NASCAR’s
Sprint Cup series resumes this week after running its annual All-Star Race. Jimmie Johnson parlayed his first point race victory of the season at Darlington into a
first-place finish and $1 million pay day in the Sprint All-Star last Saturday
night.
The series stays in Concord, North
Carolina, this week for the running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor
Speedway. Sunday’s race is set to get underway at 2:30 p.m. (PT) and it will be
broadcast nationally on FOX.
The following is a look at a few drivers
to watch this Sunday afternoon along with their current odds to win as provided
by Bovada.
Favorites
Jimmie Johnson appears to have changed his fortune at Charlotte with last
Saturday night’s win after a blowing an engine and getting caught up in a wreck
in last season’s races here. He comes in as this week’s favorite to win at 11/2
primarily because of his current form but also because of the No.48 car’s past
success at this track with the exception of the 2011. Johnson has won six times
at Charlotte with his last victory coming in the fall of 2009. He has four
other top-five finishes and an average finishing position here of 11.9.
The second-favorite at 15/2 is another hot driver in Kyle Busch. After a very quiet start to
the season with just one top-five finish in its first eight races, the No. 18
car broke through with a victory at Richmond. Since then, Busch took second at
Talladega and finished fourth at Darlington to move to ninth in the Sprint Cup
standings with 349 points. He finished 32nd in last year’s race as a
result of a wreck, but has finished in the top 10 in seven previous races here.
He finished third in the 2010 Coca-Cola 600 and posted two straight
second-place finishes in the last two fall races here.
Defending Sprint Cup champion Tony
Stewart has been opened at 17/2 to win on Sunday despite just one top-10
finish in his last eight races at this track. He has just one career victory at
Charlotte back in 2003 and an average finishing position of 13.6. The primary
reason for such lofty odds is the No.14 car’s current form. This team has
already taken the checkered flag twice this season to go along with two other
top five finishes that has Stewart in seventh place in the standings with 369
points.
Another driver that has been opened at 17/2 to win this race is
current Sprint Cup point leader Greg
Biffle. He has six top-five finishes in this season’s first 11 point races
including a victory at Texas that have helped the No.16 car accumulate a total
of 411 points. His record at Charlotte saps a bit of value out of these odds
despite his current form. Biffle has never won a race at this track and has an
average finishing position of 17.8. He ended-up 13th in last year’s
race after starting 15th and has just one top-five finish in his
last seven races here.
Value Pick
Even though his four-year
winless streak in the Sprint Cup series continued with a 17
th-place
finish at Darlington,
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
is still off to one of the best starts in his Sprint Cup career. He has four
top-five finishes and is currently in third-place in the standings with 397
points, which is just 14 points behind Biffle.
This is the primary reason that
Junior is our value pick at 12/1 to finally get that monkey off his back with a
win. His recent performance at Charlotte is nothing to write home about but he
did finish seventh in last year’s race after starting 25
th to post
his 10
th career top-10 finish here.