Best Bets for the 2021 Pocono Green 225 – NASCAR Xfinity Series

After a weekend in Music City, the NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to a more familiar track. The 2.5-mile triangulated shaped Pocono Raceway will host the Pocono Green 225 on Sunday, June 27.

Sunday’s race will be 90 laps with stage lengths consisting of 20-20-50 laps. The race will start just after 12 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

Harrison Burton will start on the pole. Justin Allgaier will join him on the front row.

There’s no Kyle Busch in the field this week, so it’s more of a wide-open field.

Here are what I consider to be the best bets for the Pocono Green 225.

Is Ty Gibbs the next Kyle Busch? His 2021 season is making people ask that question. The kid is just 18 years old, but he’s already turning heads.

Gibbs made his first career Xfinity Series start earlier this season at the Daytona Road Course. He won that race over defending series champion and road course expert Austin Cindric. Gibbs finished second and fourth in his following two races. He led 28 laps at Martinsville Speedway.

Following his worst career finish at Darlington Raceway, Gibbs finished fifth, first, and third. His second win of the season came at Charlotte Motor Speedway. A race in which he led 20 laps.

While Gibbs doesn’t have a start in the Xfinity Series at Pocono Raceway, he does have one in the ARCA Menards Series. Gibbs led 65 of 80 laps in his win at the track in 2020. He’ll run the ARCA race at Pocono on Friday, so he’ll get some more experience.

This kid is just killing it this season. It doesn’t matter that he’s just 18 years old because his talent is well beyond his years.

Gibbs will start 14th on Sunday, but don’t expect him to be out of the top 10 for long.

Sooner or later, Daniel Hemric has to win an Xfinity Series race. Right? Hemric remains winless in 102 career Xfinity Series starts. It’s not that he’s unsuccessful. Hemric has eight runner-up finishes in his career. Maybe Pocono Raceway is the track he can finally breakthrough.

Hemric finished ninth and third at Pocono Raceway in 2017 and 2018 while driving for Richard Childress Racing. He was running second in the 2020 race when he was involved in a multi-car wreck. The crash relegated him to a 28th place finish.

His success at Pocono Raceway goes beyond the Xfinity Series. He finished seventh there in his lone start at the track in the Cup Series. It’s his best career Cup Series finish on a non-superspeedway track.

If nothing else, Hemric has a Joe Gibbs Racing teammate in Kyle Busch to lean on for advice.

He will roll off the grid sixth on Sunday.

Among the full-time Xfinity Series drivers, Justin Allgaier may be the hottest in the series. Allgaier’s finished inside the top three in five of his last seven races. That stretch includes a win at Darlington Raceway along with leading 94 laps at Dover International Speedway.

His Pocono stats are a tale of two stories. Allgaier has finishes of second and sixth in five starts at the track. On the flip side, he has two finishes outside the top 35 after crashing out of two races.

He also has an 11th place finish. Not to mention, he’s led 49 laps at Pocono Raceway, which is the most among full-time Xfinity Series drivers.

Allgaier has done a great job this season. He began the season with three finishes outside the top 25. He did a great job weathering that storm and now sits a comfortable fifth in the point standings with two wins.

As I mentioned in the intro, Allgaier starts on the outside of the front row. Look for him to use his Pocono experience to take an early lead.

Every best bets list needs a good underdog. Why not Myatt Snider? Snider surprised everyone by capturing his first career Xfinity Series win earlier this season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

While Snider was the beneficiary of Noah Gragson’s late-race wreck, he had to earn the win. He passed two-time Xfinity Series Champion Tyler Reddick on the final restart to score the victory.

Now I’m sure the reason Snider’s odds are so high is because of his recent finishes. He’s been brutal his last four races with finishes outside the top 20. In fact, he hasn’t scored a top 10 since Talladega Superspeedway all the way back on April 24.

I think Pocono Raceway presents a good opportunity for Snider to get back on track.

Despite being involved in a wreck midway through last season’s race at the track, Snider still finished a 2020 season-best fourth. He showed last season that he knows how to run that place.

Snider presents the best value among all the longshots this weekend. He could have a tough time with a 19th place starting position, but Pocono Raceway is one of those tracks where you can play strategy.

Stay out when other’s pit, take two tires when others take four, etc. Anything can happen in those kinds of races.

As I just mentioned when discussing Myatt Snider, Pocono Raceway is one of those tracks where strategy can come into play. You’ll see guys pit just before the end of the stage, so they can stay out during the stage caution then jump everyone who pits under caution.

It’ll be interesting to see which drivers are willing to roll the dice to have a chance at the win.

If you want to bet on any of my picks, or another driver, head to the top NASCAR betting sites to get your money down.