Chase Elliott proved last week in Atlanta that you can’t count him out! And, Corey LaJoie proved last week that small teams with low budgets can contend! Elliott won the Atlanta race but LaJoie was the strongest challenger before Chase blocked him on the final lap causing a wreck that put Lajoie into the wall while grabbing the checkered flag for Elliott.

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Now, the NASCAR Cup Series moves to New Hampshire for the running of the Ambetter 301. Is Elliott the favorite in New Hampshire this week following his Atlanta win? Nope! Chase Elliott falls slightly on the odds list coming in at +1000. And, LaJoie comes in as an underdog at +50000.

As for the favorite, that’s Ryan Blaney coming in at +600 with a nice grouping of other drivers with similar odds. This could be a tight race on Sunday on a short track where even a slight mistake can ruin a day. Here are the favorite drivers, through +800, to win the Ambetter 301 outright.

Ryan Blaney +600

Kyle Busch +700

Joey Logano +700

Martin Truex Jr +800

Denny Hamlin +800

A close look shows that three of the five drivers listed below have won races at New Hampshire and Ryan Blaney, the outright favorite, is not one of them. He’s never won at this track in a Cup Series car. Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, and Joey Logano have all won Cup Series races at New Hampshire while both Blaney and Martin Truex Jr have not.

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2022 Ambetter 301 Preview

Date: Sunday, July 17, 2022, 3:00 pm EST

Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH

Type: Oval, 1.058 miles

Race Distance: 318.458 miles, 301 laps

Defending Track Winner: Brad Keselowski

TV/Radio: USA / PRN / SiriusXM

New Hampshire is one of the shorter tracks that the NASCAR Cup Series visits. It’s known for being flat, hard to make passes, and getting stuck laps down if a driver or team makes a mistake. During last year’s race, four drivers led over 50 laps each. But they all were shuffled back at various points and could not make it back to the front. Aric Almirola won the race after leading 25 laps. In all, ten drivers were credited with being the leader.

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2022 Ambetter 301 Predictions

Kyle Busch +700

Kyle Busch has won twice in his last ten starts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He looked rough last week at Atlanta but this is a completely different track. Busch seems to be one of the few drivers that can work a Cup Series car through tight traffic, especially on a short track. He’s been wrecked out of the race the last two visits to New Hampshire so you know he wants to put that streak to an end.

Ross Chastain +1000

Ross Chastain seems to be a great driver on all types of tracks now! He’s won twice already this season and has been close to getting a third checkered flag a few times. Last year was only his third trip to New Hampshire as a Cup Series driver and it was his first in quality equipment. In 2018, and 2019 he finished 25th for Jay Robinson. Then last year he finished 8th in Chip Gannasi equipment. Now Gannasi is Trackhouse with even better rides.

Tyler Reddick +2000

Tyler Reddick has a single win this season with several 2nd and 3rd place finishes. He finished in the number two spot at both Bristol and again at Darlington. He’s only been to New Hampshire twice as a Cup driver but has posted fantastic results both times. He finished 10th in 2019 at New Hampshire and 13th last season at the track.

Others: Kevin Harvick (+1800) has not won in the last two seasons but he has won three of his last ten races at Loudon, NH. Maybe this is the week he turns things around. Aric Almirola (+2500) is the defending track winner at New Hampshire. His last four trips to the track have garnished 3rd, 11th and 7th place finishes respectively followed by the win last season.

Important NASCAR Stats

2022 Ambetter 301 Betting Lines

Ryan Blaney +600

Kyle Busch +700

Joey Logano +700

Martin Truex Jr +800

Denny Hamlin +800

Chase Elliott +1000

Ross Chastain +1000

Kyle Larson +1200

Kevin Harvick +1800

Christopher Bell +1800

William Byron +1800

Tyler Reddick +2000

Chase Briscoe +2200

Aric Almirola +2500

Daniel Suarez +2800

Kurt Busch +2800

Alex Bowman +2800

Austin Cindric +5000

Brad Keselowski +8000

Erik Jones +10000

Chris Buescher +10000

Darrell Wallace Jr. +10000

Austin Dillon +10000

Michael McDowell +20000

Ricky Stenhouse Jr +25000

Justin Haley +25000

Cole Custer +25000

AJ Allmendinger +25000

Ty Dillon +50000

Harrison Burton +50000

Corey Lajoie +50000

Todd Gilliland +100000

Josh Bilicki +100000

J.J. Yeley +100000

Cody Ware +100000

BJ McLeod +100000