The Odds for COTA Are Pretty Wild!

^{Mar 1, 2025 | Edition #144}

👋 Dear Motorheads,

As we trade in our restrictor plates for some good old-fashioned right turns, one thing's for sure: COTA is gonna be wild! So, who's your money on? The road course specialists? The young guns? Or maybe the guy who's been quietly crushing it?

You know what? Before you say the driver's name out loud, let us take you through the Sunday's Cup Race Odds. And then we'll see if your answer changes or not. (Spoiler alert though, the list is pretty nuts!)

🎯 Sunday’s Cup Race Odds

Forget the Race, You’re Probably Not Ready for These Odds!

Well, first off we have Shane van Gisbergen as the front-runner, and rightfully so. Dude's a road course mastermind. He won his debut NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicago and has some impressive stats under his belt. But here's the thing - his COTA record isn't exactly stellar. A P20 finish in the Cup and a P27 in Xfinity last season? That's not exactly what you'd call a ringing endorsement.

Now, we're not saying SVG doesn't deserve some love. He's got skills, no doubt. But number one? The Lucky Dog’s not so sure.

And then there's Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old phenom, coming in at number two. We get it, the kid's got talent. But has he even run a Cup Series race? Nope. Has he even run COTA? Nope. Giving him the second-best odds just doesn't add up.

Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger is stuck at number seven. This guy's a road course king, folks! Three Cup wins, eight Xfinity wins, and two COTA wins in Xfinity. He deserves better than seventh!

And don't even get us started on Chase Elliott. The spot he got might just make you mad. Here, check out the entire list.

We know Elliott has struggled with Next-Gen cars on road courses, but putting him that low on the list? That's just crazy talk!

Ross Chastain's odds are even more mind-boggling. The guy's got an average finish of 4.0 at COTA, with a win under his belt. How's he not top five?

And Chris Buescher? Not even top 10? What's going on here?

Needless to say, these odds are all over the place. Still, who do you think is gonna take the checkered flag on Sunday?

WATCH: Ross Chastain Gives His Funny Take on COTA’s New Layout

🏁 Lucky Dog’s Quick Poll 🏁

📈 Trending News

NASCAR Is Finally Listening to Us

Okay. Let’s take a breather to get over those COTA odds… we kinda need your undivided attention for this one!

Remember how we were all feeling pretty meh about the playoff format coming into 2025? Yeah, it seemed like nothing was gonna change. But, behind the scenes, NASCAR was cooking up something big!

It seems they've put together a playoff committee! And it’s not what you’re thinking. We're talking NASCAR drivers, Hall of Famers, OEM leaders, and even broadcasters. It's a regular who's who!

Mike Forde, NASCAR's Managing Director of Racing Communications, spilled the beans on his podcast, "Hauler Talk." While he didn't name names, he gave us some pretty juicy hints. Apparently, there's someone on the committee with a podcast. Hmm... wonder who that could be? Dale Jr, maybe? Or perhaps Denny Hamlin? 

Forde also mentioned that the group's got some veteran drivers, active drivers, and even some owners. So, it's possible we've got both Dale Jr and Denny Hamlin on board.

You should listen to him describe the committee members. You’ll probably be able to tell who all are there.

One name we do know for sure is Christopher Bell. Forde said NASCAR's looking at him as a leader in the garage. Maybe we should ask him to spill the beans on who else is on the committee. He's not exactly known for keeping secrets if you recall that whole Chase Briscoe fiasco! Here’s the moment Bell realized that he messed up. What’s even more hilarious is that the reporters in the room couldn’t keep it together.

But jokes apart, this committee is gonna meet regularly to discuss changes to the Cup format. Some folks are for the current format, while others want to scrap it altogether. There's even talk of going back to the old way, where the whole season decides the champion.

And, of course, if Denny Hamlin's on the committee, you can bet he's pushing for a multiple-round championship race! So, fingers crossed, folks! Maybe, just maybe, we'll see some big changes in 2026!

🎤 Rant of the Week

New Year, New NASCAR Penalties! Isn't that something people say? Well... they should, because Chase Briscoe's #19 team just got slapped with a $100k fine, and it has kinda created a ruckus.

While NASCAR has put its foot down about the “modified” spoiler, JGR's President, Dave Alpern, is quite pissed at the decision! He even fired back at NASCAR using a hilarious analogy that's got everyone talking!

