This week the Sprint Cup series is back in action at the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard. Sunday’s race is set to get underway at 9:00 a.m. (PT) and it will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup series took last
weekend off to prepare for the final push before the start of this season’s
10-race playoff known as the Chase. Kasey Kahne went into the break with a victory
at New Hampshire with Denny Hamlin taking second and Clint Bowyer finishing
third. Our value pick for that race was Kevin Harvick at 12/1, but he could
only manage an eighth-place finish after starting 12th.
NASCAR Betting Preview- Curtiss Shaver 400 at the Brickyard
The following is a look at a few of the favorites to watch in Saturday night’s race along with our value pick according to their current odds to win as provided by Bovada.
Favorites
There is little wonder why Jimmie Johnson has been opened as a 6/1
favorite to win on Sunday given his current form and past performance at this
track. The No.48 car has placed in the top 10 in seven of its last nine races
starting with victories at Darlington and Dover. The team is currently fourth
in the Sprint Cup standings with 656 points and it is just 51 points out of the
lead. Johnson has struggled in his last two trips to the Brickyard with a 22nd-place
finish in 2010 and a 19th-place finish last season, but he took the
checkered flag three times in the previous four races here.
Another veteran driver coming into this
race in solid form is last season’s Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart. He has finished in the top-five in four of his last
six races including a victory at Daytona. The No. 14 car is now seventh in the
standings with 618 points and 89 points out first place. The other reason that
Stewart is an 8/1 second-favorite to win this race is because of his recent
success at this track. He finished sixth in last year race to post his seventh
top-10 finish in his last eight races here. This run also includes victories in
the Brickyard 400 in 2005 and 2007.
There is a logjam of third-favorites at
10/1, but one of the drivers with some solid value is Denny Hamlin. The No. 11 car’s second-place finish at New Hampshire
ran its season total to nine top-five finishes that also includes victories at
Phoenix and Kansas. It moved-up two places in the standings to fifth and is now
just 79 points out of the lead. Some of the value in Hamlin’s odds gets drained
with poor performances in his last three races at Indianapolis, but he does
have two top-10 finishes in six career races here including a third-place
finish in 2008.
Another driver at 10/1 that offers value
for this race is Matt Kenseth. The
current Sprint Cup point leader has already recorded nine top-five finishes
including a victory in the Daytona 500. His current form remains solid with
eight top-10 finishes in his last 10 races. The No. 17 car has also had success
at this track with six top-10 finishes in its last 10 races here including a
fifth-place finish in last year’s race.
Value
Pick
This has not been one of Kyle Busch’s better seasons in the
Sprint Cup series, but at 12/1 odds to win this week, he remains our value NASCAR pick to win this week. The No. 18 car is currently in 13th place in the
standings with 542 points, but in position to make the Chase as a wildcard. It
has posted just five top-five finishes in the first 19 point races, but does
have a victory at Richmond to his credit. Busch has five career top-10 finishes
at this track including an eighth-place finish in 2010 and a 10th-place
finish last year. His average finishing position at Indianapolis is 13.1