Time for some short-track racing with speedway flare! The NASCAR Cup Series moves to Richmond Raceway for the running of the 2023 Toyota Owners 400. This is the first short-track race of the season, and it is at a track where Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, and Joe Gibbs Racing have done well. They’ve won two of the last three Richmond races! But three other drivers are topping the odds list this week.
William Byron, Kevin Harvick, and Kyle Larson all enter the race weekend knotted together at +600. Harvick is the only one of the three that has won a recent Cup Series race at this track as he’s the defending race winner. Larson also won here but it was in 2017 and two generations ago when it comes to the design of Cup Series cars.
Richmond is only .75 miles long but has a design with banked turns and a “D” shaped front stretch that allows for higher speeds. There have been 6 different winners over 6 races to date. Martin Truex Jr was the last driver to win back-to-back at Richmond as he won both races at the track in the 2019 season. Truex has won three of the last seven races at Richmond and Denny Hamlin won this race last season!
Here are the favorites to win the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway:
William Byron +600
Kevin Harvick +600
Kyle Larson +600
Christopher Bell +800
Martin Truex Jr +800
Denny Hamlin +800
Favorites to Win the 2023 Toyota Owners 400
William Byron could finally get his first win at Richmond Speedway this week as he’s been close several times in his Cup career. He’s finished 7th, 19th, 3rd and 11th in his last four starts at the track. He led 122 laps of the spring Richmond race last season. Byron has also already won twice this season. That levels the deck for oddsmakers when comparing him with Kevin Harvick who is the defending track winner.
Harvick won at Richmond during the fall race last season and Denny Hamlin won this race last Spring. The difference this season is that Harvick is having a much better season than Hamlin so far. Harvick is sitting 6th in points while Hamlin is 14th to date. Still, Richmond is a track they’ve done well on over the years which explains the tight numbers. Harvick is +600 while Hamlin is +800.
2023 Toyota Owners 400 Preview
Where: Richmond Raceway, Henrico County, VA
When: Sunday, April 2, 2022 – 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Track: 0.75-mile D-shaped tri-oval
Length: 300 laps / 400 miles
NASCAR Richmond Trends – Last Five Winners
2022: Kevin Harvick, Ford
2022: Denny Hamlin, Toyota
2021: Martin Truex Jr, Toyota
2021: Alex Bowman, Chevrolet
2020: Brad Keselowski, Ford
2023 Toyota Owners 400 Betting Lines
Here is the complete odds list for the 2023 Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway to win outright:
William Byron +600
Kevin Harvick +600
Kyle Larson +600
Christopher Bell +800
Martin Truex Jr +800
Denny Hamlin +800
Kyle Busch +1000
Ryan Blaney +1400
Joey Logano +1400
Tyler Reddick +1600
Ross Chastain +1800
Alex Bowman +2000
Brad Keselowski +2500
Chris Buescher +3000
Daniel Suarez +3000
Josh Berry +3000
Chase Briscoe +4000
Aric Almirola +5000
Bubba Wallace +5000
Ryan Preece +6500
Ty Gibbs +6500
Austin Cindric +7500
Austin Dillon +7500
Erik Jones +8000
AJ Allmendinger +8000
Michael McDowell +10000
Chandler Smith +10000
Noah Gragson +10000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +10000
Field (Any Other) +1000