2024 Straight Talk Wireless 400: NASCAR at Homestead-Miami Odds, Picks & Predictions
Perhaps the best NASCAR story of this decade is the mediocre rise of former child actor Frankie Muniz, who announced this week that he will compete full-time in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2025.
On the surface, this could seem like somebody just buying his way into a ride. But that’s not the case. After getting his start in a pro-celebrity race in 2004 - an event he won - Muniz caught the racing itch. While racing in what became an IndyCar developmental series, he was badly injured in 2009, breaking his back and multiple bones.
Life passed by, and according to an interview with Dirty Mo Media’s Carla Gebhart, it wasn’t until 2021, when his son was born, that Muniz realized he needed to get back into the car.
“I was holding him literally the day he was born in the hospital room.. and I went, ‘Who is my son going to grow up and think that his dad is?'” Muniz told Gebhart. “Because I could say, like, ‘Oh, I used to do this, I did that, I did all these things.’ But I wanted him to see me working really hard towards something that isn’t easy, that very few people find success in it, but working hard and the ups and downs that come along with it… and I said, “You know what? I want to go back racing. I’ve unfinished business in the racing world.”
Since entering the stock car racing world, Muniz has certainly experienced many highs and lows. He was leading the 2023 ARCA Menards Series standings halfway through the season, but numerous mechanical issues took him out of championship contention. His 2024 plans then fell through, forcing him to compete part-time, where he was driving start-and-park cars for the most part.
Whatever your profession, I think we can all relate to wanting our kids to see us chase and accomplish our dreams. That’s what makes this story one worth celebrating.
I hope that one day, my future kids will look back on the words I’ve written or spoken on air and take pride in them. Until then, though, there’s work to do. That includes this weekend as all three NASCAR series hunker down in Homestead, Fla. With just three races remaining in the season, it’s one of our final opportunities to cash in betting cars.
Let’s get after it with my best bets for the 2024 Straight Talk Wireless 400 and full card for a weekend of NASCAR racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
2024 Straight Talk Wireless 400: NASCAR at Homestead-Miami Odds, Picks & Predictions
Top 10: Martin Truex Jr. (-115 via Bet365) | 2u
This is likely the last opportunity to bet Martin Truex Jr. at a fair price in the Cup Series. It’s been a disappointing swan song season for the 44-year-old, but he’s turned it on recently. Truex Jr. has finished T10 at the two most recent intermediate tracks, Las Vegas (P6) and Kansas (P3). That puts him second in the high-speed, 1.5-mile track total speed rankings, courtesy of ifantasyrace.com.
Truex Jr. now returns to Homestead, where he started on the pole and was third in the total speed rankings last year before his engine blew. Prior to last year’s race, he had finished T10 in five of the six years prior, with the only outlier resulting in a P12 finish.
I wrote off the No. 19 team and haven’t bet them since June. I’ll jump back on for one last ride with the 2017 Cup Series champion!
Top 10: William Byron (-278 via BetRivers) | 3u
I learned growing up that you don’t fix what isn’t broken. Last week, we cashed, parlaying William Byron’s juiced T10 ticket with a College Football moneyline. We’ll take the same approach here. Parlayed with the #3 Penn State ML (-265) vs. Wisconsin and the #6 Miami ML (-2000) vs. Florida State, you can get Byron T10 for -104.
The No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) Chevrolet is one of the hottest cars in the garage, finishing T5 in four straight races. Homestead is one of his better tracks. He has an average finish of 6.5 since 2020, scoring stage points in 100% of the eight stages, leading laps in three of four races and taking home the trophy in 2021. Last year specifically, he was third in the total speed rankings, the second fastest late in a run, and finished fourth.
Byron should be able to do his part. As long as neither of these two highly-ranked college programs goes down, we should be looking good come Sunday evening.
Denny Hamlin (-125 via DraftKings) vs. Chase Elliott | 3u
Chase Elliott has been, without a doubt, the most disappointing HMS car in the postseason, scoring just two T10s in seven races. We’ll fade him here in a H2H matchup against Denny Hamlin, who has bested the No. 9 Chevrolet Camero on three straight ovals.
Hamlin was fifth in the total speed rankings and led 31 laps at Homestead last year before something in his steering broke, causing him to crash out. Before that, he beat Elliott H2H four straight times in South Beach.
With Hamlin also outperforming Elliott at six of the eight high-speed intermediate races this season, including five straight, this is my favorite bet on the card.
Other Cup Series Bets on My Card:
Martin Truex Jr. Outright (+2000 via FanDuel) | .3u
William Byron Outright (+850 via Caesars) | 1u
Christopher Bell Outright (+750 via Caesars) | .5u
Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300 (Xfinity) Bets:
Sam Mayer Outright (+900 via Bet365) | .4u
Connor Zilisch Outright (+1000 via Caesars) | .2u
Sam Mayer T5 (+125 via Bet365) | 2.5u
Connor Zilisch T5 (+140 via Caesars) | 1.2u
Austin Hill (-115 via Bet365) vs. William Sawalich | 4u
Seth Woolcock is a featured writer and editor at BettingPros. For more sports betting and fantasy sports analysis from Seth, check out In-Between Media & follow him on X/Twitter @Between_SethFF.