Defending Sprint Cup Champion Kevin Harvick returned to the Winner’s Circle for the first time this season with a victory last Sunday at Las Vegas as a +450 favorite. Martin Truex Jr. turned in a good run by taking second and Ryan Newman finished third as another healthy longshot. The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s race along with my top value pick of the week based on odds from Sportsbook.ag.
Kevin Harvick is favored to make it two in a row this Sunday at +300 odds. The No. 4 car remains white-hot following last season’s Sprint Cup title run with a pair of second-place finishes at Daytona and a Atlanta to go along with last week’s win. It is getting used to running out front after leading a total of 250 laps in its last two races. Harvick also adds some incredible value to this week’s odds given that he has won four of his last five Sprint Cup races at this track including a victory in last year’s event. This helped to lower his average finishing position at Phoenix to 3.2 over the course of his last six races here.
The second-favorite to win on Sunday at +700 betting odds is Brad Keselowski. One of NASCAR’s more notable bad boys has been relatively quiet so far his season with just two finishes in the top 10 through the first three events. The No. 2 car has been getting better with each passing race. Engine trouble took it out of the Daytona 500 after just 160 laps, but this team bounced-back with a ninth-place finish at Atlanta and a seventh-place finish last week. Keselowski adds some value to these odds with a third-place finish in last year’s race followed by a fourth-place finish in the second race at Phoenix last year.
There is a foursome of drivers with +800 betting odds to win on Sunday. Joey Logano got off to a fast start by winning at Daytona and Jimmie Johnson claimed the checkered flag the following week at Atlanta. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is also in this group after posting two third-place finishes and a fourth-place finish in his first three races this year. The fourth driver listed at these odds is Jeff Gordon. He has gotten off to a slow start in his final fulltime season racing in the Sprint Cup series with three finishes outside the top 10 so far. All four of these drivers add some value to these odds considering that they each finished sixth or better in last year’s race.
- Kevin Harvick No.4 11/4
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. No.88 7/1
- Jimmie Johnson No.48 7/1
- Brad Keselowski No.2 15/2
- Jeff Gordon No.24 8/1
- Joey Logano No.22 9/1
- Carl Edwards No.19 12/1
- Denny Hamlin No.11 12/1
- Matt Kenseth No.20 12/1
- Kasey Kahne No.5 14/1
- Martin Truex Jr. No.78 20/1
- Kyle Larson No.42 22/1
- Clint Bowyer No.15 25/1
- Ryan Newman No.31 25/1
- Kurt Busch No.41 33/1
- Tony Stewart No.14 33/1
- David Ragan No.18 40/1
- Jamie McMurray No.1 40/1
- Greg Biffle No.16 66/1
- Paul Menard No.27 75/1
- A.J. Allmendinger No.47 100/1
- Aric Almirola No.43 100/1
- Austin Dillon No.3 100/1
- Brian Vickers No.55 100/1
- Danica Patrick No.10 200/1
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No.17 200/1
- Justin Allgaier No.51 300/1
- Sam Hornish Jr. No.9 300/1
- Trevor Bayne No.6 300/1
- Casey Mears No.13 500/1
- Tanner Berryhill No.66 500/1
- Alex Bowman No.7 1000/1
- Alex Kennedy No.33 1000/1
- Brendan Gaughan No.62 1000/1
- Brett Moffitt No.34 1000/1
- Cole Whitt No.35 1000/1
- David Gilliland No.38 1000/1
- J.J Yeley No.23 1000/1
- Jeb Burton No.26 1000/1
- Josh Wise No.98 1000/1
- Landon Cassill No.40 1000/1
- Matt Dibenedetto No.83 1000/1
- Michael Annett No.46 1000/1
- Mike Bliss No.32 1000/1
- Reed Sorenson No.291000/1
- Travis Kvapil No.44 1000/1
