The NASCAR Playoffs Round of 12 starts this Sunday at New Hampshire, and we’ve got your betting preview covered! 🏁
Christopher Bell took the win at Bristol and has now won **2 of the last 3 races at New Hampshire** — making him an early favorite alongside Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, and Chase Briscoe. We’ll break down the betting board, playoff outlook, and our best bets heading into Sunday.
PLUS — we’re giving our **F1 picks for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix** this weekend! 🏎️
📌 Episode Breakdown:
* Bristol recap & playoff elimination
* New Hampshire betting favorites: Bell, Hamlin, Blaney, Briscoe
* Best bets & sleepers for Sunday’s race
* Playoff picture outlook
* F1 Azerbaijan GP betting preview
👉 Join us LIVE TONIGHT at 7 PM EST for *Gettin’ Loose with Leon*!
#NASCAR #NASCARPlayoffs #NASCARBets #GettinLooseWithLeon #MotorsportsBetting #F1 #Formula1 #AzerbaijanGP
[Music] And welcome back inside getting loose with Leon motor racing news and bets without access. You got the big old Leon Oliver sitting alongside you. Here it is 7:00 in the east on Thursday, September 18th, the year of our Lord 2025. Thanks for tuning in. Got NASCAR rolling into Louden, New Hampshire. the most interesting trophy in sports, a live lobster. And as you can see from the um graphics that we’ll have here in a little bit, some people don’t necessarily like that lobster, but uh yeah, live lobster on the line there. More importantly, a chance to uh advance to the playoffs. We see the field drop down from 16 to 12 uh post Bristol last week. By the way, let’s just put one little quick bow on Bristol. That was an exciting race and exciting and good don’t necessarily go handtoand. Um obviously I think what was like a quarter of that race or a fourth of that race something like that was uh under caution. Um you know we saw the tire wear was just absolutely insane. I mean these guys were cords were everywhere. Uh and it caused a lot of interesting strategy. We saw some uh we saw some cautions. We saw some interesting stuff. uh obviously stem from that a lot more exciting than when Kyle Larson just single-handedly ran away with the Bristol race uh back in the spring leading 411 of the 500 laps. So um you know this was on the other end as it was from the spring. So I think there’s a happy medium somewhere in the middle of that one there. Uh but hey, we’ll see. We got another one of those uh flat tracks kind of intermediate tracks this week. So, uh, you know what that means and I think you’re going to see a theme with some of the, uh, drivers I have here for my picks. So, uh, let’s get into that. And then, of course, F1 is back. They are in Azerbajan in Baku. We will have those picks as well for their race on Sunday morning. So, let’s dive into it. Without further ado, here’s the big picks this week. As we said, NASCAR the mobile one 301 at New Hampshire. That is 2:00 on USA Network there. Denny Hamlin, of course, you remember when he won there, was a little creeped out by that lobster there. Apparently, they cooked the lobster and it goes to the uh winning team’s pit crew. So, the boys get a good meal uh that evening, except for Kurt Bush that one year he won when uh he donated the lobster to some marine. It was some sort of charity conservation thing. Uh did not work out too well for that lobster. Apparently, it died a couple weeks after. Uh PETA, don’t come after me. I’m just saying what happened there. But all right, let’s get into it. Surprise, surprise. Christopher Bell, he’s my pick this week. Um, you know, plus 350. You can get him right now on Bet Rivers. You’d be foolish to not bet Christopher Bell is one of your bets this week. Uh, he’s absolutely on fire. Of course, winning last week at Bristol under the the lights there in the last great coliseum. Uh he’s won two of the last three races at Lowden. Of course, taking it in 2022 and 2024. He’s an elite flat track racer. You know, you look at Martinsville and Phoenix and Richmond and of course Louden as well. Um you know, and JGR, that powerhouse program that they have. We’ve seen what they’ve done so far in the playoffs and especially all year long. And one thing to point out with JGR, Joe Gibbs Racing has 14 Cup Series wins at New Hampshire. That’s more than any other team. They’ve also won the last three races there. So, yeah, you’re going to see a theme here. JGR, I think, is going to do well. But, uh, Christopher Bell, these are the kind of tracks that he absolutely devours. There’s no surprise, uh, that he’s the favorite on Sunday. So, give me Christopher Bell at plus 350 on Bet Rivers. Also, out of that same stable with JGR, give me Denny Hamlin. I’m Hey, every week you can say the same thing about Denny. He’s relaxed. He’s confident. He’s feeling good. He’s looking for win number 60. He’s looking for that first overall championship. He just seems like not a lot is bothering him right now. And it seems like he’s playing with house money. He knows that the end is coming up soon. you know, he’s openly talking about retirement and stuff and it seems like he’s not pressing and you know, maybe behind the scenes he is, but he looks cool as a cucumber right now uh outwardly facing and Diddy’s another