NASCAR kicked-off the second-third of the Sprint Cup series schedule with a bang last Sunday night at Charlotte in the Coca-Cola 600. Martin Truex Jr. threw his name into the hat for this year’s Chase by taking the checkered flag and favorites Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson rounded-out the top three. Joey Logano was my top valued pick at +1000, but he faded to ninth. The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s race along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by TopBet.
It is amazing what a victory will do when it comes to betting odds for NASCAR. Martin Truex Jr. has consistently been in the second and sometimes third tier of drivers when it comes to odds to win, but he comes into this race as a +450 favorite to make it two checkered flags in a row. Before last Sunday’s win the No. 78 Toyota had only placed in the top five of one other race this season. To his credit, he has led a total of 809 laps through 13 races, which is by far the best performance of his 11-year Sprint Cup career. The main reason for such lofty odds is a victory in this race last season although his average finishing position at Pocono is just 15.3.
Kevin Harvick was in solid form last Sunday at Charlotte and this week he has been listed as a +600 second-favorite to win this time around. He only has one previous victory this season at Phoenix driving the No. 4 Chevrolet, but he does have his team at the top of the current Sprint Cup standings with a total of 457 points. With last week’s second-place run, Harvick has now finished in the Top 5 in six of his first 13 point races this year. He is also coming off a second-place finish in this race last season; however he has never won a Sprint Cup race at this track.
The third-favorite to win on Sunday is Jimmie Johnson at +700. He is another driver coming off a strong run and through 13 races he has posted two victories and four additional Top 5 runs. The No. 48 Chevy is currently in third place in the standings with 409 points and last week’s third-place finish broke a rare string of three-straight races finishing outside the top 20 drivers on the list. Johnson last won this race in 2013 and he is coming off a third-place effort in this event last year. His average finishing position at Pocono is a respectable 9.5.
- Martin Truex Jr. 9/2
- Kevin Harvick 6/1
- Jimmie Johnson 7/1
- Kyle Busch 8/1
- Joey Logano 8/1
- Denny Hamiln 8/1
- Matt Kenseth 10/1
- Carl Edwards 10/1
- Brad Keselowski 10/1
- Kurt Busch 12/1
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. 18/1
- Chase Elliott 20/1
- Kyle Larson 30/1
- Kasey Kahne 40/1
- Austin Dillon 40/1
- Tony Stewart 60/1
- Ryan Newman 80/1
- Greg Biffle 100/1
- Ryan Blaney 100/1
- Jamie McMurray 100/1
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 100/1
- Paul Menard 200/1
- Trevor Bayne 300/1
- AJ Allmendinger 300/1
- Aric Almirola 300/1
- Clint Bowyer 300/1
- Danica Patrick 500/1
- Casey Mears 500/1
- Chris Buescher 1000/1
- Field 500/1
