The week the Sprint Cup series tackles its first road course of the season with a trip to Sonoma for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. (PT) and it will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
It took close to four years but one of
the longest winless droughts among NASCAR’s top Sprint Cup drivers came to an
end when Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally took the checkered flag last week at
Michigan. Our value pick for the week was Greg Biffle at 10/1 and he almost
came through with a fourth-place finish after starting third.
NASCAR Betting Preview- Toyota/Save Mart 350
The following is a look at a few of the favorites to watch in Sunday’s race along with our value pick according to their current odds to win as provided by Bovada.
Favorites
Given that
Sonoma is a road course as opposed to the standard oval track, it is easy to
understand why Marcos Ambrose is
this week’s favorite at 7/2 to win this race given his extensive experience in
open-wheel racing. He has one top-10 finish this season and is currently 17th
in the Sprint Cup standings but all the value in his odds lie in his past
performance in this race. He has yet to win at Sonoma but the does have a
third-place finish in 2009, a sixth in 2010, and a fifth-place finish in last year’s
race. His average finishing position here is 14.0.
Another
driver that had experience with open-wheel racing before embarking on an
extremely successful NASCAR career is Tony
Stewart. He has been opened at 11/2 to tally his third win of the season. Last
week’s second-place finish at Michigan was his sixth top-five finish this
season and the No. 14 car is eighth in the standings with 491 points. Stewart
has two career victories at Sonoma and an average finishing position of 11.5.
Last year he finished a disappointing 39th due to a wreck, but this
followed four-straight top-10 finishes from 2007 to 2010.
Jimmie Johnson has been opened at 13/2 to win this
week primarily because of his current form, but he does have some past success
at this track. He has already won twice this season to go along with six other
top-five finishes to move to fourth in the Sprint Cup standings with 532 points, which is
only 33 points out of the lead. The No. 48 car won this race in 2010 and
ended-up seventh in last year’s race to post his third-straight top-10 finish
and raise his average finishing position at this track to 14.7.
The other
driver at 13/2 to win on Sunday is Jeff
Gordon. He is coming off a sixth-place finish last week to post his fourth
top-10 finish of the year, but the 24 car is still mired in 20th
place in the standings. All the value in Gordon’s odds this week lies in his
past performance at Sonoma. He has won this race five times with the last
victory coming in 2006. Last season’s second-place finish was his sixth-straight
top 10 at this track and he now has an 8.7 average finishing position at this
track.
Value Pick
There is
little doubt that Kevin Harvick is
one of the top drivers in the Sprint Cup series, but given the nature of this
race, he has been opened as a mild longshot at 10/1 to win this week. Current
form helps to enhance these odds with three top-10 finishes in his last four
races, but the reason he is our value NASCAR pick this week is his recent performance
in this race. The No. 29 car finished ninth in last year’s race after tallying
a second-place finish in 2007 and a third-place finish in 2010.