🌪️ Cause for Controversy

Kurt Busch’s Scandalous Exit Now Out in the Open

You know how sometimes you wonder what really went down behind the scenes of a major controversy? Well, buckle up, because we've got the scoop on why Kurt Busch got the boot from Roush Racing back in the day.

It's no secret that Busch was a force to be reckoned with in the early 2000s. He was Jack Roush's star driver, and they'd just won a championship together in 2004. But just a year later, Busch was outta there. And the reason why was a mystery... until now.

Greg Biffle, Busch's old teammate, recently spilled the beans on Dale Jr's podcast. From what it looks like, Busch was getting a little too big for his britches. He was frustrated with the car, and he wasn't afraid to show it. He even had some run-ins with the team's management.

But the final straw was the Phoenix incident. Busch got detained on suspicion of drunken driving, and let's just say he didn't exactly cooperate with the cops. Biffle remembered it vividly: "[Kurt] didn’t get a DUI, but they stopped him and there was some discussion about whether he’d been drinking and I think he was a real a**hole to the cops."

If you think that is shocking, you should listen to the whole conversation where Biffle even sheds some light on how Kurt tried to use his NASCAR fame to get out of this mess.

Surely, that didn't fly. And it all led Roush to decide: "You know what? You’re not gonna drive." So Busch was suspended for the last two races of the season, and that was that.

Knowing this, we can’t help but draw parallels to what happened between his brother Kyle and Hendrick Motorsports back in 2007. The whole controversy led to a very similar outcome, a Busch stepping away and joining a different team.

So what exactly happened? As per The Athletic, one theory is that Kyle’s “abrasive personality was too much of a headache for Hendrick.” Further elaborating on the matter, they wrote, “It’s plausible Hendrick was sick of the attitude and the quips.” 

Dive Deeper: The Time Kyle Busch Blatantly Disrespected the HMS Team in Victory Lane

But with all said and done, it is good to see that Kyle has toned down that side of his, and is working patiently with the RCR group. For Kurt? He may not have had the best NASCAR farewell, but the Lucky Dog feels we all can remember him as the 2004 champion and one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers.

🎡 Roulette of Rumors

Keselowski Might Be the Key to NASCAR’s 5th OEM!

In case you’re confused, Dodge (who we are considering as the 4th OEM) is already in talks with NASCAR. So we might see some Dodge Ram trucks on the track as early as 2026. And since that is exactly how Toyota came to NASCAR, it won’t be too ambitious to think we'll see a Dodge Charger battling the Camrys and Mustangs by 2027 or 2028!

But that's not all! Now Brad Keselowski might be cooking up something big. Word on the street is that he's trying to lure in a fifth OEM - and if you haven’t guessed it already, it's Honda!

Well, before you get too excited, this is just a rumor for now. But Keselowski's been pretty vocal about the need for more OEMs in NASCAR. And it looks like Keselowski might be putting his money where his mouth is.

An Instagram page named ‘NASCAR Rumors & Nostalgia' posted that Keselowski was one of the people trying to bring Honda on board. This page has been pretty spot-on with its rumors in the past, so we're thinking this might be the real deal.

Plus, Honda's in a pretty good position to make the jump to NASCAR. They're on the verge of exiting IndyCar, so they might be looking for a new racing home. And with their cars being super popular in the US, it could be a win-win for both Honda and NASCAR.

Of course, there are still some big questions to answer. Would RFK Racing ditch Ford for Honda? It's hard to say, especially amid Mustang's championship dominance. But hey, you never know.

The biggest challenge for any new OEM would be finding a good team to partner with. But if Honda (or Dodge, for that matter) can crack that code, everything else will fall into place. And can you imagine how awesome it would be to have five OEMs in NASCAR? The competition would be off the charts!

📰 Lucky Dog’s Recommended Reads

1. When Dale Earnhardt’s Secret Life Left Dale Jr and Kelley Earnhardt in Total Shock - Full Story

2. “Suddenly a Clown Flashed Before My Eyes”: Kyle Petty Talks About the Scariest Incident of His Life - Full Story

3. Kyle Larson Prepared to Throw Away 2025 NASCAR Season for an Ambitious Goal - Full Story

4. The Strange Demand Christopher Bell Had From Toyota - Full Story

5. Kyle Busch Makes Heartbreaking NASCAR Admission - Full Story

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