The boys of the Sprint Cup head to the Peach
State this weekend for Sunday night's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the Emory
Healthcare 500
It
appears as though the race for the Chase for the Championship is virtually
complete, but there are still a handful of drivers that could make a huge move
this weekend to make the final race of the regular season next week at Richmond
very, very interesting and the NASCAR Betting odds reflect this.
Making His Mark
Mark
Martin has seemingly been the last driver on the outside of the Chase for the
Championship for the past several months. He has been in poor shape of late,
finishing 23rd, 28th, and 19th respectively in his last three races. Martin is
101 points behind Clint Bowyer for the final spot in NASCAR's version of the
playoffs. He has two wins in this race in his career, but you have to go back
to 1991 and 1994 to find those two victories. Martin will be starting in 17th
position on Sunday night.
If you're looking to back the No. 5 Chevrolet, you can grab him at a hefty plus 5500 at 5Dimes.
McMurray McDouble?
If there is a driver that can
come from the 100 points back in two races to pick up one of the final spots in
the Chase, Jamie McMurray might be that man. This is a driver that is
absolutely on fire right now. He finished third at the Irwin Tools Night Race
last week and also has a sixth place finish at Watkins Glen, a win at the
Brickyard, and a fifth place finish at the LifeLock.com 400 since July 10.
In that stretch, McMurray has
closed from 225 points down in the Chase and in 19th position to his current
position of 13th.
McMurray also won the Nationwide
race here at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday. He has yet to win at Atlanta
on the top circuit and only has four Top 10 finishes, but we aren't ones to
count out this red hot driver. McMurray will start on the outside of Row No. 6
and is a significant underdog at plus 3300 to take the checkered flag.
Bowyer Needs to Avoid Trouble
Clint Bowyer is the man that the
rest of the cars behind him are chasing for the final spot in NASCAR's
postseason. Of late, Bowyer has done a nice job holding onto his position in
the Chase for the Championship, but the bottom line is that he really can't
afford a wreck or a slip up in any way, shape, or form, or he will be under a
ton of pressure next weekend on the short track at Richmond.
Bowyer has never finished in the
Top 5 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He only finished 23rd here at the Kobalt Tools
500 back in March, and a similar finish could at least slightly open the door
for McMurray, Martin, or Ryan Newman to slip back into contention.
Hamlin on the Pole
The man that will lead the 43 car
field to the green flag on Sunday night will be Denny Hamlin, the driver of the
No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin already knows that his spot in the playoffs is
guaranteed, as he is in fifth position, but just like the other ten drivers
around him, Hamlin knows that this is a good chance to grab some momentum
heading into the most important races of the year.
Hamlin leads the senior circuit
with five wins this year, tying him with Jimmie Johnson for top honors.
The oddsmakers are giving Hamlin a ton of respect in this race, as he is the third
choice on the board at plus 625 at 5Dimes.com
Johnson is the bookies' NASCAR odds choice to
win this race at plus 475, while Kyle Busch (+600), Carl Edwards (+840), and
Kurt Busch (+1300) round out the first five favorites.