Action Network App to track all of our verified experts and their full betting cards for Sunday’s NASCAR Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway.
2022 NASCAR at Auto Club Picks
*Odds as of Saturday night
NASCAR at Auto Club Futures
- Denny Hamlin (+950) to Win (Jim Sannes — numberFire)
Denny Hamlin was grading out well in my simulations prior to practice and qualifying, and those did nothing to sour me on him.
Hamlin's track history is underwhelming, but his performance the past couple years helps me overlook that.
Hamlin was one of the sport's best drivers on tracks with heavy tire falloff last year, so I'm more than okay riding with him to win at +950 (FanDuel).
NASCAR at Auto Club Driver Matchups
- Kyle Busch (-110) over Denny Hamlin(Dale Tanhardt — Garage Guys)
Kyle Busch has dominated at Fontana over the years, with 11 top fives and four wins in 22 starts.
Hamlin has never won at this track, and Busch has beat him head-to-head in four consecutive races here.
I love Busch this weekend at one of his best tracks and am grabbing the -110 at BetMGM.
NASCAR at Auto Club Props
- Christopher Bell (+600) for a Top-5 Finish (Greg Matherne)
I don’t know that we should put a lot of stock in practice, but I don’t think we should totally ignore it either and Bell found some speed in practice, posting the fourth-best five-lap and fifth-best 10 lap times.
Bell has had success at Auto Club in the XFINITY Series posting a top three in 2019 (his sole Cup race here isn’t relevant data — an equipment failure). He also has reasonable success at (old) Atlanta, which is another very high-wear track with an XFINITY Series win in 2019.
At +600, DraftKings' odds are to long to pass up and out of line with the rest of the industry, which has Bell +400 or shorter for a fop-five finish.
- Christopher Bell (+600) for a Top-5 Finish (Nick Giffen — Action Network)
Earlier this week, I wrote up Christopher Bell (+500) for a top-five finish and now his odds have gotten longer, despite key practice metrics showing near the top of the board.
He was inside the top five in both five- and 10-lap average in practice and felt confident in his car.
He had a bad qualifying lap, which is likely why his odds have dropped, but his race speed looks strong if practice is any indication.
- Austin Dillon (+150) for a Top-10 Finish (Jordan McAbee — Fantasy Racing Online)
Sportsbooks honestly aren't giving Austin Dillon the credit he deserves.
He's listed at 50-1 to win at DraftKings Sportsbook for Sunday's Wise Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway, and while he's not extremely likely to challenge for the race win, there's no reason why Dillon can't legitimately challenge for a top-10 finish.
Dillon emerged as one of the better races at high-wear tracks last season, grabbing finishes of sixth and 12th at the two Atlanta races, plus a 10th-place finish in the Southern 500 at Darlington.
Additionally, Dillon had a legitimate top-five race car at Michigan last year before getting wrecked by Brad Keselowski.
Here at Auto Club specifically, he has finished 10th or 11th in three of his last four starts, and you could argue that Dillon now has the strongest equipment he's had since joining the Cup Series.
It's also worth putting a sprinkle on him at +1000 to get a top-five finish, but one of my favorite bets this weekend is +150 for a top 10 out of Dillon.