guy that’s had success here. He’s got three career wins at New Hampshire. Uh you know, he kind of thrives in these situations and he’s consistent on short flat tracks. Louden is one of his best. He is definitely going to be the mix all day up front. You can get him at plus 600 right now on Bet Rivers as well. So, Denny Hamlin at plus 600 on Bet Rivers. And lastly, another pick that I have for a win going with the Joe Gibbs racing trifecta this week, Chase Brisco in the 19 Bass Pro Shops paint scheme this week plus 750. You can get him on Caesar Sportsbook there. Chase Brisco, listen, he’s been consistent all year long. and you know, you got a top five finish at Lowden uh back in he’s already had one in the NextG era. He runs up front seemingly every week. He’s probably been the most consistent driver so far in these playoffs. This is exactly the kind of place where uh you know he could break through and get another win and punch that ticket going to the next round. He’s got that JGR engine there. The Toyotas are always fast um at this track. So yeah, give me uh Chase Brisco at plus 750 on uh I had I changed on my notes there on Caesars. There we go. It was on another book and then it updated right beforehand with those better odds on Caesars. So yeah, give me uh Chase Brisco at plus 750 there. So yeah, uh pretty much the winner is coming from the JGR stable. You got a 33% chance. Well, I guess 25% if you toss in Tai Gibbs. I’m going to move him a little bit further back. But one of these three, Brisco, Hamlin, Bell, one of these three are coming away, I’m almost certain with the checker flag on Sunday, but that’s where they run the races, so we’ll see. All right, let’s see some other plays that are out there. Give me Ryan Blay. You can get him for a top five at minus 105 right now. These odds literally updated not long before the show there on FanDuel Sportsbook. Blady’s fast. He’s got three straight top 10s at Lowden. Um, and you look at this at minus 105. I feel it’s a safe play. I know it sounds crazy to say a guy’s a safe top five, but he’s consistently fast. He’s always up there. He’s run well these playoffs. I like Blainy there for a top five finish at minus 105 there on FanDuel. All right, moving over to another play. Another guy talking about consistent all year long, Chase Elliott. You can get him for a top 10 at minus 110 on Caesar Sportsbook right now. You know, Hendrickk has had their issues in the playoffs. They have not necessarily been the organization that you thought they would have been so far in the playoffs. And of course, you see the 48 team uh fail to advance to the to the next round. Uh I especially think with that 48 team not advancing, I think Mr. Hendrick probably lit fire under these guys uh going into this next round of the playoffs. certainly doesn’t want these guys scratching the clawing to try to get to that next round there. I think Chase Elliott’s a guy who, you know, always runs well here. He’s got top tens in three of his last four starts here at Lowden. He’s carrying some decent mo momentum there. You could even, you know, try to give him a play for uh, you know, a top five, but I like him at uh at a at a top 10 there. All right. Now, the the last car in that JGR stable. Like I said, the Toyotas are going to be very good here this week. You can get Tai Gibbs right now at a top 10 at 150 plus 150 on Caesar Sportsbook. Listen, he finished seventh in Louden as a rookie back in 23. Um, you know, he’s very aggressive in those kind of flat tracks fitness style and, you know, we talked about so many times JGR’s dominance here plus money. Uh, feels like a a bit of a value play here. um you know, he had a chance to win last week at Bristol and then we saw the youth come up with that uh mistake there trying to get to pit lane and uh you probably gave away an opportunity for what could and should have been his first career win. So, I think he’s going to be a little salty about that. You know, definitely a learning uh lesson for him, but uh you know, he’s he’s a guy that’s going to be good in this series for a while. He’s young, he’s aggressive, he’s got a powerhouse organization behind him. I think he’s going to do really well here this week. So, I like him with a top 10. All right. And then my surprise play, my long shot this week. Give me big bad Brad Kesallowski. You can get him at plus 3,000 right now on Bet MGM. These odds actually did update earlier in the day uh when I was first in the lab cooking this up. He was at plus 3500 on FanDuel. So, odds coming in uh coming down a little bit. People getting in on this. Listen, Big Bad Brad has won there twice, 2014 and 2020 at Lowden. He’s a vet. He’s, you know, savvy. Long shot at 30 to1, but hey, that’s why you sprinkle those long shot plays. He’s been fast most of the year. RFK, I feel like it’s getting better. And you know what? I like the Red Sox uh paint scheme here going with this week, of course, uh up in the Northeast there in New England, rocking his number six, of course. And of course, Boston Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky of Pesky Poles fame was also number six. So, uh, you know, could the could Red Sox sprinkle a little magic on there for him to take that number