This week the Sprint Cup series return to Pocono Raceway for the second time this season for the running of the Pennsylvania 400. Sunday’s race is slated to start at 9:00 a.m. (PT) and it will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
Jimmie Johnson reclaimed his dominance
at the Brickyard last Sunday with his fourth career victory at the storied
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Our value pick for the week, Kyle Busch at 12/1,
almost came through with a second-place finish and Greg Biffle finished third.
NASCAR Betting Preview- Pennsylvania 400
The following is a look at a few of the favorites to watch on Sunday afternoon along with our value pick according to their current odds to win as provided by WagerWeb.
Favorites
Fresh off last week’s checkered flag, Jimmie Johnson comes into this week’s
race as a +450 favorite to notch his fourth point-race victory of the year. The
No.48 car is currently in fourth-place in the Sprint Cup standings with 704
points and it is just 27 points out of the lead. This team has posted seven
additional top-five finishes to go along with its three wins. Johnson has also
had his share of success at this track. He has two career victories and seven
other top fives and has not finished out of the top 10 in nine of his last 10
races at Pocono His average finishing
position here is an impressive 8.8.
The second-favorite to win Sunday’s
race at +700 is Denny Hamlin. He
ended-up sixth in last week’s race to post a top 10 finish in half of this
season’s 20 point races. The No. 11 car is fifth in the standings with 667
points and has two victories to its credit this year. The other main reason for
Hamlin’s favorable odds is rock-solid performance at Pocono that includes a
victory in this race in 2009 to go along with another checkered flag in the
first race here in 2010. He finished fifth in the first race here this season,
and overall, he has four career victories and an average finishing position of
9.3 at this track.
Kyle Busch showed some signs of life with last
week’s second-place run, but he knows he needs a few more strong finishes to
guarantee a spot in this year’s Chase. The No. 18 car is currently in 11th
place in the standings but holding one of two wildcard spots. It has one
victory and five other top-five finishes to its credit, but has performed well
below expectations this year. Busch has been opened as a +800 third favorite to
win this week and adds some value to those odds with a second-place finish in
last year’s race. An engine problem dropped him to 30th in the first
race here this season to snap a string of three-straight top-five finishes at
this track.
Last week’s third-place finish was a
welcomed run for Greg Biffle, who
has struggled over the past month or so. The No. 16 car is still firmly in
position for the Chase; sitting in third place in the standings with 709 points
and just 22 points out of the lead. It has been opened at +900 to add a second
checkered flag to its 2012 resume after winning at Texas earlier this year.
Biffle won this race in 2010 but has only finished in the top five one other
time in 19 career races at this track. Earlier this season, he finished 24th
at Pocono after starting 13th.
Top Value Pick
It has been quite awhile since Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been at the top
of the Sprint Cup standings, but last week’s fourth-place finish has vaulted
him into the lead with 731 points. It was the No.88 car’s third top five in its
last four races and its ninth this season. The team also snapped a four-year
winless streak with a win at Michigan in late May. Junior has been opened at
+1000 to win on Sunday and given his current form, he is our value NASCAR pick to win this week. He finished eighth in the first race at
Pocono this year and ended-up ninth in last year’s race to extend his current
streak of top-10 finishes at this track to three.