2015 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 Odds, Free Picks & Predictions: Favorites and Sleepers

2015 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 Odds, Free Picks & Predictions: Favorites and Sleepers: The XFINITY Series returns to Richmond International Raceway this weekend, and like the first trip to the 0.75-mile short track, Friday night’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 is a companion event with the Cup Series race.

That being said, the field isn’t really oversaturated with Cup regulars pulling double duty, and the spring race winner, Denny Hamlin, is one of the big names that aren’t scheduled to be in the race this time around. With the field not quite as loaded, the door could be open for some series regulars to make some noise, and here is a closer look at the drivers with the best chance of taking the checkered flag at Richmond Friday night.

2015 Virginia 529 College Savings 250 Odds, Free Picks & Predictions: Favorites, Sleepers and Sleepers

The Favorites

His numbers at Richmond in the XFINITY Series are incredible, and in 19 starts at the short track, Kyle Busch has five wins, 13 top-five finishes and 16 top-10s. He also happens to be the defending winner of this weekend’s race, and he has reeled off 13 straight top-10s here, including five straight finishes of fourth or better.

Although he is still looking for his first win at Richmond in the XFINITY Series, Joey Logano is no stranger to running up front at the track. In five starts here, he has four finishes of seventh or better, including a second-place run earlier this year in the spring race. By the way, the driver that dominated the spring race, Denny Hamlin, won’t be in the field for Friday night’s race.

He has been rock solid in recent years at Richmond, and Austin Dillon has four finishes of 12th or better in his last five XFINITY Series starts here, including an eighth-place run in the spring. More importantly, Dillon has been excellent in the series in general in 2015, logging 10 top-five finishes in 13 starts, including three victories.

The Contenders

His 3.0 average finish at Richmond is the best of any driver in the field this weekend, and in three starts here, Chase Elliott has yet to finish outside the top five. In fact, Elliott has finished second in two of his three starts at Richmond, so it seems like only a matter of time before the defending series champ is celebrating a win at the 0.75-mile short track.

The sample size is small, but Erik Jones was more than competitive in his first XFINITY Series starts at Richmond earlier this year, finishing fourth. This weekend, he will be driving for the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing team that led 248 of the 250 laps at Richmond in the spring race with Denny Hamlin behind the wheel, so Jones will have a great setup and great equipment to work with. The talented youngster has 11 top-10s and two wins in 17 XFINITY starts in 2015, and he could easily add to the win total Friday night.

While he is still looking for a win at Richmond, Regan Smith always seems to be in the mix at the short track. He has five straight finishes of eighth or better here, and during the stretch, he has three top-five finishes, including a third-place run earlier this year and a sixth-place run last fall.

Sleeper Special

He finished sixth at Richmond in the spring, and Daniel Suarez has been coming on strong in recent months. He has two top-five finishes in the last three races of 2015, and five of his six top-five finishes have come since July. Suarez seems to keep getting better as the year goes on, and after a strong showing at Richmond in April, he could be a real threat for the win in his return trip to the track.

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