six to victory lane on Sunday? We’ll see. So, Brad Keslowski at plus 30,000. You can get that right now on Bet MGM. All right, let’s switch series here and head over to F1. Of course, they are in Azerbaian for the Azerbaian Grand Prix. that race. You got to get up early on Sunday, 7 am on the mothership there on ESPN. Listen, F1, there’s not a lot of strategy into picking those bets here uh week in and week out. Is it going to be Oscar Pashri? Is it going to be Lando Norris? Who is it going to be? You see, you saw Max Versappen um you know, pop up and get a win there at Monza. Um you know, trying to make the best of he can for what we know is a disappointing season for him. Uh we’ll get to my pick on the winner a little bit later here, but Isaac Hajar, I like him uh to get a points finish. So top 10, a points finish at minus 105. You can get him right now on DraftKings. You know, he showed some pace. Baku is kind of a chaos track, you know, in the midfield can often sneak in and get some points there. Um and I think this is a solid value play there. I mean, he’s been looking better as the season has gone on. Obviously, Red Bull has said, you know, this week they’re not necessarily fully committed to him getting that second seat alongside Max next year. Uh, a strong run to finish out the season starting right now. Uh, could help to do a lot to put him in that second seat at Red Bull. So, I like Isaac Hajar at minus 105 on the DraftKings Sportsbook. All right. And listen, I know this is gross. I usually don’t try to bet things with odds like this, but it’s Baku. It’s going to happen. It’s almost free money. A safety car minus 300 there this week. Listen, five of the last six Aerbian Grand Prix have had a safety car or red flag. You got narrow streets, you got high speeds, that almost guarantees chaos every single time. So, uh it’s minus 300 right now. uh which is absolutely gross, but it’s on Caesars. You’ll be a fool not to almost take the free money. Uh you know, we we we call this a bank account uh roll or a bank account patter. You can uh make some more money here just to play around with. Uh minus 300 here for the safety car uh at Baku. All right, next up here, who’s probably going to cause that safety car? I’m going with Oliver Bman. Uh not classified uh at plus 300. I almost was going to go for him to be the first car retired. Uh but I won’t be that cruel to the rookie, but listen, you got a rookie on this kind of track. Uh it is tricky and let’s face it, he is very close to a suspension for the points on his super license as well. So, you got a guy who may overthink a little bit some of the moves that he makes and if he’s in traffic there in the midfield, bump tires, you know, wings with someone, next thing you know, he’s out of the race. Uh so a guy who’s going to be driving, you would think a little bit guarded because you don’t want to get that uh suspension for a race and a track that you know can cause chaos. To me that sounds like a recipe for a guy that’s not going to finish the race. So I got Oliver Barman not to be classified. You can get that at plus 300 right now on the FanDuel sports book. All right. And then finally the win Lando Norris. You can get him at plus 200 right now on Bet MGM Lando. Uh, you know, he’s got five wins, four polls this year, 13 podiums, 14 top 10s. I mean, dominant, but of course he’s behind Oscar Passri, his teammate. I mean, McLaren can actually wrap up, I believe, the constructor’s championship. I forget the scenarios, but they can wrap that up this week. So, uh, him and Oscar, of course, are the betting favorites there. Um, you know, some early betting markets had him the favorite um there ahead of Oscar and Max. Uh, we’re seeing Oscar uh overall favorite right now. I believe he was plus 180 uh in most books right now. So, not far separating those two. I think it’s going to be a McLaren. I don’t think Max is going to have much of anything for them. Uh, so it’s just a question of is it Lando or is it Oscar? I’m going to go with Lando this week uh at plus 200 there. So, that’s going to do it uh for this week. Uh you know, lots of good picks here. Get in there. Make sure to like, follow, and subscribe. Uh you know, last week we almost hit on Tai Gibbs, but we did give out the winner, Christopher Bell. Uh and then also make sure to join me on my other podcast as well. We’ll be back right here Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. for the Let’s Not Do This podcast. It’s our spin-off podcast called Doing Lines. We’ll have college football and NFL Becks coming up for this weekend. I uh actually went I believe it’s 4 and one in the NFL last week. So, uh seeing the board pretty good right there in the National Football League. And then of course Wednesday nights at 7:30 p.m. we had the Let’s Not Do This podcast. We talk about the stories of the week in NFL, college football, whatever sports and weird stuff pop up. And then of course we get you ready for Thursday Night Football with our picks on that as well. So until next time, we’ll see you then. You got the big O. Make sure to like and subscribe and we’ll be back here to talk about uh what happened at New Hampshire and then get you ready for the next race next week.
