For the fourth time in the last five races, Eric picked the winner of the NASCAR Cup Series race. This time though, he broke even as Martin Truex Jr. gave him four wins in eight races this season. He’s still only -$38 on the season and leads our trio of experts as CJ also picked Martin Truex Jr. as a winner and cut $10 off his deficit and sits -$429.

Greg didn’t elect to go with Truex and it cost him $100 as he’s now -$460 heading into Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN) at the Richmond (VA) Raceway.

For a while there, it was looking like it was going to be Denny Hamlin or Ryan Blaney with the win in last Sunday’s rain delayed race. Hamlin would have gained Eric $5 and Blaney him $4 as he went conservative with his picks.

Greg was affected the most as a Hamlin win would have gained him $145 on a $35 wager his way.

CJ would have won $5 on Hamlin and $20 on Blaney.

For this week, Eric remained conservative but a little more aggressive on his picks. He went with Truex on the off chance to wins back-to-back races on the season to win his money back. Odds aren’t on Truex’ side in the sense it’s hard to do in NASCAR, but Truex also is 2-for-2 on the 750 horsepower package and has won two of the last three races at Richmond and runner-up in the other.

He also went with Hamlin and Keselowski to win $20 as Hamlin has a top 5 result in all but one race run this season including a third in both races on the 750 package. He has two third place finishes in his last four Richmond tries too. For Keselowski, he won the lone Richmond race last year and has five straight top 10 results on the .75 mile track.

He went with Larson to win $50 with Larson having four top seven results in his last five Richmond tries and a pair of top 10’s on 750 tracks. Byron (18-1), Bell (25-1) and Bowman (33-1) are his longer plays with Byron having a pair of top 10’s on 750 tracks too. Same for Bell who even won a 750 race at Daytona on the road course. Bowman, was ninth at Richmond last year.

CJ also went with Truex, Hamlin, Keselowski and Larson. He threw money Joey Logano’s way with his long shot being Austin Dillon. The RCR driver has three top six results in his last four Richmond tries and is 33-1.

Greg went with Hamlin, Logano, Bell and Dillon but also threw money Chase Elliott’s way. Elliott, has a pair of top fives on 750 tracks and was fifth in Richmond last September. Greg went with more longer shots in Ryan Newman (66-1), Tyler Reddick (66-1) and Daniel Suarez (150-1).

The top drivers not picked this week are Kyle Busch (8-1), Kevin Harvick (10-1) and Ryan Blaney (14-1). Both Busch and Harvick are struggling in terms of speed this year while Blaney’s best finish at Richmond in nine career starts is 18th. He admitted to Eric last year that this track isn’t one of his best.

Race Odds

4-1…M Truex Jr. (Eric, CJ)

6-1…D Hamlin (Eric, CJ, Greg) and B Keselowski (Eric, CJ, Greg)

7-1…J Logano (CJ, Greg)

8-1…Kyle B and C Elliott (Greg)

10-1…K Harvick and K Larson (Eric, CJ)

14-1…R Blaney

18-1…W Byron (Eric)

25-1…C Bell (Eric, Greg)

33-1…A Bowman (Eric), Kurt B and A Dillon (CJ, Greg)

66-1…A Almirola, Newman (Greg) and T Reddick (Greg)

80-1…M DiBenedetto and D Wallace Jr.

100-1…C Custer and R Stenhouse Jr.

