2024 EchoPark 400 BellyUp Racing Picks

The NASCAR Cup Series is headed back to the Lone Star State for the EchoPark 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. This track brings a lot of strong opinions from NASCAR fans. Certainly, Texas is one of the biggest markets that the sport can tap into. But, most fans believe this speedway should be torn to the ground and rebuilt into something else with the quality of racing being what it is.

But, it’s a brief exit from the disaster that is short-track racing in the Next Gen Car that we’ve put up with the last few weeks during our stay in Virginia. Chris and I are back again to deliver some picks. Last week, neither of us picked the winner. Chris’s picks of Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain brought home a P5 and P14. My selections of Chase Briscoe and Denny Hamlin finished P10 and P11. But neither of us faded anybody who wowed us. So at least there’s that. Let’s get to the EchoPark 400 though, and see if one of us (especially me) can hit the win column.

Chris’s Picks: #24 William Byron (+700) & #45 Tyler Reddick (+600)

So, I’m going to eat a bit of crow this week I guess. Kaleb and I were talking and I said something along the lines of I try not to pick THE favorite. Well, my bad in my defense though I do pick before the odds are released. Any who lets start with the driver who is heating up right now. William won the Daytona 500 and did absolutely nothing after that for a string of four weeks besides finishing tenth in Vegas. Now he’s won two races in three weeks and put together a pretty good performance in both of those wins. Now we head to Texas. What has William done in Texas you may ask? Well in the past three races, he’s got an average finishing position of third. Oh, and he won here last September. Will he do it again? I can’t for sure say but the money I feel is safe with William Byron.

Now as for Tyler. The start of the season wasn’t very nice to Tyler finishing outside the top twenty in the first two races. Since then in the last races, he’s grabbed five top ten finishes. I know he doesn’t have the wins that William does. Sometimes though a quiet couple of weeks can be just what you need especially in a sport like NASCAR. As for Tyler’s history at Texas. Last year he finished twenty-fifth but even then led over thirty laps. The year before that he took the number eight car to victory lane for RCR. Tyler is going to win this season I believe, it’s a lot like his teammate just a matter of when.

Kaleb’s Picks: #12 Ryan Blaney (+850) & #23 Bubba Wallace (+1600)

I’ll take the dynamic duo here of Blaney and Wallace. The best of pals off the track, and they’re both pretty good on the track. At Texas specifically, the 2023 Cup Series champ had seven straight T-10 finishes before an accident ended his day last fall. Among his seven-race streak was a win in 2022, so even in the next-gen car, Blaney’s had success here. As for his buddy Bubba Wallace, it’s a less shiny resume. He’s only three career top 10s at the track, but he placed third in the fall. He’s also on a bit of a heater as of late. In 2024 so far, he has three top fives and got his first top five in a short track at Martinsville last week. He’s showing speed at different types of tracks and is improving beyond what he’s been known for so far in his career. He had serious speed last year at Texas, I’ll put a bet on him to do the same here.

Chris’s Fade: #22 Joey Logano (+2000)

I will admit, I’m weary to fade Joey. Especially since he told Kaleb to shove it a few weeks ago when he chose to fade on him. Plus since leaving Bristol he’s been pretty consistently in and around the top ten each week. However, as you all know I tend to look at the recent numbers and stats each week when making this choice. In the last three races at Texas, he has one top-five finish which came in 2022. The speed has appeared inconsistent even throughout last year on the mile-and-a-half tracks like Texas. So could Joey make me look like an idiot as well? He could come out and stink the show-up. I’m however going to bet against Joey this week and see what happens.

Kaleb’s Fade: #19 Martin Truex Jr (+1000)

Truex at Texas is surprisingly not an elite driver. He hasn’t posted a top-five at this track since the fall of 2020. Since then his highest position has been P13, the race after that in the Spring of 2021. The #19 car is usually a safe bet for most tracks, but I don’t love the odds here. I’ll steer clear of Truex for this week and probably the week after that at Talladega. But this shouldn’t be an indictment on Truex or the #19 team. They should be getting their win sooner or later. Just not here, or at Talladega.

If you enjoyed this content, or hate it and want to argue with me, follow me on Twitter @KalebEmcee! Also, read up on the rest of the NASCAR content Belly Up Sports has to offer here! Heck, for all your other sports needs, follow the main page. If you love racing of any shape or form, find Chris on Twitter, and let’s talk!