The Sprint Cup series travels to the Monster Mile at Dover International Speedway this week for the running of the FedEx 400. Sunday’s race is set to get underway at 10 a.m. (PT) and it will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series wrapped-up
its two week stay in Concord, North Carolina with the running of the Coca-Cola
600 this past Sunday Night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kasey Kahne was able to
break though with his first victory of the year as a moderate 10/1 longshot.
Denny Hamlin finished second and Kyle Busch posted his fourth-straight top-five
finish in a point race by taking third. Our value pick for the week was Dale
Earnhardt Jr. at 12/1. He worked his way to a sixth-place finish after starting
12th.
NASCAR Betting Preview- FedEx 400
The following is a look at a few of the
favorites to watch in Sunday’s race along with our value pick along with their current odds to win as provided by Bovada.
Favorites
After a win at Darlington and a victory
in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte, Jimmie
Johnson is back in the form and currently fifth in the Sprint Cup standings
with 405 points. The No.48 car finished 11th in last week’s race,
but has recorded a total of five top-five finishes this year. This week,
Johnson has been opened as an 11/2 favorite to win at Dover. Last year he
finished ninth in this race after starting on the pole and recently dominated
the Monster Mile with three-straight victories from 2009 to 2010. He has won
here six times and has an average finishing position of 9.2.
There is no hotter driver in the Sprint
Cup series right now than Kyle Busch.
After an unusually quiet start, he broke through with a victory at Richmond to
kick-off his current streak of four top-five finishes. This run has the No.18
car eighth in the standings with 391 points. Busch comes into this race as the
7/1 second-favorite to take the checkered flag this Sunday. He has finished in
the top 10 in his last four races at this track including a victory in this
race in 2010. Last year he finished fourth in this race after starting seventh.
His average finishing position at Dover is 13.3 with seven top-five finishes in
14 career races.
The third-favorite to win this race is
current point leader Greg Biffle at
8/1. He has one victory, six other top-five finishes this season, and is coming
off a fourth-place finish in last week’s Coca-Cola 600 to raise his overall
point total to 453. The No.16 car’s recent record at Dover saps a bit of value
from these odds with three-straight finishes of 19th or worse in his
last three races, but its overall body of work here remains solid. Biffle has
two victories at this track and four other top-five finishes in 19 career
starts. His overall finishing position here is 12.3.
Denny Hamlin is one of three drivers at 10/1 to win this week. The value in these
odds lies in his return to form after a less than stellar 2011 Sprint Cup
season. The No.11 car is currently third in the standings with 437 points and
just 16 points out of first. It has already claimed six top-five finishes
including victories at Phoenix and Kansas. The downside is that Hamlin has
struggled at Dover in recent years with just two top-10 finishes in his last
nine races. He has never won at this track and sports a less-than-attractive
20.7 average finishing position here.
Value
Pick
Brad Keselowski may not be the first name you think of when it
comes to Sprint Cup racing but he is this week’s value pick to win on Sunday at
15/1. The No.2 car is 11th in the standings with 368 points but in
solid position to make the season-ending Chase with victories at Bristol and
Talladega already on this season’s resume. Overall, Keselowski has six top-10
finishes this season in 12 races. He only has four career starts at Dover with
last year’s 13th-place finish in this race his best.