125-1…E Jones

150-1…D Suarez (Greg)

200-1…C Briscoe, C Buescher, R Chastain and M McDowell

TOYOTA OWNERS 400: RACE 9 PICKS

 

Eric Smith

M Truex Jr…4-1…$25 ($100)

D Hamlin…6-1…$20 ($120)

B Keselowski…6-1…$20 ($120)

K Larson…10-1…$15 ($150)

W Byron…18-1…$8 ($144)

C Bell…25-1…$8 ($200)

A Bowman…33-1…$4 ($132)

RECORD: 4 for 8

TOTAL: -38

 

TOYOTA OWNERS 400: RACE 9 PICKS

 

CJ Radune

M Truex Jr…4-1…$29 ($116)

D Hamlin…6-1…$20 ($120)

B Keselowski…6-1…$19 ($114)

J Logano…7-1…$16 ($112)

K Larson…10-1…$12 ($120)

A Dillon…33-1…$4 ($132)

 

RECORD: 3 for 8

TOTAL: -429

 

TOYOTA OWNERS 400: RACE 9 PICKS

Greg DePalma

D Hamlin…6-1…$43 ($258)

J Logano…7-1…$13 ($91)

C Elliott…8-1…$22 ($176)

C Bell…25-1…$12 ($300)

A Dillon…33-1…$6 ($198)

R Newman…66-1…$1 ($66)

T Reddick…66-1…$1 ($66)

D Suarez…150-1…$2 ($300)

RECORD: 1 for 8

TOTAL: -460

 

Weekly Race Points Standings

 

Week 8 Martinsville

1 Eric +20/-38

2 CJ +32/-429

3 Greg -100/-460

 

Week 7 Bristol Dirt

1 Eric +290/-58

2 Greg -100/-360

3 CJ -100/-461

 

Week 6 Atlanta

1 Greg +240/-260

2 Eric -100/-348

3 CJ +19/-361

 

Week 5 Phoenix

1 Eric +20/-248

2 CJ +20/-380

3 Greg -100/-500

 

Week 4 Las Vegas

1 Eric +32/-268

2 Greg -100/-400

3 CJ -100/-400

 

Week 3 Homestead

1 Greg -100/-200

2 CJ -100/-200

3 Eric -100/-200

 

Week 2 Daytona Road

1 Greg -100/-200

2 CJ -100/-200

3 Eric -100/-200

 

Week 1 Daytona 500

1 Greg -100

2 CJ -100

3 Eric -100

WEEKLY PICKS ARCHIVES

BLUE-EMU MAX PAIN RELIEF 500: RACE 8 PICKS

BLUE-EMU MAX PAIN RELIEF 500 WINNER: Martin Truex Jr.

Eric Smith

M Truex Jr…5-1…$20 ($100) …1^st

B Keselowski…6-1…$18 ($108) …33^rd/Acc.

D Hamlin…7-1…$15 ($105) …3^rd

J Logano…7-1…$15 ($105) …6^th

R Blaney…8-1…$13 ($104) …11^th

Kyle B…12-1…$9 ($108) …10^th

W Byron…20-1…$5 ($100) …4^th

A Bowman…25-1…$5 ($125) …34^th/Acc.

RECORD: 1 for 1

TOTAL: +20

 

BLUE-EMU MAX PAIN RELIEF 500: RACE 8 PICKS

Greg DePalma

B Keselowski…6-1…$30 ($180) …33^rd/Acc.

D Hamlin…7-1…$35 ($245) …3^rd

Kyle B…12-1…$10 ($120) …10^th

A Bowman…25-1…$5 ($125) …34^th/Acc.

M DiBenedetto…66-1…$3 ($198) …12^th

D Suarez…100-1…$5 ($500) …32^nd/Acc.

C Buescher…125-1…$2 ($250) …13^th

R Stenhouse Jr…150-1…$10 ($1,500) …15^th

RECORD: 0 for 1

TOTAL: -100

 

BLUE-EMU MAX PAIN RELIEF 500: RACE 8 PICKS

 

CJ Radune

M Truex Jr…5-1…$22 ($110) …1^st

C Elliott…6-1…$18 ($110) …2^nd

D Hamlin…7-1…$15 ($105) …3^rd

J Logano…7-1…$15 ($105) …6^th

R Blaney…8-1…$15 ($120) …11^th

K Larson…12-1…$10 ($120) …5^th

A Bowman…25-1…$5 ($125) …34^th/Acc.

 

RECORD: 1 for 1

TOTAL: +32