After an 0-3 start for all of us to kick off the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, Eric finally got on the scoreboard via his pick of Kyle Larson last weekend at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He now moves from -300 to -268 by virtue of that while CJ and Greg fall to -400 after each failing to pick Larson for the Pennzoil 400. Now, can our experts get another win for Sunday’s InstaCart 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN) with predicting the winner at the Phoenix Raceway?

Between the three of them, they handpicked nearly half the field with 18 drivers being represented this weekend. Every driver at the top down to 28-1 are picked. The top driver left not picked is Aric Almirola (40-1). Almirola, is off to a rough start to his season with 3 of his 4 races seeing him come home 30th or worse. He does have five top 10 finishes in his last seven Phoenix starts though, so if he finds a way to victory lane, it would mark the fourth race in five tries that we’ve failed to pick a winner.

Other drivers not picked are Matt DiBenedetto, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez. The odds of a winner coming from this bunch is really low, so expect to get a winner from our picks this week.

But, who?

The three of us went with the same driver just twice. We all had Kyle Busch (5 top 3 finishes in his last 6 Phoenix starts) and William Byron (2 top 10’s last year and 2 top 10’s in-a-row on the season).

Eric and CJ went with Denny Hamlin (3 top 5’s in 4 races at both Phoenix and on the season) andMartin Truex Jr. (4 top 6’s in his last 7 Phoenix starts), Kyle Larson (3 top 10’s in 4 races in 2021 including 4 straight top sixes at Phoenix).

Eric and Greg just shared Ryan Blaney (3 top 6’s last 4 at Phoenix).

Greg and CJ shared Joey Logano (winner last spring and third in the Fall) and Christopher Bell (winner on the Daytona road course) this week.

The rest are single choices by our experts. Eric has longer shots left with Alex Bowman, Kurt Busch, Tyler Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Newman and Ross Chastain.

Greg went with just one longer shot with outside of Bell and that’s Erik Jones who’s coming off of a 10th place run in Vegas and has actually ran really well in the past at Phoenix.

CJ’s longshot is Bell.

Greg’s standalone favorite is Brad Keselowski who’s on his Fantasy team and is coming off of a runner-up last Sunday. He was also second at Phoenix last November too.

CJ’s standalone favorite is the odds on favorite in Chase Elliott. He won the last time out in Phoenix.

Our full picks are below.

Race Odds

5-1…C Elliott

6-1…D Hamlin and K Harvick

7-1…B Keselowski

8-1…Kyle B and J Logano

10-1…K Larson

11-1…M Truex Jr.

14-1…R Blaney

16-1…W Byron

25-1…A Bowman and Kurt B

28-1…C Bell

40-1…A Almirola

66-1…M DiBenedetto and T Reddick

80-1…C Custer, A Dillon and D Wallace Jr.

100-1…C Briscoe, E Jones and Newman

125-1…M McDowell and R Stenhouse Jr.

150-1…C Buescher and R Chastain

200-1…D Suarez

INSTACART 500: RACE 5 PICKS

Eric Smith

D Hamlin…6-1…$28 ($168)

Kyle B…8-1…$15 ($120)

K Larson…10-1…$15 ($150)

M Truex Jr…11-1…$10 ($110)

R Blaney…14-1…$8 ($137)

W Byron…16-1…$7 ($112)

A Bowman…25-1…$5 ($125)

Kurt B…25-1…$5 ($125)

T Reddick…66-1…$2 ($132)

B Wallace Jr.…80-1…$2 ($160)

R Newman…100-1…$2 ($200)

R Chastain…150-1…$1 ($150)

RECORD: 1 for 4

TOTAL: -268

INSTACART 500: RACE 5 PICKS

Greg DePalma

B Keselowski…7-1…$30 ($210)

Kyle B…8-1…$24 ($192)

J Logano…8-1…$15 ($120)

R Blaney…14-1…$17 ($238)

W Byron…16-1…$6 ($96)

C Bell…28-1…$4 ($112)

E Jones…100-1…$4 ($400)

RECORD: 0 for 4

TOTAL: -400

INSTACART 500: RACE 5 PICKS

CJ Radune

C Elliott…5-1…$22 ($110)

D Hamlin…6-1…$18 ($108)

J Logano…8-1…$14 ($112)

Kyle B…8-1…$13 ($104)

K Larson…10-1…$11 ($110)

M Truex Jr…11-1…$10 ($110)

W Byron…16-1…$8 ($128)

C Bell…28-1…$4 ($112)

RECORD: 0 for 4

TOTAL: -400

WEEKLY PICKS ARCHIVES

PENNZOIL 400: RACE 4 PICKS

PENNZOIL 400 WINNER: KYLE LARSON

Eric Smith

K Harvick…6-1…$21 ($126) …20th

J Logano…6-1…$20 ($120) …9th

K Larson…10-1…$12 ($120) …1st

R Blaney…11-1…$12 ($132) …5th

C Elliott…11-1…$12 ($132) …13th

A Bowman…25-1…$6 ($150) …27th

A Dillon…30-1…$4 ($120) …12th

C Bell…35-1…$3 ($105) …7th

C Briscoe…35-1…$3 ($105) …21st

T Reddick…50-1…$2 ($100) …22nd

M McDowell…125-1…$2 ($150) …17th

R Stenhouse Jr…125-1…$1 ($125) …11th

R Chastain…150-1…$2 ($300) …23rd

RECORD: 1 for 1

TOTAL: +32

Greg DePalma

D Hamlin…9-1…$30 ($270) …4th

C Elliott…11-1…$23 ($253) …13th

A Bowman…25-1…$12 ($300) …27th

M DiBenedetto…30-1…$3 ($90) …16th

A Dillon…30-1…$10 ($300) …12th

C Briscoe…35-1…$6 ($210) …21st

T Reddick…50-1…$4 ($200) …22nd

C Custer…66-1…$3 ($198) …25th

C Buescher…125-1…$4 ($500) …14th

R Stenhouse Jr…125-1…$4 ($500) …11th

R Chastain…150-1…$1 ($150) …23rd

RECORD: 0 for 1

TOTAL: -100

CJ Radune

K Harvick…6-1…$17 ($102) …20th

B Keselowski…6-1…$20 ($120) …2nd

J Logano…6-1…$20 ($120) …9th

M Truex Jr…6-1…$20 ($120) …6th

D Hamlin…9-1…$13 ($117) …4th

C Elliott…11-1…$10 ($110) …13th

RECORD: 0 for 1

TOTAL: -100