A lot of variables are in play for tonight's Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
First, we need to consider that practice was during the late afternoon, but the race is scheduled to be a night race. I say "scheduled to be" because there is weather in the forecast, though it does appear at this time that if it does come into play, it would be toward the latter half of the race.
With that in mind, I'm eying one winless driver who really popped in the latter part of the practice session as the track slightly cooled off and became a bit quicker with my best bet for today's Ally 400.
NASCAR Odds, Picks for Nashville
It's been a rough year for Chase Elliott. The one-time Cup Series champion has 18 wins in his seven-plus full-time seasons. However, this season has been anything but full-time.
First, he missed six races with a broken leg. Then he missed a seventh race after being suspended for a right rear retaliation against Denny Hamlin at Charlotte.
That means Elliott is essentially in win-or-go-home mode in order to make the playoffs.
In practice, Elliott didn't initially stand out, with his first four practice laps all clocking in over 30.1 seconds, which prompted some changes. The changes slowly became better, and his lap times improved steadily.
By the end, Elliott turned nearly every lap under 30 seconds while his Toyota competitors near the top of the timesheets, Tyler Reddick and Martin Truex Jr., dipped into the mid-30s.
Improvement has been a theme for Elliott at Nashville in the Next Gen car. Last year at Nashville Elliott improved his speed in each quarter of the race before ultimately winning the race after the three Toytoas of Denny Hamlin, Truex and Kyle Busch dominated the first three-quarters of the race.
BetMGM and DraftKings are hanging the defending race winner at a very friendly +1100. If you happen to be in a SuperBook state, you can get him at +1200.
It's hard to pass on the defending winner who showed a ton of late-session speed, and did so consistently.
The Bet: Chase Elliott to Win +1100 | Bet to: 1000
