The driver that I have winning this week is Chase Elliott. Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images.
NASCAR heads for the Monster Mile at Dover
For the first time in two years, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Wine Country at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. This is truly a step in the right direction as NASCAR and the world continues to try to get back to normal after this pandemic. For many in California, this will be their first experience at a sporting event in quite some time as it was announced earlier this year that they will allow fans to attend. They will also be running on a much different track layout and will bring back the carousel section around turn five. This section of the track will be interesting considering the massive elevation change we see from turns four and five. This will be a brand-new obstacle to the drivers considering no one has competed on this layout of racetrack.
Last week, Kyle Larson annihilated the field en route to his second victory of 2021. He led over three hundred laps and was never really challenged at any point of the race. This was a promising sign for Larson considering the hard time he has had at finishing races. If he can continue this, he is going to easily be the favorite to win the championship going to Phoenix. Whether it's been at road courses, intermediates or short tracks he has run exceptionally fast everywhere he has raced at. Look out for the #5 to continue to set the tone for the season.
The rumor mill is getting wilder and wilder as we get into the summer. The latest rumor involves Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin's new team 23XI and their expansion to two teams next season. While there have been many candidates that have been linked to this ride, it was reported that NASCAR veteran Kurt Busch has been listed as the favorite. This really surprised a lot of people considering Kurt is the eldest driver in the field, but overall I think this would be a genius move. Kurt is an accomplished veteran who can offer a lot of great insight for Bubba Wallace and can give a lot of great feedback to the team. It will be interesting to see how this all works and what kind of team they put behind Busch and who his crew chief may be. The other question will be who Chip Ganassi puts in the #1 car next season. Will he go with a veteran like Ryan Newman who can help Ross Chastain, or will he go younger and get a prospect driver like Josh Berry or Noah Gragson? Only time will tell. I look forward to seeing how this story develops.
A driver who has really flown under the radar over the last couple of weeks has been Tyler Reddick. He has finished in the top ten in back to back weeks, including a surprising eight place finish at Circuit of the Americas where he won the pole. There were a lot of eyes on the second year driver after an impressive rookie season, but now he is really building off of that and can be a contender to not only make the playoffs but win a race as well. Look for him to be a threat to go to victory lane this season.
The driver that I have winning this week is Chase Elliott. When your nickname is the King of the Road, it's hard to bet against someone who has six road course victories. Now Sonoma hasn't been a track that Elliott has accumulated a lot of success at but with a front row starting spot come Sunday, he will have plenty of track position to help him out. Plus, he drives for the hottest race team in NASCAR as well, so that definitely helps out. I look for Elliott to capture his second win of the season and his seventh road course victory.
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The Houston Texans are entering the 2025 NFL Draft with a roster on the rise and a franchise quarterback in C.J. Stroud—but what happens next is anything but certain.
Draft experts are calling this year’s class one of the most difficult to project, especially in the back half of the first round, where opinions on prospects vary widely. For the Texans, who hold the No. 25 overall pick, this presents both opportunity and risk. With no glaring positional holes but several areas in need of long-term upgrades, Houston’s approach will provide insight into how the front office views its roster—and, more specifically, how it plans to protect its most valuable asset: Stroud.
Stroud was sacked 52 times last season, second only to Chicago's Caleb Williams. That reality underscores the Texans’ top priority heading into the draft: fortifying the offensive line. How they do that could reveal what they truly think of tackle Blake Fisher and whether Tytus Howard’s future lies at guard or tackle.
A number of linemen are on the Texans’ radar for their first-round pick, including Alabama interior mauler Tyler Booker, versatile North Dakota State tackle Gray Zabel, and Oregon’s athletic pass protector Josh Conerly. Texas standout Kelvin Banks and Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson also bring physicality and pedigree, while Josh Simmons of Ohio State is a long-term project coming off a torn patellar tendon.
Still, wide receiver is the other major position of interest. If Houston opts to go wideout in the first round, names like Arizona’s Tet McMillan, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, Missouri’s Luther Burden, and Texas' Matthew Golden offer a blend of polish, upside, and explosiveness.
A best-case scenario? The Texans land an offensive lineman in the first round and then leverage their extra third-round pick to trade up for a sliding receiver like Burden early in the second. That would give Houston immediate trench help and another weapon for Stroud without having to choose between the two priorities.
No matter what direction the Texans go, this year’s draft is set to be the most unpredictable of the Stroud era. And that might be just how Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans like it.
We have so much more to cover. Don't miss the video below as the crew from Texans on Tap discusses all the topics above and much more!
And be sure to watch our live reaction to the Texans' first round pick this Thursday night on our SportsMap Texans YouTube channel!
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