We're in the midst of one of the best racing weekends of the year, with Sunday offering us a day full of prestigious events across multiple disciplines. The day kicks off with the Monaco Grand Prix F1 race at 9 am ET, the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar race is next at 12:30 pm ET and the Coke 500 of NASCAR concludes the day at 6:00 pm ET. Given that slate, it's a great weekend to jump onto PrizePicks to make some selections.
Monaco Grand Prix
Carlos Sainz Jr. over 15 F1 points (better than third place)
Sainz is starting third on the grid, so on most courses saying that he'd finish second would hardly be a stretch. However, due to the difficulty of passing at Monaco, it's tough to justify significant moves up the grid. My reason for optimism for Sainz is the two drivers ahead of him. The first is Oscar Piastri, who doesn't have much experience working from a podium position to start a race. He did three times as a rookie and fell at least one spot each time. He's yet to be in the situation this season. Charles Leclerc could reasonably hang onto the win, but he made plenty of mistakes when he had the chance to win races in 2022. To sum it up, I expect Sainz to put together a clean race and one of the two drivers ahead of him to slip up.
Alex Albon over 1.5 F1 points (ninth place or better)
Williams has had a disappointing start to the season as one of only two teams to have not scored a point. Albon has a prime opportunity to change that after qualifying ninth. The midfield is packed closely enough together on pace that I don't anticipate anyone passing Albon easily, and he isn't likely to make many mistakes in a car that he's very familiar with and is used to getting everything out of.
Coca-Cola 600
NASCAR will head to Charlotte for one of its most signature events, setting aside the Daytona 500 and the championship race. Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile, quad-oval intermediate track. We have some sample at comparable tracks this season, including Kansas, Las Vegas and Texas. With that in mind, we can make picks based on historical success at Charlotte, results at comparable tracks and general recent form.
Kyle Busch over 29.5 NASCAR points (11th place or better)
This is the ultimate question of current form or historical success at a specific track. It's hard to find a more successful driver at Charlotte Motor Speedway than Busch, including both with the Next Gen package and his lone race with Richard Childress Racing, as he's finished second and sixth in the last two races on the traditional oval.
On the other hand, as he so eloquently put it during his spat with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. last week, he's struggled this season. He has only five top-ten finishes in 13 races this season, though three have come in his last five races. In addition, he finished eighth at Kansas and ninth at Texas. That's enough to convince me this could be a solid weekend for Busch.
Joey Logano under 30.5 NASCAR points (11th place or worse with no stage wins)
Ford is gaining momentum and Logano is coming off a dominant win at the All-Star race, so there are some factors going against this pick. However, Logano has struggled significantly at Charlotte, finishing 13th or worse in four of the last five races at the Charlotte oval. He hasn't gotten quite the same publicity for his lack of pace, but Logano has had even worse results than Busch this season with only three top-ten finishes.
Ross Chastain under 30.5 NASCAR points (11th place or worse with no stage wins)
Chastain's story is quite similar to that of Logano, in that he's a driver that hasn't shown the pace we've come to expect of him and also has struggled at Charlotte historically. He's failed to log a top-10 finish since the sixth race of the season at COTA and moved back from starting 2nd to finishing 19th at Kansas just a few weeks ago. In eight career NASCAR races at Charlotte, Chastain has never finished better than 15th.
Christopher Bell under 31.5 NASCAR points (10th place or worse with no stage wins)
Things were going according to plan early in the season for Bell as he picked up a win at Phoenix and had four top-ten finishes in his first seven races. Things have fallen apart for him thereafter, though, as he's finished inside the top 10 in only one of his last six races. The danger here is that Bell has generally run well at Charlotte. He was also on pole and finished sixth at Kansas a few weeks ago. In short, we know Bell has the speed to keep up with the top drivers in the series, but he lacks the consistency, and this year in particular, his results have been very boom or bust.
Ryan Blaney over 34.5 NASCAR points (sixth place or better)
Charlotte is where Blaney turned his 2023 season around, as his win at least year's event set him on the trajectory to capture his NASCAR Championship. That alone isn't reason enough to say he'll have another good run here, but his track record at Charlotte is. Even in years that he's finished poorly, he's been competitive and picked up stage points, so it's highly unlikely that we'll see him immediately come out off the pace. That doesn't guarantee a good result, but it's a necessary starting point. Lastly, now is the time to get in on some Ford drivers generally due to the increased pace and improved results they've shown in the last several races.
