Pocono Raceway often gets a bad rap from motorsports fans, but I find it interesting as a fan and from a NASCAR odds perspective.
Because the track is so large and it takes drivers almost a minute to complete a full lap, it opens the door for multiple strategies to come into play, like flipping stages, short-pitting, running long or trying to save fuel to cut out a pit stop altogether.
This was very much the case on Saturday when Austin Hill surprisingly parlayed a pit road speeding penalty into the race-winning strategy.
Sunday's HighPoint.com 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, USA) could be just as exciting, especially with a value bet in hand to enjoy throughout the race.
In yesterday's practice sessions, the Toyotas were very fast, and I'm keying in on one driver matchup based on the latest NASCAR odds for Pocono.
NASCAR Pick for Pocono
*NASCAR odds as of Sunday morning
Ty Gibbs had plenty of pace in practice on Saturday.
The driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota ran the ninth-fastest single lap while posting the fifth-fastest five-lap average and the third-fastest 10-lap average.
Just nine cars made 10-lap runs in practice, but Gibbs was still better than heavy hitters Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick in that metric.
On the other hand, Daniel Suarez, who was in the same practice group as Gibbs, was considerably slower on the stopwatch.
Suarez ran the 18th-fastest single lap, the 11th-best five-lap average and did not run 10 consecutive laps.
In fact, according to ifantasyrace.com, Dale Earnhardt Jr. even mentioned on the broadcast that Suarez seemed to be struggling in practice.
Additionally, Gibbs secured an 11th-place starting spot in qualifying compared to Suarez's 17th-place position.
The edge here isn't massive, but it's big enough for me to back Gibbs to finish ahead of Suarez at -125 odds (Caesars).
The bet: Ty Gibbs (-125) over Daniel Suarez via Caesars
