It has been several months since Jimmy Johnson last guided his No. 48 Chevrolet to the Winner’s Circle, but last week’s victory at Charlotte has him back on track for another Sprint Cup title. My top-valued contender for that race at +1050 was Matt Kenseth and he gave it a good run in second place followed by Kasey Kahne in third.
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 5Dimes.
Race Favorites
Since each round of the Chase stands on its own merits, the pressure has been dialed up on Kevin Harvick following last week’s disappointing 38th-place finish at Charlotte with the No. 4 Chevrolet plagued by engine problems. As a +450 favorite to win this week, he has already responded quite well to pressure in this year’s playoffs with a victory at New Hampshire following a shaky 20th-place run at Chicago to start the Chase. Earlier this season Harvick placed second at this track and he has now finished in the first two spots in four of his last six Sprint Cup events at Kansas.
Kyle Busch is still looking for his first victory in this year’s Chase after working his way through the first four events with a Top 10 finish. He placed sixth in last week’s race and he has been opened as one of two +650 second-favorites to get that victory this Sunday afternoon. The defending 2015 Sprint Cup champ came close at Dover with a second-place run after placing third at New Hampshire so he does have the No. 18 Toyota moving in the right direction. It also helps that Busch is coming off a victory at the first point race in Kansas this season.
The other second-favorite at +650 betting odds is last week’s winner Jimmie Johnson, who has suddenly become relevant again in this year’s title race. Following a fast start in which the No. 48 Chevrolet won at both Atlanta and Fontana, this team struggled for most of the season to crack the Top 5. Its best finish in the first three races of this year’s Chase was seventh at Dover, but it all came together last week to put Johnson in the driver seat for a seventh career Sprint Cup title with six races left on the slate. He finished 17th earlier this year at Kansas, but this followed a win in the first race here in 2015 and a third-place run in this event.
